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Stephanie sits by the window sill of her home…she stares out into Gotham. She thinks about her dad, who left her at home for the night…’knock off Riddler.’ She chuckles to herself before sighing. She grabs her purple backpack. It has a tag on it, ‘Stephanie Brown: 10 years old’ it says in crayon. She puts it on and climbs down from her father’s apartment window.
The soles of her shoes land on the concrete below. She feels the Gotham rain pour down on her, she puts on her hood and walks. She knows Gotham’s streets like the back of her hand.
She walks down the sidewalk, holding the straps of her bag. She notices three men eye her from under hoods, They look particularly grimy to her…she smirks.
She walks into the nearby alley, the men follow. The alley ends with a high wall, the men surround her. “Hey, girlie. What you doin’ out here all alone?” One man asks, clearly smiling.
Stephanie rolls her eyes. “Really? You’re targeting a little girl?”
The men chuckle. One of them gives a light smack on another’s arm. “Kid’s got spunk!”
“Trust me, I got way more than ‘spunk’.” She says, her body moving into a fighting position.
The men stay silent, then burst into laughter. “Look at this kid!” One of them says. He shrugs. “Alright, girlie. If that’s what you want!” He pulls out a switchblade from his pocket.
Stephanie smirks…that is until they all hear a voice echo from the rooftops. “Woohoo!” They yell. Before Stephanie could blink, one of the men is kicked in the face. It was a blur for her, moving fast…as fast as the bat. But it wasn’t him.
This one is, very clearly, about half the men’s size. They were also clearly laughing and having fun. The bright reds, yellows, and greens allow her to track him as he strikes the men.
Eventually, his form gets more clear, it was a boy. He looks to be about her age…as he kicks the last man in the face, knocking him out, he claps his hands together. “Another good job for Robin!” He says assertively.
He looks back, remembering the girl he had just saved. “You’re welcome, Miss Brown!” He bows, a hand at his stomach and another extending his yellow cape.
She gets a good look on his masked face. He looked a tad older than her, only a tad. His eyes were covered with a green domino mask, making the eyes look like a white void. Her eyes widen as he says her last name. “How do you know my name?” She asks.
He raises an eyebrow. “It’s on your bag?” He points to the tag on her bag. “Stephanie Brown, pretty name.”
She purses her lips. “So, who are you?” She asks.
He chuckles and points his thumb to himself. “I’m Robin! Boy Wonder!”
She raises an eyebrow. “I’ve seen Robin. You’re too young to be him. So what are you, a copycat?”
He chuckles more before hopping onto a dumpster. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He says, still clearly smiling.
She rolls her eyes but drops the subject. Stephanie looks at the men on the ground. “I had that, you know?”
He looks at her, clearly confused. “No offense, but you probably would've gotten killed if you fought them.”
“No I wouldn’t, I know how to fight!”
“Who taught you?”
She crosses her arms. “Myself!” She pouts. He laughs. As he does so, she grits his teeth. “What!? I know it’s not ‘Batman’ but I’m still good!” He continues to laugh. She thinks her teeth have turned to powder as she grabs Robin by the shirt. His eyes widen before she throws him over her shoulder. “How ‘bout that!” She raises her fist.
He raises his hands in defense. “Alright! Alright! I get it!” He says. Her fist shakes above him, her hand still on his shirt…she burst into laughing, putting down her fist. She uses her other hand to grab him by the shirt and pull him to his feet. She smoothes out his uniform, humming some song. “You know I didn’t fight back because I didn’t want to hurt you?”
She chuckles. “Yeah, that was your first mistake.”
“I agree.” A deep voice calls. The two look into the shadows to see white eyes pierce their souls. It steps out, its silhouette forming bat ears. Stephanie’s eyes widen and take a step back. She trips and falls to the floor. She freezes.
Robin perks up with a smile. “Batman!” He runs up to his mentor. “Did you see how I kicked those guys’ butt!” He says, full of joy. He punches and kicks the air, trying to recreate the scene.
“I did, and I’m proud of you.” He kneels to his level and places a hand on Robin’s shoulder. “But you shouldn’t underestimate an opponent. Nor should you try to cause a fight, unless it’s for a tactical advantage.”
He sighs and looks down. “Yes, Batman.”
Batman stands up. He looks to Stephanie, to the opening of the alley. “Head back home, Ms. Brown.” He looks at Robin. He nods at him. Robin somehow understands what his mentor means.
He looks at her, still sitting on the ground. He smiles. “Goodbye, Stephanie! Hope to see you soon!” The dynamic duo takes out their grappling guns and shoots to the roofs.
Steph watches as they zip away…she stands and looks up. “Bye…” She says to the air.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Weeks later:
Steph sits by the window sill. Her mom was asleep. Dad’s in jail, Steph saw it on the news. She sighs and leans against her wall. “Shit!” She hears a voice say. She looks out and there, beside her window, stands Robin. They both stare at each other. He gives an awkward wave and smiles. “Hey…”
The air turns thick with an awkward silence…which breaks as she giggles. “Creep.” She says through the laughs.
“Creep?!”
“You’re stalking a girl without her consent, creep.” She says, still giggling.
“Hey, I’m just trying to keep you safe!” He says, very clearly pressured.
Her giggles turn to full laughs. She steps away from her window. “Are you coming in or what?” His eyebrows raise in confusion before he moves forward, into the apartment. He looks at her room. It was a mix of purples, pinks and blacks.
“Nice room!” He says.
She chuckles. “I’m sure you’ve seen it.”
His cheeks turn a slight shade of red as he rubs the back of his neck. “I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to-”
She waves her hand. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m sure, whenever you got back to your cave or something, read my family file…so you know who my dad is…” Her tone turns sober by the end of the sentence. He stays silent and looks at her with worried eyes. She looks up at him…
“Hey…I can relate.” He tells her, trying to put on a comforting smile. She raises an eyebrow, he stutters. “W-Well, not exactly the same. My dad was a henchman for the Penguin. And…my mom OD’d.” Her eyes widen. “So yeah, I know what it’s like…and I know it sucks but…that’s just Gotham.”
The two stay silent for a good few seconds. She smiles. She walks over to her purple sheeted bed and sits down by the edge of it. She pats the space next to her. He raises an eyebrow and approaches closer. He sits where her hand patted. She raises her knees and holds them close to her chest. “What’s your name?” She asks, nonchalantly.
His eyebrows raise in shock. “W-What?” He asks in confusion.
“What. Is. Your. Name.” She emphasizes every word, doubling down. Her face still wore a smiling, comfortable, expression.
Her confidence almost makes him blush. “I…I-”
“Stephanie?” A drowsy voice calls behind the door. “Go to sleep…you have school tomorrow…” They yawn.
Stephanie stands and walks to the door. “Sure thing, mom!” She shouts into the door.
“Good girl…” Her mother says. Stephanie holds an ear to the door and hears her mother walk away. She sighs,
Robin sighs with her. “Well, you probably should be getting to bed. School is important!” He gives an awkward thumbs up.
She chuckles. “Oh no, you’re not getting away that easy!” She approaches closer. She hugs him and makes them fall into bed.
She has a surprisingly strong grip for a girl younger than him. “Steph, I need to go back to the Bat-cave!” He struggles against her grip.
She giggles. “You said I needed to sleep. So, I am!” She wraps her legs around him and places her head on his chest.
“This isn’t exactly what I meant…”
“I know. You can leave once I’m asleep.” She closes her eyes.
Robin sighs and presses a button on his earpiece. “Hey, Penny-1 Tell B-man I’m coming home late and not to worry because I’m safe.” He says. He looks down at the girl on his chest. He sighs once more. “You can call me Jason.” He concedes.
She gives a ‘hmph’ of acknowledgement…they stay silent…
Batman follows Jason’s tracker to the Brown household. He allowed Jason to keep an eye on Stephanie purely because she was the child of the Cluemaster. He can see the window of her bedroom from the ground. He takes the grappling gun from his hip and aims high.
When he zips up, he climbs through the window. The room was lit purely from the moonlight. He looks at the bed…Steph and Jason were both asleep. He stares…it may be a little creepy if he stays, watching his kid.
He turns and leaves through the window.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 years later…
Stephanie sits by the window sill. She shuffles a little in her seat. She sits in the back left of her classroom. She tries her best to listen to her science teacher…key word; ‘tries.’ She doodles in her book. She drew a purple and black superhero suit for herself…she gets a text.
She opens her phone, making sure her teacher can’t see, and checks her notifications. There’s a text from ‘A little Birdie’ that says ‘Hey…can we meet l8er? Need to talk.’
She types back a quick ‘sure’ before stuffing her phone back into her phone pocket. The instant she does, the school bell rings. She pulls her purple backpack off the seat and slings it over her shoulder.
She’s first out of class and starts to sprint. She sees a couple of her friends walk out of their classrooms. She dashes past them, waving back. Eventually, she goes through the door, the sun hurts her eyes. She smiles and makes her way to the library…
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephanie opens the door to the library, beads of sweat dripping to her chin and down her neck. The cool breeze of air conditioning hits her face. She walks in and sees the red headed woman in a wheelchair at the front desk. “Hello, Miss Gordon!” Steph says.
Barbara looks at the girl and smiles. “Hey! Nice to see you here again, Steph.”
“Sorry I haven’t returned that book I borrowed…”
Barbara waves a hand. “No! It’s fine, really.” She chuckles.
Steph smiles. “Thanks, Miss Gordon. I’m going to go in.” Barbara waves bye as Steph walks into the main library. She sees 4 or 5 people. Some with headphones in, some without. Some reading and some just on the library computers. She gets another text. “Go to one of the shelves in the back.” She looks around before complying with a message.
She walks between 2 shelves in the back. It was dusty, she could tell no one’s been here for a long time. She questions whether someone may have hacked Jason’s phone and could be leading her into a trap. Even then, if they’re non-superpowered, she could probably take them in a fight. Jason’s been helping train her.
Before she could type a confirmation that she’s here, a voice calls from behind her. “Hey.” She looks back to see Jason, wearing a brown leather jacket.
“Hey.” She smiles cheekily. He’s grown since they met. As a 12 year old, he was short and skinny. They were about the same height back then, he was maybe a couple centimeters taller. Now, he’s much more muscular. He fills in his jacket well. He was also taller than her now, not that she hasn’t grown a lot either. Back then, he had a boyish charm. Now, he was very handsome.
He chuckles and walks closer to her. Stephanie almost feels the need to step back as her cheeks turn slightly redder. He stops in his tracks a couple steps in front of her. He clears his throat and his eyes, which once gazed into her, now looks away. “I…I’m adopted.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Yeah? I know you’re adopted by Batman.”
He rolls his eyes. “No, that’s not it. My original family.”
Her eyes widen. “R-Really?” She stutters.
He nods. “My dad’s my real dad but my mom…her name is Sheila Haywood.’
“A-Are you going to see her?”
He stays silent…”Yeah…I think I will.”
They stay quiet…that is until she smiles and hugs him. “I’m so happy for you!” She yells, almost loud enough to alert the other people in the library. “You should bring her home!” She pulls away. “I’d love to meet her! And I’m sure the B-man would love to too.”
Jason smiles. “Yeah…Yeah, I will.”
“Where is she?”
“Ethiopia.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh…so I guess you’ll need to get going then?”
He nods. “Yeah, I just wanted to see you before I leave tomorrow.” She looks up at him and smiles. He chuckles and places a hand on her head as well as a kiss on her golden hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” He says, as if reading her mind. “I’ll be back in a week, I promise…”
She nods. “You better be…”
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 week later…
Stephanie sits by the window sill of Wayne Manor. It was 4 pm, but there wasn’t any sun…the sky was covered by gray clouds, pouting a light drizzle. It wasn’t her first time in Wayne Manor, Jason always used to invite her over to play games or just mess with Bruce…
From her view, she can see the Wayne Family graveyard…she sees everything being prepped.
There was a knock on the door of the room. “Miss Brown, are you there?” A familiar English voice says from the other side.
She walks over and opens it. “Hey, Al.” She says, her tone somber.
“Miss Brown…it’s time.” He says, her tone matching hers.
As Stephanie walks through the graveyard with Alfred, she stares at the grave stones. All of people that Jason heard stories of and relayed to her. When she arrives, she sees Bruce Wayne there, obviously, and Barbara GFordon in her wheelchair. “Hey, Steph.” She says quietly, waving her over.
“Hi, Miss Gordon.”
She chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. “Please, call me Barbara.”
“Where’s Nightwing?” Steph asks.
Barbara looks away. “He’s still off-world, on a mission with the Titans…we can’t get in contact…”
Stephanie nods and once again looks at Bruce. “What about him?”
Barbara looks at Bruce. “He hasn’t said a word since he came back from Ethiopia…you can’t blame him for staying silent.”
Steph nods. “Ladies, it’s starting,” Alfred says. They gather around the two graves in front of them, as well as the priest.
Steph doesn’t pay attention to what the man says…she just looks at the two graves in front of her. One says “Sheila Haywood.” The other says “Jason Todd”...her knuckles turn white as she clenches her fist. She grits her teeth…Jason promised her he’d be back in a week. Guess that part was true, but it seems he couldn’t foresee that he’d be coming back beaten, bombed, and in Bruce’s arms.
No one knows what happened that day, no one but the Joker. Sadly, apparently he disappeared before Bruce could get him. Steph almost prays for the Joker, thinking of what Bruce might do once he gets his hands on him…she remembers when she encouraged Jason to go find his mom…
Maybe if she hadn’t done that, Jason would still be alive…the service ends, Alfred helps Oracle to her car, leaving Bruce and Stephanie. The two stay silent as they watch the graves…
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 and ½ years later…
Jason sits by the window sill, cleaning his guns. He looks out into the Gotham night from his safehouse. He hears the sound of glass shattering. He perks up, grabbing his red helmet and slipping it on. He takes one of his guns out of his holsters and aims into the darkness. He turns on his helmet’s night vision.
He walks into his neat kitchen, he keeps everything in order. Standing there, on broken shards of glass, was a woman dressed in black. She wore a black and purple suit with a purple hood. Jason lowers his gun. “Steph.” He says.
The woman removes her hood and pulls down her mask. “Hey, Jay.” Steph says. She looked pissed.
The two stand in silence. “Nice threads.” Jason says. Stephanie doesn’t budge. He sighs. “Do you…wanna drink?”
She raises an eyebrow. “I’m 17, Jason.”
“And I’m 19, it ain't legal either way.” He pours himself a glass. Stephanie rolls her eyes before walking to the counter. She grabs the bottle and pours herself a glass. “Heard you were dating the new Robin, Tim.?”
She grits her teeth. “Is that why you beat him up?” She says, full of hostility.
He tenses up. “I didn’t kick his ass because of you…if that’s what you’re wondering.” her eyebrows crinkle before taking a sip of her glass. He fiddles with his glass. “How the fuck did you find me?” He asks.
Steph sighs. “Alfred told me…” His eyes widen. She raises her hands in defense. “Don’t worry about him, I practically forced him to tell me…I just wanted to see you.” She shrugs at that last part. She looks at Jason. He was bigger than she last saw him. With the leather jacket she saw on recordings of him, his physique matches Bruce. Without the jacket he looks much closer to Nightwing, though still a little bigger than Dick. He could probably bench press her.
She looks at him through the white eyes of his helmet. “You can’t drink with that on.” She points at it.
He fiddles with his drink, contemplating. He reaches for his helmet and slips it off…his jaw was more square since when he was 15. His once blue eyes now has a faint shade of green. His hair was shaggy from his helmet. She looks at his hair. “That’s new.” She points to the white streak in his black hair.
He smirks. “Courtesy of the lazarus pit.” Her eyebrows crinkle as she comes closer, lacing her fingers through his hair. It felt familiar…she remembers when he was 13 he’d let her play with his hair and vice versa. He stays silent for a moment. “I heard about what happened to you…” She stops and raises an eyebrow. “With trying to be Robin…with what happened to Black mask.”
Her eyes widen. She looks away and rubs her arm. “The whole time…the whole time I was in that fucking chair, hearing that damn drill, I thought ‘hey…at least I’ll see Jason again.’” She sees him tense. She stays silent for a moment. “I blamed myself for your death.” her eyes water. “That maybe if I hadn’t encouraged you, you wouldn’t have went-”
“Hey.” He uses two fingers to lightly grip her chin. He makes her look at him. “I would have gone whether you encouraged me or not.” She gasps a little. The room fills with silence as they stare at each other…he pulls back. “You should go.” He grabs his helmet. “You have work to do, Spoiler.” Her jaw clenches as he calls her by her codename…she complies and leaves the way she came.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 years later…
Tim sits by the window sill of the Wayne manor living room. He texts Steph:
Tim: Got any plans?
Steph: Yeah, gotta do homework
She leaves an eye roll emoji.
Tim: Don’t play coy, I know ‘doing homework’ really means ‘doing Jason’.
She replies with a gasp emoji.
Steph: Gross dude, you’re my ex!
Tim: And a good detective, and your best friend.
Steph: 2nd best friend, 1st is Cass.
Tim: Alright, 2nd best friend. Just have fun alright?
Steph: Certainly.
She replies with a sly emoji.
Jason walks into the living room. “Hey, Timbo. I’m goin’ out.”
Tim rolls his eyes. “Let me guess, an emergency in your district came up?”
Jason shrugs. “Yeah man, you know I’d rather be doing anything else.”
Tim smirks. “Yeah, I’m sure you would…”
Jason chuckles. “Yeah man, it’s true!” He raises his hands in defense. “Cover for me, alright?” He says. He doesn’t wait for an answer. He dashes out the door and onto his bike…
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steph taps her foot while on her desk. She watches the clock and groans. She leans on her desk, staring at the papers. When she told Tim that she’d be ‘doing her homework’ she didn’t expect to actually be doing homework! She flips her pen on her fingers…she hears a noise behind her and turns around,
Standing there was Jason in full Red Hood gear. ‘Damn, that’s hot’ she thinks to herself. She’s fine thinking like that because she knows Jason thinks like that too. “Hey.” He says.
“Hey.” She smirks. She stands from her desk and steps closer. She takes Jason’s helmet off his head, he smiles at her. It was just like the smile he gave her when he first bowed to her when they met…
She jumps on him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He hears her giggle. He chuckles as he sits on the bed of her dorm. “You’re amazing.” He whispers.
She chuckles. “I know.” She grabs him by the body armor and pulls him closer. They kiss, their bodies freezing in place…she pulls away. “I love you, Jason Todd.”
He smiles. “I love you too, Stephanie Brown.”
She smiles back…”Well, are you ready to do some ‘homework’.”
He snickers. “Definitely.”