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I Have Nothing Left To Say To The Ghosts
Stephanie Brown-centric. Set in continuity limbo.
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latenightcuppa.
In the middle of a patrol, Damian went radio silent for what ended up being, all told, four hours and fifty-three minutes. Stephanie and Batman-Batman ended up locating him in an abandoned subway station with a broken leg and a semi-feral cat who kept bumping her head against Damian's arm, letting him pet her, and then running away with a hiss and a scratch.
There are about fifteen million Lassie jokes Stephanie could make but her mouth was just, really dry, and her eyes kind of hurt, so she just focused on catching the stupid cat.
"Her name is Bastet, Batgirl," Damian said, managing to sound huffy even with his teeth clenched in pain, "and I will not have her left here to be feed upon by oversize rodents," he continued, while Bruce carried him towards the ladder. Really, Damian was just begging for a Princess Bride reference, but again, dry mouth, painful eyes, etc. Plus, the chances of the kid having seen The Princess Bride were nil, so.
In her memory, Tim's telling her about how it's Robin's job to keep Batman from being too morose, but she's Batgirl now, and anyway, it's been a long time since she thought Tim had all the answers.
Given she's got an over-used Lassie joke, a Princess Bride homage no one besides her will get, and a bitchy comment about Batman keeping his Robins safe that is just way too personal, she's keeping her mouth shut. She can do that, occasionally.
It took her another two hours to catch that damned cat. She ended up locking it in The Compact and stopping at her boyfriend's before she dropped Bastet off at the mansion. She just could not deal with Bruce on an empty stomach.
"My mom went to visit my dad in prison," she told Nick, though a mouthful of cold sweet and sour pork. "Did I mention that?"
Nick scrubbed a hand over his face, set his pistol on the counter, and visibly refrained from commenting about the fact that, judging by the way he'd burst into his own kitchen armed and wearing only boxers, he'd clearly thought she was a burglar, and could have shot her.
Steph tugged her cowl off, tossed it on the counter, next to Nick's gun.
"Bad night?" Nick asked.
Steph shrugged, took another big bite of the cold Chinese she's liberated from Nick's fridge. "I've had worse."
Nick started to make coffee. Stephanie hitched herself up on the counter and only pouted a little bit when he snagged the take-out container from her hands.
"Bet you've had better, too," he said.
Steph swung her legs, accidentally knocked her heels into the cabinets below her. "What do you say to a guy who used to hit you?" she asked. She didn't think she was being rhetorical. "Who brought criminals into your house? Who almost killed your kid? Who'd want to have that conversation?"
There were a lot of answers to those questions; Nick didn't give her any of them. He set the food aside, kissed her forehead, and didn't even wince when she wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face in his neck. It couldn't have been fun, hugging a girl in body armor, but Nick just patted her tangled hair and made soothing noises while she cried.
"You're really good at soothing noises," she sobbed into his chest, "also, your chest is really nice."
She felt him fight down a laugh.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm dating this really great girl -kind, smart as a whip, moonlights as a superhero - I've gotta bring my A game."
Stephanie Brown-centric. Set in continuity limbo.
For
latenightcuppa.In the middle of a patrol, Damian went radio silent for what ended up being, all told, four hours and fifty-three minutes. Stephanie and Batman-Batman ended up locating him in an abandoned subway station with a broken leg and a semi-feral cat who kept bumping her head against Damian's arm, letting him pet her, and then running away with a hiss and a scratch.
There are about fifteen million Lassie jokes Stephanie could make but her mouth was just, really dry, and her eyes kind of hurt, so she just focused on catching the stupid cat.
"Her name is Bastet, Batgirl," Damian said, managing to sound huffy even with his teeth clenched in pain, "and I will not have her left here to be feed upon by oversize rodents," he continued, while Bruce carried him towards the ladder. Really, Damian was just begging for a Princess Bride reference, but again, dry mouth, painful eyes, etc. Plus, the chances of the kid having seen The Princess Bride were nil, so.
In her memory, Tim's telling her about how it's Robin's job to keep Batman from being too morose, but she's Batgirl now, and anyway, it's been a long time since she thought Tim had all the answers.
Given she's got an over-used Lassie joke, a Princess Bride homage no one besides her will get, and a bitchy comment about Batman keeping his Robins safe that is just way too personal, she's keeping her mouth shut. She can do that, occasionally.
It took her another two hours to catch that damned cat. She ended up locking it in The Compact and stopping at her boyfriend's before she dropped Bastet off at the mansion. She just could not deal with Bruce on an empty stomach.
"My mom went to visit my dad in prison," she told Nick, though a mouthful of cold sweet and sour pork. "Did I mention that?"
Nick scrubbed a hand over his face, set his pistol on the counter, and visibly refrained from commenting about the fact that, judging by the way he'd burst into his own kitchen armed and wearing only boxers, he'd clearly thought she was a burglar, and could have shot her.
Steph tugged her cowl off, tossed it on the counter, next to Nick's gun.
"Bad night?" Nick asked.
Steph shrugged, took another big bite of the cold Chinese she's liberated from Nick's fridge. "I've had worse."
Nick started to make coffee. Stephanie hitched herself up on the counter and only pouted a little bit when he snagged the take-out container from her hands.
"Bet you've had better, too," he said.
Steph swung her legs, accidentally knocked her heels into the cabinets below her. "What do you say to a guy who used to hit you?" she asked. She didn't think she was being rhetorical. "Who brought criminals into your house? Who almost killed your kid? Who'd want to have that conversation?"
There were a lot of answers to those questions; Nick didn't give her any of them. He set the food aside, kissed her forehead, and didn't even wince when she wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face in his neck. It couldn't have been fun, hugging a girl in body armor, but Nick just patted her tangled hair and made soothing noises while she cried.
"You're really good at soothing noises," she sobbed into his chest, "also, your chest is really nice."
She felt him fight down a laugh.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm dating this really great girl -kind, smart as a whip, moonlights as a superhero - I've gotta bring my A game."
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Also: love Nick and the way you write. Lassie and Princess Bride are also awesome. ;)
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I feel like they're designed to make you feel things.
Also: love Nick and the way you write.
Thank you! Steph actually has a really easy voice for me to channel.
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