Given Time and Work (Chapter 3)

Twenty-three hours between entries! AND on my comics-hunting-down-and-reading-and-criticizing day. More Steph, never-ending Steph, Steph Forever, Steph Begins!



It's tough to go out again until she realizes she has *fangs* now. It makes something kick over in her the same way that the old spoiler suit did. It makes her *eager,* and probably Batman thinks that's superficial, but since she came back, she's never seen the guy wear the same suit twice.

She wears the dark gray sweats that used to be Tim's, (maybe still are, wherever he is) and a ski mask. It's a long walk into Gotham, but she's missed the fresh air.

She hangs around the train station until the group of kids at near the terminal finally manage to work up the courage to steal an old lady's purse. The dummies in the cave were pretty accurate in terms of weight and resistance, but not follow through. Even with the light kicks she's using, to the back of the knee, the shoulder joints the muggers buckle too fast. The tall kid goes down on a one knee in a way that means he's not gonna be running for a *while,* and when he screams . . . there's the shadow. The muggers are tied up and laid out next to one another in about five seconds.

The woman isn't getting any closer to either of them, and she doesn't look like she can catch to save her life, so Steph scoots the purse along the floor to her. She even remembers to put in on an old paper bag so the leather won't get scuffed up.

Batman just jerks his head toward one corner of the station, and the Batmobile turns a corner just as they get down the stairs.

So maybe she won't change his mind, but she'd like to have some sort of talk with the guy that doesn't involve hemoglobin, so she just talks into the silence on the way back to manor.

"I'd kinda hoped you'd get that I'm not going to stop."

She's almost sure one of his eyebrows moved, but that's not all that helpful.

"What am I supposed to do, Br-Batman. I have freakin' *fangs.*"

"The woman who brought you back undoubtedly hoped you would do something with your life other than . . . this."

"You mean the one who let me die so *you* would do something 'other than this.'"

He slows down just enough so she can hop out of the car when they get back to cave, and then he's gone for two days.

On the third day her door is unlocked, so she goes out. Bruce is standing by the Robin suit, with a bottle of hair dye in one hand, and a mask that ties over her hair in the other. "It's your choice."

"No." It's all she can manage, and Batman, *Bruce* does that thing that he's been doing since she got here. Like she's either gonna try to massacre everyone in sight or fucking *cry* on him and she knows which one he'd prefer. For a lot of reasons. "Don't."

He does that thing where he points his chin at you and it's a question even though he totally knows what you're talking about.

"Don't. Don't. *Lie.*" She says. It's humiliating how much she still wants the suit.

"The Spoiler suit would be problematic. Your. Your mother still lives in Gotham."

Which means she's a little closer to being Stephanie to him, but still.

"What else you got?"

There are a couple of dark blue practice suits that fit.