capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHO: STEPHANIE and DICK
WHERE: Some park
WHEN: After this and this
WARNINGS: Teenage Girl Angst
SUMMARY: Steph needs to talk and Dick, well, who knows what he needs?
FORMAT: Quick-para

[Steph left Tim's feeling more confused then when she had gone to see him, but she was also more determined to fix whatever needed fixing in the future. She needed to talk, but she didn't know anyone who might know Tim like she didn't. No, take that back, she knew plenty, but she wanted someone to talk to and Dick had sounded normal, so why not?

Now she was waiting on some sad little bench in the park for someone who was just as likely to blow her off as show up.]

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[Well, Dick's not blowing you off, Steph. But he's a little late, cause regular caffeine's becoming kind of essential with the hours he's been keeping.

He catches sight of Steph on the bench, looking a lot younger than the one he remembers. He stops a comfortable distance away, and wonders for a second if she'll even recognize him.]

Hey.

She doesn't recognize him from, but there was that video when she arrived.

Looking over at the man she nods a hello. "Dick?"

"Yeah," he says. He offers a small smile, then reaches out to hand her the other coffee cup he's holding. "Here. Thought you might need it."

She didn't usually drink the stuff, but she took it anyway. "Thanks. Sorry, about this I just...I don't really know anyone aside from Cass and Tim."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Dick says. He's actually pretty sure he knows why Stephanie called him here and not Tim or Cass, but it's probably better to let her broach that subject on her own. Porting in really never stops sucking, even when it's someone else.

He sits down on the other side of the bench and sets his coffee cup down in between them. "What's on your mind?"

"Tim." She sighed and took a drink of the coffee. "God, I sound like some stalker girlfriend, or ex apparently. He's just so...different now. I don't get him. I don't get any of this."

He'd sort of had a nice 'buck up little soldier' speech half planned out already on the way; something nice and solid and nothing like what Bruce would say. Nothing like what Bruce would say to Stephanie. But the words don't really seem to fit anymore, now that she's right here.

"I kind of figured," he says finally. "Honestly I... don't really get him either. The way he is."

She had to admit that she was completely surprised at Dick somewhat agreeing with her. Okay, she hadn't known what the older man would say about Tim, but she did know it was more along the lines of "he's grown" or something equally Batman like since the man had probably left his mark on Dick like he did on Tim.

"He told me about what I did in the future and I know he's probably mad about that, hell I know I would be, but I can fix it. While I'm here I can train and learn and then when I go back I can fix things...I just don't know if it would make a difference with him."

She looks so young. So untested. Too young to be here, hearing this.

But it had to be better to get it out in the open. Right now, before she has time to get settle into... that.

"Tim wouldn't want me to tell you this," he said slowly. "But he lost his father, right after you left. And then his best friend. And he just hasn't been the same since. All that, all at once..." He paused. "I think it really just broke his heart."

But he was still a kid, you know? He still had to grow up. And move on."

Those words he says more gently.

It broke her heart to hear about what Tim had gone through and it put a lot into perspective. "Yeah, I guess, and I'm sure finding out I had lied about dying didn't help."

"Do you," Steph sighed and continued, "Dick tried to explain but maybe you have a different idea. Do you know why I said I was dead instead of just, I don't know, hanging things up?"

Yeah, if she had really screwed up as bad as Tim had said she did Steph could understand maybe quitting or moving, but to actually fake her own death? That seemed more than a little extreme.

"Well, I was out of it then, if you know what I mean," To say the least. But that's another long and sordid story Steph doesn't really need unloaded on her right now.

"But hey, you'd been tortured and you were in the hospital. I think the, uh. Doctor you went with might have been calling more of the shots then you. You know?"

"Oh great so I probably end up mentally deficient on top of starting a gang war and being tortured." Stephanie slumped down on the bench almost trying to disappear.

"No wonder everyone thinks I'm a total failure."

"Nobody wants you to get hurt," Dick says, and he hopes it sounds like a correction rather than an addition. "I mean, this stuff we do? It's dangerous. It's dangerous for Tim. It's dangerous for Batman. You just... you had something to prove and you weren't ready. You just... weren't."

And that's a message she needs to get.

Maybe she wouldn't feel the need to prove herself if someone believed in her. She didn't say it, but it was there on her face.

"I know what I'm capable of. I can help! I can become ready here and Cass is willing to help me...are-are you?"

Encouraging her is dangerous. But it's a good sign, that she's asking for help. That she knows she needs help.

"Sure," he says. "I- Yeah. Of course I'll help. But you need..." Making her a list might do more harm than good. "You need a lot of work, Steph. Not just sparring."

He sighs and looked at the ground. What she needs is a mentor. "Are you still staying with Helena?"

This time she did roll her eyes. "Yeah, I get that."

Giving her own sigh Steph shook her head. "Nope. Cass. Apparently they had room and while I don't mind couch surfing I really like having a real bed occasionally."

"Yeah?" Well, that's... that's even better. If Babs can't reign in Steph, nobody can. "That's great. Babs is great. You'll learn a lot from her. And Cass." Maybe even Misfit. You never know.

"Right. You know it may surprise everyone but I've actually done all this before." Of course she was ignoring the fact that being on her own was how all that trouble would come to pass.

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