Chapter Text
There were three things that Stephanie Brown was absolutely certain of:
Drake was completely and utterly a douchebag.
Now some may argue against his, considering his previous actions and the kindness he had shown her in the previous weeks that she had been back in Gotham; But Stephanie was certain that this was one of the new facts of her universe.
Drake and Tam Fox needed to register for just one store like normal people do. Choose a cheap supermarket and do the population attending their wedding a favor.
They had gone to every single store on the avenue, then moved to the next avenue and decimated that one's storefronts. Now they were in a large store intended for people far richer than the sort who had ever looked at Stephanie in her life.
Any store that anyone can register for is by god given law, overpriced.
This is just a universal law, not even a law individual to Stephanie's world.
Tam handled everything with a level of preciseness that Stephanie had never managed in her life. To both Tim and Steph she provided a rather lengthy list of what exactly she would like from this store with an image of what that item was to look like, then entrusted the two of them to wander about the linen section as she marched off to the cooking section to decide the fate of their already well taken care of kitchen.
Even with the happy smile, Tam gave as she handed the piece of paper to Stephanie, the blonde got the feeling that the other woman was overwhelmed and just wished for some time alone.
Despite this, she was offended that she of all people was entrusted with the responsibility of being around this woman's fiancée.
She might have almost been touched if she didn't look over the show bed and notice the attention with which Tim was paying to every single item on the list.
In the past, Tim had cared about her wishes to the same extent.
She sighed, trying to steady that gnawing in the bottom of her stomach.
She still had a few very angry texts to answer from Jason last night.
She shook her head, pulling out her phone to reply to him and clear her mind with out of the corner of her eye she saw red.
Quickly she turned her head, seeing nothing but Tim in his offensively purple button up and gray slacks.
His shoes were black, no red in sight.
Shaking the crazy out of her head and her soul, she turned back to her phone, again seeing the red on the small portion of her nose within her eyesight. She tried to rub it off.
There was nothing on her hand.
She tossed an accusational look at Tim, who was comparing the thread count of sheets.
Innocent, or so it seemed.
She held out her own registry gun, scanning her head to see the same red on her hand.
Another square of red touched it.
A small snort was heard in the background.
"Timothy Drake-Wayne," she turned on her foot to face him, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
He clicked the scanner to flash the light on her forehead.
She just about dived over the bed to throttle him.
"Whoa," he broke out laughing.
Steph settled for a moment, thinking about the situation, she flashed her price scanner over his left nipple.
"Well, will you look at that." She deadpanned. "This one's cheap."
They made eye contact, her half on the bed and him standing, laughter ensued.
She rolled off the bed as he scanned beside her, shaking her shoulders in a victory dance.
He managed to scan a bob as she stuck out her tongue, prompting her face to mutate into a weirded out face. She shoved him, he managed to fall on the display bed.
"That's it!" She exclaimed. "You're going to get it!"
He cocked an eyebrow, "And what exactly is it?"
She pushed a hand onto his chest, holding him against the bed. Threatingly holding the gun above his head.
She couldn't help herself.
"Red Robin, you've been caught red-handed." She whispered into his ear.
He guffawed with laughter.
"As your average makeshift vigilante, I've decided the best punishment for your crimes is… Blindment."
"Blindment?" He snorted hard, grabbing her forearm.
"Blinding?" She asked, flashing the light in his eyes before tumbling off him and onto the corner of the bed due to his increase in pressure onto her arms.
"Blinding." He groaned, rolling onto his side.
She managed to cover her eyes before his light showed up where her eyes would be.
Looking over his shoulder for any passersby, he rolled off the bed and stood up to red light her again.
She dove behind the bed laughing before popping back up with the red light.
"Fuck," she snorted.
"What?" He asked, shining the light on her forehead.
"I accidentally scanned that ugly chicken thing…"
The two looked over their shoulders to view a chicken composed almost entirely out of broken cd disks and designed into a horrible catastrophe of wire and reflective material. It perched itself inconveniently over Tim's shoulder, with its price tag just beside his ear.
"I think we can just…" Tim searched for the correct suggestion for the problem.
"An ugly key chicken?" Stephanie suggested.
"You know what? A centerpiece for our table." He nodded decisively, a true boy genius.
She cracked a smile at him, laughter escaping her lips.
Stephanie finally began to stand up off the ground, brushing herself off and nodding to him. Despite her earlier dread, she found herself enjoying certain pieces of the shopping trip more than others.
Maybe Tami just had that effect on Tim, just made him a bearable person who expressed actual happiness.
They beamed at each other in happiness before realizing what they had been doing. Tim's face fell first, just as she had expected it to. He straightened up and dug the forgotten list out of his pocket.
She cast her eyes away from him and to really anything else in the room.
Like thread count.
Thread count was important.
"We have almost everything, we just have one item left to find." Tim declared.
"And that is?"
"I can't believe she listed it, really." He admitted.
"What?"
"Stain guard duvet cover."
Duvet?
"Duvet?"
"It's like a comforter." He supplemented. "It's just a little embarrassing to be looking for…"
"Stain resistant sheets?" Steph rolled her eyes. "Get used to it, Timmy boy. If you're going to go around bleeding on everything."
He shook his head at her, refolding the paper to shove back in his pocket. "I just feel like this all could be easier."
"To be honest?" Stephanie said, "I probably would have chosen Target."
Tim, who had just begun to walk away from her, stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.
Stephanie shrugged.
"What is up with you people and Target?"
"It's a damn good place."
After the duvet cover had been located Tam took them to Gianna's, an Italian restaurant that served a surprisingly small selection of pasta. What it did happen to serve was a rather large amount of fish, of which Stephanie was never particularly fond of, and a rather small amount of crustaceans. To add to the pains of such a scenery, the booth in which they were seated was a bit closer to either of them than she had ever cared to be, despite the smiling face Tam provided when she squeezed in beside her.
Perhaps it was because Stephanie could see Tim's hand on Tam's leg underneath the table.
After the third time shooing away the waitress for all parties to decide what to eat, Tim began to grow impatient.
"Spaghetti with meatballs?" Stephanie smiled hopefully over the table at him.
"Not actually Italian cooking, they'll scorn you for it. We've been over this four times" He stated.
Tam scooted closer, looking over her shoulder at the menu.
"I'll help you, it's not a big deal. We're waiting on someone anyway." Tam admitted, her hand grasping Stephanie's to adjust the menu for Tam's viewing angle.
The woman had skin the same texture of Stephanie's fleece tie blanket before it began to pill.
"I don't like fish," Steph muttered unhelpfully.
"Can you stand the scent?" Tam replied, "I want to order some." She smiled apological.
"Not really," Tim rolled his eyes in the background as Steph cast Tam an earnest smile, "It makes me a little sick."
"Jason will sit between us," Tam stated conclusively.
What.
"Jason?" Oh god no. She should have checked her phone.
"Your boyfriend. Tim's brother?" Tam supplemented.
Stephanie's eyes drifted across the table to Tim, who looked equally put off by this notion but seemed to offer no protest. His arms were crossed and his lips were strained as he made eye contact with her.
"Oh. Yeah!" Stephanie nodded, "My skunky wunky. I also call him…" Anything, anything at all would be helpful to come to mind, she sipped her water to buy time.
"Big Dick Jay." A voice came from behind her. She choked on her water.
Jason Todd, clad in ripped blue jeans and a faded brown leather jacket, reached for her wrist to pull her out of the booth. She made desperate eye contact with the man, looking like a crazy woman.
He shook his head at her and cast the table a charming smile.
"But of course in public…" She clarified. "I call him BDJ."
"She came up with this because, well, you know…" He slid in beside Tam. "She makes those Freudian slips." His smile turned to a smirk as he stared down Tim Drake. "Kept calling me BJ, just had to make it into a little… inside joke."
Tam's smile faltered, she was obviously uncomfortable with such overly sexual displays.
"Well, maybe keep that joke inside of your home." Tim supplemented, looking like he would very much like to murder the two of them.
"Speaking of home!" Tam interjected, turning to Tim.
Stephanie immediately jerked her head to look at the new jerk in the booth.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" She whispered into Jason's ear.
"Well if you checked your text messages Blondie you would know." His face was unamused. "And just so you know, one night of watch does not a relationship make, no matter who saw."
"You were the only name that came to mind."
"That's because no one wants to be involved with your shit." Jason hissed.
Tam's head darted back around to look at the couple, realizing she was forgetting the two.
She smiled genuinely, they both smiled too wide and too strange. It became evident that she was uncomfortable with that.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Tam nodded to herself.
The pair's eyes landed on Tim.
He did not look happy.
"I am also going to go to the bathroom," Steph added.
"Yeah, I'm going to go with you." Jason nodded.
"There's only one restroom," Tim stated. "Tam you go." It was more of a command.
No.
Fuck.
Tam smiled graciously and left for the single restroom.
"Why are you two the worst human beings I have ever met?" Tim snarled.
"Whoa, hey, rude," Jason replied, pulling out his phone.
"I bought it last night when it was just her." He pointed a finger to Stephanie. "But I'm definitely not buying it right now."
"Okay but—" Stephanie began.
"No buts. l can't even do this, this is—"
A beep sounded off Tim's phone.
"Looks like you don't have to."
Stephanie's phone vibrated against her thigh just once.
"Blondie and I will take care of it," Stephanie had just begun to take out her phone as Jason spoke. "No worry about your stupid dinner date anymore."
Panic in Gotham ensues as…
"Stephanie is not a superhero anymore, Jason, she hasn't worn a cape for five years," Tim replied.
The Riddler and Cluemaster…
"You honestly didn't tell him? I get that it was just one night but—" Jason cast a look to Stephanie, whose eyes were glassing over as she read the alert. "Man forget that, do talk to no one, Tim? Or are you that stupid?"
"Stephanie." It was a mixture of begging and scolding, an annoying combo managed only by Tim Drake.
Stephanie made eye contact with him, picking up the discarded bag that she had left under the table.
He looked like he couldn't believe her.
"I..." She provided.
"You said you didn't want this life."
Jason shook his head beside her, she bit her lip.
"Tim, it's my dad."
"You said you didn't want this and you left us all." His reply was even yet did the work it intended. "You didn't want what he did to own you."
She slowly began to lower her bag before Jason replied. "So, she's supposed to sit back and let innocent people die?"
"She's supposed to stay safe."
"What happens when I'm one of the innocent people and the place I'm in gets attacked?" Stephanie piped up. "Just because I'm not a hero doesn't mean I'm safe, it means I'm waiting on someone else to do the work. And Tim? It's getting to the point where I can't do that anymore."
Stephanie stood, letting Jason out of the booth.
"Stephanie, I-" Tim began.
"No, you don't anything me!" She yelled.
Tim hurried to his feet, reaching for her wrist.
"I can't watch you kill yourself again."
"But you can kick me in the stomach?" She slapped his hand away.
He seemed dumbstruck, reaching for words anywhere.
"Let me come with you," Tim demanded.
"No. Stay here at your date and get married and have your nice life, don't mess with mine."
Tam had returned, she stood in the background beside Jason. Tim stared at her a moment, deliberating as to what he could do, what he should do, and what he would do.
He knew he would regret it.
"Steph, I love you."
Simultaneously many things occurred.
Stephanie Brown's face softened.
Jason Todd was repulsed.
Stephanie's hand fell on the napkin dispenser in the middle of the booth.
And Tam Fox felt a mixture of despair and relief.
"Then you know that you have to let me go, and you have to let me fight right now. Tim, you know that you can't come with because you're going to try and stop me."
He lunged at her like a feral cat, gathering her in his arms and pressing his lips against her. Drinking in every aspect of the Stephanie Brown he had known.
"I have to leave." Tam Fox, a now well steeled lady.
He pulled away and he looked at her, his eyes were desperate and pleading.
A breath.
Her free hand graced his face for a second, he was like a miracle.
Her occupied hand slammed the napkin dispenser across his face shortly after.
The filled dispenser dropped to the ground.
He crumpled to the floor.
"I have to do this," Stephanie repeated. "He dropped a building on me, Tim. I have to do this without you."