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Steph landed more or less gracefully on the ledge, straightening up and putting away her grappling hook gun. Her heart was still racing, her breathing still labored, and skin still buzzing from the fight. She’d dropped in to assist Batman and Nightwing on a drug bust turned shootout, with three vying factions of Gotham’s organized crime convening in one messy winner-takes-all battle.
Unfortunately for them, the only winner to come out of it had been the Bats. Everyone had escaped without major injury, and the majority of the criminals involved had been taken down swiftly and had been zip-tied and waiting on the GCPD when she had left minutes ago.
Steph sat heavily down on her favorite gargoyle, the one with the wings outstretched like a cape in mid-flight that looked out over the harbor. She needed a moment before she headed back home. It was fun, flinging herself across the city with her pulse pounding in her ears and adrenaline amplifying the sensation of every swoop and drop, but it wasn’t exactly smart.
She scooted closer to the edge, hooking her feet around the gargoyle’s shoulders to dangle over the edge, and leaned onto its head, resting her chin in her hands. Gotham looked beautiful from up here-- sharp edges and bright lights against the hazy nighttime sky, the grime erased with distance and hidden in shadow. She was high enough up that the people’s faces were indistinct as they walked the streets below, some ambling along with friends while others scurried towards their destination, hands shoved in their pockets.
It was strange, how a city could weave itself so deeply into you that it became part of who you were. Steph had often dreamt of leaving Gotham behind as a child, of abandoning this place and everything about it and becoming someone new somewhere more beautiful.
Then she’d had the chance, had gone halfway around the world and could have disappeared forever, abandoned Gotham forever, left everything that made her Stephanie Brown behind and become someone untouched by tragedy, and instead…
Instead, she’d found herself back here. Facing things she’d rather not so she could become a better version of herself, not a version that hid from her mistakes. This city was twisted into her veins, equal parts her past, present and future, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to escape it.
She kicked her feet, feeling the air around her boots and the way the wind seemed so much more dangerous up here, so much more exhilarating, and grinned into the night. She’d done good tonight. Nightwing had smiled at her, bright as sunlight glinting off the ocean, and had thanked her for her help. Batman hadn’t said so many words, but instead of a critique he’d nodded at her and told her to get home safely, but his voice had been kind and he’d patted her shoulder as she’d gone.
She wanted to remember this feeling. The city thrumming through her veins, the ache of the fight still lingering in her knuckles and thighs, the night air against her skin and the feel of approval warming her from the inside out.
This was the kind of night that made the pain, the scars, the tears worth it.