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Stephanie throws her head back against the air conditioning unit behind her. “You’re going to bore me to death,” she says dramatically. Damian rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Gotham death rate statistics are very interesting, Spoiler. In fact, I’d go as far as to say they’re more interesting than you.” Stephanie gapes at him in mock offence and puts a hand to her chest. “I don’t understand why Father wants me to patrol with you. You’re insufferable.”
“Not gonna lie to you, I’m feeling a bit hurt right now.” Stephanie stands now. The crisp winter air blows in her face as she moves closer to Damian at the edge of the building.
Damian’s face sours when he feels Stephanie’s presence next to him. He sees her slender fingers wrap around his staff the was resting against the wall. She rests her weight on it and looks the same direction as Damian. Damian thinks he’s about to burst a blood vessel.
“Is your only goal to annoy me? If so, it’s working,” he grumbles, snatching his staff away from Steph. He has no reason to even have it, he uses the sword, but something in him feels protective of it when Steph grabs it.
Totally not because it was Tim’s before it was his. He definitely doesn’t care about Tim’s staff at all. He hates that guy, anyway. It’s his staff now. Steph shouldn’t even be near it.
“You’re not as scary as you think you are. You’re like, what, seven? And you’re two feet tall? Not very intimidating, Baby Bat.”
Damian scowls. “I’m twelve, an inch shorter than you, and I could very easily beat you in a fight.” Steph scoffs.
“I’m starting to see why Nightwing adores you so much. You’re so cute! I could pinch your little cheeks!”
“This is so unprofessional, and I’m not two.”
“You aren’t? Could’ve fooled me.” Damian fights the urge to push Stephanie off the roof now. He reminds himself that they’re meant to be looking for crime. He hates how quiet it is tonight.
Stephanie begins to hum an ABBA song that Damian’s heard Dick sing before. This is it, he thinks, my father’s about to disown me for ‘accidentally’ throwing Stephanie off the roof. Stephanie’s going to die for the second time if Damian has anything to say about it.
“I would’ve preferred Hood over you.” Damian feels his energy draining the longer he has to be here. He starts to wonder if it’s meant to be a punishment.
“C’mon man, live a little! Doesn’t Dick ever do anything with you? Take you anywhere? Haven’t you ever had any fun?” Damian keeps his lips pressed into a thin line.
“No real names in the field, Spoiler.”
“Oh, fuck that. C’mon, kid, I’m taking you somewhere.” She doesn’t wait for a response before jumping off the roof. Damian briefly considers letting her die before finally jumping after her, shooting his grappling hook to the building across the street and grabbing onto Stephanie’s arm just before she hits the ground. She smiles as if she almost just accidentally killed herself.
His heart begins to slow down, though he didn’t notice that it was racing in the first place. It was a bit of a thrill. Not knowing whether or not Steph would die, not knowing where they’d land... it was a new experience, for sure.
Damian lets them both down across the street from where they had been. His scowl deepens greatly as he pulls her into an alley.
“You could’ve gotten us both killed you dolt!”
“Yeah, but you caught us! Wasn’t that fun?” Damian pushes her shoulder and walks behind her with an exasperated sigh that could rival even Bruce’s.
“That wasn’t fun, Spoiler, that was stupid. We can’t afford to make stupid decisions.”
Stephanie rolls her eyes and starts heading back to the sidewalk. “Spare me the lecture, Baby Bat. I don’t need to be scolded by a six month old.” Damian opens his mouth to protest, but Steph keeps talking. “Now, come on. There’s still something I want to show you.” She disappears around the corner before Damian can get a word in.
Damian, begrudgingly, follows. Maybe it wasn’t a punishment, but a test. Maybe Bruce wants to see if Damian’s responsible enough to get another dog. Maybe he should be treating this situation with more care. It’ll be hard, though, especially because of Steph. He’ll have to keep on his toes.
Damian rounds one last corner to catch up to Stephanie, and what he finds is beautiful.
It’s a closed off area that’s almost a sort of room, but it’s still in the maze of alleys, just after a series of specific turns. There’s a tarp covering the top of it to protect it from rain. Under the tarp, fairy lights are strung about and light up the area. There’s a couple bean bags on the ground. A random assortment of books are stacked in one of the corner on a grey mat that matches both the ground and the tarp. There’s a mini fridge in one of the other corners. Clothes are hung up on racks closer to the tarp, high up enough so that Damian can’t reach it standing. Stephanie stands next to him at the entrance, smiling.
“Babs and Dick set this up when they wanted to get away from Bruce after patrol.” Stephanie opens the fridge and pulls out a Capri Sun. “It’s kind of a tradition, showing this place to other people when everyone agrees they’re ready. Tim took me and Cass here once. Now, it’s my turn to show you!” She plops down on one of the bean bags.
Damian furrows his eyebrows. “Father wouldn’t approve of this. What if this place is found, which it’s bound to be.”
Steph shrugs. “We made sure no one can identify us based on this stuff. Plus, we’re not allowed here when injured. It’s just a chill spot, you know? We’ve got some set up all over Gotham.”
Damian sits down on the other bean bag, still taking in the sight of it all. “How did you decide that I was ready? How do you know?”
Stephanie shrugs again. “We just knew, I guess. Thought maybe you’d like to bring Titus here sometimes, or maybe one of the other ones. But I think Titus would like it here.” Damian hums along. “Two rules though: no coming alone, and no telling Big Bat.”
Damian nods. “Thank you for showing me, Stephanie.”
Stephanie feels her heart grow three times bigger. “Eh, no biggie. Everyone else in the family already knows.” Damian looks over to her.
“You aren’t apart of the family, though. You’re only associated with us through Timothy and vigilante work.”
Stephanie snorts. “Tell that to Cass. I’m practically your sister-in-law!” Damian stands from the bean bag abruptly. Stephanie gets the sense she should leave.
“You’re what- Brown, get back here!”