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A slight figure in black and purple stood alone at the edge of a roof. Okay... Breathe in, breathe out. Done this loads of times. Just step to the edge and...
<<Something wrong?>>
“No, no. Just... looking.” Looking way, way, waaaay down. Stephanie peers further over the edge, down into the streets below. It’s quiet: a few late pedestrians, the occasional cab. But hey, this is cake. Cupcakes, even. No Problem. No Problemo. Nada Problemada.
Okay, that last one might be pushing it.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what is known as stalling.
<<You checked the new grapple earlier. Is something wrong with it?>>
“Yeah, I mean yeah I checked it, and no, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
<<Uh-huh.>>
“Really. This is cupcakes.” There’s a snort of stifled noise over the com line.
She stepped to the edge again. Done this loads. Jumped off of high stuff. Off to save the day, derring do and all that jazz. She looked down at the new costume. Little bit different tonight, though.
Not a teenager with something to prove. Not just keeping a promise to a friend. Not even as Robin, as supremely awesome as that was, had she felt this personally connected to a symbol, to something so much bigger than herself. Can’t screw up now, you’ll let the team down. But, hey, at least there’s a team, right?
“Say, O?”
<<Hmmm?>>
“You ever, you know, get a little nervous up here, even after you’d done it before?”
<<Sure. You can work through it. Still okay for this patrol?>>
“Yeah, just a little first-day-in-the-new-threads jitters, no biggie.” She took another breath, then said in a smaller voice, “O? How did you work through it?”
<<Ha. I don’t think my method would work for you.>>
Steph felt her eyebrows hit the upper edges of her mask. “Okay, explain.”
<<I used to picture Dick’s smug face if he ever knew I was scared.>>
Steph clapped one gloved hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. “That’s fabulous!”
<<Don’t tell him.>>
“Wouldn’t dare.” Okay, laughter is the best medicine after all. I can do this. “You recommended heading up Robinson first, then over to-” She was cut off by the shrill of an alarm, not two blocks away. As if from outside herself, Steph watched her arm swing up, fire the grapple, and she swung out into the open air. Huh. No problem. She smiled.
On the fly, she spoke into the com again. “On the track of a burglar alarm. You got this on your scanner-ma-jig?”
<<I got you, Batgirl.>> came the response. <<Good hunting.>>