Chapter Text
Stephanie Brown, the girl wonder, currently the one and only Robin, was back in the Batcave, ready for action. She and Batman had worked together to take down the latest threat to Gotham, but an accident had left Batman partially blinded for a few weeks. She had been working through an intense training regimen while Batman recovered, and tonight was the night that the duo was back.
“We’re tracking down Tiger Moth, right?” Stephanie chirped as she watched Batman, who she had recently learned was Gotham’s very own playboy billionaire, Bruce Wayne, descend the fire pole down to the cave. “I know we’ve been inactive for three weeks, but her suit is so complex that it should be difficult to repair. It could have been totally destroyed by the fire! Who knows how long it could take to repair it? Where do we start?” Stephanie was literally bouncing up and down, unable to contain her energy.
Batman’s feet connected with the floor as the girl’s questions paused for just a moment, “We aren’t—” He started.
“It was a botched mission, I know, I know,” she cut him off, “but we’re going to get back out there, and your sight is getting better. Back to the dynamic duo.”
Batman frowned down in Stephanie’s direction, “Missions will be easier from here on out, at least for you, Stephanie.”
“Robin, not Stephanie when we’re in uniform; that’s literally your rule,” she swiftly corrected.
Batman sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, “You disobeyed a direct order in the field. Our agreement was that you could be Robin on a trial basis as long as you obeyed direct orders.”
“You needed my help; you weren’t going to get out of there without help.” She shook her head. Disbelief clouds her expression, leaving her looking blindsided.
“No exceptions, no excuses.” Batman shakes his head, “That was our deal.”
“But—” Steph starts looking gobsmacked.
“You’re fired. You have the rest of the night to get your belongings out of the cave.” Batman starts to walk toward the elevator, but turns around. “I don’t want to see Spolier in the field either.”
Stephanie glares at the man under the mask. “No,” she said coldly, “you can’t just take away Robin and Spoiler.” No, I won’t give up. He can’t make me give up; I’ve worked too hard to let go now. “Robin may be your sidekick, but Spoiler is a vigilante in her own right.” Her eyes started to water, and she hissed out, “I won’t let you take away something that is mine. I created Spoiler for my mission. Mine, Batman, not yours.”
“Spoiler doesn’t have the same protections Robin has,” Batman sighed. “I do not want you to get hurt. I can’t have another child die on my watch.”
“Great, because I’m not Robin anymore,” she made a gesture with her hands, “So, who gives a fuck. I didn’t get hurt in the first place–– it was you. You needed me, my help, and I gave it even if it went against your orders.”
Bruce strides across the room to look down in an attempt to shut her down, “You don’t have the training or the skills necessary to continue down this path. This mission is deadly, Stephanie.”
A tear, ignored, leaks down Robin’s cheek, “I know Jason is dead, but I’m not him. I’m not Dick. And news flash, I’m not Tim either,” Steph yells. “You’ve been comparing me to him this whole time. Maybe I can’t do a one-handed handstand for twenty minutes straight without breaking a sweat, but does that make me incapable?”
“If anything, it shows that your core and arm strength needs adjusting and that your balance needs work,” Batman grumbles.
“Oh, so the best way to get me to rapidly gain muscle is by comparing me to my boyfriend and making me do push-up after push-up until I can compete with a body different from mine? Like, Cass has to do any of this, and she’s Batgirl,” she argues.
Cass, perfect, graceful, and beautiful, Cass . She didn’t need Robin because she was trained and could take on any case with flawless execution. She was practically independent from Batman’s work— like Babs—but I’m nothing like her.
“Cass has been honed to be a weapon since birth.” He pauses, considering for a moment, “You’re different.”
I’m not perfect like Cass. I’m not even as good as Tim. “Nowhere near as good as Cass, but not different enough from Tim, I guess.” Her eyes weren’t misty anymore. Anger took over; she could feel it pulsing through her veins. The only thing that mattered anymore was that she made him understand what he was doing. How he was making her hurt— he may have been the one blinded, but she was the one blindsided. Robin was more Tim’s than his anyway.
“They left you, Bruce. Dick ran away to the Titans and Blud the second he could. Jason ran away to Africa to get away from you and died rather than stay. Tim doesn’t want anything to do with you. I thought you could be a good mentor, but I should have taken their advice.”
“It’s not on you. I should have said no. I do not lead a good life, let alone a safe one. I should have never dragged you into the mission.”
Batman turned his head towards her as he walked towards the elevator again, “I just saw so much of myself in you. I thought I could help, give you training and boundaries because you need both as much as you respect neither. I expect you to be out by midnight.”
“I am not you, and I am certainly not your daughter, Bruce. I have a father, as shitty as he is, and I don’t want another deadbeat, more concerned about their all-consuming mission than their child.” Stephanie growled, pulling off her cape. “You can take Robin away, but I won’t ever stop. I will not forgive you.” She said, stalking after him, speaking to his back.
The elevator door opened to admit Bruce. “Goodbye, Stephanie,” he said as the metal doors closed the space between them.
Stephanie went to grab her burner cell. It had only a handful of contacts: Bruce, Alfred, Tim, Barbara, and a few informants. She hit the message button for the last contact on her list and typed as quickly as the buttons would allow.
Steph: hey you said to reach out if i ever needed anything. I’m not robin anymore and I need to get out of gotham for a bit
A message quickly pinged back,
Cass: he’s wrong. in tokyo for case. come.
Stephanie did not know how to get to Tokyo with approximately fifty dollars to her name, but damn it, she would find a way. She shoved the phone into her bag and packed up her belongings— she was headed for Tokyo.