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Batman has been spending a lot of time rereading old files in the last coupla days. (She's pretty sure they're the second Robin's files.) It's weird.
And Tim has been weird about Bruce going through all of those files. Steph's not sure exactly what kinda weird, but definitely really weird.
But! Tim's distracted, and Batman is distracted, which means they aren't bothering with her.
Which means that Steph has been able to start working with Red.
Because Zatanna had said he was the second Robin. And that means he's a friendly. They hadn't thought so before, so she'd left him alone, but c’mon. There's no way she's gonna leave him alone now.
He'd been kinda wary when she'd first rocked up to say hi, but he hadn't immediately shot her down, and that makes her better than the others, like, instantly.
And even though she'd heard Zatanna say that whatever Batman had been saying about Robin -about Red, was wrong-. She hadn't-. Batman has so often warned her about not jumping into things unprepared, because look what had happened to Jason, that-. She hadn't known how to react when Red had told her that these particular guys she wanted to go after were dangerous, and they should be careful.
And then he'd sat down with her on the roof, right where they were, and they'd worked out a plan together. A plan that wouldn't put them in danger.
And it's a good plan. It's gonna work, and it's gonna be great. They just hafta be careful for it to work, that's all.
But they know how to be quiet, and sneaky. Red, because he was Robin - and also because not even Batman could track him down, the last few years. And her, because she's been sneaking around her dad for ages, and he's a Rogue. A C-list Rogue, but still a Rogue. She grins at him.
Batman's been crazy about Spoiler working alone -so she isn't, and about her doing things unprepared -so she's not.
She's gonna prove she can do this without him. She doesn't need Batman, she's Spoiler. And Red is cool. At least he's willing to work with her. And he's from the same part of town, not from Bristol.
And they're both ready to start infiltrating the building, ready to be sneaky, like spies in a movie-.
And then he twitches, and sighs. Crumbs, Zatanna had said he was sorta a ghost, but he really sounds it sometimes.
And he says, “Sorry Spoiler. B said reckless too recently. So, I gotta-.” and then he drops through the skylight.
That's not the plan-! Shit, the curse-.
There's the rattle of gunfire. This is why they weren't gonna-!
Steph takes half a second to thumb her comm onto the connection to the ‘Cave, and shrieks at top volume, “Tell Batman to SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT ROBIN!”
It doesn't matter that they might yell at her for working with Red, not when they hadn't explicitly given her the go ahead. But she doesn't work for them. She's Spoiler. She's capable all by herself.
Except Batman has just fucked this entire thing up, and he's not even here, because apparently he's busy talking shit about Robin, which is fucking up their plan.
And then she goes to rescue Robin.
*****
Tim is already flushed an ugly red when he finds them.
He snaps, “I'm Robin, okay! Not him, I am.”
Jason looks at him, startled, and says “I didn't say you weren't Robin. I know I'm not-. I know he got another Robin after me.”
The curve of his shoulder, the twist of his mouth, they look-. Not good. Steph opens her mouth to tell Tim to shut up, but he says, “Steph called you Robin. And you're not, I am.”
Steph throws her hands up, “Christ, Rob. I said ‘Robin’, because that was the right code name to use at the time. If it bugs you so much, I'll use Red next time, jesus.” (Because she tries to stick to codenames, even if Tim doesn't.)
But Tim's still looking at Jason. He says, “You aren't Robin anymore. You failed.
"I'm a better Robin than you, so don't think you can earn it back, because you can't.”
…what the fuck? What's up his ass?
Jason's still standing there, eyes wide and hurt behind the domino. All he does is say quietly, “Why’d you say that?”
Tim snarls, “It's true. You weren't a good Robin, and I am, and you can't have it back.”
Steph steps between them. “Hey, jackass. Back the fuck up. You haven't even worked with him yet.”
“I don't need to. Batman told me all I need to know.”
Steph rolls her eyes. “Yeah, and the boss-man cursed him, remember? Zatanna tore him a new one about it, because whatever he was saying about Robin wasn't true, and that was why it was a curse.”
“Right. Because Batman would curse someone.”
“She explained all that too!” (Including how she couldn't fix it easily, because it hadn't used an incantation or whatever, so every time she fixed one bit of it, it grew back. Because Gotham.)
Tim doesn't listen, because he's obviously always right, and keeps arguing, “Fine! Explain why Pennyone agrees with Batman then.”
Jason nudges Steph aside before she can answer. He's set his jaw, and squared his shoulders.
It's probably supposed to make him look tough, but instead it just makes him look young . It draws attention to how round his face is - still squishy with baby fat; and how narrow his shoulders are - because he's small.
Because- the weird ghost shit means he's still sorta the same age as when he died. Meaning, fifteen. He's younger than her. He's younger than Tim.
Jason says, “Tell me what Pennyone said.” He-. This is not gonna be good. She feels sick.
Tim's scornful now. “He knew you were reckless. That you wanted vengeance over justice. You let your anger control you. And you openly disobeyed Batman, you didn't think it through, and you got yourself killed.”
Tim leans forwards, “But I'm better than that. I'm better than you.”
Jason shifts his weight, and suddenly she can see that, oh, he is dangerous, even though he's small, and he says “And what actual evidence do you have of any of that? If you're Robin, B has taught you to look at the facts. Not just at people's opinions.” He swallows, looking small again, “Because people can be biased.”
“Fine. The facts. You died, and I didn't. I don't need more than that.”
Tim smirks, but it's kind of desperate, like he's forcing himself to be proud of this, “Heck, Pennyone even said he knew you were going to go wrong from the start, but me. He saw me, and he gave me the Robin suit, because he knew I'd be a good Robin, and I am.”
Jesus, she needs to stop this.
And then, like God is providing just for her, she spots a brick just a few feet away. She'd hit Tim like this when he was being a sanctimonious prick to her, and he'd tried to take her mask off, and then had tried to tell her to go home, that she wasn't cut out for being a vigilante - like he'd known anything about her.
And, well, he doesn't seem to actually know anything about Red either, and yet, here he is, being a prick - and here she is, with a brick in her hand.
She swings.
There's an audible crunch.
God, but that was satisfying.
Tim's a few steps back now, hands over his face, holding onto his broken and bleeding nose.
And Jason-. Jason's pale and shaking, near tears. He just looks at her and says plaintively, “Alfie said that about me?”
Oh, jesus. “I don't know.”
He just stares up at her. She needs to do something.
Behind Jason, she can just about see a dark shadow moving over the rooftops. Tim's just said all that shit, and she's just hit him, and Bruce has been horrible to everyone recently. And there's no way she's gonna stick around for a lecture, not when it wasn't her fault it had gone wrong, it was Batman's, and that stupid curse.
She's not staying, and she's not leaving Jason behind. She needs to get them both out, now . “...But what I do know is that -Batgirl missed you. Do you want to come see her?” (She nearly says ‘Oracle’ instead of ‘Batgirl’, but-. The call sign Jason knows Babs as is probably Batgirl, so she uses that, even though Babs isn't Batgirl anymore, Cass is.)
“...Yeah, okay.”
Steph ignores Tim, who's still trying to stop the bleeding, and Batman, who's nearly there, but Jason glances back, just once, as they go.