Archive of Our Own ^beta

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She groaned as her mind was pulled back into consciousness, daylight streaming through her partially closed blinds. Her body hurt. There were at least two large bruises on her back, courtesy of a few glancing shots on her body armour; those were just the marks she could feel. Steph loved being a vigilante, really she did. But getting up was hard enough already, without regularly staying out until too early in the morning fighting criminals. Normally she’d try to catch up on at least a bit of much needed sleep, unfortunately, today was a day she couldn’t afford to have a lie in.

Steph laid there, feeling each of her bruises and seriously thinking about her life choices, as the events of last night came rushing back to her. The sky on fire. Parademons flying above like a swarm of locusts. A towering obsidian monolith in Gotham bay, illuminated by sinister dark rays. She remembered seeing the League, ranks upon ranks of heroes descend on the Apokoliptians; remembered fighting alongside them through tides of horrors, and she remembered the triumphant cheer and earth shattering crack when Superman toppled the malicious structure. It had been a long night. 

Why couldn’t Darkseid have just invaded Metropolis like usual?

Unfortunately, that hadn’t even been the end of it. Some of the carnage of the battle had leaked into Gotham and the surrounding areas, with one unlucky parademon even finding their way in Arkham Asylum and accidentally starting a prison break (they were pretty sure Killer Croc had taken a bite out of it). Needless to say, the second half of the night was spent trying to round up most of Gotham’s rogues, tracking down any wandering parademons and desperately trying to stop any gangs from scavenging alien weaponry.

It had been a long night. And something told Steph there was more to come.

Sighing, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and cast the sheets off dramatically; first things first, she needed coffee.

***

“No! And yes, I will get some rest.... Alright, see you saturday for the movie.” Tim’s voice echoed out of the kitchen as Steph strolled in, rubbing more sleep from the corner of her eye. Tim was standing over the coffee machine, the blissful smell of freshly roasted beans graced her nose. He raised a hand in greeting, accompanied by a soft smile, all while holding his phone to his ear. With a cough and a splutter, Tim’s friendly demeanour was replaced by a momentary look of panic as he nearly dropped the phone from his hand. Recovering, he raised it back to his ear. “Yeah, um, you too.”

A soft snickering followed by Damian’s distinctive “ tt” announced his presence, sitting at the breakfast bar. Not looking up from the tablet in his hands he said, “Too struck to even hold your phone, Drake?”

Pocketing his phone, Tim let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the fresh pot of coffee in the machine on the counter behind him. Pouring himself a generous cup of black coffee, he wordlessly handed the pot over to Steph who accepted it happily. He turned back over to Damian and gave him a very pointed look, “You looking over your plans for “patrol” on Saturday?”

This time it was Damian’s turn to sputter. He looked up at Tim, a rosey blush creeping into his cheeks, at a loss of words for once. Tim smiled into his coffee cup, simply raising his eyebrows at his brother.

“I have no idea what’s going on with you two but it’s far too early to be dealing with it.” Steph shook her head as she retrieved her favourite coffee cup. It was a simple white mug with an eggplant emoji on it, Tim had gotten it for whenever she stayed after patrol. This had happened while they were still dating and when Bruce had asked what it meant, they laughed and innocently replied it was because of the colour of her costume. It had been years ago but it still made them laugh. Shaking her head, she forced herself back to reality, they had work to do, “How are we looking after last night?”

Tim hopped up and sat on the kitchen counter, turning back to her, “Bruce and the rest of the League are still out there overseeing cleanup but it looks like Steppenwolf is headed back home with his tail between his legs.”

“And the Arkham escapees?”

“The Birds of Prey and Kate managed to round up a few more after we turned in last night but there’s still a dozen or so left. Bruce thinks they’ll have gone to ground until things settle down a bit more but Jason reached out to his underworld contacts. Cass and Duke took the morning shift, looking for any clues.”

Tim and Damian made eye contact again, this time a slightly nervous look on their faces. Steph let out a sigh. Of course. “My dad?”

Tim gave her a sad smile and nodded his head, “Still unaccounted for, sorry.”

Steph was silent for a moment, unsure how to feel. “We’ll catch him. He’s just a knock off Riddler with a superiority complex. We’ve caught him before and we’ll do it again.”

“Look, if you want us to handle him, there are plenty of other cases that need attention. He’s still your father-”

“He stopped being my dad after he tried to kill me.” Steph snapped, “Although I’m not convinced he ever really was. Cluemaster is just another D-list villain that we’ll have in Arkham by the end of the day.”

Tim didn’t say anything but looked unconvinced, and by the ferocity Steph realised she was clutching her coffee cup with, so was she.

***

“Too slow, Jaybird.” Dick grinned, flipping over his opponent’s leg sweep.

Jason grit his teeth with annoyance, deflecting the riposte away with an open palm. Using his momentum, Jason spun around and went on the attack, directing a flurry of blows towards Dick. He deftly dodged each and every one and launched into a backflip, his feet narrowly missing Jason’s head. “Could you stand still for just one moment, you frog legged circus freak!”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Dick winked at him, the two brothers circling each other, guards held up.

“Drop dead.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“Dude. Low blow.” Jason said lowering his guard and shooting Dick an icy glare. Instantly, Dick’s signature grin dropped, a look of guilt and worry taking its place.

“Oh shit. Jason, I didn’t mean… I’m so sorry-” Dick’s heartfelt apology was quickly cut off as Jason swept both his feet out from under him in one fluid movement.

“That’s 3 points to 2, I take the match. Suck it Dickie boy.” Jason smirked, offering his brother a hand up.

Dick let out an indignant gasp from the floor. “That does not count! You are the biggest cheater to ever cheat and I cannot believe you would betray your own big brother like this!”

Steph laughed from the bottom of the stairs that descended into the cave. “I don’t know man, he got you good.”

Jason shot her a quick smile, “Thank you Stephie. A completely impartial referee has reviewed the case and decided I win.”

Dick begrudgingly took his brother’s hand and hauled himself back to verticality. “How long were you even there?”

“Long enough I should have gotten popcorn.” Steph chuckled, “Any news from the field?”

“Duke and Cass are following up a possible lead on Killer Croc but the streets are quiet.” Dick announced, strolling over to the batcomputer, checking for updates.

“Not quiet, waiting. Word got out that Penguin escaped last night, most folks are waiting to see what will happen. Chatter says Black Mask is recruiting again, getting ready to defend his territory, most of it used to be Penguin’s before we put him away.”

Steph rolled her eyes, “So what, there’s a gang war brewing on top of everything else? Great.”

Jason shrugged, “Depends on how fast we pick up Oswald again, he’ll want to wait for an opportune moment to strike, or a distraction-”

“Oh crap!” Dick exclaimed, a sudden cluster of red alerts popping up on the batcomputer terminal. “Some kind of hostage situation, Gotham Museum of Natural History, patching into the cameras now.”

“Duke and Cass?” Steph asked, her and Jason rushing over to Dick’s side.

“In the sewers on the other side of Gotham, we better handle this ourselves.”

The clattering of feet down the cave’s stairs announced Damian’s presence, with Tim following quickly behind. “What’s going on?”

“It’s one of our escapees, looks like Riddler isn’t a fan of the Museum’s newest exhibit. Suit up.”

***

“He cut the security feeds but thermal imaging shows he’s holed up in the west wing with half a dozen staff and the museum’s curator. Looks like he’s set up a bunch of machinery but I don’t recognise them.” Tim said, swiping through a variety of holographic screens from his wrist computer.

The five Robins were perched on a rooftop overlooking the museum, the plaza below them abuzz with police activity.

“I count 4 fire doors but the GCPD are covering each of them and the main entrance into the West Wing.” Damian offered, “The skylights and windows are alarmed, unless Drake can disable them, he’ll hear us coming.”

Tim shook his head, “No can do. After Selina’s last robbery they removed them from the network and hardwired them, you’d have to cut the cables from inside.”

“So what?” Jason shrugged, “There’s five of us and one of him, let’s crash through the skylight and bag him before he can react.”

“Too risky with the hostages,” Dick murmured, deep in thought, “He’s bound to have something set up, this is Riddler we’re talking about, he’s not dumb.”

“Yeah but he isn’t half as clever as he thinks he is.” Jason grumbled.

A smile blossomed across Dick’s face, “You’re right, he thinks he’s so much smarter than all of us. Tim, are all the windows wired to the one alarm?”

***

There was a thunderous crash and a shower of glass, casting kaleidoscopic rays of light across the atrium of the museum’s west wing. A lone figure descended among them, a grappling line the only thing spoiling the illusion of flight. With a practised movement, Red Hood landed, bending his knees to absorb the impact and in an instant had a pistol in his grip.

“Give it up Eddie, show’s over.” Jason growled out.

The Riddler rested his signature question mark staff against his arm, sleeved in a disgustingly green suit, and started to clap slowly. “Wow. Great entrance, honestly, I’m impressed. I don’t think the big bad Bat himself could have done it any better.”

“You’re gonna put that down, let these people go and check yourself back into Arkham.” Jason ordered, gun still trained on the villain. From the corner of his eye, he could spy Tim silently entering through a high window.

“A tempting offer, but I’m going to have to decline. You see, I am here on important business.”

“Oh yeah, and what would that be?”

“Why, educating the masses of course.” Riddler gesticulated elaborately to the hostages, tied to a kiosk, frightened and gagged. “This exhibit somehow manages to confuse the importance of Egyptian and Mesopotamian sphinxes, a child could catch half of the inaccuracies here. And you call me a criminal!”

Jason sighed, “And you couldn’t just write a strongly worded letter?”

Steph finally reached her position, behind a statue of a sphinx, she had a good view of both Riddler and the hostages. On the opposite side of the room, she saw Dick squat behind a sandstone block, ready to make a move. Between the five of them, they could take the Riddler down and secure the hostages without a problem.

A high pitched whine from all around her brought her out of her thoughts.

“And, stop!” Riddler cried gleefully, “Did you really think I wouldn’t put my own motion detectors on all the windows?”

Steph shared a panicked look with Dick. Shit.

“I have placed micromines all around this room, almost imperceptible to the human eye. I have to say, it is wonderful what you can find on the black market at short notice these days, in the old days I’d have to dangle someone over a vat of acid or something.”

“Invisible mines?” Jason grunted frustratedly, but still not daring to move a muscle. “You expect me to believe this crap?”

The Riddler shrugged, a confident smile on his face. “Don’t believe it if you want, but they’re not fun to run in to. Now, one won’t kill you but there’s enough scattered around the room to blow this place to kingdom come. And they’re going to detonate in… Nine and a half minutes.”

“Well how about I just shoot you?”

“Then I’ll never be able to tell you how to disarm them, we all know I’m nothing if not fair. I’ve hidden the button to disarm them somewhere in this room and I have three riddles that can clue you to its location.”

Steph watched Jason holster his pistol and raise a gloved hand to the forehead of his helmet, sighing in tedium. She could practically hear him roll his eyes.

“Riddle the first; I am a house. I can move in, out, up and down, surrounded by a white picket fence and have red earth and sky. What am I?”

She glanced at Tim who was making a similarly desperate gesture, resigning himself to the situation.

The Riddler walked back towards the kiosk, hovering by the entranceway. “Your second riddle; I walk a mile down, a mile left, a mile up. Yet I am back where I started.”

“What’s that even supposed to mean? There wasn’t even a question!” Dick complained, exasperated.

The Riddler just smiled, moving to enter the kiosk.

“Screw this.” Jason muttered and started to charge towards their adversary. He made it about three steps before suddenly being blown backwards and off his feet.

“Hood!” Dick exclaimed in anguish, he was replied by a low cry of pain from Jason’s new position on the floor. That meant he was alive.

“See, I told you that would happen.” The Riddler tutted, “I’ll still be sporting and give you the last riddle. What am I?”

“What?” Damian shouted angrily, a look of rage on his face but The Riddler had disappeared into the small structure in the centre of the room.

“Guys! Come on, we need to work this out. Focus.” Tim tried to compose himself.

Dick let out a breath and nodded, “Red Robin’s right. Think. Moving house, white fence, red earth and sky.”

“It’s abstract, won’t be an actual structure.” Tim mused.

Steph nodded, “Moving parts, mostly red but with some white.”

Damian let out an indignant noise, displeased. “Well maybe I could actually think if you shut your mouths for once.”

Tim and Steph shared a sudden glance, before both exclaiming “Mouth!”

A proud smile snuck onto Dick’s masked face, “Alright good start, what about the next one, some kind of Escher puzzle?”

Tim let out a hum, “Definitely non euclidean topology, is it some kind of shape?”

Damian nodded thoughtfully, “A globe.”

“Yes!” Dick clicked his fingers, “The north pole! If you go a mile south, it doesn’t matter how far you travel east or west, if you go back a mile north you’ll always end up back there.”

“Alright, so mouth and the north pole? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Steph said, annoyed.

“Yeah,” Tim agreed, “And what was that last riddle; what is he?”

“The Riddler, a supervillain, a questioner?” Dick brainstormed aloud.

“A fool in a green suit.” Damian interjected.

From his place on the floor, Jason rolled over to look at them. “You guys are idiots. He’s someone who asks riddles.” He said, gesturing the multitude of sphinx statues in the exhibit behind them. Sure enough, tucked away in the mouth of the northernmost sphinx was a small black box with a single button.

***

“God, you’re such a big baby, just sit still for a second.”

“I told you, I’m fine! Just get that light out of my face!” Jason said exasperated, waving Steph’s hand off.

“Jason! You have to take concussions seriously, they can really mess you up.”

“I’m not concussed, I’m just pissed off! Who made you the medic anyway?”

“Leslie.” Steph let out a sigh and turned the torch in her hands off, stepping away. “Alright, that’s it. Someone else take macho man here off my hands.”

The noise of motorbikes echoing through the cave’s entrance alerted the vigilantes to the arrival of two blurs of black and yellow. Brakes screeching, Cass and Duke parked their bikes against the wall and dismounted in short order.

“I’ve got good news and bad news.” Duke announced, taking his helmet off, a broad smile adorning his face.

“Well you’re both here and in the right number of pieces, so it can’t be worse than our morning. Jason decided to run right head first into an explosive and get concussed.” Dick sighed, “The Riddler escaped too, some kind of sewer entrance that they must have added recently, wasn’t on any blueprints.”

“Hey, I’m not concussed, and how was I supposed to know there were micromines everywhere?” Jason grumpily protested from the med bay’s bed.

“I don’t know, maybe because the Riddler told us, right before you decided to run into them.” Tim bemoaned from above him. “And yes, you definitely do have a concussion, drink this.”

“Well we didn’t manage to track anyone else down.” Duke said, bemused. “But, we did stop off for BatBurger on our way home.”

Behind him, Cass stood, smiling and with two large brown paper bags, incredible smells wafting out of both.

***

Lunch passed quickly, with all the vigilantes scoffing their burgers, fries and a couple of milkshakes. 

“Come on you big baby, let’s get you back upstairs.” Tim said, jokingly prodding Jason in the side. “You’re banned from going out again for the next couple of days.”

“I really don’t need you to take care of me Timmy, I don’t-”

“If you say you don’t have a concussion one more time, I will give you one myself.” Steph interjected, only half jokingly.

Jason muttered something about ‘wanting to see her try’, scrunched up his burger’s paper wrapper and tossed it at the bin. It missed by at least a foot. Grumbling, he got up and followed Tim towards the changing rooms.

“We should be off too.” Dick jumped up from his seat, swiping his discarded escrima sticks from the table beside him and shot a look towards Damian. “Someone needs to be out on the streets today.”

Damian nodded towards Duke and Cass, “The food was adequate, if nauseatingly unhealthy.”

Duke rolled his eyes, “Dude, can you not just say ‘thank you’?”

“Not healthy. Good.” Cass signed, a soft smile on her face.

Letting out a small sigh, Damian begrudgingly said “Thank you. It was good.”

Dick chuckled and ruffled a hand through his brother’s hair, “There’s hope for you yet Dami. Come on, one of Jason’s contacts got in touch about Penguin and I want to follow it up.”

Protesting, Damian followed him as the duo headed towards one of the many Batmobiles parked in the Cave.

“I gotta bounce as well, my old neighbourhood got hit pretty hard last night. Riko called in the old gang to help out and I want to go check on them.” Duke said, remaining in his chair and looking wistfully at his now empty milkshake carton.

Cass grinned at him.

Narrowing his eyes, Duke shot her a suspicious look. “What?”

“I-S-A”, she signed out, raising one of her eyebrows.

“Shut up.” Duke shook his head as Cass giggled. “Yeah, I guess she’ll probably be there.”

“Aww, does Duke have a crush?” Steph teased, relaxing back in her chair.

“Girlfriend.” Cass signed, getting up and giving Duke a hug.

Steph raised her eyebrows, “Oh a girlfriend! You don’t want to be late then, loverboy.”

After returning the hug, Duke gave both of the girls a bemused look. “I hate you both. Stay safe and I’ll see you later.”

Cass shot him finger guns and Steph snickered as he retreated to his motorbike by the Cave’s exit. After the echoing sounds of his bike died out, both the girls gave each other a look and laughed again.

“Nap. Meditate.” Cass signed, a weary smile on her face.

Steph nodded, “You’ve been up since last night, sounds sensible.”

After a quick hug, Cass ascended the stairs back up to the manor, leaving Steph alone in the Cave, with only the company of humming machinery.

***

The Wayne Foundation Park Row Medical Clinic was always busy, but Steph had never seen it so packed full of people. Fortunately it looked undamaged from the previous night’s battle with Darkseid’s forces, as the worst of the worst of the fighting had been kept to the Gotham Bay area. However, there were still people lying on stretchers outside, volunteers moving between them with bandages and clean wipes.

Steph dodged past one holding a bag of medicines to get inside. Somehow the clinic’s interior was more chaotic than the exterior. Leslie would be trying to keep the more serious injuries inside, where it would be safer and cleaner, supposedly.

“We need more fresh bandages Cullen, now!” “Aisha, keep pressure on that wound, and make sure he stays awake!” Leslie Thompkins bellowed, strolling through the room. “Harper?! When are the new supplies from Gotham General supposed to be getting here?”

“No idea, boss. They should have been here already” Harper Row responded from the side of an elderly woman lying on a bed, a red spotted bandage adorning her head.

“Shit.” Leslie murmured under her breath, the exhaustion on her face clear to Steph.

Walking up the older woman, Steph lightly touched her arm, alerting Leslie to her presence. Immediately her face softened into a small smile and Leslie embraced her in a warm hug.

“I am glad to see you, and in one piece!”

Steph nodded, “I’m alright, don’t worry, but it seems like you have your hands full.”

Leslie nodded grimly, “Gotham General got hit bad last night, whatever those demon things were ripped half of it up. They managed to evacuate most of the people but it’ll take months to repair the hospital and we’ve had to take on the extra slack in the meantime. I don’t suppose you could do me a favour?”

Steph nodded eagerly, “Anything.”

“Harper?!” Leslie called, “I got a job for you.”

“Got my hands full here, Leslie.” Responded Harper, who was leaning over someone, applying a salve.

Steph watched Harper’s brother, Cullen, approach and give her a confident smile. After a quick exchange with him, Harper ran over to the pair, flashing a grin and a wink to Steph.

“Alright, what are we doing here boss?”

“Take Steph and find Omar, I never should have sent him to get those supplies alone, this is Crime Alley.” Shaking her head, Leslie let out a guilty sigh. “Just try and find him and the  ambulance. I don’t know if you can use any fancy gadgets to try and track it down.”

Harper nodded, “Yeah, I fitted it with a transponder myself, shouldn’t be hard to find.”

Leslie gave them a nod, “Alright, stay safe both of you. And get those supplies back, although Omar is the priority here.”

Without another word, Leslie strode off, rubbing her forehead. Steph grinned at her friend, “Well this all looks like a shitshow.”

“You have no idea, a few buildings collapsed a couple of blocks over and now there’s safety fears about the structural integrity of most of the narrows. Darkseid really did a number on the city. You alright?”

“Just a bit bruised but we’re all fine, we mostly tried to catch the strays who made it into the city while the big hitters were duking it out.”

Harper put a hand on her shoulder, “Well I’m glad, I was out there last night, just trying to protect our building but it looked like the world was ending.”

“Not quite yet. Come on, let's find your ambulance.”

“Wait a moment,” Harper fished around in her back pocket before winking and presenting Steph with a small metallic device. It looked slightly janky with exposed wiring, batteries and other components clearly visible under the tape that was holding them together. “High powered taser, my newest design, and don’t worry, I’ve always got a spare.”

Steph grinned, “I forgot how much fun you were to hang out with.”

Harper laughed, “Ha! Come on, I think I should be able to track the ambulance on my phone, I made some modifications to it.”

After a couple of minutes, Harper had successfully tuned her phone to the right frequency and the pair set off tracking the transponder’s RFID chip. It only took them 5 minutes to find the ambulance, Omar must have almost managed to make it back. The vehicle was leant against a ruined wall of what had once been a bodega, and although the vehicle was mostly intact, the bullet holes in the windshield gave the pair pause for concern. Fortunately Omar wasn’t inside, wherever he was, it looked like he must have made it to safety. The back doors had been thrown open, it’s interior a mess, obviously pillaged for whatever medical supplies the hospital had tried to send.

“Looks like a robbery.” Harper grimaced.

Best stay on your guard, they might not have gone far,” Steph murmured to Harper.

Harper nodded, “You do your detective thing, I’ll poke my head around the street, see if anyone saw anything.”

Steph agreed, although slightly begrudgingly, she knew Harper could handle herself but the other girl hadn’t been on active duty for a couple of months now. Going back around to the front of the ambulance, Steph took a closer look at the driver’s seat. The door was swung open but it didn’t look damaged, meaning Omar had most probably opened it himself.The way the ambulance had swerved and the side he chose to open from meant the shooting almost certainly would have come from the other side of the street. 

Steph moved her gaze back to the ambulance’s windshield. There were two distinct trails of bullets, which meant at least two shooters, probably a third who was a worse shot judging by a few more bullet holes in the side of the ambulance. It was hard to tell with multiple bullet holes and a partially smashed windshield, but the bullets’ trajectories suggest the shooters were firing from an elevated position. Surveying the street, there were only a couple of few apartments with enough large windows for three shooters.

Jogging across the street, Steph slipped a lockpick out of her back pocket, she never left home without one. The lock was pretty thick, most of them in and around Park Row were, but after a minute it gave away with a satisfying click. She let herself into the apartment building, where the stairway was cramped and the paint and plaster were peeling off the walls. All in all, pretty average for the area. Steph remembered what it was like to live in a place like this, it had only been for a short time after her dad had been put in Arkham, or one of the times at least. She had been determined to remain independent and emancipated, but after two months of rats scurrying through the vents and strange liquids leaking through her roof she had begrudgingly accepted Bruce and Tim’s offer to live at the manor. At least for the time being.

Apartment 3A. Well, she assumed there had been an ‘A’ by the impression left on the door, even if the letter had fallen off at some point. There was an eviction notice pinned to it so she figured it must have been abandoned at some point. Letting herself in she took a long look around the small apartment. There were only two rooms but the living area stretched across the third floor of the building. Three windows, good view both up and down the street and the door was already conveniently broken. This was it, the bullet casings and burnt out cigarette butts on the floor confirmed it. One of them was still softly smoldering, against the carpet 

no less. Shaking her head she stamped it out, either way it meant this had only just happened. Slipping a couple of the shell casings into a plastic bag to try and get fingerprints off of it later, she exited the apartment with expediency.

“There you are!” Harper greeted her as Steph joined her outside. “A homeless guy was on the corner when it happened. He got out of dodge pretty quick but said two guys in an SUV pulled up at the end of the street before the shooting started.”

Steph nodded thoughtfully, “That figures, three shooters up at a vantage point while two more block the road so Omar couldn’t just drive off. This wasn’t just some normal robbery, this was an ambush and pretty well executed too. Someone must have known they were coming. Going by their accuracy and general sloppiness these guys weren’t exactly pro though, I bet they used their blocking vehicle to escape. Don’t suppose your guy got a plate off that SUV?”

“Nah but he did recognise the make and model. Come on, we better scram as well before the cops finally show up.”

“Agreed. You should head back to the clinic, they need you there and I can handle it from here. ”

“You sure you don’t want a hand? At least keep the taser handy.”

“Trust me, I’ll be fine. When am I not? Tell Leslie I’ll drop the supplies off later.” Steph grinned cockily.

Harper chuckled, “Alright, see you in a bit and stay safe.”

Steph waved her off, grabbing the phone from her pocket. “Hey Al, you there?”

“Always, Miss Brown, how may I assist you?” The butler’s familiar British accent always brought her a certain comfort.

“I need you to try and find a car for me, oh, and a change of clothes.”

***

It had taken Spoiler roughly two hours to identify the car, track it’s movements and find the gang of thugs responsible. Now, four of the aforementioned thugs lay on the ground, unconscious.

“I told you girlie, I ain’t sayin nothin’.” Said the fifth and final thug.

“First, I’m not a ‘girlie’ and second of all, you are going to tell me because if you don’t, I might start breaking your fingers.”

“Ha. Yeah right, even the big bad bat doesn't go that far.”

“Well Bats isn’t here right now, and you’ve really pissed me off. Those supplies you stole, that ambulance you shot up, they belong to the Park Row clinic, they were meant to help kids, sick, elderly, injured. So yeah, you’ve really pissed me off today.”

The cocky smile that had previously adorned the thugs face started to diminish. “Hey, come on, it was just a job. We all gotta eat, how was I supposed to know this was charity.”

Steph internally sighed, “I don’t know, maybe because you were shooting at an ambulance?”

“I thought it was for them rich folk downtown or something.”

Steph stalked over to him, “Last chance, which do you value more, your dignity or your fingers?”

“Alright lady, geez.” The thug paused a moment, contemplating his options. “Alright, look, all I know is that my cousin reached out. He said he was on a recruitment drive or something, gave us the time and place and then told us where to drop it after the job was done. We were just about to head there now. Warehouse off the south side of the docks, said his employer had deep pockets or whatever. That enough for ya?”

“That’s a start. And you’re right we’ve all got to eat, but that doesn’t mean you need to steal the food from other people already starving.” Without another word, Steph struck him in the neck. It was a quick and efficient blow, rendering the thug unconsciously almost immediately, although he’d have a hell of a headache when he woke up. Steph wasn’t heartbroken about it.

“Penny One?”

“Receiving.” Her comm link sprang to life.

“You were right, the gang was here, looks like all the crates of medical supplies too.”

“I’ll notify the GCPD and make sure they get back to Ms. Thompkins posthaste.”

“Cheers, I also got some intel, location for a gang meet.”

“Will you be attending said meet?”

“I’m beat, anyone else closer?”

***

“I can’t believe this, you said you didn’t get hurt.” Harper grumbled, rubbing a salve over a bruise on Steph’s side.

“I said I was fine, there’s a difference.”

“That sounds like some bat bullshit,” Harper paused for a moment, “Batshit?”

Steph chucked and shook her head, “You’re such a dork.”

The pair were sitting on the mostly intact rooftop of Harper’s building. After retrieving the medical supplies, Steph had gone back to the clinic to help out. It was nice to help people, not that she didn’t help people as Spoiler, but sometimes vigilantism was far too abstract. When applying bandages, stitching wounds and handing out emergency relief food to kids, you could see the good you were doing, right there in front of you.

“Honestly, I barely got touched.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like a bat too. You need to learn to take better care of yourself and take a day off once in a while.”

“Isn’t that what I’ve got you for?”

“Hm.” Harper said, clearly dissatisfied. “That’s why I stopped. I got to the point where Cullen was stitching me up every other night. Figured I could do more good like this. Alright, you’re done, but you do need to give it a rest, doctor’s orders.”

Steph nodded but didn’t say anything, the pair watching the sun go down over the Gotham skyline. Gotham endured, it always did. Alien invasions, Joker attacks, even Zero Year. Gotham still stood, as stubborn as it’s protectors.

“Maybe I will. Take a few days off I mean, after all this business is cleared up.”

“Good.” Harper paused putting the supplies back in her first aid and let out a sigh, “You remember what Tim was like. After the whole business with Bruce dying, or not dying or whatever. He was obsessed and it hurt him, we both saw it when he came back. I just don’t want you to get hurt the same way.”

Steph turned to look at the other girl, suddenly feeling emotional. “Thanks.”

“How is he anyway?”

“Good. I think. It’s always a bit hard to tell these days but he seems happy, a bit of a spring in his step.”

“Do you think you two will ever… you know, try it again.”

Steph took a moment to contemplate it. It had been a while since she had a proper introspection about her feelings toward Tim. “I don’t think so. But I think I’m kind of fine with that. I don’t know if that makes sense, but he’s more like family now, and I’m pretty sure he feels the same way.”

Harper nodded thoughtfully, “Well maybe that’s a good thing-”

She was cut off by a cacophonous sound. An ugly boom echoing across Gotham from the 

horizon. Both girls immediately jumped to thief feet, eyes darting out to find the source. It wasn’t hard to find. Steph winced as two more blasts followed in quick succession. Crown Point Bridge. Debris could be seen flying through the air across Gotham bay and into the Narrows, and with a terrible and fourth last explosion, the bridge wrenching with horrid noise, collapsed into the river below it. Harper’s apartment wasn’t close but the screams echoed up to them anyway. With another hard slam, the rest of the bridge’s support structure gave in to gravity, following the main portion, plunging into the water below.

“Holy shit.” Harper all but whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“All points bulletin, explosion, came from the Narrows.”

Steph picked the phone from her pocket. “Not the Narrows… I got eyes on it, goddamn Crown Point. It’s gone, the whole bridge.”

“Shit!”

“Red Robin receiving. What the hell was that, I felt it all the way up here at the manor.”

“Batgirl receiving, I’m en route, what is going on…”

More and more panicked voices on the comms kept chiming in but Steph zoned out, her eyes mesmerised by the horror in front of her. Shouts. Sirens. Screams.

A hand tugging her arm pulled her back to reality. Harper was reaching out to her, doubled over, looking like she was about to puke. “They… they had closed it. Handing out supplies. Cullen. Steph, Cullen went get some for us.”

A wild panic nestled her own stomach. Instinctively she grabbed the hood for her spoiler costume. “Stay here, see if he hasn’t come back already. Harper, Harper look at me. He’s going to be fine, you wait for him. Can you do that for me? Right now other people need my help.”

Harper gave a curt nod and Steph shot off, leaping off the building, grapple ready. Her day off was going to have to wait, she had work to do. She was at the bridge in a matter of minutes, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she swung by street lights in the dying sunlight of the Gotham evening. Chaos was strewn around her. Debris littered the streets, people were running and ash hung heavy over the disaster area. First aid volunteers and some police officers were already at the scene, trying to drag people out from under rubble or trying to fish any survivors out of the water.. A part of Steph felt like crying, they had already endured a cataclysmic event only to be hit in face with an attack like this the very next day.

She made her way through the carnage, helping people where she could. But for every kid reunited with their parent and injured person she helped up there was another body lying on the ground and another mourner wailing with grief.

“Spoiler, respond.” The comm device in her ear crackled to life. She had switched over to a private frequency, she didn’t want to get distracted rescuing people by chatter.

“I’m here Batgirl.”

“We’ve got reports of the perpetrator from eyewitnesses on this side. Looks like it was Tommy Elliot, he was among the escapees last night.” Steph sighed internally. Hush was bad news for everyone: an excellent combatant, tactician and entirely obsessed with Bruce and by extension the city that Batman protected. “It looks like he might have escaped on your side of the river. Lay low until Hood and Signal arrive, if he sees one of us he might attack.”

“Understood.” She had every intention of following Barbara’s orders. She really did. But then she saw the body. A boy wearing a red hoodie, he looked almost peaceful if it wasn’t for the head wound dripping on the concrete pavement. Cullen Row lay dead in front of her.

She had lost people before, everyone in the family had. It was a shared trauma that bonded them, that drove them.They were like shards of glass, sharp and incomplete but they hoped that together they might do some good. But the moment Steph saw Cullen’s body she lost sight of that high goal. She felt the rage and sorrow mix in her stomach, swirling into a vortex that drowned out the rest of the world.

Steph knew she should get a hold of herself, control her emotions and be practical. She just didn’t care. Hush did this to hurt the family and now a kid, a good kid who just wanted to help, was dead..

The voices in her ear couldn’t penetrate the bubble of anger surrounding her mind, so she pulled her ear piece out and stamped on it. She was pretty sure she was crying but that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was finding Hush. And beating the shit out of him.

The smug bastard had to be watching from somewhere, revelling in his own calamity. After two minutes of angrily flying about rooftops and Steph found herself leaning against the spire of St. Helen’s church, fire still burning in her stomach. The sounds of despair still echoing from the streets below only fueled her rage.

“I was wondering when one of you would show up.” The bandaged visage of Hush skulked out of the spire’s shadow, signature pistols in his hands.” I was getting worried I wouldn’t have any fun today.”

“Fun?!” Steph spat out. “You call this fun? The only fun this evening will be breaking your  goddamn legs.”

“Oooh,” Hush chuckled, “That rage. I forgot how sweet it was to see. Just imagine the state of Bruce after I kill you in front of him.”

Hush raised his pistols to fire a volley and Steph sprang backwards, using her grappling line to swing around to the other side of the spire.”

“Come out, come out little bat.” Hush sang in a sickly sweet voice.

Steph used her momentum and sailed forward, her grappling line twisting around the spire like a swingball stick and let go. She flew through the air and down directly at Hush, both feet extended into a dropkick. The older combatant stumbled back, dropping one pistol on the church’s slanted roof but managing to retain enough balance not to tumble off it entirely. Steph rushed forward again to meet Hush as he scrambled with his other hand to aim a shot at her, but, reaching him in time, she deflected his arm upwards and the shot flew astray.

The pair exchanged a flurry of blows, neither gaining much ground, although Steph did manage to land a satisfying blow to his stomach. Hush bent over slightly, the wind knocked out of him so she took the opportunity to strike out. With a mighty yell, Steph aimed a kick directly at his head, throwing all the weight and momentum she could muster into it. This was for Cullen. And for Harper. And for all the innocent souls he damned today.

Steph could have sworn she heard a nasty chuckle. 

Hush deftly dodged to the side, while grabbing her foot with both hands, and yanked her forward. With her momentum working against her, Steph felt her back foot give out. Time seemed to slow, her body tumbled forward past Hush, hitting the tiled roof. The wind was knocked out of her as she kept rolling forwards until suddenly there wasn’t a roof below her any more.

Her stomach lurched as she started plummeting towards the cobbled ground beneath. She reached for her grapple on instinct, only to find it gone. Hush must have knocked it from her belt during the fight, and now she was free falling, a rookie error. 

Everything came to a stop with a sickening crack she felt reverberate throughout her entire being. The pain of impact almost knocking her out but she clung to consciousness. The world span. She let out a few choked gasps, desperate for air.

The one thing she could still see clearly was the figure on the church roof now looking down at her, an echoing laugh mocked her from above.

Hush aimed his pistol.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She shot up in bed, her manic gasping for breath the only thing stopping the scream she still felt in her throat.

Sunlight streamed through the partially closed blinds, she was swathed in silk blankets and 09:01 flashed on her alarm clock. She was fine. Slowly, bit by bit, her breathing started to level out and her heart rate calmed again. Tentatively, she reached out with her hand and felt along the arch of her spine. Not a mark. She still had a few bruises on her side, but she was okay.

She reached for the usual bottle of water on her night stand, finding it right where she had left it. Taking a sip, she closed her eyes.

“Get it together, Steph.” She murmured quietly to herself while rubbing her forehead nervously, “It was just a dream, just another nightmare.”

After a couple minutes of quietly comforting herself and a few more sips of water, she almost felt normal again. The tension that had been coiled throughout her body had slowly eased away, but a vestige of anxiety still lurked in the pit of her stomach. Somewhere, deep down, she knew something wasn’t right.

***

The sound of indignant sputtering followed quickly by Tim’s laughter greeted Steph as she wandered into the kitchen.

“What, did you think Jon wasn’t going to tell Conner about that?” Tim said, a chuckle still in his voice as he patted a belligerent Damian on the back.

“I don’t know what you’re speaking of. We are merely going on patrol together.” Damian said, clearing his throat and batting Tim’s hand away. But his sudden interest in his cereal bowl couldn’t hide the blush spreading across his cheeks.

Tim’s ever so slightly malicious grin dropped when he noticed Steph walking into the room. He quickly tidied an non-existent strand of hair away from his face, averting his eyes from her, momentarily, by glancing over at Damian.

Clearing his throat, Tim’s cheerful demeanour quickly took over again. “Morning, Steph. How are the bruises?”

Steph narrowed her eyes, suspicious but said nothing on the subject. Her morning was weird enough already. “Fine.”

“You, uh, you want some coffee? I just brewed a new pot a couple of minutes ago.”

Before Steph had even nodded, Tim was grabbing her mug from the cabinet over the stove. It was a plain white design with a single eggplant on it-

Steph raised a hand to her temple. Something in the back of her mind was screaming. Something was wrong. Maybe she was just getting a migraine from whatever nightmare she had had the previous night.

“Steph, are you sure you’re okay?” She zoned back into the sound of Tim’s voice, realising both the boys were staring at her with concerned expressions.

“Yeah.” she muttered snarkily and grabbed the now filled mug from Tim’s hand. Maybe she just needed some coffee.

“I was just saying that  Cass and Duke are still out on patrol, but Kate and the Birds of Prey managed to snag a couple more of our escapees.”

“Yeah. Steph blinked, “But my dad is still at large right?”

Tim and Damian exchanged another nervous glance with each other before Damian finally piped in the conversation, apparently having recovered from whatever had happened earlier. “Indeed. How did you know?”

“Not sure,” Steph mused into her coffee. “Guess it’s just typical of the universe, right?”

“Right…” This time it was Tim’s turn to shoot her a confused look. “Well I’m sure we can cover for you if you’re not feeling up to it. You took a couple of bad hits last night and if you don’t want to face off against-”

“No.” Steph interjected sternly, “It’s not that. I could happily punch Cluemaster’s dumb orange behind all day long. I’m just… I don’t know, maybe I need to grab another couple hours of sleep.”

“That might be for the best.” Damian said, not looking up from his tablet and cereal.

“Hey, don’t listen to him”, Tim came back, kicking Damian lightly under the counter.

“Whatever, I’m just going to try not to think about being awake for a couple of hours. Yell at me if a bridge blows up or something.” 

***

Steph ended up back in her bed, book in one hand, coffee cup in the other. She wasn’t going to sleep again, she knew that , but at least she could put her mind somewhat at ease. She had been meaning to read more but life seemed to just keep getting in the way, so now seemed like as good a time as any. And she was actually quite enjoying it, which is why it was such a shame when her phone sounded off an alarm. And not a normal alarm, a covert but distinctive ‘Red Alert’ alarm.

Of course. Alien invasion followed by a horrible nightmare followed by whatever fresh hell was now being unleashed onto the city. Just another day in Gotham.

It took her longer than usual to get down into the Cave but who could blame her, it had been a long night and she still hadn’t finished her damn coffee. Once there, she found a sweaty Dick and Jason, clad in sparring gear huddled over the Batcomputer with an equally concerned Tim and Damian.

“Some kind of hostage situation, Gotham Museum of Natural History, patching into the cameras now.”

“Duke and Cass?” Steph founded herself asking.

“In the sewers on the other side of Gotham, we better handle this ourselves.” Dick frowned as he stared intently at the screen, scanning it for details. “It’s one of our escapees, looks like Riddler isn’t a fan of the Museum’s newest exhibit. Suit up.”

***

Steph watched Jason smash through the skylight with a thunderous crash. He descended down on his grappling line, surrounded by the shimmer of a cloud of broken glass casting kaleidoscopic rays of light across the atrium of the museum’s west wing. With a practised movement, Jason landed, bending his knees to absorb the impact as per his training and in an instant he had a pistol in his grip.

“Give it up Eddie, show’s over.” Jason growled out.

Now that he had everyone’s attention, it was time for Steph and the other Robins to make their entrance, only a lot more subtly than Jason’s. Slipping a tool into the window’s frame, just under where the lock secured it, she fiddled for a moment before the latch gave way with a satisfying click. The window slid upwards and opened, letting her silently swing in through the gap and onto a lighting gantry.

After a series of well executed jumps and landing, Steph finally reached her position, behind a statue of a sphinx, where she had a good view of both Riddler and the hostages. On the opposite side of the room, she saw Dick squat behind a sandstone block, ready to make a move. Between the five of them, they could take the Riddler down and secure the hostages without a problem.

A high pitched whine from all around her brought her out of her thoughts.

“And, stop!” Riddler cried gleefully, “Did you really think I wouldn’t put my own motion detectors on all the windows?”

Steph shared a panicked look with Dick. Shit.

“I have placed micromines all around this room, almost imperceptible to the human eye. I have to say, it is wonderful what you can find on the black market at short notice these days, in the old days I’d have to dangle someone over a vat of acid or something.”

“Invisible mines?” Jason grunted frustratedly, but still not daring to move a muscle. “You expect me to believe this crap?”

The Riddler shrugged, a confident smile on his face. “Don’t believe it if you want, but they’re not fun to run into. Now, one won’t kill you but there’s enough scattered around the room to blow this place to kingdom come. And they’re going to detonate in… Nine and a half minutes.”

“Well how about I just shoot you?”

“Then I’ll never be able to tell you how to disarm them, we all know I’m nothing if not fair. I’ve hidden the button to disarm them somewhere in this room and I have three riddles that can clue you to its location.”

Steph watched Jason holster his pistol and raise a gloved hand to the forehead of his helmet, sighing in tedium. She could practically hear him roll his eyes.

“Riddle the first; I am a house. I can move in, out, up and down, surrounded by a white picket fence and have red earth and sky. What am I?”

“Mouth.” Steph stated, blinking in surprise. She knew without a doubt it was correct.

The Riddler turned to look at her in shock but walked back towards the kiosk, hovering by the entranceway. “I- An impressive answer. Keep that up and you might even survive. Your second riddle; I walk a mile down, a mile left-”

“A mile up. North.” Steph simply stated again. She felt everyone’s eyes in the room turn

“I don’t…” The Riddler stopped in the structure’s entranceway, mouth agape, “What? How? I made that one up myself this morning.”

Steph shrugged, blushing slightly. She had no idea how, but her subconscious had supplied the second answer as easily as the first. “Maybe I’m just that good?” She had meant for it to come out a bit more confidently but she really wasn’t that sure herself.

Jason chuckled, “What’s wrong Eddie, scared you’re not the smartest one in the room any more?”

The Riddler shot him an annoyed glare, it wasn’t especially smart to piss off the person who had rigged the building you’re currently standing in with explosives, but that was just Jason being Jason. In the meantime it gave Steph a moment’s distraction. Her mind was abuzz, trying to draw a rational explanation. But there was also something else. It was like she was remembering a faded photograph or trying to listen to a too quiet whisper.

Mouth.

The image became clearer.

North.

The message bloomed into meaning.

Sphinx.

Her eyes instantly snapped to the small black box in the statue’s mouth on the other side of the room. Damn, she was too far away.

“Says the person willing to jump head first into a trap,” The Riddler retorted, spitting venom at Jason, “Do you ever stop to think it’s because you’re the only one stupid enough to agree to it.”

Her eyes locked with Damian’s and after a couple of subtle head movements and eyebrow waggles, the Robin’s eyes also caught sight of the device. Dick looked over at both of them, gave a quick nod and put on a smile.

“You know, Hood, I think you might be right.” Dick spoke and the Riddler whipped around to look at him, iridescent with anger. “I mean, if someone is better at riddles than him then that’s his shtick gone. He’ll have to think up a new gimmick, a new name, even a new suit! I bet that one was real expensive too, the question marks must be a custom print, right?”

***

“I still don’t get how you knew those answers so quickly.” Tim said.

“Exactly, you said the second before he even finished the riddle!” Jason exasperated, waving his hands in mild disbelief.

“For the last time, I don’t know. I must have heard them before or something.” Steph grimaced from her chair, spinning around on the spot, discontented.

“Have you Eddie been going to the same study group or something? Wasn’t he like basically your uncle, have you been looking up riddles just to impress him?”

“Hey.” Dick interrupted, “Leave her alone. I, for one, am very glad we had Steph there, that could have ended way more messily.”

“Yeah right,” Jason grumbled, “What was Riddler going to do, bore us to death?”

“Dude, the whole place was literally rigged to explode.” Tim said, an eyebrow raised incredulously.

The noise of motorbikes echoing through the cave’s entrance alerted the vigilantes to the arrival of two blurs of black and yellow. Brakes screeching, Cass and Duke parked their bikes against the wall and dismounted in short order.

“I’ve got good news and bad news.” Duke announced, taking his helmet off, a broad smile adorning his face.

“Well you’re both here and in the right number of pieces, so that’s a good sign. We’ve had an interesting morning.” Said Dick, greeting his family with a smile.

“Yeah, turns out Steph is suddenly either a genius at riddles or some kind of precognitive witch.” Jason elaborated.

“Hey I’ve always been good at puzzles, asshole.” Steph muttered under her breath. She wasn’t easily perturbed, especially by Jason’s jabs, but something was seriously wrong. It felt like she was walking through a dream, reality misbehaving around her. A glitch in the matrix.

“Well we didn’t manage to track anyone else down.” Duke said, bemused, but Steph barely heard him. “But, we did stop off for BatBurger on our way home.”

Behind him, Cass stood, smiling and with two large brown paper bags, incredible smells wafting out of both. The scent quickly pulled Steph out of her thoughts and back to reality but the sense of wrongness refused to truly leave for the rest of lunch.

***

“You ever question stuff?”

“Um, what?” Harper replied from around the front of the abandoned ambulance. “Sure, I guess. What do you mean?”

“Like reality.” Steph replied. She felt weirdly impassive at the sight before her, no iridescent anger at injustice, no morbid curiosity.

Harper popped her head around the corner of the vehicle, a confused and concerned look on her face. “We’re a bit busy for philosophical musings right now, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Omar’s fine.” Steph sighed, rubbing her face in frustration.

“Well, there might not be a body or any blood here but we don’t know for sure. That’s a lot of bullets to have missed you.”

“No. It’s like I know he’s fine, he’ll turn up back at the clinic in half an hour or so, shaken as all hell but still fine.”

“Hey Steph,” Harper said, annoyance replacing the previous care in her expression. “Take this seriously, he’s a friend and he could be hurt, or worse.”

“No.” Steph snapped. “You’re not listening to me. I know he’s fine. Just like I know the shots came from apartment 3A up there and I know the scumbags who did this are on their way to a shoddy hideout on Lincoln and 13th right now.”

“You’re not making sense!”

Steph took a seat on the rough broken tarmac, holding her head in her hands. “I know! None of this makes any damn sense.”

Harper took a seat next to her, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on? You better not be fucking with me right now.”

“I’m not. This is just… all wrong. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like déjà vu or a prophetic vision or something. A half remembered dream of the future.” She felt a sob escape her throat as the feelings and emotions of the day came crashing down on her. “I just don’t know what the hell is going on.”

“Hey, hey, hey. I don’t know what’s going on either, but you’ll be fine, you always are.” Harper rubbed her hand in circles on Steph’s back, the repetitive motion comforting her and the pair remained like that for a good few minutes. The sounds of sirens finally disturbed the temporary peace. “Shit. We better scatter, come on, let’s get out of here.”

A few minutes later and they found themselves sitting on the roof of a grocery shop a couple of streets over. Steph was still shaking, if less visibly now.

“So you’re saying you know where these ambulance robbing jerks are hiding out?”

Steph nodded silently.

“Well I’ve got an idea of how to make you feel better.” Harper said, taser in hand and a small smile curling onto the corner of her face.

***

When Steph woke up again, it took her a few moments to recognise the room. She had stayed over at Harper and Cullen’s apartment too many times but her brain felt so mixed up today. A faded Batman poster hung on the opposite wall, it had been Cullen’s before Harper had ended up actually training and fighting with the family and now it was an inside joke.

Steph and Harper had made short work of the thieves but after the adrenaline had worn off, Steph realised how exhausted she felt. So, while Harper returned the medical supplies to Leslie, she returned back to their flat for a needed and well deserved nap.

Trying to drag her mind out of the lull of sleep, Steph swung her legs over the side of the bed and staggered to her feet. Wandering out into the hallway, she called out, “Harper? Cullen?”

“Out here!” A distant voice called from the balcony, the door to it swung open with a pleasant breeze flowing from it. Their apartment was on the top floor, which wasn’t quite as nice as it would seem due to the building’s squat nature, hanging onto the side of the narrows. It at least had a nice enough view, if you could ignore the smog and pollution, over Gotham Bay, so they had hung a rope ladder from the inaccessible roof down to their apartment’s balcony.

The sound of Cullen’s laughter greeted Steph as she pulled herself up onto the asphalt roof to join the siblings. “What are you two giggling about now?”

“Just your costume.” Teased Harper, winking at her, feet dangling off the roof.

“Hilarious.” Steph rolled her eyes as she sat herself down next to them.

“We thought so too.” Cullen joked.

“Hey, one more word about that and I’ll tell Tim you had the biggest crush on him.

Harper snickered as her brother pouted, “Alright, there’s no need for that. Last time Tim gave him a high five I think he almost imploded. Cullen, I don’t suppose you could fetch us some food, Leslie said they were handing out relief supplies.”

Cullen gave the pair a suspicious look but nodded anyway, getting up and leaving them in peace.

Harper cleared her throat, not quite sure what to say, “So… you had a good nap?”

Steph gave her a nod, not exactly clear on the etiquette for discussing prescient knowledge.

“You have any more prophetic dreams? Do I need to let the Oracle of Delphi know she’s out of a job?”

They both quickly broke out into chuckles. “You are such a nerd. But, no. I don’t really know where to begin with any of this.”

Harper gave her a supportive smile, “Well how about the start?”

So, Steph told her. She recounted the events of the morning, the eerie familiarity of her conversations, their fight at the museum and then rest of the day. It felt good to get it out, like a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

“Well, what about the rest of the day? Should we try and buy some lottery tickets, there’s a rollover tonight.”

“Now that’s a good idea.” Steph snorted, “No it’s much worse… Shit! How long was I asleep for? I didn’t even think...”

Her face quickly whitened in fright, the blood draining from it as Steph realised her mistake. Panic flooded her veins and her stomach convulsed with terror. She turned to look as the sun’s dying rays highlight Crown Point Bridge’s silhouette in the dusk light.

“Steph? Steph?! Can you hear me, what’s going on?”

“The bridge.” Steph mumbled, barely registering Harper’s concerned voice.

“What about it? Steph, what’s going to happen to the bridge?!”

“Oh no. Oh God, Cullen.” Steph jerked back to reality as the memories that never were flooded back into her mind. Now wasn’t the time for panic, or the time for grief. Now was the time for focus. “Call Cullen right now. Get him away from that bridge, and get him to warn everyone! Now!”

Harper looked like she wanted to protest, perhaps in surprise or panic, but realisation dawned on her face and she drew a phone from her pocket. Meanwhile, Steph scrambled to her feet, also fishing for her phone. She left out a deep breath, trying to gain back control of her body. Focus. The time on her home screen showed 18:57 , she couldn’t remember exactly when Hush’s explosives went off but it was definitely soon.

“This is Spoiler, anyone receiving.” After a moment of silence, she growled in frustration. “This is a goddamn emergency! I need everyone right the hell now!”

After another tense moment, Dick’s voice finally chirped in her ear. “Steph?! Steph what’s going on?”

“Crown Point Bridge, he’s going to blow it up. Shit! I don’t know how long, or… or-”

“Woah, woah, calm down Steph. What’s going on?”

“Hush! He’s going to blow up the fucking bridge. I need backup.”

“Red Robin, reporting. What’s going on?”

“Batgirl here. Spoiler are you sure? Do you have visual?”

Steph groaned with effort as she jumped back down to the balcony and navigated back into Harper’s room where she had left her uniform. “Yes. I mean no, but I’m sure. Look, I need you all here 10 minutes ago, I don’t know how long we’ve got.”

There was a pause, everyone trying to process this information. Eventually, Jason's voice came on over the comms. “Steph, if you’re messing with us...”

“Please!” Steph responded, Her voice breaking slightly.

“This is Signal. En route, ETA 7 minutes.”

Steph’s heart lifted slightly at the sound of Duke’s voice. She could always rely on him.

“Red Robin. ETA 13 minutes.”

“Red Hood, on my way, 9 minutes out.”

“This is Nightwing with Robin, we’ll be there in 6 minutes, but listen up people, this is Hush we’re talking about. Do not engage without backup. Evacuating civilians from the site is the priority here. I’ve sent word to Batman but I don’t know when he’ll get it. Maintain lookout for Hush but do not engage.”

“Received.” The rest of the family sounded off messages of acknowledgement and Steph let out a sigh of relief as she finished putting her costume back on. It was good to have a family.

***

Steph almost made it to the bridge in time. She felt the ground beneath the motorcycle heave and lurch before she felt anything else. Then the noises came, four blasts in quick succession followed by the echoing screaming. The skyline ahead of her shook as she heard the noise of debris crashing to the water.

The scenes from her memory seemed to overlap what she was seeing. Screaming. Running. Crying. She just hoped most people had been able to get away this time. Screeching, her motorbike turned into an abrupt stop as Steph surveyed the carnage ahead of her. She checked the time. 19:03 . She had realised everything just a couple of minutes too late.

Resting her elbows on the handlebars, Steph hunched over, head in hands. She didn’t fully understand what was going on with her, she didn’t know why but she was still guilty. She could have stopped this. Maybe a handful more people survived, but people had still died and that was on her.

“Steph?” A soft voice broke through to her, as she felt a light touch on her shoulder.

She raised her head, to see the nervous boy standing next to her. “Cullen? Cullen!” Steph hopped off her bike and twisted to embrace him.

Cullen was quick to return the gesture. “Harper called. I tried to get people away, just like you said to, but loads of them didn’t listen and… and-”

“Hey. It’s alright, you’re safe. You did good, kid.” Steph squeezed him as she realised Cullen was sobbing into her shoulder. “You’re safe.”

The realisation was like a cool breath, steading her body and mind. She had saved someone. She had made a difference, however small.

“Harper’s on her way, she’ll take care of you, alright?” All Cullen could manage to do was nod his head against her side. “That’s good, buddy. That’s good. But right now, I’ve got something to take care of.”

“What are you gonna do?” Sniffled Cullen, finally moving away from her embrace.

A deep sense of grim determination filled her gut. “I know exactly where to find the bastard who did this.”

***

To call their fight against Hush a victory felt hollow. They hadn’t really won anything. It felt like a sweet cherry lovingly placed atop a cake made of shit and vinegar. As skilled as Hush was, there was no way he could come out on top from an ambush set by eight vigilantes.

There was still a generally shell shocked attitude shared among the group, calamities like this were always hard to digest, even when you were on the ground helping out. Dick, Damian and Cass had left with Hush, escorting him to a safe location Commissioner Gordon had arranged, while Jason, Barbara and Duke had quickly rushed off to help the survivors at the disaster site. That left Steph, sat on the roof of the church, melancholically looking out over the city, and Tim, awkwardly lurking behind.

There had been some not so subtle, hushed discussion over Steph after they had knocked out Hush. The rest of the family were clearly a mix of concerned, curious and afraid of how Steph knew the bridge would be bombed and how she knew where Hush would be, amongst other things. Their compromise seemed to be: leave Tim behind to talk to her.

The aforementioned hero let out a short sigh and cleared his throat, he always did that when he was nervous about a coming conversation. Once Steph saw Tim spy Vicki Vale running towards him and do it on instinct.

“Steph.” Tim said curtly, placing himself down next to her.

“I already told you. I don’t know why this is happening, I don’t even really know what is happening!”

Tim nodded patiently, “I know, I know, but we’ll figure it out. Together, like always.”

Steph looked over at him, the positivity infectious. “Why did we ever break up?”

“You faked your death, I figured out I was gay and now we’re basically family.”

The pair shared a look and burst out laughing, despite the situation. “Yeah, that’d do it. You got any brainy ideas what’s going on, then?”

Tim shrugged and paused contemplatively. “Well, we can run some tests on your blood, that will help rule out some obvious things like if you have dormant meta powers.”

Steph shook her head resolutely, “Unlike Duke, my dad is just a super jerk.”

“It will be good to be sure though. Dick already sent a message to Zatanna, hopefully she can figure out if it’s some kind of magic…” Tim made some vague hand gestures, “Magic whatever.”

She narrowed his eyes at him, “But you think something different?”

Tim nodded again, “If I had to make a complete guess, which I never like doing, I’d wager it’s something Apokoliptian. Just seems too convenient that this is suddenly happening to you the day after an invasion, and who knows what kind of weird tech and radiation they brought with them. I mean they are basically-”

Steph saw a flash of red sweep across her vision.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She groaned as her mind was pulled back into consciousness, daylight streaming through her partially closed blinds. She rubbed her forehead, trying to reorient herself. What was going on? She was in bed, her body ached and she had something really really important to remember. Tim had been telling her something…

“Son of a bitch!” She shot straight up in bed, scrambling for her phone.

September 28th. Again.

Steph groaned and tossed her phone somewhere into the sheets of her bed. She had to live through the same shitty day, again. She really needed to work out what the hell was going on and how to stop it. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she let out a heavy sigh.

Scenes from yesterday’s today began playing over in her mind’s eye. The terrified museum staff, fearing for their life. An ambulance riddled with bullet holes, the hopes of the sick and injured plundered from within. A cacophony of screams as the bridge collapses into oblivion.

But underneath all that horror, something sparked within her. A glimmer of hope. All that horror and death and misery, that was yet to happen today.

She could stop it.

***

“Yeah don’t worry, Alfred gave me a couple of stitches after you brought me in. We both know I’ve taken much worse and kept going.” Tim’s voice echoed out of the kitchen as Steph marched in. When he noticed her, his smiley demeanour briefly dropped to one of slight panic. “Yeah I got a few hours. Okay look I’ve got to go. Um, yeah you too.”

Steph pointed at him, “Tim, put on some more coffee. Damian, finish your food. We’ve got work to do.”

The two brothers exchanged a confused look, before Tim spoke up. “Good morning to you? What’s going on, did something happen?”

“No.” Steph went to grab one of Alfred’s nutritious and energy packed homemade snack bars. “But, we do have a hostage situation.”

Damian’s posture instantly shifted, “When did this occur? Was it one of the escapees?”

“Yeah, Riddler.” Steph nodded through a mouthful of delicious fruit, honey and oats, before casually checking the time. “Don’t worry, it won’t happen for another hour or so.”

Damian relaxed again, a scowl forming on his features. “Is this some kind of joke, Brown? I thought you would be more sophisticated than that?”

Steph chuckled, “It’s actually not, you little twerp.” She nodded thankfully to Tim and poured herself a mug of coffee.

“I am so confused.” Tim said, his expression a blend of exasperation and concern.

“I’ll explain on the way, come on, let’s go get Dick and Jason.”

***

“So, it’s like Groundhog day?” Offered Dick, his voice coming over the comms.

“Oh, or that Tom Cruise film?” Added Jason, helpfully, from his vantage point.

“Edge of Tomorrow, that one was good.” Tim chimed in.

There was a sigh, interjected with static, from Damian, “What on earth are you prattling about?”

Steph ignored him, “Less like the Tom Cruise film, I’m pretty sure I didn’t die yesterday and the day reset anyway.”

The five Robins were perched in different locations across the many gantries and rafters of Gotham Museum of Natural History, all crouched and patiently waiting for their target to turn up. Steph grunted as she stretched her neck, her position above the particularly large statue of a Babylonian sphinx was rather cramped.

“Wait you’ve died?” Tim’s voice carried an amount of concern.

“Does that count as joining the Dead Robins club?” Jason pondered.

“I thought I was already in that?” Steph responded absentmindedly.

“Hmm,” Jason muttered, “I can’t remember if we reached a consensus on faking your death-”

“Shut up.” Dick’s voice interjected harshly, “We’ve got movement.”

Looking down from her perch, there was indeed movement below them. The Riddler strode into the room, signature green suit, pistol in one hand and, of course, the question mark cane in the other. A museum assistant let out a yelp of surprise when they caught sight of the villain, alongside another suited figure, this one with their hands bound and tape over their mouth. 

“Alright. No sudden moves, no playing hero, I’m sure you all know the drill.” He gestured with his weapon towards an information kiosk in the middle of the exhibition, tossing a packet of zipties towards it. “I want hands tied to that railing, nice and tight, no one has to get hurt.”

“Damn Steph, a bit of me thought you were having us for a laugh.” Jason snickered into the comms.

“Not helpful right now, Jaybird.” Dick scolded in reply. “Robin, Red Robin, you two secure the hostages. Red Hood and I will cover an exit each. Spoiler, you’re the closest, you can take Riddler.”

“Wait.” Steph warned, scrunching her forehead in effort, trying to remember. “He always escapes. There’s a maintenance hatch into the sewers under the kiosk.”

“I’ve got it.” Robin said, “If Red Robin is competent enough to secure the hostages on his own.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Tim growled as a reply.

From below them, Riddler faced the four museum employees, now all bound, with the guy he entered with next to him. “And if you are wondering why this is happening, let me refer you to your esteemed curator here, Dr. Howard.”

The man standing next to the villain grimaced. “You see, I was happily minding my own business in Arkham one night, when a documentary about this thrilling new exhibition came on. An exhibit which somehow manages to confuse the importance of Egyptian and Mesopotamian sphinxes, among a great many other errors that a child could catch. And they call me a criminal! Do you even have a history degree and how on earth did you think that that came from Egypt’s Old Kingdom.” The Riddler gestured erratically towards the statue Steph sat atop, she figured that was a good enough opening.

“Go.” Steph whirled into action, leaping off the statue. From across the room she saw four more shadows blur through the early morning’s light as the vigilantes executed their plan with practised ease.

Before the Riddler knew what was going on, his gun clattered across the floor and his staff had been wrestled from his grip.

“Morning, Eddie.” Steph snarked.

The villain's face morphed into some grim mixture of surprise and fear. “But… how…”

“Mouth, north, sphinx. Look, I’d love to chat and explain but we’ve got a schedule to keep and you need to get back to Arkham.” With a single well aimed strike, the man in the green suit tumbled to the tiled museum floor, unconscious.

“What, that’s it?” Jason laughed, “You didn’t even say ‘Riddle me this’, that’s a classic.”

“Your remarks are immature and foolish.” Damian said snidely.

“Alright then,” Dick said, cutting his two brothers off before they could start arguing, “What’s next?”

***

The ambulance trundled down the uneven road surface, filled with fresh potholes and debris courtesy of Darkseid. Harper leaned out the window of the grotty apartment, whilst waving at the vehicle as it passed by. Steph let out a yawn and continued to stretch her arm out. The fight hadn’t been hard but she had decided to take Harper and Cass along anway, it was nice to have company.

Speaking of whom, Cass entered the flat through it’s now broken door. She grinned as she saw the 3 thugs tied up and unconscious, leant against the kitchen counter.

“You dealt with the two in the SUV then?” Steph said, grinning.

Cass nodded wordlessly, signing out ‘ Everything okay?’

Harper laughed, “Yeah we dealt with these fools fine, I think I could have taken them with one hand tied behind my back. Penguins must really be desperate to recruit these idiots.”

“He’s just desperate for fresh bodies, you need soldiers to fight a gang war. He doesn’t care how many of them get hurt or killed as long he gets his territory back.” Steph sighed, “He’ll try and take the docks off Black Mask later.”

‘Does he win?’ Cass signed, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Steph laughed, “I actually have no idea, Dick and Damian have always crashed that party every loop so far, but Oswald isn’t stupid.”

Harper shook her head at Steph in disbelief, “I can’t believe this, it’s awesome! You’re like a psychic James Bond now. The super spy extraordinaire who can never make a mistake.”

Steph swallowed nervously as guilt washed over her, images of Cullen’s limp body flashing in her mind’s eye. “Trust me, it’s not all good. Besides, I have no idea how to control it. I don’t want to spend the rest of eternity living out this one day, no offense guys but it’s kinda shitty overall.”

A moment later, Cass’ warm arms looped around her midriff in a tight hug, only to be joined by Harper’s.

“We’ll figure it out.”

***

“Okay, so there are four blasts, I know that much for sure. The whole structure collapses, so the logical places to put them would be one on each support column.” Steph presses a few buttons on the Batcomputer console, flicking the screen to a blueprint of the bridge. “Here, here, here and here.”

“But you’re not sure?” Dick said, awkwardly wrapping a bandage around one of his forearms.

Steph shook her head, “I’ve heard it clear enough though. Approximately 19:02, give or take a minute, four blasts and the bridge collapses. Hush retreats to watch it all from St. Helen’s in the Narrows.”

“Then?” Duke asked from his seat, his expression grim.

“I don’t know.” Steph shrugged, “I don’t remember much from after that. Some kind of bright red light, and then I woke up in my bed this morning.”

“So, what? Unless someone drops a nuke on Gotham, that’s when you loop?” Jason added, his attention split between Steph and the pistol he was currently cleaning.

“That’s my best guess right now.” Steph said, then turned her attention to Tim, “Did you get anything from my bloodwork?”

“Came back normal.” Tim admitted, “I’m running some more advanced tests on your DNA, but they’ll take a while. That will rule out any freak meta mutations.”

“Do you have a plan?” Dick asked, rolling his sleeve back down his arm, “For this evening, I mean.”

Steph nodded, “I don’t know what explosives Hush uses or when exactly he sets them, so I think our best bet is to wait for him to plant them and disarm them when he leaves. We can send someone to each of the pillars, they can assess the devices and disarm them. Meanwhile, another team waits at St. Helen’s and springs an ambush when Hush arrives.”

The other vigilantes exchanged a few glances, before Dick got up from his chair and addressed the rest. “Bruce said he’s coming back but we’ve got to act as if he won’t make it back from the League in time.” He turned to Steph and nodded, “Your plan is solid, we trust you. Now, let’s suit up.”

***

Steph checked the time for what must have been the fifth time that minute. It was still 18:44 . She groaned nervously and paced back to the edge of the rooftop where Cass was standing. Their view was from the rooftop of one of the taller apartment buildings in the Narrows, it gave a direct line of sight to both the Crown Point Bridge and St. Helen’s church.

“I don’t like this. He’s cutting it too close.” She muttered to herself apprehensively. She clicked the comm in her ear on. “Still no sign of him?”

“Negative.”

“Not here.”

“Nope.”

“Nothing here either.”

Damian, Tim, Dick and Jason sounded off in quick succession from their viewpoints by the bridge. Steph cursed under her breath.

“Hey, it’s going to be fine.” Duke said from his position on the rooftop next to Barbara. “You know how this goes, literally. And if he decides not to plant the bombs then there’s no problem to begin with-”

“Crap. I see him.” Jason interjected over the comms. “That’s definitely Hush, south east corner of the bridge, he’s on the lower maintenance gantry. Shit, he’s got a duffel bag.”

“I see him too. Steph was right, he’ll plant the bombs at the base of all four support columns.” Tim added.

“Why don’t we just jump the bastard.” Jason huffed over the comms, “We can take him.”

Damian cut him off quickly, a stern tone to his voice. “No. He might be able to detonate the devices manually, there’s still civilians on the bridge. Our best chance for minimal casualties is to defuse them all quickly and only then confront him.”

Barbara and Duke joined Steph and Cass at the edge of the rooftop. There was a tense silence hanging in the air between all the vigilantes as the minutes ticked by. Closer and closer to detonation, and disaster.

18:46.

“Steph?” Jason questioned through grit teeth.

She glanced over at Barbara, who was holding binoculars and gave a quick shake of her head. “Not yet. Hush is still there.”

Another minute ground by, Steph felt like she could suffocate on the tension.

18:47.

Barbara gave Steph a shove and a thumbs up, eyes still in the binoculars, trained on their target. Steph felt herself exhale, “Okay, move in. Bomb squad, you’ve got a minimum of thirteen minutes to disarm the bombs, make them count.”

Barbara turned away from the ledge, “He’s definitely coming this way.”

Steph nodded, pulling her hood back up, “Okay let’s head down to the church and get ready for him.”

With a practiced grace, the rest of the vigilantes dived off their rooftop, one by one.

***

Steph looked out over the Gotham skyline from her perch atop the spire of St. Helen’s. It was more complete than it had been yesterday, at least to her. No death. No screaming. No loss. Below her, Duke laughed with Cass over something as they finished securing an unconscious Hush. Meanwhile Barbara talked into her comm, coordinating the disposal of the now defunct bombs with Dick and the other Robins.

It had been a stressful day. But it had been a good one.

There was a flash of red from somewhere on the horizon. Steph sighed.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She groaned as her mind was pulled back into consciousness, daylight streaming through her partially closed blinds. Her body ached, but that wasn’t important. Letting out a frustrated growl, she fumbled around for her phone.

September 28th.

She threw her phone across the room, where it collided with the door to her wardrobe and dropped to the floor. Sighing in anguish, she threw the covers off and jumped out of bed.

***

“Yeah don’t worry, Alfred gave me a couple of stitches after you brought me in but I’m fine.” Tim’s voice echoed down the hall from the kitchen as Steph marched in. She waved at him in greeting and mimed hanging up. Tim looked slightly shocked but was quick to comply, “Hey… I think I gotta go, see you at the weekend.”

“Groundhog day.” She announced to the room angrily.

From across the counter, Damian and Tim shared a confused glance.

“We having a movie night or something?” Tim’s voice trailed off, bewilderment adorning his face.

“No.” Steph groaned, “I mean literal Groundhog day. It’s happening to me.”

“I don’t understand.” Damian questioned.

“A time loop.” Steph elaborated. “I’ve done this all before. Thrice.”

“Are… are you sure?” Asked Tim, now looking nervous, probably trying to work out if this was some kind of practical joke on Steph’s part.

“Yes!” Steph sighed, “Please. Just listen. Riddler attacks the Natural History Museum, Penguin tries to kick off a gang war and Hush bombs a bridge. I don’t know why this is happening to me, but it is.”

Tim gulped, processing the information dump. “Okay. What do we do?”

***

Steph punches the Riddler in the face. Tim runs a full body scan using the Batcave’s medbay. It comes up with nothing.

***

Omar arrives at The Wayne Foundation Park Row Medical Clinic on schedule and with an ambulance full of much needed medical supplies. Jason digs out all the books on magic he still has from his All-Caste days. It comes up with nothing.

***

A gang skirmish is interrupted outside of the docks, there are no casualties. Duke spends an hour on the phone with Jim Corrigan, Tim calls Zatanna and Harper gets hung up on by John Constantine. It all comes up with nothing.

***

“Hey, maybe it’s one of those curses where you have to find true love or something.”

“Not helping Jason.” Dick sighed over the comms.

“Hey I’m just trying to lighten the mood.” He responded defensively, “And how do you know it isn’t mxy- myxpl- whoever that goddamn imp is.”

“Mxyzptlk?” Suggested Tim.

“Yeah, that’s the bastard!” Jason exclaimed, a light laugh in his voice. “How’d you know so much about him anyway?”

“Maybe I’m just that smart, Jason.”

“Ten dollars says Kon told him.” Dick interjected, his smirk evident in his voice. “Eh, Timmy?”

“Yeah, maybe.” admitted Tim. “Anyway, what would a fifth dimensional imp want with Steph?”

“Why does a fifth dimensional imp do anything?” purported Jason.

Steph sighed, “It’s depressing that you’ve actually got a point there. Do you see him yet?” She checked the time again.

18:47 .

There was blissful quiet from the comms for a brief moment as the vigilantes turned their attention to searching for Hush.

“Negative.”

“Not here.”

“Nope.”

“Nothing here either.”

The 4 other Robins sounded off in quick succession. Steph got up from her position, sat on the uneven roof of the apartment building and moved over to the ledge. “Really? He should have been there by now, at the base of the south eastern support column.”

“I don’t think-” Jason started, “Scratch that, I see him. He’s on the gantry, moving this way.”

18:48.

Steph felt a sense of unease crawl into her stomach. A tense silence descended upon the group, no one daring to utter more than breath as they watched Hush arrange his prepared catastrophe.

18:49.

Barbara gave her the nod and thumbs up, but the tension doesn’t leave her body. “Okay, move in. Bomb squad, you’ve got a minimum of eleven minutes to disarm the bombs, make them count.”

Barbara turned away from the ledge, “He’s on the move, leaving the bridge and fast too.”

Steph takes another uneasy look at the bridge, her confidence wavering. Cass places a determined hand on her arm, checking if Steph was still alright.

Barbara pauses, “He’s headed to the church, right? We need to get a move on.”

“Yeah,” Steph nodded, “Let’s go.”

With a practiced grace, the rest of the vigilantes dived off their rooftop, one by one. Grappling hook lines latching onto nearby buildings, the quartet swung across the short, two block, distance to St. Helen’s. They landed in quick succession on the tiled roof, Steph winced as she felt the slate she landed on crack slightly and mentally noted to get Bruce to donate. 

Turning to face the others, Steph recalled their last ambush strategy, “Okay, so Cass, if you wait on top of the spire. Duke and I can-” 

Steph blinked in surprise.

The other’s eyes quickly snapped back to her, their concern evident. It was a small slip of paper. Poking out of the wooden shutters of the bell tower where it was securely wedged. It would have been entirely unnoticeable except for the fact it had that it was marked with an orange and blue trim. Steph had fought a super villain here for the last three yesterdays, and she just knew she would have noticed it.

The others were speaking but their voices drowned into the background as Steph felt panic explode in her like a swarm of bees. She reached out with shaking hands and tugged it from its hiding place. It had three words written on it, in a simple impassive script.

‘See you tomorrow.’

Her comm buzzed to life, Tim’s voice sharp and panicked. “Shit!”

Dick’s voice was quick to follow, his tone matching his brother’s, “Back! Everyone back now-”

Four explosions ripped through Steph’s world.

She felt numb.

The piece of paper dropped from her shaking hands, sailing away on the winds. There was a flurry of chaos around her as Barbara, Duke and Cass all recovered from their shock. Someone was trying to shake her, get her attention. Something had changed.

The church provided a good view of the where the bridge once stood, it was the reason Hush chose the spot. Now it provided her with an excellent vantage point to see the horror in front of her. Something had changed

She recalled the panic in Tim and Dick’s voices. No, the betrayal. They had trusted her. With their lives. It had been her plan, her information, her goddamn arrogance, but it had been them, her family that paid the price. Something had changed.

***

At some point, Steph became aware she had sunk down to her knees, resting her body weight against the church’s spire with tears falling from her eyes.The others had all left, she wasn’t sure where. She realised she was cold, the autumnal winds starting to chill her. How long had she even been up here?

“Steph?” A coarse voice whispered across the winds to her. When she didn’t respond at first, she became aware of a hand  lightly tapping at her shoulder with the delicacy of someone handling an unhatched egg. “Steph?”

She turned, and almost instantly burst into tears again. Bruce was there. Usually Batman arriving would fill her with joy, relief. You knew everything was going to be fine when Batman arrived. But it wouldn’t be, and it wasn't Batman, it was Bruce. Cowl down, eyes red. She threw herself at him, arms wrapped her in reciprocation of the hug.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry-” Was all she could manage to say. She had killed them, his children, his other Robins, she had killed them.

“Steph.” Bruce’s voice still echoed with grief but it levelled out, his calmness somehow infectious. Steph felt herself ease slightly. But only slightly.

“Are they… Did I..?”

“Steph, I need you to listen to me. This wasn’t your fault. Duke told me everything.” He leant back and out of the hug, raising a loving hand to her face, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Steph, I need you to listen to me now. If this time loop is happening, then I need you to concentrate because this is all on you now.”

Steph looked up at him. “But, I can’t-”

“Robin.” The mere mention of the moniker cut through the haze of grief and Steph felt herself  snap to attention. “I need you to be strong now. Because if today does reset again, then you are our greatest asset. I wish there was any other way, I wish I could carry this burden for you but I can’t.”

“I can’t do this, Bruce.” Steph shook her head, pleading with whatever powers may be for help.

“Yes, Steph. Yes, you can.” Bruce steadied her and their eyes met again. “You’re stronger than you know, you always have been. And you have us, remember, you’re never truly alone, not really. We’re here for you because we know that you’re there for us, we trust you. You can do this, Steph.”

There was a flash of red.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She let herself lay there, sunlight streaming through the partially closed blinds over her. She didn’t want to check the date, she didn’t want to get up, all Steph wanted was the last four yesterdays to be some vivid nightmare. A heinous conjuration of an inventive imagination, born of some head injury that had thrust her deep into delirium.

The battle against the forces of Apokolips seemed years ago but the fresh bruises ached on her body, although the physical pain seemed nought in comparison to the memories that consumed her thoughts.

“You’re never truly alone…”

That was a lie. She had awoken in a house full of sleeping people, doomed to wander through the day again and again. No one else remembered. No one else knew. She was alone in this endeavour.

“We trust you…”

That was a mistake. Their trust in her had killed them all, even if they never knew it. She imagined the terror in Tim’s last moments, the betrayal Dick must have felt as the bombs went off.

“You can do this…”

Had that been wrong too?

***

In the end, some mixture of spite, grim determination and boredom had driven her from the comforts of bed.

Steph yawned. She needed more coffee. Her thermos flask had run out a little over an hour ago and there was a perfectly good locally owned coffee shop just two blocks away, but she was determined to remain in place. She shook herself, eyes refocusing on the church roof. She’d been watching St. Helens for almost four hours but there was still no sign of yesterday’s mysterious note, nor its author.

She didn’t know what was happening or why it was happening; the one thing she did know for sure was that something had changed. And for there to be an effect, there must be a cause. 

A someone.

It was the one clue she had, the one thread she could pull on. Maybe whoever had changed yesterday’s timeline was the reason she was stuck in this loop. Maybe they had answers, or even the power, to stop this madness.

Her phone buzzed again but she ignored it. She had already fended off three separate phone calls from concerned vigilantes and a series of worried texts from Harper. It was like Bruce said, this was on her now.

She had a job to do, and she was going to damn do it.

Steph made no progress that day, no shady figure ever appeared to place a note. But she couldn’t bring herself to call in the rest of the vigilantes, she couldn’t watch them die again. She disabled the bombs herself and let Hush get away, it’s not like he’d get far anyway.

There was a flash of red.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She made no progress the next loop either.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

Nor the loop after.

***

That’s when things started going wrong. 

Little things changed a lot; some of them almost imperceptible alterations, tiny differences of where someone was standing, or what time they arrived somewhere. Minute permutations that no one should notice, but Steph was a detective and she had lived this day enough times already.

“So like the butterfly effect?” Jason asked one morning. “Could you be doing it, just accidentally?”

Steph sighed with desperation and shook her head. She was on a chair in the Cave, fully reclined, slowly spinning herself around. Everywhere she looked there were no answers, just more questions.

Dick leaned forward on his chair, rubbing his forehead in thought, “A butterfly flaps its wings and causes a hurricane across the ocean. It’s a possibility, right? Steph does something different, like not buy a coffee, so the person next in line leaves a little faster and because of that gets hit by a car.”

Damian glanced at him with his eyebrows furrowed, “That’s rather extreme, and morbid.”

“But the concept stands, right?” Jason adds, “A domino effect, one small thing can make a big change.”

Tim shook his head, “Theoretically? Sure. But it takes a long time for the changes to cascade into anything major; a tiny domino can’t push over a large one, it has to steadily increase impact given time, a maximum of ten hours simply isn’t enough time. The chances of doing something like that on accident are astronomically low.”

This wasn’t getting them anywhere.

***

But sometimes the changes were bigger, like Hush detonating his bombs early. Penguin sent more henchmen to rob the ambulance, Riddler decided to go to the Museum an hour early, or change one of his riddles. There never seemed to be any clear link, no patterns or correlations, other than it never benefitted Steph. They never decided to take the damn day off, or surrender easier.

“What about free will?” Duke mused from the sofa.

Harper gave him an incredulous look, “What, they just… change their minds randomly?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Duke said, between spoonfuls of ice cream.

Steph stared into her tub of salted caramel dairy goodness with tired eyes. “No. I’m telling you guys, I don’t think this is random.”

‘Why?’ Cass signed from her position sprawled out on the floor, stretching.

“It’s just… it feels like there’s intent, or malice. Someone or something is playing around with the timeline, prodding and poking to see what happens. Maybe I’m just getting paranoid.”

The other three shared a few concerned looks, before Harper cleared her throat and spoke, “How many are you up to?”

Steph made an exasperated sound, gesticulating with frustration. “I don’t know, this is like the thirteenth or fourteenth loop, I think.” 

At least she could eat ice cream and not worry about the consequences, it all would just rewind anyway.

***

Steph soon found herself in a war.

Every day was a battle, every hour another skirmish. It was a war she couldn’t win nor could she lose, her only aim was to survive, day after day, loop after loop. Her opponent was time itself; apathy, loneliness and grief all chipped away at her, slowly grinding her down, bit by bit until all that remained would be dust.

She didn’t know what was worse, fighting to save each day in fear that it would be the last loop or watching all her hard work be rewound in a flash of red. She felt hollow at the sight of her friends and family being injured and killed, only for them to be resurrected the very next morning just to go through the same torment again.

A small part of her even preferred the loops where she was a casualty, at least then she didn’t have to stand as witness to another calamity.

Some days passed uneventfully, but even those became unbearable. A cage of ten hours and a promised doom, spent in constant anxiety of what would go wrong. 

She spent one loop swinging from the chandeliers of Wayne Manor, just for the hell of it. Another, the Riddler strapped explosives to the windows of the Natural History Museum, incinerating the squad of vigilantes before they knew what was happening.

She used a day to sketch the birds in the park, resplendent in the autumn light, even if her art didn’t do them justice. Maybe she’d get it perfect if she had an eternity to practise. The next loop, she tried to intercept Penguin’s goons before they ambushed the ambulance but much to her surprise they were absent for once. When she returned to the clinic, she found it wrecked and plundered for supplies instead.

The war went on and on.

With every yesterday the sands of the hourglass grew closer to drowning her.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She was so tired.

She didn’t want to get up.

She couldn’t do it.

Far too many yesterdays and she was still no closer. She didn’t even know what she was searching for, a shadowy puppetmaster to confront, a way to save everyone she cared about or just a goddamn way out?

She couldn’t do it. Not again.

***

Eventually, Steph managed to drag herself out of bed and plod her way downstairs. She’s sure she looks a state but at this point she’s past caring, maybe she’d get the energy to sort herself out after a cup of coffee. She knew Tim would usually be on his phone while Damian would be sat at the counter, eating his breakfast and reading on a tablet. So she was surprised when the sounds of actual conversation between the brothers came drifting down the hall. Steph supposed she usually came into the kitchen earlier than this, partially intrigued and partially too void of energy to be sociable, she hovered outside the kitchen door.

She heard Damian make his signature ‘ tt’ , “Even an elementary detective, such as yourself, could deduce what that conversation was about, Drake. No need to be so coy about dating the clone.”

Steph blinked with confusion as she heard Tim sigh, “I was more trying to avoid the social commentary on my love life from gremlins who are only going on their first date tomorrow.”

Tim hadn’t told her he was dating anyone, she didn’t think things were that awkward and strained between them. The noises of someone sputtering and choking on his breakfast echoes out of the room.

“What, did you think Jon wasn’t going to tell Conner about that?” Tim snickered, and by the sounds of it, gave Damian a thump on the back.

Damian coughed, probably trying to compose himself, but she could practically hear the blush in his voice. “I don’t know what you’re speaking of. We are merely going on patrol together.”

“At Amusement Mile? That’s good, don’t want Scarecrow to poison the cotton candy, you had better buy some and sample it just be sure. And of course it would be terrible if Cluemaster sabotaged the rollercoasters-”

“I-”Damian’s retort must have died in his throat as there was a brief awkward silence, eventually he spoke again, but this time his voice almost sounded scared. “Have you told anyone else?”

“Of course not. And hey, if you need advice or just anyone to talk to-”

“I… thank you. Just please, don’t tell Grayson.”

“Yeah, as long you don’t tell him about me and Conner.”

Damian laughed , “Far too late for that, he saw the two of you after the battle last night. Him and Todd were laughing about it when I got back to the cave last night. Although I think I did hear Jason mention something about finding Kryptonite bullets, ‘just in case’.”

Steph heard the sound of someone dejectedly throwing themselves into a chair as Tim grumbled, “They’re going to give me so much shit for this.”

Damian let out another ‘tt’, this time accompanied with a quiet laugh.

“Hey, Kryptonite works just as well on Jon, if not better.” Tim paused for a moment, “So does everyone know? Wait, does Steph know?!”

She certainly did now. She moved away from the wall and back down the hall, not wanting to hear any more. Things had been strained between them ever since the whole ‘faking her death, moving to Ethiopia for a year and then suddenly returning’ thing, but she still thought of Tim as one of her closer friends. Maybe she had ruined things, not just romantically, although that was probably never going to work out anyway, but platonically as well.

She wasn’t going to lie to herself, it definitely stung.

Steph was tempted to just go back up to her bed, comfort, warmth and safety. But sitting in bed and feeling sorry for herself didn’t sound particularly appealing, so she decided to go down to the Cave instead. Perhaps she could distract herself by punching something instead.

With a satisfying click, the grandfather clock opened and she stepped through onto the dull metal stairs that wound down and through the foundations of Wayne Manor into the heart of the Batcave. The sounds of exertion and laughter echoed up to her ears. Dick and Jason must still be sparring.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Jaybird.”

“Oh don’t you worry, Dickie, I’m just tiring you out.”

“Not doing a great job are you then?”

Steph found herself freezing in place again, listening to the brothers’ conversation.

There was a loud thump, followed by a series of groans and cheers. “Ha!”

“Okay, I’ll let you have that one, little bro.”

“Who you calling little?”

The brotherly banter quickly became laughter that devolved into more nonsensical teasing. Something to do with a mullet was mentioned and the sounds of an impromptu wrestling match graced Steph’s ears.

Her heart sank, and she left the Cave. Emerging again into the main foyer of the manor, she heard a clattering of steps on one of the manor’s nearby stairways. A figure rushed past her, throwing on a coat and tying their ginger hair back into a practical bun.

“Yeah, for the last time dad, I’m fine! Look, I’m coming home right now, if anything I should be more worried about you, alien invasion and all.” Barbara Gordon spoke into a bluetooth earpiece.

She noticed Steph and gave a quick wave but exited the manor with expediency, not registering Steph’s wave and half hearted smile back.

Screw it. Steph wanted waffles.

***

She knew waffles weren’t going to magically make her problems disappear. She knew they couldn’t give her a relationship, or siblings to be close with, or a loving father. But they were tasty.

She wasn’t entirely sure if this was waffle number 4 or 5 but she had been in Burt’s Bulgin’ Belgian Waffle Hut for almost an hour and a half now and she still wasn’t feeling much better. She had turned her phone off forty five minutes ago because it just kept buzzing and she couldn’t be bothered to answer it but now it looked like the staff might be getting worried about her. It was probably only stoners late at night who came in for this many waffles.

The bell on the door rang a few times, announcing the presence of new customers, but she couldn’t be bothered to check who. Instead she opted to go back to picking the strawberries from the cream that topped her delightful treat and mentally bemoaning life.

She wasn’t entirely surprised when Tim and Harper slid into the seats across the booth from her. She had half expected, maybe even hoped, they would come. When a foot nudged her lightly, she looked up to see a concerned Cass standing over her, momentarily pausing before sliding down the booth to let her in and sighed.

They were all staring at her expectantly. She ate another strawberry.

Eventually it was Harper that broke the awkward silence, “Steph. What’s going on?”

Her directness was one of the reasons Steph liked her so much, she didn’t have the patience to deal with pleasantries or nonsense. The last gala Steph had dragged Harper to had been interesting, and also gotten both of them a stern look from Bruce.

“A lot.” She replied meekly, still staring at her food. She felt like she owed them an explanation but lacked the energy and conviction to formulate one.

A number of awkward glances were shared between her friends, obviously none of them knew how to react. Evidently, Tim decided it was his turn to try, “Steph, we’re here for you. No matter what, you know that right?”

“But you’re not.” Steph just let out a deep sigh, she wasn’t trying to insult them, she was just so frustrated and tired of the whole situation. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… you can’t be, not this time.”

She felt a tentative arm slip around her shoulder as Cass pulled her in for a soft half hug, nuzzling against Steph’s shoulder. She felt herself start to sob quietly, the edges of her vision blurring with tears. She felt warmth against her hands, and saw that Tim and Harper had both taken a hand of hers into their own, worried smiles pointed at her.

“Steph, Tim told me your dad escaped last night-” Harper piped up, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

“It’s not about that sack of shit.” Grumbled Steph.

“Please, talk to us.” Pleaded Tim from across the booth, “I know what it’s like to feel alone and empty and I know it hurts. It feels like you can’t talk to anyone, but we are here for you. 

“Bullshit. I am alone.” Steph felt her frustration reach a boiling point, spilling over into her words, “You couldn’t even tell me about Conner.”

“Hey.” Harper protested, “Cut him some slack, Steph, that’s his business.”

“You left.” Steph spat out.

“Steph, none of that is fair!” Tim said, an angry defensive tone under the strained veneer of calm, “Look I get you’re having a shitty time right now but that’s no excuse. We will catch your dad-”

Steph grunted and yanked her hand away, picking up the spoon from next to her plate and waving it at Tim, menacingly. “I am going to castrate the next person who says this is about my dad-”

“See you yesterday.” The note. Orange and blue. She should have put it together sooner.

***

She was seven and she had a family. It was well past her bedtime but much to her own mother’s chagrin, her dad had let her stay up an extra hour.

“Please, daddy. Just one more.” Steph asked from under her well tucked blankets.

Arthur’s brow furrowed but eventually he sighed in defeat, “Oh, alright. But only one more, then you have to promise to go to sleep.”

She squealed in delight and her dad laughed, fetching a book from the shelf and turning to a random page.

“One fine day in the middle of the night,

Two dead boys got up to fight,

One was blind and the other couldn't see

So they chose a dummy for a referee.

Back to back they faced each other,

Drew their swords and shot each other,

When they were done, the sky shone grey,

And they said in greeting, ‘See you yesterday!’”

***

Her father. Arthur Brown. Cluemaster.

The idea bloomed in her mind, and it brought horror in its wake. It couldn’t be him. That wasn’t fair, after all the pain he had caused, and everything he had done. It simply wasn’t fair. Why did it have to be him? The jailer of her very own hell. It wasn’t fair. Why was it him? But who else could possibly be cast in such a role? Not fair. Why him?

Her heart was beating so fast she thought it was about to explode. The world felt as if it was crumbling down inwards, crushing her. She felt a cascade of panic surge through her body. Her breathing was so short, so shallow, so frantic. She could feel her hands tremble but couldn’t control them.

Her vision blurred. She heard voices calling to her from far away, but she couldn’t make them out over the din of blood pumping in her ears. Darkness closed around her.

***

Gasping for breath, Stephanie Brown woke up.

Her sheets were not Alfred’s usual silk, nor did sunlight stream through the large bay windows that adorned Wayne Manor. There was noise and motion. Her mind was hazy, trying to find a memory to hold on to. What was going on? When was it? Which today was it?

“Hey there, sleepy head.” A voice came from her bedside. The face was familiar, her mind still assembling itself.

“Harper?” Steph said, unsure of neither her senses nor her sanity.

She grinned, “Right here, Stephie. You’re safe.”

“What’s going on? Why am I…” Steph mumbled. Where was she? There were beds. People rushing about. A baby somewhere was crying. Slowly, the interior of Leslie’s clinic in the Narrows came into focus.

Harper took in a terse breath, “You had a panic attack. You were pretty delirious and I think you checked out for a bit back there. But you’re fine. Physically at least, both Leslie and me checked you over. Well, apart from the scrapes and bruises. I think Leslie was ready to pounce on you for a lecture about taking care of yourself, and I’m not sure I disagree.”

Steph nodded slowly, memories slowly bubbling back to the surface of her consciousness. Oh. The argument. Her father. She gulped a fresh lungful of air instinctively and felt her heart speed up again.

“I’m sorry.” She murmured out between deep pants of breath.

“Hey, hey, hey. Steph, I’m here. You’re safe.” Harper had a hand on her back instantly, rubbing small circles against her tense muscles. “And don’t even worry about it, we all say stupid crap.”

“No.” Steph insisted, the tension in her body starting to dissipate with each supportive motion from her friend. “That was like, really shitty of me. Oh God, Tim is going to hate me.”

Harper chucked, “Nah. He was right here with me, both him and Cass. They got some kind of alert but still didn’t want to go. Leslie had to help me convince them you’d be fine, I think he still had half a mind to take you back to the Manor with them. We’ve all been through too much for any of what you said to matter, Steph.”

An alert. A surge of adrenaline and panic shot through her brain, “What time is it? Quick, I need to know, now.” Steph pleaded.

***

“I thought I’d find you up here.” Leslie Thompkins closed the door behind her, pulling her white medical coat around her a bit tighter on instinct. The setting sun was still shining long rays of light across Gotham Harbour but a chill autumnal wind was already starting to rise, sweeping across the rooftop in occasional bursts.

Steph grunted in response from her chair, wrapped in a blanket, eyes gazing at the silhouette of Crown Point Bridge on the horizon.

“You know, Harper almost had a heart attack when you disappeared from your bed.” Leslie lightly scolded, perching herself on the air conditioning unit beside Steph. “You want to tell me what’s going on? I can always tell when something’s up with you but even mister glum and broody with big bat ears would have the emotional wherewithal to see something’s wrong.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Steph snorted. A tense silence followed, she didn’t want to say, to make it real. Even if it already was. “My dad.”

Leslie’s face instantly darkened, “Harper told me he got out last night. Did he do something? You know, I keep a shotgun downstairs, tucked under my backup medical bag-”

Steph cut her off with a wave of her hand. “It won’t help.”

“Honey, tell me what’s going on.” She said, a softness flowing into the doctor’s words.

“I don’t know why, I don’t know how but he’s rewinding the day. He’s stuck us in a loop. I can’t do anything, I can’t stop it, I just want it to be over.” She realised hot tears had started to pour from her eyes. “It’s just too much. Every day I wake up and no one remembers but me, every day I have to stop it all, every day it’s always just me. Alone.”

Leslie fished a tissue from a pocket and offered it to the grateful Steph. “That sounds like a lot, I’m sorry kiddo. And you’re sure it’s Arthur doing this?”

“You’re doubting me?”

“No, no, no.” Leslie rushed to correct her, “Never. It’s just he was always more into bank heists and being a crap father than playing with time or whatever.”

“It has to be him.” Steph announced with conviction, a dire surety in her voice. “Nothing else fits.”

Leslie nodded slowly. “Okay then. You’ll beat him.”

“I can’t Leslie, I just can’t.”

“Yes you can. You’ve beaten him before, you’re beating him right now and you’ll beat him again.”

“What do you mean?” Steph looked up at her, with raw red eyes.

“Think about it Steph,” Leslie shuffled closer to her, “How many times has this loop thing happened now?”

Steph shook her head, “I don’t know. I stopped counting after twenty, I think.”

“Well, if he’s got this power, if he could stop at any time, why hasn’t he?” Leslie took Steph’s shaking hands in her own. “It’s because you’ve been winning, even if you didn’t realise it. And if there is one thing I know, it’s that you are stronger than that bastard, I knew that the moment you came into my clinic that night. You’re far stronger than any of the scars he’s left on your life.”

Steph lifted her head higher again and felt her breathing level out. “But I can’t just keep doing this, day after day. This is like my own personal hell.”

“You don’t have to do this for eternity, kiddo, because you’re not the only person stuck in this loop. You are a detective, and a damn good one at that, so work the case.”

Realisation dawned on Steph’s face, “There’s only one person I need to beat.”

“You know why Bruce made Batman? It was to take the night back from the criminals, make them feel fear for once. You’re not trapped in this loop with him, he’s trapped in it with you.”

Steph stood up from her seat, a new fire burning inside her, not fear, not sorrow, but strength. The power of intention.

Leslie followed suit and got up, embracing Steph warmly. “You might be the only one who can do this, kiddo, but remember you’re not alone. When you need help, all you need to do is ask.”

There was a flash of red.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She felt exhausted all over. Her patience was worn thin. The emotions swirling around in her brain were a mess.

But now she had hope.

It was only a lead, so many questions still remained unanswered. How? Why? What? But finally she had the who. The shadowy abyss that threatened to swallow her now had become finite, it had a form, a face.

And you can punch a face.

***

The activity surrounding Gotham Natural History Museum was hectic, a mess of police cars, SWAT teams, officers drawing up tactical plans, press reporting the incident and concerned onlookers. Although this wasn’t entirely unusual for Gotham, there was still tension in the air. A mix of morbid curiosity and concern filled the crowd, Steph could see it in their postures and their furtive fidgettings.

She retrained her binoculars on a rooftop several blocks over, it looked out over the museum and had four squat figures on it. The Robins would be discussing how best to infiltrate the museum, take down the Riddler and save the hostages. But they weren’t her quarry.

Arthur Brown was an egotistical and controlling man. If Steph was right, and she was so sure that she was, then he’d also be out here. Watching. Plotting. Preparing.

He must have been observing them, learning the day’s routines and events then manipulating them to his advantage. To what end, Steph still wasn’t sure. But he must have been behind all the small changes, an anonymous tip to Hush, a friendly word of advice to the Riddler and the whole day could be changed. It was time to turn the tables, let the hunter be the hunted for once.

There.

A lone figure perched atop the museum’s east wing. Steph could barely make him out, even with the binoculars, but his blonde hair and a small orange and blue ribbon gave Cluemaster away.

A flurry of movement signalled the group of Robins were on the move, getting ready to infiltrate the museum. Hopefully that would give her enough of an advantage to sneak up on her father. Gritting her teeth, Steph leapt off the rooftop and down into the alley below. It wasn’t easy, especially with the police presence, but within ten minutes she was clambering onto the rooftop of Gotham Natural History museum.

He was hunched over some kind of tablet in his hands, patched into the security feeds if Steph had to guess. She let out a steadying breath. She could do this. They had fought before, maybe half a dozen times now, but it still wasn’t easy. On some deep level, Arthur Brown was still the dad who let her stay up late and read her bedtime stories, yet at the same time he was the monster who had tried to kill her and plunge Gotham into ruin. Her feelings towards him were a maelstrom of so intrinsically entwined emotions, she couldn’t possibly try to untangle them.

But right now? She was pretty angry.

Steph grunted as she started to sprint towards the figure, feet thundering across the stone roof. Cluemaster looked up just in time to see a pair of feet collide with his stomach, sending him tumbling back with a shocked yelp. He coughed on air, trying to get his breath back, only just managing to roll out of the way of Steph’s stomp. The villain rolled back and onto his feet, standing up with a slightly dazed wobble.

“Woah there, Stephie.” He said, letting out a quiet laugh. “I was wondering how long it would take you to work it out.”

“Shut. Up.” Steph said through grit teeth, launching another array of strikes; two kicks followed by a jab and an uppercut, the latter connecting with Cluemaster’s jaw with a satisfying crunch.

Stumbling back and spitting out a mouthful of blood, Arthur shook his head trying to regain some amount of composure. “Now is that any way to greet your old man? I thought I raised you better than this.”

“You didn’t raise me at all.” She spat out vehemently, “Why the fuck are you even doing this?”

Cluemaster let out another laugh, “Why wouldn’t I? Don’t you see, this is an opportunity to prove myself. Finally I get the chance to win.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m going to do what no one has ever managed to do. I’m going to kill Batman, I’m going to take down his whole deranged family and I’m going to do it all in one day.”

Steph shook her head in disbelief, “You’re sick.”

“No I’m not. This is my vindication, my revenge. Gotham once laughed at me, now it’s my playground. You’re all nothing but puppets and I am holding the strings. You’re all going to bow before me.”

“Never.” Steph asserted, steel in her voice and fire in her heart.

“We’ll see.” Without another word, he slammed one hand onto his other wrist. She hadn’t noticed it before but on it sat a small black and red device, made of jagged, twisted material and tied around his lower arm. There was a single large red button on it. Arthur Brown grinned smugly at her.

There was a flash of red.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

And so her war continued.

But now her enemy was tangible, mortal, beatable. Every day became a game of chess played across the rooftops of Gotham. The Riddler, Penguin, Hush, they all became pawns moved strategically by both Steph and her father, their tactics being refined every day.

***

“You know you can’t win, Steph.” Her father panted out between heavy breaths.

Steph kept her hands in a guard, slowly circling around her opponent. “Says the guy with a broken rib.”

He choked out a laugh, it was an ugly sound harsh against the soft whistling of the wind across Gotham Bay. “You don’t get it.”

“Then why don’t you enlighten me?” She sneered at him.

Cluemaster spat out a bloody tooth onto the cold concrete surface of the Docks, shaking his head. “The odds are stacked against you. You need to win every battle, I’ve only got to get lucky once. I can break this loop any time I want, all I need is one mistake, one perfect day.”

There was a flash of red.

***

The threat hung heavy over each day. Steph believed him. She had to be vigilant, had to be strong. Whether they knew it or not, the fate of her friends, her family and the whole of Gotham, if not the entire world, hung on her now.

But with each day, she drew closer to her goal too. Every day, every fight, every conversation gave her more and more clues and slowly the pieces started to fall into place.

***

Steph grunted with effort as she picked herself up, her hand stinging with pain. The glass that previously comprised the window lay littered around her, a shroud of shattered, shimmering fragments. Since when was breathing so painful?

“You look pathetic.” A voice announced the presence of her father.

Trying to get into some semblance of a fighting stance, she readied herself. “Gee, thanks.”

“I don’t see why you insist on doing this. Join me. We could work together, think of the power we would wield together. We would be like gods, we could fashion a new world.”

“I’d rather die, again.” Steph spat out.

Arthur shook his head, checking his watch. “Too late for that, unfortunately.”

There was a flash of red.

***

The facts began to line up, a tapestry of information slowly being woven into a pattern. He obviously didn’t have as much control over the situation as he boasted, just another one of his lies. 

If she was the only obstacle he couldn’t remove then he had no control over who the loop affected, perhaps it was somehow genetically coded. To her knowledge, no one else was looping with them, and she had searched extensively, checking online forums, asking through the League, but had come up with nothing.

The black and red colour scheme, along with his device’s general design and ungodly power led her to believe what was causing this to happen was Apokiliptian in origin. It was the only explanation of all the facts, he must have scavenged it from Darkseid’s invasion, and who knew what horrors Desaad wrought in his laboratory.

And if it was Apokiliptian, she doubted it came with an instruction manual. It must be why he carried on the loop, he needed a perfect run. If he couldn’t guarantee that he could restart the device and do this all over again, this was his only sure window to act in.

***

Steph let out a tense silent breath, her muscles aching from being so cramped, she really should have chosen a better hiding spot. However, she still thought this was her safest bet. Dick and Damian were en route to the Docks to break up Penguin and Black Mask’s gang fight, with Cass dressed in a Spoiler costume in tow.

So naturally, Steph was crouched in between two steel beams of a crane, it provided a good view over most of the Docks, a perfect place to try and spy and plot. Or so she hoped. This was her third attempt at ambushing her father, but within ten minutes, a nervous looking Arthur Brown snuck out below her holding a pair of binoculars.

He made a satisfying thump as his unconscious form hit the cold ground. After taking a moment to confirm it wasn’t a trick and the slumped figure before her really was unconscious, she took the opportunity to rip the device from his wrist. She tossed it into the waiting water.

That evening there was still a flash of red.

***

The plans kept failing. Contingency after contingency, idea after idea, all failed and a part of her started to give in to doubt.

Maybe her father was just a deranged lunatic caught in the same horrific twist of fate. Maybe this was all some sick simulation, running over and over again, and she was nothing more than an errant piece of code. Maybe she really was in hell, or perhaps purgatory, being punished by the divine for eternity.

She kept going, because really, what other choice was there?

***

Steph yelled as she tossed the chair at her father. It wasn’t the most practical of weapons but she was angry and had tried most others anyway.

“This is all pointless.” He said, moving out of the way as the chair clattered against the wall behind him. “You hurt me, I hurt you, people die. None of it matters, nothing changes.”

“If you ask me to join you again, I am going to break your kneecaps.” Steph said, fury in her tone.

Arthur sighed, holding his arms out in frustration, “This can stop at any time, just work with me.”

“We both know that’s never going to happen.”

“You can kill me, you can break this device, it’s all pointless. You’ll never find the relay by yourself.”

Steph’s mind whirled. Neurons fired, data was processed and plans were formed and refined. Arthur Brown had just made his last mistake. She leapt at him with all her might, baton in hand and determination in her eyes.

There was a flash of red.

***

The horrid beeping of her alarm clock woke Stephanie Brown up.

She smiled when she felt the sunlight streaming through the partially open blinds and onto her face. A calm had descended upon her and hope sparked in her heart. The night had been long and dark, she had lost her way a few times amongst the shadows but now she could see the rosy fingers of dawn. It was almost over.

“ You’ll never find the relay by yourself.”

The last piece of the puzzle. The final missing link. She knows what she needs to do now, even though it wouldn’t be easy. She cracked her knuckles, it was time to get to work.

She pulled out her phone and set a single message. ‘I need help.’

***

In many ways the alleyway Steph found herself in encapsulated Gotham. It was gritty and grimy, an unpleasant sight with a dubious stench, squat between two buildings with only a small opening to the overcast morning sky. It wasn’t perfect, some might even deign to call it disgusting but on one of the walls, under all the grime, was a piece of graffiti. More than one. Layers of vivid colour and designs all plastered over each other, some crude, some offensive but each beautiful in their own right. Gotham wasn’t perfect but it was home.

“I got your message. I hope you’re here because you’ve reconsidered my offer, daughter.” A voice called from behind her. Steph wasn’t entirely what was slimier, the wall or her father’s voice. “I’d say you’re wasting my time, but we both know time is one thing we have plenty of.”

“Hilarious.” Steph deadpanned. “I just want this to be over.”

Cluemaster tutted, striding out of the shadows and into the meager sunlight. “Think about it, we could rule the world with this power. Where’s your ambition, Steph? Where’s your strength?”

“Oh, she is plenty strong.” A new voice echoed from the other end of the alley. Tim Drake stepped into view, a sly smile on his face, resplendent in his Red Robin uniform. “You just never saw it.”

“Really, Steph? I thought we had had a breakthrough. I have seen him die more times than I care to remember, in more ways than I care to think about. We’ve been here both and we both know how it ends.”

Another pair of footsteps echoed behind Tim, and the familiar blue and black visage of Harper appeared, in her full Bluebird costume complete with an oversized taser gun. “You done talking shit yet, or do you want another minute for your evil villain exposition?”

Arthur dismissed her with a casual wave of his hand, turning his attention back to Steph, “You’re supposed to be my daughter, you should be smarter than this.”

On instinct, her fist tightened. She was going to enjoy this next part. There was a light rustling of fabric and the sound of wind as a black shape gracefully dropped into the alley behind Steph. Batman had arrived. Steph felt a gloved hand on her shoulder as a familiar voice growled, “Firstly, you forfeited any right to call yourself her father a long time ago. And second, she is damn smart, much smarter than you by any metric.”

Cluemaster sneered at the newcomers, “This was pointless. I’m going to watch you all beg and plead, and only after I’ve stepped over this whole damn family’s corpses, will I stop the loop. You can’t win!” He finished his dramatic speech with a flourish and equally ostentatious press to the red button on his wrist.

There was no flash of red.

There was no horrid beeping.

His brow furrowed and he pressed the button again. And again. Still nothing happened. The smug look on Steph’s face was juxtaposed by the growing signs of panic and terror on Arthur’s.

“No!” He declared, face red with rage and horror. “You did something, you cheated!”

Steph chuckled, “You’re the cheater here, pops. But even with countless attempts and all the time in the world, you couldn’t win, because you are just a sad, lonely psychopath trying to cause pain. Me? I’ve got family and friends, I’ve got people who will help when I ask, no matter what.”

“You were right about one thing,” Harper said, charging her taser. “There was no way Steph could have found that relay by herself.”

“That’s why she asked us for help, because you can’t do everything by yourself, sometimes you have to let others help. It’s why Batman has the League, right?” Tim added.

Bruce let out a small laugh, “That’s right. We all lean on each other for support, so when I ask speedsters and Kryptonians to search Gotham and when I ask Green Lanterns and this world’s brightest minds to help find a rogue Apokoliptian device, they do. By now, Superman has already thrown it into the sun.”

“That means no more rewinds.” Steph cracked her knuckles.

***

The hot shower had felt so good against her tired skin, she had been tempted to stay in there for another half hour. The tension in her stomach had finally lifted, the great weight placed upon her finally taken off. She could relax.

Steph was sat on her bed, fresh pyjamas on, fluffy as a cloud, enjoying the evening twilight when there was a knock at her door.

“Come in.” She called, pressing pause on the video playing on her laptop.

A moment later and Bruce stepped through, closing the door behind him, an unusual smile adorning his face. “Hi.”

“What’s up?”

“Just thought you’d like to know, all your intel checked out. We have the Riddler, Penguin and Hush in custody, alongside your father. They should be checking back into Arkham as we speak.

Steph let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God for that.”

“They had nothing to do with it, thank you.” Bruce chuckled, Steph felt a small blush appear, happiness swelling in her stomach. “I mean it. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Bruce.”

“You are most welcome, Stephanie, always. Now I believe there are a gang of hooligans outside wanting to come and harass you. I can always send them away, if you’re not feeling up to it. You’ve been through a lot and I’m sure they’d understand-”

Steph cut him off with a friendly wave, “I think I’ve spent enough time by myself.”

Bruce nodded and opened the door again, a flurry of chaotic movement followed as Tim, Harper, Cass, Duke, Dick, Cullen, and even Damian and Jason rushed in. The rest of the evening was spent in bliss. Playful banter, crushing hugs and a few bad films. Life could be hard. But it was less hard with friends and family like this.

***

The warm morning sun and light rustling of the wind woke Stephanie Brown up.