Chapter Text
There are a lot of lights in here. She can hear a beeping sound. It’s probably a heart monitor. There’s another sound. She realises it’s Batman talking to her. What’s he doing here? Didn’t he fire her? Maybe she’s been hired again. Yay.
“Robin? Stephanie?” he says. She can finally understand what he’s saying. That’s nice.
She tries to reply, but there’s glass in her throat. Didn’t Leslie say that she removed all of it? She tries again. “Are they okay?’’ she manages to force out. Yes. Words. Good.
“They’re fine” Batman says. He sounds relieved.
‘’So it was real, then. I really was Robin?’’ she asks. She isn’t sure why she has to ask. Maybe her head was hit a bit harder than she thought.
‘’Yes. Of course.’’ Batman replies. He sounds so sure.
‘’Okay. That’s good. No matter what, I was part of that. A legacy.’’ she says, trying to sound sure too.
‘’No matter what.’’ Batman says. He’s starting to sound less sure and more reassuring. Is that good or bad? It’s kind of funny, him trying to sound comforting. He’s pretty good at it, or he would be if he didn’t sound so stressed out. It’s kind of funny, but laughing would probably hurt.
She thinks about the kids she saw holding robin toys with long blonde hair, and little girls winning arguments by saying that Robin was a girl. She’d probably smile if her face didn’t hurt so much.
The heart monitor continues to beep. She looks over at Batman where he’s sitting next to her bed. Or gurney, whatever. He’s trying so hard to relax and look reassuring. Doesn’t he know that Steph can’t read body language? Either way, it’s not working. He looks almost afraid. That can’t be right, he’s Batman and vengeance and all that. Steph’s head is throbbing. Everything hurts. At least she had Robin.
She tries to smile at him, but it still won’t work. She wants to sleep, her eyes are closing just a little. No, she can’t do that, she has to apologise to Tim and Cass, she has to say goodbye to her mom, she can’t go now, she just can’t!
“Where are they?’’ she asks. Batman had said that they didn’t hate her, no one did, but if they didn’t hate her and they weren’t injured, then she would be able to see them, wouldn’t she?
Batman stays silent for a bit, considering something. ‘’I’ll call them’’ he says. If he could have called them this whole time, then how come he didn’t? Is he lying? She can’t have the last words ever said to her be lies, that’s just wrong! But maybe she deserves it…
The heart monitor beeps faster, and Batman looks alarmed.
‘’It’s okay, they’re on their way downstairs.’’ he tells her. Downstairs? Downstairs where? Aren’t they in the batcave? Seriously, what is up?
The monitor continues to beep quickly, and it occurs to her that this is a bad time for overthinking. She tries to think about the blonde robin toys again. It works, the beeping slows down.
‘’They’re almost here.’’ Batman tells her.
Everything hurts so much. She can barely think anymore. She wants to sleep so, so badly.
She hears footsteps and Leslie’s voice. She can’t bear it any longer.
‘’I think I’m going to rest now.’’ she tells them. It’ll be a pretty long rest. Haha.
‘’We’ll be here, watching over you.’’ Batman says. He’s still doing the comforting thing. That’s nice of him.
''Tell them I said good night.'' she says.
She doesn't stay awake long enough to hear his reply. There’s a long beep from the monitor, and Steph closes her eyes. There are cameras in the cave, right? They’ll know she was thinking about them or whatever. This isn’t a very good time for whatever, but whatever.