driftfleet | one little bat

Who: Stephanie Brown
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: HS Marsiva
When: 2/18

[ Focus on Steph's face as she starts to wake up. She wrinkles her nose, groans softly as she rolls onto her side... and then her eyes snap open. ]

What the...?

[ The camera pulls out as she sits up, looking down at herself. She's still in her costume, hood and cowl pulled back, not in a hospital gown, no tubes or needles attached to her anywhere. The costume's even in one piece. And-- ]

Nothing hurts. [ It's muttered, to herself - she's still a little too disoriented to realize she's being filmed. ] Why does nothing...

[ She presses a hand experimentally against her left shoulder. No pain, no blood or bullet wound... A slight lump under the fabric of her costume that might be a scar, but it seems long healed. What. The hell.

Steph rolls out of the cot, getting to her feet slowly like she's afraid she'll fall over. She's fine, though. Totally fine. At least, until she finally notices the big viewing windows looking out on the void. She exhales slowly, eyes wide, as she approaches the window. ]

Okay. So either this is random neurons firing while my brain shuts down, or... we're not in Gotham anymore.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That Cass will always be on Stephanie's side is a fact, written in stone and unchangeable no matter the circumstances. It's easier not to think about the things Bruce did wrong with Stephanie, that would mean admitting he was fallible, so instead Cass focuses on the positives.

They can start again. Spoiler and Batgirl, the only Robin Cass ever wanted as her sidekick. Stephanie Brown, her first and only friend. How good that feels can overshadow the ache of losing her, in time. Hopefully it won't take long.]

Not yet. You'll be there... til Saturday, then you'll move. After that, we can... meet on the planets.

And I'm really glad... I'm here too, to see you. I miss you.

[Not past tense. She still does miss Steph, every single day.]

...oh. [ She deflates a little. She really wanted to see Cass right now. ] Okay. I can wait until Saturday. [ Whenever that is. Now doesn't seem like a good time to ask.

She tries for a teasing smile. ] You can't miss me that much. I haven't even been gone that long.

[ Though the second she says it, she has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She remembers how she felt talking to Batman in the hospital, how tired she was, how much everything hurt. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. ]

[There's something gratifying in that, even if Cass doesn't like seeing Steph looking so let down. It means she'd wanted it just as bad as Cass does, and it's good to know she's not the only one.]

That's soon. Um... three days, I think. I can make it. Probably.

[Or she'll hijack a shuttle and crash it straight into the Marsiva and hope it punches through far enough to let her in. One of those things.]

I know. It just... feels like forever.

Well... then I'm sorry I took so long getting here.

So... if he's not here... is it just the two of us? From Gotham, I mean? [ Or is this a Bat-kidnapping plot of some kind? That couldn't possibly end well for anyone... ]

Just us so far. I'm okay with that.

[As much as she misses Batman, his presence here wouldn't be very helpful right now. He'd tell her to stay away from Stephanie, that she was a bad influence, and that's an order Cassandra absolutely could not follow. Maybe one day, down the road, Bruce would come and she could explain things, make a case for herself, but right now she just wants to focus on Stephanie and only Stephanie.]

We'll make it work, here. It can be home, if you're here.

[ Steph bites her lip, thinking about never going home. About not seeing her mom again. But that's all she has left back home, and things were - are - always complicated there. There's nothing else left for her in Gotham, and her best friend is here... ]

Maybe, yeah. [ She smiles a little. ] There are worse places to end up. And I'd rather have you here than anyone else.

[Cass forgets, sometimes, that people her age are supposed to have people who will miss them. Parents who will worry, who will care that they're missing, and she feels guilty for not putting more thought towards the people Stephanie has left in Gotham.

It fizzles away a little when Steph goes and says that, though. There had been times when Stephanie was too caught up in her own goals to see how much Cass had depended on her to feel less lonely, but it was never anything Cass had blamed her for. It made sense, impressing Batman was nearly impossible and once she felt like she had failed to, seeing Batgirl would have only been salt in the wound. The distance made sense.

Now, though, hearing that she's on the top of the list Stephanie wants to be with? It's like someone plucked the wish straight out of her head and made it real.]

That means... [Everything, it means everything, but she can't say that.] Means a lot, to me. Wish I could hug you, now. Don't want to wait.

[ She sighs heavily. Stupid ship. Stupid... what is this, a quarantine? Stupid empty space between them. She blinks tears out of her eyes, feeling lonelier than ever even with Cass' voice on the line. ]

Me too. Soon. I'll be there soon. Maybe we can even find a way to get on the same ship. That'd be cool.

one little bat

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