The last thing Bruce Wayne expected to see on his patrol that night was the barely conscious body of a young woman laying broken in an alleyway. That wasn't particularly true, her was used to seeing that kind of stuff all the time. What he did not expect to see however, was the broken, barely conscious body of Stephanie Brown. But there she was, his old charge lay by a steel dumpster right off 32nd street. At first look he didn't recognize her, but after taking a closer look he couldn't hide his shock. After finally convincing her to (reluctantly) hang up her vigilante cape, he never expected to see her again. Especially not under these circumstances, her eyelids drooped as she fought a losing battle to stay conscious, her shirt was torn almost in half and lacerations and burns covered the skin he did see. A purple and blue bruise was forming on her cheekbone and the crimson pool wasn't easing Bruce's fears He grimaced as he pulled out his communicator, he really didn't want Tim to have to see this, he would only blame himself for not being there for her. But he needed backup.
"Robin, I'm on 32nd, we have a situation" he said vaguely. As he listened for Robin's affirmative he took a step closer to his ex-charge. At the sound of his footsteps her eyes snapped open and, upon seeing the bat, scrambled backwards as far away from him as she could get, irritating her wounds further. Bruce frowned, it wasn't like she didn't know who he was, why was she acting so scared? He took a step back and she relaxed to a certain degree, unblinking eyes never leaving his. Only moments later Tim appeared hurtling over the rooftops. As soon as he saw Stephanie, Bruce could almost hear the young mans heart drop. He and Stephanie had been over for a long time, but the boy still cared for her.
"What happened" he asked, and Bruce shoot his head.
"I don't know, I found her like this" he said. Tim took a step towards her and she stiffened, but didn't scramble away.
"Oh God Steph" Tim said softly "come on we need to get you help"
She shook her head and for the first time that night she spoke.
"I'm not going anywhere until I see his face" she said quietly. It took Bruce a moment to realize she was talking about him. Her index finger was pointed at the bat's chest, blood marring the tip. Bruce was shocked, she of all people knew why he couldn't do that. Tim looked at him, shock written across his features. After a long moment of deliberation, ignoring the feeling in his gut, with a pop that seemed to echo he lifted the face of the mask. He could physically see her shoulders slump in obvious relief as she allowed Tim to pick her up and set her gently in the batmobile. Thanks to the speed Bruce was driving, they reached the cave in less than five minutes and Stephanie was once again lifted up, this time set down on the medical table in front of a shocked Alfred. The three men silently went to work, Bruce rolled her onto her stomach as Alfred cut her out of her blood soaked shirt and the back of her sports bra. Tim audibly sucked in a breath and Alfred let out a shocked
"Oh my..."
Bruce himself could feel his insides turn upside down as they took a look at her back
Things were starting to make sense but at the same time brought up ten more questions. There on her back, stretching from shoulder blade to shoulder blade, was a gruesome carving of a bat.