Stephanie was not a morning person, a trait that was in fact not caused by her second "job". She had never been a morning person, not even before she had started dressing in purple. So when she got a call from Cassandra at two in the morning, while she was stuck in Russia, she was not happy.

"Turn on the TV." Stephanie was already scrambling for the remote, alerted by the tone of her friend (best friend, who was she kidding)'s voice.

"What channel?" She was already flipping through the channels, ignoring the local news - mostly about cleanup from the New Year parties the day before.

"The international one showing the ball drop in Times Square." Cass's voice had calmed somewhat, but was still tense, so Stephanie flipped through the channels faster, already mentally narrowing down her search. She finally found a channel that had a view of Times Square, packed with screaming people...running people. Stephanie's voice failed her as she watched the two super powered teens crash through a billboard and send it flying towards the crowd.

"Who the hell are they?" She didn't recognize either teen, not even a bit, which meant they were new on the scene - Bruce kept all his files up to date and made sure that they had them memorized.

"The girl has been labeled Wonder Girl by the press and is also wanted in regards to a theft at a Greek archeological dig." Cass's voice was all business as the two girls watched the battle continue through Time Square and vanish further into the city. Both ignored the speculation from the newscasters. "The boy had an S-Shield."

"I noticed that. But Supes hasn't mentioned anything, has he? I mean, about having a sidekick or something." Stephanie worried her lower lip and continued to watch the TV, looking for another glimpse of the two other maybe vigilantes.

"No. And Wonder Woman has denied that she has anything to do with the girl." Stephanie can hear the disapproval buried under the matter of fact words: Cass thinks that Wonder Woman should have stepped up, maybe helped the girl. And then they wouldn't be watching the rescue workers and law enforcement descend on Times Square on what is supposed to be a happy, hopeful celebration.

A red and black blur shot across the top of the screen, followed by several other blurs, mostly darker colors, though the light purple one stood out.

"Was that-?" Stephanie tries to keep the hope out of her voice, but doesn't quite manage it. Tim had dropped on the face of the earth nearly two months earlier and Batman had forbidden anyone to try to contact him. Not that they didn't try because rules were made to be broken and circumvented. Stephanie had even contacted Jason, in a last bit of desperation. And, after laughing at her for nearly five minutes, the estranged bat had promised to keep an eye out for his replacement.

"We don't draw conclusions, Stephanie." But Cass let her hear a little of the emotions she was feeling too.

"Call Nightwing, Cass. Call him now." Stephanie had already hung up and was dialing the manor. Even Alfred had no idea where Tim had vanished to and she knew that the old man was incredibly worried. And even if that black and red blur wasn't Red Robin (which she highly doubted, because those wings were impossible to forget), this might help the man that was a surrogate grandfather to them all.

"Wayne residence."

"Alfie!" Stephanie couldn't help but be cheerful when she was talking to the older gentleman; he just demanded that she behave that way, probably as a counterforce to Bruce and Damian's more gloomy and uptight personalities. "Listen, you watching the countdown?" There wasn't really a question of Batman or Robin watching it - crime never sleeps, etc, etc.

"Yes. And I do believe I saw the same thing that you did, Miss Stephanie." She grinned and bounced a little, excited. He would never say anything over the phone, they were too paranoid for that, but they all knew how to get their points across. "I am going to finish my duties for the evening, but I think that the workload will seem much lighter."

Stephanie turned back to the TV just as the fight returned to Time Square, sending the few remaining civilians and the rescue workers scattering for cover. Not that there would be much, if Wonder Girl and Superboy kept on fighting. Her cell rang and she answered it without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Stephanie."

"You watching this?" Jason's question wasn't unexpected, but his call was. He hadn't bothered to call her since the last time she had called him, about a month ago.

"Yeah. What do you think?" Jason is silent for a minute and Stephanie can hear Roy and Kori in the background. She hasn't met either of them yet, but Jason talks (complains) about them to her whenever she calls, so she assumes they aren't that bad.

"It was Drake." At least he's stopped referring to him as Replacement or Pretender. "Those stupid wings were - are - a dead giveaway." And then he's on the screen, perched off to the side and watching the fight, a black cloud hovering next to him. Stephanie starts as her phone beeps - call waiting.

"Jason, I'm taking a call from Cass." A grunt is her only reply, so she takes that as agreement. So she watches as Cass says that Dick is also watching the unfolding drama.

"Who - who are all those kids?" It's been nagging at her ever since they first flew across the screen. "Tim's been collecting Metas?"

"No." Cass replies softly. "Not collecting. Recruiting. Because something is out there. And that something does not like Metas."

"He talk to you about it?" Stephanie is big enough to admit that if he had talked to Cass and not to her, she would be hurt. She knew him first. She was friends with him first.

"He...hinted...at something, the last time we spoke. Told me to watch my back. Mine and yours."

"But he didn't even bother to talk to me about it?" That hurt and pissed her off. She could take care of herself, thank you very much. And how was Cass supposed to watch her back from Hong Kong?

"Jason mentioned that he was left something in his contact boxes about a month ago." Cass sounded distracted, but that may have been the sight of Red Robin launching himself at the Superboy in an attempt to get the purple teen free.

"So, what do we do?" Stephanie finally asked as the fight moved off camera again.

"We wait and we watch." Cass said finally. "He doesn't want our help, at the moment. But he will get it should he ask for it."

"If I'm not busy, but sure. I'll help you babysit." Stephanie tried to go for teasing, but didn't quite pull it off. "They also serve who only stand and wait." Stephanie wasn't sure where the line came from, but she knew it needed to be said.

"For now." That was also true. They would watch and wait. But they wouldn't wait forever.