The sound of her slap reverberates around the Cave.
Steph closes her eyes. 'Cause seriously shouldn't it be awkward silent (as in you could hear crickets or a pen drop) considering what she just did?
Let it be put it on her gravestone that Stephanie Brown is dead, again, because she slapped the Goddamn Batman because he was being a dick. Which really isn't a shocker least not to her because he's always been somewhat of an asshole to her but he had been a dick to his son who he just recently learnt wasn't any longer dead.
She wonders if she'll actually stay dead this time or if she'll just crawl out of her grave like Buffy agai-
Her thoughts are interrupted by Jason choking on his laughter. Steph's cheeks flush. This is what she gets by defending him? Her hand itches to slap Jason as well.
Maybe slapping these two idiots (yes she loves Jason like the older brother she never had but he was still an idiot to her) would get some blood and common sense following.
(Several months earlier.)
Steph glares at Jason's pancakes. She can't look at Jason because they both have become scary good at reading each other.
"This is what I get for introducing you to Game if Thrones," she quips without any humor in her voice.
Jason snorts into his black cup of coffee.
Steph runs a hand through her recently dyed hair. She feels far older than the teenager she is. Gone was perky teenage blonde that only spoke in sarcasm in her place was black hair dyed late teenager that felt worn to her bones that would occasionally let loose a quip.
She knew that killing people was inevitable if she joined Jason on his return to Gotham as the Red Hood. She still joined him though and honestly she didn't mind the Joker dying. She gets where Jason is coming from but she sincerely doubts Bruce will.
"Fine," she consents. Because they're partners in this. That had been one of her conditions in joining Jason.
Steph nibbled on her bottom lip that still
tastes like the syrup that had been on her waffles.
She briefly wonders if it's because of who she is (her being just like him) that he had agreed to her terms.
"But it can't be just because they're the second hand to the eight drug dealers we want on our side. They have to do have done something else to deserve this." This. That is how she's referring to decapitation. God what had happened to her? Oh yeah she died and she came back like this.
Wrong and tired.
Now it's Jason turn to glare except he doesn't glare at the plate that once held her waffles he just outright glares at her.
He wants to get this started. He had held back several years because of her resurrection. Her coming back to life had changed his plans as well as delay his revenge.
(Then there was the whole Talia and Ra's al Ghul thing that still gave Steph the creeps and she wasn't the one that had kissed Ra's and possibly had sex with.)
But despite his grumbling Steph knows Jason is happy that she's here with him.
That he isn't alone anymore and that's what pseudo siblings were for after all besides you know digging up by your grave so you don't have to go through digging out of your own grave like he had.
"Tt-tt," was Damian's response to her condition.
Steph fought hard to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the kid that Steph could sometimes swear that he had walked out of those old novels that Jason was so fond of. (She would take a Harry Potter book any day thank you very much.) she didn't need to teach Damian any more bad behavior than the poor kid had been raised in.
"We have the time. No one knows and they won't till we want them too." She gives him a small smile that drops a second later. Jason reaches out and grabs her hand to anchor himself. It makes Steph smile again but her smile is small and not as bright as it once was.
Jason may not be her blood family but he was all she had. What was it that Bobby from Supernatural always said?
Family don't end with just blood boy.
Jason and Damian (even though the kid was brat) was all the family Steph had now and she was okay with that.
She could live again if she had them with her.
Steph watched from above the best street dealers of Gotham argued like children. It along with the smell that was coming from the duffle bag of heads was starting to make her sick.
She almost was regretting coming but she had promised Jason she would always have his back. Even when he has the high ground and an AK-47. Plus someone needed to be there to hold Jason back if he went too far.
"The hell with this. I'm gone. You brain donors want to sit around and -" the Gotham street dealer that had been smoking only a few minutes earlier in the normally abandoned warehouse was interrupted by Jason.
All the street dealers scrambled like cockroaches to take cover as bullets flew into their table.
Jason stepped into the light donned in his Red Hood armor with his smoking AK-47 held up in his hand left hand. "It's my meeting. I invited you."
"You wanna die?! There're easier ways to kill yourself!" One of the bodyguards of the eight drug dealers yelled at Jason as he had his boss leaning on him.
"And what is this shit?!" One of the street dealers yelled in outrage.
Steph winced at the so called brain donors. Not because she cared about them and their well being but because of how stupid some of them were acting towards Jason who already held a special place in his heart for hating drug dealers.
Jason voiced the stupid thing they were doing perfectly. "Yeah. Like yelling at the guy who's holding the AK-47. Listen to me, you drug peddling dirtbags. You eight are the most prosperous street dealers in town."
Jason paused letting his backhanded compliment sink in before going on.
"Me and my partner are offering you a deal. I will be running the drug trade from now. You will go about your business as usual. You will kick up forty percent to me. That is much better deal than the Black Mask will give you. In return you will have total protection from both Black Mask and Batman. The catch? You stay away from kids and school yards. Got it? If you do, you're dead."
Steph started walking silently towards Jason with the duffle bag in her hand. Sure her suit could teleport (which was really freakin cool, Steph still was not over how cool this stolen suit was) but using teleporting drained the Xenothium in the belt more than anything.
"Okay, crazy man. This is all very generous but why in the hell should we listen to you?" Asked one of the men below them.
Steph finally entered into the light. Right by Jason's side with the dufflebag unzipped. Before her training with the League of Assassins Steph would have puked at the sight below her.
It was a good thing she had been trained because puking at this moment would destroy any respect and fear they needed the street dealers to hold Jason and her in.
She threw the duffle bag down onto the bullet riddled table. Some of the heads rolled out of the bag. Steph noted the queasy looks on some of the drug dealers.
One even covered his mouth with his hand.
"Damn," one of them said before looking up at them with new found respect on his face.
"As you can see the duffle bag contains the heads of all your lieutenants. That took us two hours. You want to see what we can do in a whole evening?"
This had been Jason's original plan: the heads of all their lieutenants. But Steph had wanted the heads of eight drug dealers that had done something far worse than just be lieutenants to these men and woman. In the end they both gotten what they wanted. The lieutenants had all had done something worse than just sell drugs.
Helped a cousin with human trade, selling to kids, rape, child abuse. That was only naming half.
Steph hadn't felt bad about killing them after Jason had shown his meticulous research to her. And to Damian who refused to be left out anymore of their plotting. If he couldn't be on the field (both Jason and Steph refused) he would play a role in plans. Damian really was Bruce's son. You could tell by the apparent family trait: stubbornness that rivaled that of a mule.
"Make no mistake. I'm not asking you to kick in with us. I'm telling you," Jason said before shooting another round of ammo.
"Forty percent works for me," one the drug dealers croaked out once Jason was finished with shooting at their table and the heads of their lieutenants.
"Damn skippy," was the reply of his companion.
Steph didn't bother to contain her snort of dry amusement.
A/N: I own nothing but my love for these characters. ;)
Okay, I'm going ahead and telling you this. I just started reading comics about two years ago latter in this year it will be three. I love Stephanie Brown but finding any comics about her prior to New 52 & Rebirth is frankly a pain the ass. From what I can tell Under the Red Hood (which is the comic most of this story is based on) takes place soon after War Games (aka when Steph dies) because of this I had to delay Jason's return to Gotham as the Red Hood.
In this storyline: After finding out about Steph's death (which I'm going to assume that in the comics Jason never learnt of her because he never mentions her in Under The Red Hood unlike Barbara who he mentions in his speech) Jason comes back to Gotham to check on Steph's grave because Ra's, Talia, and him never found out what brought him back to life and he doesn't want another kid Bruce has failed to avenge have to go through what he had. (Read "Forget you I will not (my fellow dead Robin)" then "Don't bury me. Don't let me down.") Steph comes back to life and Jason postpones coming back to Gotham as the Red Hood to help Steph and so that when she's finished with her training they can come back to Gotham. Damian gets added to this mix but the story behind that will be explained in the next part of the series. Though if you payed real close attention and watched Batman Beyond you might have an clue.