Walking into my Dad's house, I was met with a familiar aroma which meant one thing, Alfred was making dinner.
"She finally rolls in." Jason said and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Sorry if I'm late." I said snarked and Jason smirked.
"You're actually early. Father isn't even here yet." Damian said as he walked into the room.
I sighed and sat down in on one of the couches in the living room. Jason glanced at me and then glanced at Damian, then glanced back to me. He smirked and I raised my eyebrow in response. He was planning something, but god only knows what the hell he was planning. Jason was fond of Damian, but it didn't stop him from teasing him here and there. Thankfully, they got along but when it came to Tim and Damian...that was a whole different story. They fought more than Dick and I fought when we were kids. It was both amusing and scary at sometimes.
"So, why'd you come to our part of town sister?" Jason said as he leaned back on the other couch.
"Tim texted me, where is he by the way?" I asked as I crossed my right leg over my left.
"Showing Blondie the new upgrades he made to B's suit. Along with some of the other upgrades he did a few weeks ago." Jason explained as he pulled out his phone.
I took off my heels and walked toward the elevator that led to the cave. Once I stepped inside, I hit the button for the lower level and the elevator began to slowly go into the cave. I always wondered why my Dad never played music...probably because he's a stone-cold soul.
As the elevator doors opened, I saw Tim sitting in one of the chairs facing the computers and leaning on the desk next to him was none other than Stephanie herself.
"Wow." I began making both of them turn towards me. "Not even a hello."
Stephanie smiled before she practically ran towards me and engulfed me in a hug. And I gave her the biggest hug back in response.
"I missed you so much." She mumbled into my shoulder.
"The same can be said about you Steph." I smiled pulling out of the hug and putting my hands on her shoulders.
If you're wondering, Tim's girlfriend Stephanie, knows all of our secrets. Her father, Cluemaster, is serving his time in Arkham, the only issue is that Stephanie is one of us...apart of our little 'team'. Before I left for New York, Stephanie came along into our lives. Back then, she was a sloppy fighter; she always left herself open...always used her weapons too. My Dad gave her to me as a little 'side-project'. Of course, she was intimidated, since I was the person training her...but like Jason says, I'm my father's 'Golden Girl.'
I wasn't easy on her, as I did the same methods that my Dad used to train me on Stephanie. In other words, I had to break her first before I could make her stronger. However, after I trained her, she turned into a better fighter, almost as good as me. How did I know? Well, when Barbara got the mantle of Batgirl, she asked Stephanie to spar with her to see how good of a job I did training her. Sure, enough in 5 swift moves, Stephanie had Barbara pinned to the floor in a choke-hold.
In that moment, I felt like a proud mom. Not just because Stephanie pinned someone to the floor, but the fact that Barbara had been pinned to the floor and couldn't figure out how to get out of the hold. That's how tight Stephanie had it. I don't want to say it but...honestly...Barbara got what she deserved.
Anyways, other than my protégé, I saw Stephanie like my little sister. She was almost like a carbon-copy of me. Other than the fact that she was blonde and a bit more riskier than I am... she's just like me.
After talking to Stephanie who asked me a variety of questions which consisted of why I was in Gotham and when can I give her a fake ID so she can come drinking with me (which I responded with a no) I sat down in the chair that Tim was in and began to search up this girl Carrie's father. Best part about having Batman as a father aside from all the cool toys, definitely the access to the Gotham Police Department's server.
As I began to read the files on this girl's father, I realized how dark this family was. And coming from me who has a dark family of her own...that's pretty messed up. It's awful. If I weren't so young, I'd probably adopt the poor girl myself...but I felt that I was too young to have kids, get married, and do all that. I don't have time...and it's not in my mind right now. Time must've gone by as I wasn't keeping track. I worked quietly in silence until I heard:
"Dinner's been ready for the past fifteen minutes...are you going deaf?"
I jolted and turned around to see my father standing behind me leaning on the railing of the stairway that led to the upper deck of the cave.
"You scared the shit out of me." I said trying to catch my breath. "I didn't hear Alfred."
"Obviously. He was starting to get worried." Bruce replied as he walked toward the desk. "What are you working on?"
I sighed. "That child abuse/homicide case with the girl you saved back in Metropolis."
"Understandable...that one is..."he began but trailed off.
"Fucked up?" I asked leaning back in the chair.
"Sure...let's say that." he replied before turning around to walk towards the elevator.
I exited out of the files and began to walk back towards the elevator, when I saw my Dad looking over Richard's old suit in the display case. I let out a sigh before I slowly walked towards it as well.
"You know he'd hate to see you like this." I sighed.
"I know." my dad replied.
"So why do you keep doing this to yourself?" I asked.
"Because I could've done more. I could've...been there." he began.
"That makes two of us." I responded. "Dad, I should've been there."
"Ally," my Dad began.
I was quick to respond. "No. Listen to me. I should've been there. We were always better together. It's my fault he's dead. I should live with the guilt."
While I knew Dick was alive and an even bigger idiot than he was before, I still lived with the guilt from when the 'old Richard' died.
"Come on," my dad began. "Alfred's waiting."
He then ushered me up the stairs for dinner with everyone else. Dinner was not that eventful, my Dad went around and asked everyone how work/school was and what their plans were for the weekend. In other words, this was Bruce Wayne's best attempt at trying to be that 'Wholesome American Family' that Clark talked about a lot. Honestly, it made me want to throw up, because we are not a wholesome American family. At all.
Before I left my Dad's house, I texted Dick and asked him to meet me at my apartment. He texted me back with 'I'll stop by around 12.' Which meant, 'I'll be by around midnight because I have to get ready for patrol so...wait for me.' When I got back to my apartment, I changed into a pair of Columbia University Sweatpants along with a tank top. Around midnight, I walked onto my balcony and looked out at the skyline. It wasn't that cold tonight (thankfully), so I wasn't too cold. I walked to the other side of the balcony and looked out at the harbor.
"Trying to sneak up on me?" I said as I knew someone was behind me.
I turned around to see Dick leaning against the other side of the balcony.
"I can't sneak up on you. Never could, never will again." he explained. "What's wrong?"
"I... just wanted to talk." I explained.
"Okay." he nodded. "About what?"
"I think that you should tell my Dad your alive." I blurted out and his eyes widened.
"Ash," he began. "You know I can't."
"Yes, you can." I explained. "Dick, he still blames himself after all these years. I hate to see him go down an even darker spiral than he already is."
He sighed. "I can't...I... it's not that I don't want to, it's just...I'm worried that everyone will be in danger."
I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. "You won't put anyone in danger."
"But..."he countered.
"Please," I begged. "For me?"
He sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Alright."
I smiled and pulled my hand back. "Thank you."
He shook his head. "You know I'm only doing this for you right?" he began.
I laughed. "Sure, whatever you say."
"Alright I gotta go." he said as he climbed on top of the railing.
"Please don't hurt yourself." I said cautiously as I crossed my arm, and he gave me a look.
"What?" I asked. "It's the right thing to say."
He rolled his eyes. "I've been doing this since I was nine."
"I've been doing this since I was nine." I mimicked.
"Funny." he said sternly, and I smirked in response before he fired his grappling hook and left my building.
When I walked back inside, I realized what I just did. There were two ways of how this reunion between Dick and my Dad. The first way was that everything was great, and it would go well. The second or as I would call it the 'more accurate' version is that their reunion would not go well. And in the back of my mind, I knew that this would probably be proven to be 100% true in time.