Summary: Living in that old house by yourself is lonely they said. Get a roommate they said. It would be fun they said. Yes well fortunately for herself the clowns, sirens, doctors, lawyers, armed assassins, birds, and even bats have decided to make her big "scary house" Gothams #1 crashing pad, how lucky. She should've just opened that damn coffee shop instead
A/N: Wow I am sucking at updating. Again I am so sorry for late updating, I've been really distracted/ busy with college prep, work (3 people left at once), cosplay, other fics, among just some of the crazy that's happening. I can't guarantee an updated schedule anymore, but I am trying to have 3-5 hours a week to write fics at the moment but again inspiration comes and goes so eh.
Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material/DC Comics/DCEU/etc….obviously.
She was on edge.
Wellbeing on edge was putting it lightly.
Stephanie was more like teetering on the edge of a cliff trying to balance on a penny while lasers and missiles were trying to hit her. Thankfully, that was simply her emotional state and not, well, her physical state of being.
No, physically Stephanie was locked away in the movie room of the Claue manor watching Disney movie reruns and eating all the sugar that was stocked up in the room. Everyone else, on the other hand, her 'permanent' and 'totally-not-not paying' tenants were holed up in the basement as the manors maids were about cleaning the place up.
Usually, Stephanie wouldn't have minded their presence, in fact, those maids had been under her family's employment since she was a child and were surprisingly a pair of the sweetest most genuine people in Gotham (although technically they lived on the outskirts of the city). However, this time was a tad different.
The maids had been given a few weeks vacation from Stephanie and then the two had run into a family issue which she then was more than happy to let them have more time off. But now they were back. And they had been greeted with a less than clean manor since the last they saw it.
Some of the chandeliers were missing crystals and candles, there were no chips and odd scuffs in the floorboards that hadn't been there before, some things had been moved, and there was a lot more garbage to take out. Especially considering that for all they knew, Stephanie was still an anti-social hermit who had zero roommates and hadn't made any attempt to get any.
The one nice thing they noticed was the lack of dust around the place (which was in part due to Live-Wire always blowing a fuse if she inhaled the stuff), and of course, the very alive and absolutely stunning gardens that had sprouted up all around the manor like magic.
For the entire day, the two middle-aged ladies went about cleaning and fixing up the manor the best they could as Stephanie in the meantime held her breath, silently praying and hoping none of her roommates would make any loud noises or, you know, explode something in the basement which would cause a lot more chaos and questions that she really did not want to deal with.
Thankfully some god or overpowered being given pity on her for once and there was not a single incident or mishap all day. Once the maids left, after being generously paid, of course, Stephanie trekked her way down to the manor's basement.
However, when she got there nothing greeted her. In fact the only thing down there was darkness and the faint humming of Jason's computer monitors. The basement was empty. And most likely had been empty that entire day.
Fighting the urge to smack herself, she returned back upstairs and into the kitchen to get a drink and nonsugary foods to eat. Deciding that, while she had just wasted the entire day thinking that her roommates were in the manor when in fact they weren't, Stephanie finally had some time now to be alone and do whatever she wanted.
Of course, her small moment of realization was short-lived as a loud and resounding 'thud' was heard, echoing through the halls and coming from the manor's attic.
Debating whether or not to ignore the noise, which could possibly have been her imagination, it reaffirmed it's existence when the sound repeated itself which was then followed by a loud screeching sound.
Letting out a groan and sigh, Stephanie set her wine and dinner aside as she grabbed one of the hidden weapons and gadgets that the various villains had stashed around the manor. Unfortunately for herself, or perhaps luckily for the thing in the attic, the first thing she grabbed, which was tucked beneath the kitchen island was a nerf gun filled with a fart bomb.
The words 'smell ya later' was sprawled over it in hot pink text, which sure was pretty sure was either lipstick or nail polish. Needless to say, she carefully replaced the gun underneath the island and instead reached for one of Deathstroke's weapons, which was a grenade launcher.
This was most certainly not her day.
Rummaging around some of the potted plants she found copious amounts of poisons and venomous seeds, none of which were useful at the moment. The items beneath the various chairs ranged from what looked like a beach ball, to smoke bombs, and even some bottle with a strange web-like consistency in it. The lights weren't much help either as all she found there were dust and some green glowing net she didn't dare touch.
After a good seven or eight minutes searching, she finally found what appeared to be some sort of javelin stick with a razor-sharp end. Keywords she later found out was 'appeared to be'.
Leaving the kitchen to immediately run straight into the hallway which had numerous swords and machine guns hidden behind the bookshelves and ceiling tiles, she debated whether she should return the odd stick back behind the stove and grab one of the far more intimating weapons Stephanie reluctantly forced herself to the attic stairs.
Flickering on the dulled light she rushed up the steps, almost tripping on the loose floorboard at the stairs top she came face to face with absolutely nothing. Again.
Checking around the various boxes and the terrifying white-sheeted furniture, she again found nothing amiss. Chalking it up once again to her becoming more paranoid what with the kinds of people who lived with her now and the very real threat of being caught by Batman or worse, the Justice League as a whole for harboring criminals.
Slowly making her way down the stairs and locking the attic door Stephanie shook off her fears that is until a quiet 'achoo' broke her thoughts.
The sound once again came from the attic, as she now started questioning her sanity. A part of her wanted to pretend she heard nothing and just, you know, flee from her house and go into the city until everyone else came back, aka those who would be far more skilled with dealing with intruders or at the very least far more intimidating then herself.
But then again, calling the police was still a viable option despite the awkward meeting with Barbara Gordon, which was still supposed to be rescheduled soon, she knew the police wouldn't do anything.
Bracing herself to go back upstairs to the attic again Stephanie grabbed one of the conveniently placed semi-automatics that were lodged in between the portrait of her great grand uncle, she thinks it was him, she turned back around and headed up.
Turning the light back on she did a more thorough search of the upstairs, careful of the top step this time around. However, she was met with nothing out of place once again.
Well until she had half a mind to look up that is.
Like any horror movie, the moment the final girl looked up, she would spot the big bad guy who had been watching her the entire time and then proceed to get her throat clawed out. Except when she looked up she was met with not a monster, but a bat.
A small red and black-clad bat mask and all. Or well it was technically a robin, but a robin who worked for a bat, lovely.
Neither said a word as they continued to stare, frozen in place until he opened his mouth, "Uh hi there I'm the Red Robin uh, nice attic you've got here." She opened her mouth to reply only to find no words to come out as her vision went blurry, not even realizing that she had been knocked out.
Waking up in tied to a chair was not how Stephanie Claue imagined the evening going.
Especially considering she was tied up and being kept in what she could only describe as an 'interrogation' situation in her very own house.
Before her were two masked beings, both of which were fighting with one another. The one in black and red who she recalled introduced himself as 'Red Robin' earlier was trying to convince the other one, who she was positive had to be the dark knight's sidekick, Robin that tying her up was a bad idea. Oh and you know, knocking her out was also uncool too.
It was a bit heartwarming that he was sticking up for her, despite the fact that he still let the young teen knock her out. Robin, on the other hand, carried himself with an aura that just read 'I'm better than you' and 'don't get in my way' so he was basically like all teens going through their angsty puberty phase. He must really be able to get his anger out on all the criminals in the city that as for sure.
Their arguing continued for another five minutes before she felt herself getting dizzy from the back and forth. At this point, she didn't care what they did to her, most likely trying to see if she really was harboring criminals or something, all Stephanie really wanted right then and there was something to drink.
Hell, she'd kill for some wine.
Perhaps living with villains really was starting to be a bad influence on her.
"Hey there," she coughed out, drawing their attention as their heads snapped to look down at her, "I hate to break up this thrilling conversation but if that's all you are going to do I will have to ask you to leave my house, although before then if you could untie me, I'd appreciate it thanks."
Stephanie had gotten to the point of the evening where she no longer gave any fucks. She just wanted to drink and sleep and worry about everything tomorrow when she was hungover. Yea she thought to herself, being around Jason and Deathstroke so often was a really bad idea.
"Shut up its none of your business."
"Robin, you can't say things like that. She's a civilian," Red Robin harked back, "Which is also why you don't knock out civilians!"
"You were the one who tied her up!"
"That was only because you wanted to drag her to the Cave for some sort of interrogation!"
"Is this not one right now?" the teen huffed, "Honestly you're like all high and mighty, all of you do! But you know what I'm actua-"
She let out a groan as the two fell back into arguing once more, "You know what why don't you knock me out again so I don't have to listen to you both act like children."
"Rude much?" Robin scoffed, "You rich trust fund kids living off your parent's money are all the same. Whiny, rude, and no idea what it's like to live in the streets or know pain or suffering. People like you disgust me."
Silence fell over the room as Stephanie soaked in his words before letting out a chuckle until it became a full-on laughing storm. Through breaths, she shook her head, "How does being a hero make it any better? I use my 'trust fund' and dead parents wealth to fix Gotham because this is also my city, you use your fists," she glared up at him, "You don't know how or what other peoples lives were like, especially here in a city like this one. Everyone has faced pain, death, and has suffered be it from their situation in life, their family and friends, to even the constant fights between heroes and villains."
"That's not what I meant I-"
"Didn't anyone tell you that it was rude to interrupt your elders?" A voice came from the shadows, "Or did the old Bat never teach you that lesson either?"
Perched upon the windowsill, garbed in his usual black and red and hood upon his head sat the one and only, Jason Todd.
"Red Hood," she stated out loud both in shock and relief, almost slipping and calling him by Jason as he landed onto the floors. Stalking over to the three he paid the other two no mind as his narrowed in on Stephanie.
"Red Hood, I thought you were in Bludhaven with Nightwing," Red Robin commented in surprise, "How long were have you been listening in?"
Jason made no attempt to look over to the other masked man as his attentions remained solely on herself. His gloved hands traced over the side of her head where a bruise had already begun to form from the blunt force used to knock her out made impact. She winced when in grazed against the bump, jerking away from him on instinct.
She swore she saw his eyes narrow from behind the white mesh of his hood, "It seems the Bat's lost his touch." He tilted his heads ever so slightly over to the young teen who watched the scene unfold, "You hit too hard, you could've caused brain trauma."
He shrugged adverting his eyes, "So what? It got the job down. Next time it won't be like that I-"
"There won't be a next time Robin," he interrupted coldly, "Next time you might kill someone, and that's something that doesn't fit your name nor outfit. I don't think the old man would appreciate it too much. Although two out of four being good is still decent odds."
"Jas- Red Hood," Red Robin cut in physically taking a step forward as he did so, " Stop this antagonizing, we aren't here to fight." His eyes wandered over to Stephanie and then back to Jasons, "He was and still is my responsibility for tonight. I didn't realize what he was going to do until he had already done it. For that I am sorry, truthfully, you know I would never harm a civilian for no reason."
His voice was apologetic and she could hear it in his words, he really didn't mean to injury her. Although she had already sensed that from him earlier, it was still nice to have that affirmation, however, it didn't justify tying her up.
"Then why is she currently tied up huh?" Jason scoffed before shoving away from Red Robin as he undid one of the knives in his holster. "What are you doing?"
He brought the knife over Stephanie's tied form, "What does it look like I'm doing Robin? I'm letting her go, not stabbing her idiot." And with that the roped that bond her dropped to the floor. Nursing the slightly red abrasions on her wrists and forearms she stood up slowly, " Thank you."
Jason nodded slightly, just barely so but she could sense the small smile on his face from underneath the mask. Their attention turned back to face the two heroes in front of them. "Why did you do that? She was a suspect!"
Stephanie raised a brow, "And what pray tell am I a suspect to? I didn't commit any crimes nor have I any interest to do so," she took a small step forward only to find herself partially blocked by Jason who seemed to be trying to take a protective stance in front of her, "From my knowledge, you two broke into my house, knocked me out which is assault, tied me up, and insulted me. I think you have broken far more crimes tonight than I ever have so told me again, why and what am I suspect for?"
Red Robin opened his mouth to respond but was unceremoniously cut off once again by the teen beside him, "Classified information. It's none of your concern anyway," he looked up at Jason, "Why are you here anyways? You weren't 'just' passing by, you were in Bludhaven less than three hours ago. It's not like Claue here has anything to do with you right?"
Neither said anything as she tried her best to keep her face blank. She couldn't read Jason's face but from his posture, she knew he was tense and she was sure he was trying to figure out something to say. Taking the initiative she tried answering, "Well actually the Red Hod and I don't know-"
"She saved my life."
All eyes snapped over to him, her head almost getting whiplash by how fast she had turned to stare at him. She wasn't the only to be startled by his words as Robin shook his head in disbelief, "What did you just say? I don't think I heard you properly."
"I was injured and I passed out in the middle of the street," he began retelling the event from all those nights ago, "If she hadn't brought me back to her place and dressed my wounds I may not be standing here right now." She knew he was exaggerating his injuries, though then again she also kidnapped him in a sense so she wasn't going to interject. "I owe her my life so I keep watching over her sometimes, make sure no paparazzi try to break in or some low-life criminal as you clearly see, she is the heiress to a large fortune."
"I see," the older Robin stated, "Is that why there is a monitor system in the basement then? That's all your doing?"
Jason let out a small sigh but nodded. "And what about the weapons in the hallway? Those yours as well?" He nodded again. "The security system? I'm surprised you didn't code up some sort of AI for the place."
He shrugged, "Didn't have the time to do that yet. Not that important, besides those can be far too dangerous."
"What of the lightning spear we found her with?" he asked as Jason turned to look over at her with confusion and irritation. Clearly, she had not helped the situation by carrying one of the random weapons she had found. "That's not one of your weapons, we checked it against the database, it's something that Live Wire used to use."
Suspicion had now been placed back on them and this time Stephanie spoke, "That was my parents." Robin tried to interrupt her but she held her hand up to silence him much to his annoyance, "My family dealt a lot with the underground of Gotham. If you go far back enough you'll see that they dealt with all sorts of criminals, Black Mask, the Penguin, and even Lex Luthor just to name a few. It was probably a gift from Live Wire or maybe they bought it in one of those auctions who knows."
What she said was technically true. Her parents had done a lot of dealings with criminals in fact she remembered meeting the infamous Lex Luthor when she was younger. Her parents weren't exactly criminal souvenir collectors, but they did enjoy several of the creations that others had made to both fight and cause crime.
"If that's all then Red Robin, Robin," Jason stated as he reached for his waist holsters as he unlatched his revolvers and pointing them at the pair, "I suggest you both leave, it's getting late and I'm sure the Bat would like to hear about all the nothing you accomplished tonight."
"But-"
"No Robin, we go now." The red and black-clad Robin practically dragged the younger towards the open window much too his protest, "It was good seeing you again Red Hood. The four of us should hang out again sometime, I think Alfred would like that."
Jason made no comment instead cocking his guns, still pointing them at their heads. And like the wind they were gone, leaving without so much of a trace that they were there in the first place.
Once they were sure that they were gone Jason turned to face Stephanie. Placing his guns back in the holsters and ripping off his hood mask, his eyes gazed down at her, "Why the fuck happened?"
She felt herself shrugging, "I have absolutely no idea," she replied in earnest, "I could use a drink though."
.
.
.
Notes:
Red Robin -Aka Tim Drake
Robin -Damian Wayne
"High and Mighty"- Damian has a poor relationship with the other previous robins (he supposedly has the best one with Jason) and is often portrayed as jealous when it comes to Dick and Tim.
2 out of 4- Canioncally Jason is the only Robin (or once was a robin) to kill someone as Red Hood). Basically saying that if Damian does kill someone, then only two of Batman's prodigies would be able to take on the 'Batman' name/symbol.
Stephanie also doesn't know that Jason used to be Robin (back when she was in middle school to be specific) nor does she know that Damian, Tim, and Jason are technically siblings, yet.
A/N: Not a lot of laughs in this chapter, trying to get some plot here and there (which you know originally wasn't gonna have any). Originally this chapter was going to have Batwoman and Clayface, but like I choked and couldn't figure out how to include it all. Wa-whoops