"There's been this misconception for decades now that our savior was some kind of anarchist hippy character, but that is a notion that needs to burn out. Christ told the Jews of Jerusalem to pay their taxes and that servants must respect their masters. In the parable of the talents, the lord gives his disdain for laziness and weak will and celebrates trading skills. This is the example we have to look to when we address the growing crisis of illegal immigrants entering our country. I am compassionate to the needs of people all across the world, including to America's south, and that's why we have a legal process for this. Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime, it remains a drain on our country's resources when there are already enough people in need. I would not suggest that all people who come from Mexico come to seek wealth through crime and poison our way of life, but if we allow wonton lawlessness to take control, our country will eventually fall into the same state of disrepair it has. No one who has nothing to hide should have any fear of coming to this country legally, they just lack the patience and willpower."
Stephanie turned down the audio on her phone and slipped off her headphones. Tim drove the green sedan from Gotham U toward Wayne manor, the two were scheduled for a night on patrol while Bruce's hands were still full with the Zsasz case. Tim didn't ask what she was listening to, her headphones were in often enough during the drive and he didn't like to interrupt.
"Tim?"
"Hm?"
"Is today a Mexican holiday?"
Tim didn't take his eyes off the road, but she could still see his perplexed frown. "Uh, not that I know of. But I have no clue. Why?"
"Just wondering." Stephanie looked back down at her phone and pressed her thumb against it a few times to pretend like she was doing something. "I just thought I heard the Diversity Club were doing something, I don't know. Can't be too careful, Calendar Man's out right now, isn't he?"
Tim's eyes tightened as if he was searching for a memory. "Is he? I don't remember for sure, but I really thought Bruce caught him a month or two back."
Stephanie nodded. Even if Tim couldn't see her, the lack of response suggested to him she remembered what he was talking about. The car buzzed by for a few more miles, neither said much to the other.
Eventually, Stephanie spoke. "You know that Cassie's been getting herself pulled off our missions together, right?"
Tim sighed. "I've noticed. She only ever sends me a couple of words a night and nothing during the day. Same for you?"
"Yeah."
Tim tapped the steering wheel with several fingers as he signaled to turn left at a traffic light. "Well, you brought it up… do you know why she's giving us the quieter than normal treatment?"
Stephanie leaned back and closed her eyes. "She thinks I'm a slut."
Tim turned toward her. "What?"
"I tempted a poor little Catholic boy into premarital fornication. I don't know if she's mad at you too or thinks you're a victim."
Tim kept starring long enough that the truck behind them honked to get him to move out of the way. As Tim's attention shifted, the realization came to him and he shook his head. "I told you you shouldn't tell her."
"I know rules are rules no matter what, but do you really think she would have given it any thought before she got all weird after the injury?"
Tim's silence suggested he lingered on the question a moment before his reluctant, "I don't know."
"How far can she even get with this? Bruce is an atheist—"
"Bruce has fought gods before. And I'm pretty sure at least one angel has been part of the Justice League, meaning at least one angel has been on his payroll."
Stephanie threw up her hands. "Okay, let's not split hairs here. Nonreligious. We can totally call him nonreligious, right?"
"Yeah."
"Bruce is nonreligious. So is Barbara, so is Damian, so are a ton of other people we know and work with. Where's she going to draw the line?"
"I don't know, Steph, but somewhere." Tim's eyes tightened as he switched on his turning signal again. "Do you think you might be overreacting to this a little bit?"
Stephanie was taken aback. "Are you serious? We're talking about our friend here, turning into the things she used to fight against."
Tim shrugged. "Maybe I just think she deserves more credit than that. Not everything bad thing that happens needs to be the moment someone becomes one of the villains."
"I'm not saying—"
"When the world stops making sense to religious people, they end up running into or away from their faith. When my mom died, I ran in. When my dad was killed, I ran away. But most people eventually stabilize."
Stephanie leaned back and closed her eyes. "But most people didn't grow up like Cassie did." When Tim didn't respond, Stephanie didn't add anything. For a few miles, the car was the only one to make a sound, until she asked, "Do you regret it?"
"Regret what?"
"Having sex with me?"
A smirk crept across Tim's face. "Not even for a moment."
A little smile came over her as well. "Peeling off the costumes is a little more 'us' than a big white dress."
"I'm glad we got a little extra use out of that old bunker before Bruce put the kibosh on the whole thing."
Stephanie put out her left hand and fanned out her fingers. "You know the statistics for marriage between high school sweethearts aren't great. Do you think we're meant to beat the odds?"
"I don't think there's enough data to conclude what being partners in a vigilante team does to those chances." Tim reached out and held her hand. "But you've saved my life, I've saved yours. Kinda seems like we owe it to each other."
"If you wanna ask me Tim, you can whenever you think it's right," Stephanie said. "You'd have to screw up pretty major to change my answer."
Bruce was just departing from the cave when they arrived. "Another homicide up in the hills. The police don't know if it was Zsasz yet, I'm going to investigate."
Stephanie pulled on her insulated suit. "Is Cass doing okay?"
Bruce sighed and shook his head. "She took a fight with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy too far. I'm almost ready to pull her off duty for a while, but it's everything we've got to maintain equilibrium right now."
Tim buckled his cape. "Have you thought about calling Dick in?"
"He's gone dark recently," Bruce said. "I'm giving it a few more days before I decide it's something serious. He can handle himself, but that also means he isn't always available to take our calls."
Stephanie lingered on her recent research of Cameron Gram and what his connection to the Lipov case could be. She wanted to voice her fear, but still knew the idea would sound absurd. Gram probably was just some jerk with a microphone on the radio, to suggest otherwise was just conspiracy.
Still, she couldn't stop herself. "Hey, have you ever heard anything from that guy on the radio Cassie keeps listening to?"
Bruce pulled on his cowl and took the keys to the Batmobile off his bench. "I've overheard a few things, but most of it has just sounded like angry nonsense."
It was too far to suggest a Gram and Lipov connection, but maybe Bruce would see something in the conversation from earlier. "I've listened to him at the same time as Cassie a couple times. I know it sounds weird, but maybe he's impacting her angry streak."
Tim sighed, but Bruce nodded. "I've considered the possibility."
Stephanie perked up. It was rare he seemed to approve of any of her suggestions.
"But that's a situation we need to handle delicately. If I tell her to stop listening, she might be in a place to argue with me. For the moment I'm not letting her out with Damian again and I'm going to give her a firm reminder what we're doing here. Small steps will hopefully bring the best results."
As Bruce pulled open the door to the Batmobile, the garbled static of a police line overtook the computer.
"Sounds like another kidnapping, just outside the Saint Juan Catholic Church."
Stephanie froze a moment before she looked toward the computer. "Saint Juan's?"
"That Spanish-service church on Blake," Bruce said. "Maybe those classmates of yours in the white van again."
"Damn it, we'll head them off!" Tim grabbed his keys. "Come on, Steph."
For a moment, she remained in place. In that moment, there came a second shred of validity to her proposition.
It still wasn't time to reveal the theory yet. But she was getting closer.
