A/N: Hey guys. I'm sorry. A week, I said. But it took me like a month. Stuff happened: school, parents, friends, siblings, crying over how no matter how hard I try, this will never be as good as NDND. Ugh life. To make up for it I wrote nearly 5,000 words though so I hope that you can maybe forgive me?

And thank you so much, Courtney, for reviewing. The banter is what draws me to this completely crack ship :p Keep the reviews coming.

I should warn you guys, there's a part in this chapter that alludes to rape, though it's vague. But I'm warning, just in case.

CHAPTER 2

The next morning, Stephanie checked up on him, just in case. She went to his old room first, assuming that he had slept there. When she found that empty, she checked the guest rooms and when she found that they were empty too, she checked the cave. The door that permitted entrance to the cave however, was locked. Since the door was a door grill, she could see that he was still sitting in front of the large monitor. Of course he was already here. Had she forgotten exactly whose unholy offspring he was?

She decided to leave him alone. He'd been gone months, he needed to catch up on how messed up Gotham had gotten since his father's (and his) absence. Heading up, she went in the kitchen and seated herself on the counter. Alfred was already there, cooking something, something that was decidedly not waffles. Saturdays were always waffle days. That meant that he was upset.

'Would you care to explain, Miss Stephanie, why I nearly gave myself a heart attack when I thought I saw a young Master Bruce wandering the corridors this morning? Only I realized it couldn't have been Master Bruce because his skin was darker and his perpetual scowl more prominent. So I ask you, is Master Damian back? And if he is, why did you not inform me of this last night?'

Stephanie scrunched her nose. 'Um, yes? And please don't kill me I just didn't want to give you cardiac arrest.'

'I suppose that was wise. I'm glad I had one more night of peaceful rest before I resume my duties under that vexatious boy,' he sighed and placed the omelet he had made onto a plate and handed the plate to Stephanie. 'Would you also care to inform me why he is avoiding me?'

Stephanie took a bite of the cheese filled eggs. He was avoiding Alfred? How typical.

'Probably doesn't want to deal with feelings and guilt and stuff.'

Alfred nodded. 'Probably.'

Stephanie finished the rest of her meal in silence while Alfred fixed her coffee. She was ever so thankful that he existed. Stephanie was not very good at cooking (though she could make mean ready mix waffles), but Alfred had been useful besides his cooking skills. Even though she'd been living at the mansion only a few months and had known Alfred least amongst the bats, he had become a close friend. She felt like she'd known him her whole life. He was the only one who she'd been able to rant her problems at, knowing that he'd listen quietly and dispense advice without a hint of self-righteousness. And he treated her like family, like she, a Brown, belonged there, in the big old mansion with its fancy furniture and high ceilings.

So she was appropriately offended on Alfred's behalf that Damian had not greeted him. After everything Alfred had done for all of them, he deserved at least that much. Grabbing her coffee, she marched down to the cave and this time, she grasped the grill door and shook it so it made an extrememly annoying rattling sound.

'Red cross! We deliver!

He shot up from his seat. 'Stop that you harlot!'

She grinned as he pressed the button to unlock the door. Marching in, she placed the coffee down on a table and proceeded to smack him on his shoulder. The smile was still on her face.

'Will you stop doing that?' he said, rubbing his arm.

'Not unless you go up and face Alfred and all your shame for abandoning everyone.'

Damian glowered. 'I refuse.'

'What are you twelve? You are going up there or it's the end of you.'

'You haven't been trained under master assassin's from around the world since the day you could walk so there is definitely not even a remote possibility that you have a chance of ending me in any way or form.'

'Up. Or it's the end of you.'

Damian grumbled in some foreign language under his breath. Stephanie wondered how many of the words were of an explicit nature. Finally, he muttered something in English, something Stephanie would have missed if she hadn't been this close to him. He said, 'I can't.'

And he actually had this expression on his face, one that resembled guilt, lips pulled tight and eyes downcast. Not very Damian like.

'Of course you can,' Stephanie said, stepping closer so that he had to look up from his shoes and meet her eyes. 'There were-are some of us who care for you, you know. Some of us who'd actually like to show that we care and show that we can forgive. Not all of us are your father.'

She noticed his jaw clench as his eyes flitted away once more and she knew she had hit a sensitive spot, but honestly, she didn't care. There was only so long he could be hung up on the older Wayne.

Apparently Damian thought otherwise, because he turned around in a way that suggested he planned on storming off.

Only, Alfred was there, eyebrows raised expectantly and a tray in his hand. Damian remained still and silent as Alfred placed the food laden tray down. He also remained still and silent as Alfred stepped forward and placed his arms around Damian. Stephanie saw his hands twitch, as though he wanted to move them from his sides, but they remained.

Alfred let go and pulled away.

'Welcome home, Master Damian.'

xxx

They went patrolling after that.

They hadn't agreed on the team up, per say, but Stephanie had suited up and so had he and they both ended up in the same car. Stephanie let him drive.

Steph had taken to patrolling alone most of the time. Sometimes she was joined by Dick, or by Tiffany when either had time. Tiffany joined her more than Dick since she had no Justice League to attend to, but Tiffany had her own set of obstructions in the form of University and taking care of her family. And so, Stephanie found herself with a proper partner after months and months. It had to be a self-righteous brat.

'We're not taking the east side,' Stephanie ordered as she recognized the direction he was driving in.

'I read the reports. Most crimes have been occurring in the east side as of the last five months. So yes, we are taking the east side.'

'No,' she pressed. 'We really aren't. That side belongs to the hood.'

The car actually swerved a little, disrupting his usually steady driving. 'Are you telling me that you have handed over a whole portion of Gotham to that imbecile?'

'Yup, D, pretty much,' she said cheerily. 'And the reports you read, they're all his doing.'

He gripped the handle tighter. 'What is Grayson's opinion on this?'

'Oh it was his idea. We have an agreement with the hood. He takes care of things his own way as long as he stays out of our way and we stay out of his. Better a maniac we know and can reason with than chaos reigning over the city.'

'And what makes you think you can reason with Todd?' he asked, eyebrows furrowed as though thoroughly confused.

'We have limited resources, we need him. Can't take on the whole city by ourselves.'

He snorted. 'Wasn't a problem before.'

'And before, we had more people. We had eight bats working in Gotham. We're down to three.'

'Doesn't mean you need to start associating with psychopaths.'

'We associate with you, don't we?'

At the unimpressed expression on his face, Stephanie sighed and her mouth twisted into a small, sad smile. 'Look, Damian, you've been gone a long time.'

He had no answer.

They ended up on a rooftop overlooking china town, listening out for radio calls. So far the worst call in they'd gotten was indecent exposure and Stephanie refused to take up that one. She could sense Damian getting twitchy.

'Be patient, my young padawan,' she said, patting his arm. 'Your time will come.'

Damian raised an eyebrow. 'Padawan?'

Stephanie gasped. 'Please for the love of god, don't tell me you haven't watched Star Wars?'

He folded his arms. 'Alright, I won't.'

'You monster.'

He shrugged. 'Grayson tried making me. I didn't see the point in wasting time watching inaccurate movies about space when that time could be spent doing something more useful.'

'You monster.'

He didn't reply, instead choosing to glance down at the bustling market, contemplating something. Stephanie couldn't guess what though because his eyes were covered by black goggles. The rest of him was clad in black too and unlike his previous suits, this one lacked in color completely. It was a blank suit, one without any symbols and affiliations. He'd cut himself off.

Stephanie broke the silence (she loathed silence). 'I guess I'll just have to remedy your complete ignorance of the Jedi ways.'

'Grayson was unsuccessful, what makes you think you'll manage it, fatgirl?'

God, she forgot how annoying he was.

'Why, I'll use my endless charm, you prick,' she leaned forward, putting on her most winning smile. 'You couldn't say no to that.'

'What makes you think I'll be here long enough for you to try that?'

That hit Stephanie like a brick. It had occurred to her, of course, that he might not have intended to stay, but hearing him say it was... was... what exactly? Upsetting?

She opened her mouth to retort but not so distant screaming cut her off.

They were off within a second. Gliding and leaping and tumbling over rooftops towards where the sound had originated from. Stephanie felt the blood in her veins flow faster, the standard rush of crime fighting.

The scene they arrived at made bile rise in Stephanie's throat. A group of men, five or six, surrounded two women. The one screaming was being held by two of the men, while the third was in the process of pulling off her clothes. The second woman was already lying on the floor, a small pool of blood around her head.

Before she'd even glimpsed at Damian's expression, Stephanie knew what was about to happen. In the span of about two seconds, Damian was on the ground, his boots connecting to the men's faces in ways that Stephanie just knew would take a long, long while to heal. The way he was striking ensured broken bones and bleeding organs. The men passed out one by one, until there was one man left. Damian grabbed him and pulled out a blade, pointing it at his chest, below the sternum.

'You'll think twice about trying that again,' Damian growled.

Instead of begging for mercy like any normal person, the thug made the mistake of spitting in Damian's face. Damian pulled back the blade, fully prepared to push it through, but Stephanie had reached him and she threw her weight into pulling back his arm as hard as she could. The combination of her yelling and pulling must have finally gotten to Damian because he turned to look at her.

'Don't do it. They're not worth it.'

'With the vile things they're doing, I strongly disagree,' he growled.

Stephanie gripped his arm tighter and gave him a look, one she hoped would would convey the plead in her eyes. 'Not worth it. Not them.'

He seemed to mull something over, and something she did must have clicked because his eyes cleared. He slammed the man hard against the wall, and the thug slid down to the floor. Stephanie let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

The police sirens wailed in the distance, brought on by the automatic 911 call that was placed when any of the bats requested with a button attached to their belts, which Stephanie had. Stephanie bandaged the girl, the one who was still alive, tried soothing her to the best of her abilities, and told her to wait until the cops arrived.

Once the cop cars had rounded the corner, the pair scaled the building back to the top. Stephanie remained quiet as she leaped over the rooftops, a few buildings away. Damian followed her. Once she was sure they were safe distance away, she whirled on him and shoved him with all her might. He had obviously been expecting it because he did not move an inch, his stance solid.

'What the fuck, Damian?'

'No names in the field,' he asserted.

'Oh, so that's a rule you're willing to uphold but not the very clear no killing rule?'

'No one was killed,' he said, voice even.

Stephanie groaned in frustration at his lack of empathy. 'If our objective was to hurt people, don't you think we'd be villains instead of heroes? The point of us, this,' she pointed to the bat symbol on her chest, 'Is to bring people to justice. To let them be dealt with fairly by the law.'

Damian sneered. 'Do you think people like them deserve to be dealt with fairly?'

Stephanie scoffed. 'You know, for someone who dislikes the Hood so much, you sure sound a lot like him.' Before Damian had a chance to reply, she cut him off. 'If you have even an ounce of respect left for your father, you'll stop trying to deform people.'

Damian's eyes narrowed. 'Don't talk to me about the rules of my father, Spoiler. Not when you didn't abide by so many of them.'

Stephanie closed her eyes in an attempt to hold back everything she wanted to dish at him. She was bound to say something she would regret. Especially because he had a point. Hypocrite was her middle name. She changed the subject.

'What was that comment before, about not staying?'

'Exactly what it sounded like.'

'So you're not staying?'

'Perhaps. Perhaps I will. I don't owe you an explanation.'

'Maybe not,' Stephanie conceded, stepping closer and poking a finger into his very hard chest. 'But I like consistency.'

He glowered down at her. Like way down. She was aware that he'd gotten tall but it seemed like he was a giant now. He was at least a head taller than her and a whole lot broader and in that moment, as he purposely leaned down even further, his eyes dark, she felt intimidated. It occurred to her how easy it would be for him to crush her, if he wanted. There was a time when she would have thought he was capable of hurting her, too. Now, she realized that despite his returning to his assassin baby ways, she trusted him implicitly. So when he replied with a more than a little hostility, she stood her ground.

'And I like it when I'm not given orders by insipid cows.'

'Well guess what, mister? You're getting them. Everyone else might have stood for your bratty shit but I'm putting my foot down. So when someone you're working with and someone you expect to have your back asks you a valid question, you should answer. Politely.'

The radio halted their conversation this time; an alert for a robbery.

Stephanie wanted to kick something as Damian got to avoid the question once again as they raced to the crime scene.

The rest of the night passed in the same relative pattern. They dealt with the thugs terrorizing the good (and not so good) people of Gotham with broken pieces of sarcastic and infuriating conversation scattered in between. The topic of him leaving wasn't brought up again.

It was four o'clock in the morning before Stephanie's body started screaming for her to stop. Damian, of course, wanted to keep going.

'Fine, keep going, fight your way to death. See if I care. I am, however, taking the car.'

That got him to stop. Daddy's precious car. Stephanie rolled her eyes and got in the passenger seat as Damian grudgingly got in the driver's seat and started back to the manor. He was a pretty solid driver, even though the speeds he drove at were always a little high.

Halfway back, Damian looked up at her. 'Why didn't we have a link to Oracle tonight?'

'She isn't feeling so swell.'

'What's wrong with her?'

'Nothing wrong exactly. I'll let Dick tell you.'

'Why?'

'Like I said, D. You've been gone a while.'

Xxx

When the next morning he was still there, Stephanie felt herself relax.

That was also when she noticed how odd it was that she was this worried over him, had been since his return. The two of them had always antagonized each other and she was never that close with him. Yet, they had shared a connection of sorts, an understanding. And she felt like… like she needed to worry over him, like he was, at least partly, her responsibility or something. Which was stupid because he, quite possibly, did not give two shits about her.

After grabbing a quick breakfast of fruit salad from the fridge (yes, occasionally, she liked to eat healthy), she headed down to start her training for the day. She had a lot on her plate today and she almost regretted sleeping in, but it was a Sunday and she was morally opposed to waking up early on freaking Sunday.

Damian, on the other hand, had obviously gotten up early because A: he was Damian, heir to the demon and what not so duh he had a strict regimen instilled into him, and B: he had to have been training for a while to get that sweaty.

Damian trained shirtless, apparently.

She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Dick did the same thing, after all. That didn't stop her coffee from going down the wrong pipe though, or the blood rushing to entirely inappropriate places.

He noticed her presence and stopped his beating the shit out of the punching bag.

Never one to avoid speaking her mind, she raised an eyebrow. 'Can I get a membership to whatever gym you went to in the past year? Because damn, D, ' She gestured to the lean muscle decorating his tall frame.

'Are you prone to expounding whatever idea flits through your mind, Brown?' he said. She noticed the subtle red in his cheeks that his copper skin tone allowed as he pulled on a shirt.

'What? As if you weren't aware of your perfect genes.'

He stared at her for a moment with his head tilted; his studying something intrinsically face. He must have realized that he'd stared too long because he broke eye contact abruptly and stepped back. Stephanie kicked off her shoes, took his place on the training mat and after a few stretches, she started on the practice dummy. She felt him watching her as she landed kicks and punches and different kinds of blows on the dummy. She'd always been self-conscious and being under the scrutiny of someone else did not improve her performance. She wondered how long it would take before he-

'Your stance isn't grounded enough.'

There it was. 'I've been doing just fine with how I fight, thank you very much.'

'Tt. Thoroughly explains why your body looks like it's been towed through the Inferno.'

Holding back a wince, she continued her battering of the lifeless human replica. She had no reply to his insult because honestly? He was right. Her body was a map of bruises and cuts and stitches. Usually, she was proud of that. When he didn't pull his gaze away, she sucked in a breath and turned to him again. 'Fine. Show me how then.'

She half expected him to scoff and leave her hanging, but he slowly walked up behind her and holding one of her legs gently, pulled it back so that she was closer to the ground. He also grasped her shoulders, touch light as a feather, and straightened them into proper position.

'Your fighting technique resembles a bull charging blindly, so it's best to use it to your advantage. Throw your whole body into the fight.'

'Oh that's sure to do a number on them,' Stephanie snorted. 'My whale body is awesome for crushing people.'

A tiny frown appeared on his lips and he tilted his head again. 'Your body hardly resembles a whale, Brown. It's a perfectly normal size for a healthy woman of your age.'

Only Damian Wayne, Stephanie figured, could insult her appearance and then give her a backhanded compliment within the span of about three minutes.

'Thanks, I guess,' she said, to which Damian looked away and waved her off. 'And I'm not that old, you prick.'

She kicked his leg. His reflexes were quick though, and he caught it, pulling and making her fall on her back. She used her newly acquired advice as she flipped back up and elbowed him in the rib, using her momentum to make him fall back with her on top of him. She could feel the heat of his skin through her workout clothes.

That lasted for about a second as he flipped them around and the next few minutes passed in a blur as kicks and punches were exchanged in painful places. He didn't hold back when it came to training. When Damian was ten years old and way tinier, he used to be a really difficult opponent to beat. Now, seven years and many, many extra pounds of muscle later, it was almost impossible. It wasn't that she was bad, he was just better. What she did have was determination, and if not for their interruption, she was sure they both would have kept going until they collapsed.

'Not bad, kiddies.'

Stephanie and Damian pulled apart from their violent dance to find Dick Grayson standing there, smile on his face.

For a moment, there was stillness as they all waited for the other's reaction. The loudest noise in the room was their ragged breathing. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Dick socked Damian in the jaw. Damian took it, quietly.

'What the hell, man? You were gone for a whole fucking year!' Dick's tone was confused. Like he didn't know whether he should be pissed beyond belief or happy out of his mind. Both might have been appropriate responses.

'And you were Batman in that time,' Damian muttered with more than a hint of bitterness.

Dick shrugged. 'Someone had to do it. A Gotham without a Batman is not something anyone needs. And you didn't stay to pick up the pieces so.'

Damian had the decency to look ashamed. Dick was probably the only one who could manage to elicit this response from the stubborn man-child. 'There were things I needed to do.'

Dick spread out his hands. 'What and you think that none of us would understand if you'd just told us that? That none of us would help?'

'This was something I needed to do on my own.'

Dick sighed, deep and world weary, one hand running over his face. 'We were all mourning, Damian. You weren't the only one. You didn't have to do it alo-'

Indifference poured from his voice when Damian spoke. 'That's not what it was about.'

'What then?' Dick spread his hands out in question. He scoffed. 'Damian we thought you were dead.'

Damian didn't reply. Dick ran his hands over his face again. Then, in something that was much more in character for Dick, he pulled Damian into a hug. Damian's hands twitched, like he wanted to return the gesture. But he didn't, and his arms remained by his side. He let the moment hang for a few moments before ducking out of the hug. And for anyone else who didn't know Damian, it might have seemed like Damian's stoic expression meant that he truly didn't care, but Stephanie had spent time with him, however reluctantly, and she knew him, and so she could see that it had affected him.

Grim determination quickly overtook his features as he folded his arms, head held up. It was his submit or die stance. So Stephanie knew that whatever was coming out of his mouth next was going to be something big. 'I was trained my whole life, Grayson, to take on the Bat mantle once father was gone. The suit is rightfully mine. Hand it over.'

Dick, to his credit, didn't look surprised. 'No.'

'No?' Damian repeated, voice low and menacing in a way only Bruce's had been.

Dick nodded. 'You're not ready.'

'I can't be less effective than you,' Damian spat. 'Gotham's degenerated even further since you've started.'

'You're right,' Dick breathed. 'But that doesn't change my answer.'

Damian's eyes flashed. 'You have no right, Garyson. I'm the blood son, the heir.'

Dick shrugged. 'Perhaps. But I'm oldest and little Wayne, right now, I get to decide when you're ready.'

That's when Stephanie knew that if this continued, the rage simmering under Damian's eyes was going to boil over and this conversation was going to end in a very not nice way. So Stephanie broke her fly on the wall silence and stepped towards Damian, nudging his arm. His gaze turned on her and for a second, she was sure that she was going to be the one on the receiving end of that wrath. But she held his gaze and the plead in her eyes must have reached him, she thought, because the vein in his neck that was about to pop eventually relaxed.

'You would know best, brother,' Damian said. He pivoted and left. Which, honestly surprised Stephanie. Damian had actually let go of what he had demanded and left. Very, very un-Damian like. He very rarely backed out of demanding what he wanted until he got it.

Stephanie rubbed her arm, feeling somewhat awkward at having witnessed the conversation. It was times like those she felt like she really didn't belong amongst the angst-y family of bats bound together by bat-daddy issues. Not that she didn't have daddy issues; her subscription just came with a different dad.

Dick released another sigh. Those had become more frequent as of late; like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. The price of being Batman. Stephanie had never seen Dick Grayson more worn out.

He turned to her, putting on a weary smile. 'I almost missed that condescending tone of his.'

Stephanie snorted. 'You're the only one.' She followed him to the monitor where he started pulling out some files. 'How was the mission?'

'Fine. It went fine. But I was distracted, a lot, on account of Babs, so it didn't go as well as it could have.'

'And how is Babs? I haven't talked to her in three days. Every time I call she's asleep or crying over some movie or the other, usually with her mouth full of cake.'

Dick laughed, some light returning to his eyes. 'She's good. Says the kicking's gotten stronger. I think I can just imagine the next ten years now: sleepless nights and a hell of a lot of broken things in the house.'

Stephanie grinned. 'I can't wait.'

Silence resumed as Dick updated some files, the light of the monitor accentuating the dark circles hanging under his eyes. She thought about leaving him to his work, but he spoke up as she was turning to leave.

'Has he killed?'

'Not that I know of. Not yet. Why?'

Dick swiveled the chair towards her. 'When he first came, he was… lost. And dark. Murderous. It was all he knew. It took us a while, but we managed to make him see that that wasn't all he could be. But what I saw just now? He's like the boy that arrived eight years ago, the one who beat Tim within an inch of his life, all over again.'

Stephanie nodded. 'Yeah. I know'

What Dick asked next surprised Stephanie. 'Will you take care of him?'

Stephanie's laugh was devoid of any humor. 'What could possibly make you think I could take care of overgrown Damian when I couldn't even take care of ten year old him?'

'Because he likes you best after me. And right now, he doesn't seem prepared to listen to me.'

'Are you out of your mind? Damian does not like me. He antagonizes me.'

'Yes,' Dick said. 'He does like you. Do you honestly think he would have listened to a word you ever said, ever, otherwise?'

Stephanie thought that maybe, there was a truth to those words. Damian was not the type to listen to anyone he did not deem worthy. Huh.

Dick had never looked older as his eyes locked onto Stephanie's, a plead in his eyes. 'Please, Steph. Promise me you will. Because right now, there sure as hell isn't anyone else. He needs someone to guide him, or he'll return to his default setting.'

Stephanie pursed her lips. If she agreed to this, the rest of her life might be hell, but there was no way she wasn't going to ascent. Damian was a bat, after all. And if he was a bat and she was a bat, that sort of made them each other's responsibility.

'Yeah, I will. Don't worry, big D. I'll have the youngling on a leash.'

Dick smiled. 'Thanks, Steph.'

She hoped that by the end of this her urge to live overshadowed her urge to kill herself that would no doubt arise after spending so much time with the brat.

She had no idea, of course, exactly what was in store for her.

A/N: Oh pretty please, won't you review? It gives me the will to keep writing.