A Renegade Knight

CHAPTER XII

With a snap, Stephanie Brown closed her laptop and sighed. Her weekly internet chat with her predecessors of the Batgirl title had gone over an hour longer than expected. Barbara was awake from her surgery and the outcome was good, leaving the group with a lot to take about. With a lot of hard work, it looked like Steph's mentor would be walking before the year was over and, although it wasn't discussed, possibly reclaiming the Batgirl title. Cass was as sonic as ever, the Black Bat enjoying her work as the Batman Inc. Representative in Hong Kong. However, she too had picked up the possible change in the ranks and had already invited Steph for a visit should the girl need to get out of the city.

But Steph couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief at the possible change. Being the female partner to the Dark Knight was starting to get to the former Girl Wonder. Sure it had been alright when Dick had held the title, even if Damian constantly tried to degrade Steph. But the return of the original Batman and Tim's increased presence in Gotham, as well as the breakdown between Batman and Robin was making crime fighting increasingly stressful.

Steph had decided, for her own sanity, to lessen her presence in Gotham for a while, only working with the Birds of Prey and avoiding the intense arguments between Batman and Robin and the sonic shadow of Red Robin. In fact, Steph was starting to consider returning to her first secret identity. The Spoiler was only a minor player in Batman's crusade and as such, was less involved in the family dynamics. Certainly it felt like running away from the problem, but Steph had never claimed to be perfect. She had created the Spoiler as an attempt to hinder the father she hated, and she had never doubted her place as the fourth Robin had been a simple convenience to try and taunt Tim back to the family. And judging how that had ended, there was no doubt that Steph would not be remembered for her good work as the first female Robin. In fact, the only really sincere moments of her crime fighting career so far, was her time as Batgirl. Dick was kind and truly did want Steph to do her best, treating her like a little sister. He was quick to help her out and tried not to judge her actions. He was even prepared to defend her from Damian when the kid decided to start trying to abuse his position as Batman's partner. But Dick was no longer Batman. Instead, he had disappeared back to Bludhaven and left the family to its own devices.

And disappear, the first Boy Wonder had. Barbara had questioned Steph on Dick's whereabouts. Apparently he was the first person she had tried to contact after finding out her surgery was a success. But Dick hadn't answered. Nor had he answered the next ten times Barbara had called that week. Despite the distance, Dick was not one to ignore his sometimes girlfriend and still best friend. Dick had been Barbara's rock during her long years without legs. He would not miss her call for anything. Put simple, Barbara was very worried.

Steph had promised her she would look into things and try and find him, even going to Batman or even Red Robin if she had too. After all, Gotham's female heroes had to stick together somehow. Still the idea was less then desirable. In fact, Steph would much rather ask Robin and put up with the brats condescending speech then go to the Dark Knight.

Pushing her laptop to the side, Steph slowly climbed to her feet and stepped into her closet, pulling aside the secret panel which hid her costumes from the world. Pulling the door closed behind her, she quickly changed into the black and purple Kevlar, taking a moment to ensure the yellow bat was visible across her chest. Picking up her belt and cape, she quickly slid them on, leaving only her cowl off. She kicked the door open and stepped back into her room, ready to leave. A shadow appeared in the corner of her vision.

"Batgirl" A deep voice said.

Steph only just managed to muffle her scream of surprise as she swung around. Somehow, in the time she had been changing, Batman had climbed through her window and into her room. The Dark Knight stood in the corner, looking at her through the white lenses of his cowl, his expression unreadable. Even so, Steph felt herself shiver under his gaze. It was the same intense gaze which had fallen on her so many times when she had tried to live up to the Robin mantle.