ataraxion | | Batgirl | 001

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| Batgirl | 001 | video |

[DUN DUN DUUUUUN! A masked vigilante appears on the screen. She has some very blonde hair and-- are those bat ears? She's also talking a mile a minute.]

Okay, so.... okay. We're obviously on a ship. In... space? With assigned numbers and communication devices. This would be a lot cooler if I knew the why and the how and the potential dangers. Mostly the why. Anybody get a 'why' yet? Not expecting something for nothing here, so...

Hey! I'm Batgirl. Would anyone mind giving me a tour?

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Stop - trying to --

Okay, so you can filter! Not very well, but it's better than most people. [ What is she DOING? She's taking this so seriously. It's like she actually thinks she's a blonde lady Batman or something. ]

We really do need to talk. Where are you? I know this ship as good as it can get by this point, so I'll come to you.

Holy crap, how did you even--

[Good with computers. VERY good. She gives the location of an empty room not far from her assigned bunk. The suit covers up her tattoo, should be fine.]

See you in a bit?

[ Well, that shit-eating grin is almost familiar, isn't it? ] I told you I know what I'm talking about. I'll see you in ten.

[ But he's there in seven, and not in plainclothes either - there's some full Robin garb going on here. He shouldn't feel like he has anything to prove, but there's this nagging voice at the back of his head now that keeps distracting him. Throwing him off his game. ]

[ Like how he could be totally walking into a trap, just about now. ]

[ He pushes open the door to the room he was given, but his hands fidget near the pouches of his utility belt. Just in case. ] Hello?

[What she WANTED to do was wait in the shadows, tackle the kid, and noogie some answers out of him.

What she did do... was wait in the middle of the room with the lights on and a friendly smile on her face. No need to scare the crap out of him. Not to mention the hacking abilities and the info from Artemis had her more than intrigued and just as confused.]

Hey.

[Okay, so he's not as tiny as she thought. About Cass-height. She holds her hands up where he can see them.]

Just fyi? I know the situation is dangerous. That's why I went with the mask. Secret identities are only good if they're a secret and I didn't know the bad guy situation out in space. Sue me. Also? ... Thanks for coming. Not a trap, I swear.

[ This was officially bizarre. She hadn't dropped character for a second. She spoke like a professional. If she'd wanted to get the drop on him, she'd just missed her perfect opportunity. She had to be playing at something, it was the only sensible reasoning here. ]

[ But her costume just looked so legitimate. Okay, maybe she had the bucks to buy something and didn't get one of the plastic masks. No big deal, right? ]

You know, that's what people who are leaving the traps usually say.

[ But the utility belt replica was pristine. It was uncanny. ]

Batgirl, huh? I get that one and Batwoman and Red Robin, but where the heck did you pull Nightwing out of?

[That friendly smile just crossed over into smirk territory. She shrugs.]

You'll have to ask him that one yourself. Beats me. He was Robin first, so maybe... bird themed-- I have no idea.

So you're really a Robin? Seriously? Because I just saw the current Robin a few days ago, and it wasn't you. He's smaller and meaner. How do you want to do this? Secret security questions? How much trust are we willing to give each other?

[Okay, Steph. Not everyone understands your fast-speak]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on -

[ And there's where he couldn't take her seriously, because she just kept yammering on about it. ] You keep talking about all these Robins like there's more than one but there's not. There's only one Robin.

[ He stares at her, flatly. Fast-speak, he can take. If he can keep up with freaking Wally, he can just about with Steph Brown. But it didn't make what she was saying any less bizarre. ] And there's no 'Nightwing', I really don't know what you're going for with that one. There's just Robin. That's -- that's me. So why don't you start with where you got all that stuff?

Ha. Haha. That's kind of hilarious that you keep saying there's one Robin and no Nightwing, because Nightwing happened after the first Robin--

[That's not possible. That's not even CLOSE to possible.]

Does the name Alfred Pennyworth mean anything to you? What about ... [How does she get info without giving too much away? There's a chance he isn't. A VERY good chance. A huge chance, actually. He might not have anything to do with Batman at all!]

Does the circus ring any bells?

[ It's funny how it's just one word that doesn't mean much to anybody, it's just the circus, but to someone like Dick Grayson, when it's coming from a stranger - ]

[ Alfred isn't much proof. Plenty of people know about the Pennyworths and their work for the Wayne family if they're from Gotham. But the mention of a circus causes a reaction that's both childish and visceral, and he's immediately kicking himself inwardly for reacting at all. But it's still something so fresh in his mind. ]

[ Dick takes a step closer, his eyes narrowing from their moment of widening in shock. His hands (maybe foolishly) dip from their ready position at his utility belt, and when he speaks, he sounds very much like a 13-year-old boy, wary and confused. ]

Who -- are you again? Exactly?

[Bam. And the guard he had up just shatters... and it breaks her heart. She doesn't know HOW just yet, but she knows it's him.] Dick?

[He let his down. It's only fair. Steph reaches up SLOWLY, purposefully slow, and pulls off the mask.]

My name is Steph. This is going to sound totally bogus... but I think I'm from the future?

[ She knows his name. She knows his name. And Haly's, she - ]

[ He doesn't allow her the same privilege just yet, if not just because he's just standing there, so quietly shocked about what she's saying. He knows about the different time periods that people have come from, different universes from his own, even. But it had never really clicked that a situation like this could happen, someone from his past. Someone from his future. ]

[ Dick reaches up with a fist, scrubbing pointedly between his eyes. ]

Does -- he replace me? [ is all that manages to come out, just as unsettled as before. ]

[Okay, the first blow to the heart hurt bad enough and now he's just twisting the knife.]

Only because you left intentionally. You became Nightwing. He wasn't going to replace you at all, it just kind of happened? ... A few more times. You still work with him! [Do NOT use past tense, Stephanie, do NOT!] But you mostly flew solo.

... Not even apologizing for that pun.

Look, I don't know much about alternate timelines or sci-fi junk, but I do NOT want to create some black hole because I messed with the continuum or something and told you about your future. The gist is, you didn't get fired and you're the best one out of all of us and I also like to think we're pretty good friends, but I could be totally wrong.

[More than friends, actually. Dick's like a big brother a lot of the time. To ALL the batkids, not just the adopted siblings.]

[ As for Dick, it's more like something in his chest finally takes the time to stop clenching. For himself, at least. That one hang-up that's always kind of hanging over his head lately denied and all. ]

[ He doesn't really have too much reason to believe her. His identity was well under wraps, sure, and it wouldn't be the first person who'd put two and two together - Artemis had, after all. But he did, for some reason. If not just because he wanted to believe it, maybe, bizarre as it was to have his future laid out in front of him like this. ]

[ But it wasn't an unwelcome idea. Becoming his own superhero. ]

No! It's okay, no tears in all of space in time. Not yet anyway. Continuum strictly protinuum for now. Steph. [ He actually offers her a small, crooked smile after a brief pause, and then even reaches up and -- hesitantly takes his mask off. She already knows his name anyway, right? ] At least if we're going to be friends, the flattery's a good place to start.

[That smile just fixes everything. Seriously, if Steph grins any more, she just might explode into happy pieces of glitter.]

This is bananas. You're so him. I mean you! That face-- Okay, cool it, Steph. Freaking out the Boy Wonder is not what I'm trying to do.

[She takes a deep breath and tones down the smiles.] Yes. Friends. Also partners? And what's the deal with Artemis, she seems legit. On your team? Is there anyone else from Gotham other than Crane? He's trying to convince me he's not a baddie Mcbadderstein, but I don't trust it for a second. Any other villains to watch out for?!

[More fast-talking. Just wait until she and Wally have conversations with each other.]

You're not freaking me out! Well, sort of. At first! Mostly it's just weird that you know me way more than I know you.

[ yes whoops he's getting that happy pieces of glitter thing, and she's extra lucky his best friend is who he is. ] Whoa, okay. You and KF oughta talk.

[ Ignoring how much he misses the guy to address each point now! ] There's Megamind too, but he's... recuperating. He tried to call a mutiny on the ship, and it wasn't pretty. But he was stopped. We just have to keep an eye on him. You talked to Crane? [ Which is a point he's only brought up with Artemis before. The guy makes him nervous. ] I don't know what he's up to. I don't know if he's from before his crime career or a whole different universe entirely like he's claiming, but I don't like it. He doesn't LOOK like the Crane I know. But that doesn't mean he isn't.

[ Speaking of Artemis, and he holds up both hands. ] You can trust Artemis with her life. Trust me. She's had my back more times than I can count. She's a great teammate and she's one of the best archers I know. So if you're okay with that-- [ And he holds one of his hands out. ] Batgirl, huh?

I'll write you up a short bio with a list of my likes and dislikes later if you want. Sneak preview: I have a weakness for waffles.

[It's a good thing her mom made her breakfast as per early-morning bonding tradition. Space takes a lot out of you.]

Heard about the mutiny, and yes. Definitely talked to Crane. I don't like it either... [Suspicious person of much interest.]

Good! I like her already. [What is this slyest of all smirks as she takes the offered hand and firmly bat-shakes it. No, placing 'bat' in front of everything will never get old.] The one and only! ... Sort of.

Oh, man, do I know about waffle weaknesses. But not mine. KF's. Uh. Kid Flash. Basically what I'm saying is I can make a mean waffle. Or a nice one.

[ Space is tiring, man. And mostly devoid of people who get up as early as Dick Grayson, okay, this is good. ]

So you got the blanks filled in some! Good. It's not much to report, I know, but- [ Is that a bit of sheepishness creeping in there? ] It's sometimes.

[ IT REALLY DOESN'T THO. Dick all but beams when she returns the shake; it's honestly rather dorky. That is until he freezes up at the end, just in the slightest. ] There's other Batgirls too?

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| Batgirl | 001 | video |

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