Chapter 26: Home

AN: I hope all are well. I am safe and sorry for not posting for a while. I've been sucked down the internet hole. I'm trying to move on and write so I can finish these stories for all of you.

Batcave

Outskirts of Gotham City

Year 2010

December 18th

Jason is 11

Cass is 9

Tim is 8

Stephanie is 7

Robin is 13

Batgirl is 14

Batman is 30

Tim was waiting expectantly for them in the cave when they got back. He waited for both of them to get out of the Batmobile before donning a disappointed look. "Where is she?"

"Stephanie went home."

"You said you were getting her out of there," Tim pointed out, crossing his arms. "She can't just go back there. She doesn't like it."

Dick peeled off his mask and vaulted onto the hood of the batmobile. His face mimicked Tim's disappointment. He gave a heavy sigh before turning to Bruce. "Tim's right. I wasn't going to argue more in front of her after she went through tonight. But I don't understand how this is different from Cass coming to live with us. The manor is huge. There's definitely room."

"There is, but Alfred and I are not ready to take in any more kids."

"But she needs us," Tim argued.

"She needs a home. We just aren't the best people to give that to her."

There was a moment of silence before his oldest son spoke again. "Maybe, but is anyone else equipped to deal with her situation? She's a child vigilante as some people would put it. Her father is a criminal, but one that dresses up and carries out elaborate plans. It's not exactly something most people who are considered normal want to take on."

"And I promised I'd see her again," Tim said meekly. "She's my friend."

Bruce sighed. "I'm sorry Tim, but I'm not sure we can take the risk. If she comes to live with us Cluemaster could figure out our identities. It's just not safe."

"But we can tell Stephanie! She won't tell him. She can still help us," Tim said stubbornly.

"Yeah. Find her somewhere else to live. That way our identities aren't so much at risk. And you can make sure she's able to see Tim. It's only fair."

Bruce sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Life isn't fair, you both know that. I told you. It's too dangerous."

"You didn't think about it last time. Try to this time."

"Fine. I'll try, and if she ends up somewhere that's not so much of a risk, you can reveal your identities to her."

"Really?" Tim cried.

"Yes!" Dick said pumping his fist. "Now come on Timmy. Maybe if we get some sleep we'll have enough energy tomorrow to try and convince him again to actually let her come live here."

Stephanie spent the night at the police station. Gordon had put her in a large room next to his office after explaining when he needed to sleep between shifts and couldn't go home for the night, sometimes he stayed there. There was a cot, and a mattress was blown up.

"My daughter, Barbara is on her way. Some officers are picking her up. I'm not sure how long this is going to take and she's on break from school, but I don't want her to be home alone for so long. Are you okay with that?"

"I guess," Stephanie answered again.

Gordon smiled. "Good. Barbara's a nice girl. She's in high school but her best friend has siblings your age. She spends a lot of time with them, so don't worry about annoying her."

Stephanie nodded and pulled her jacket closer around herself as she sat back down and Gordon left. She stared at the wall wondering what exactly would happen to her now. She lied down on the cot as she started to cry again.

The next thing Stephanie remembered was yelling. She was used to her mother's yelling waking her up but not the place she was in. It was strange and empty. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was. Stephanie stepped towards the door. "Mom?"

Her mother was yelling in protest. Stephanie opened the door and walked out to see what was happening. Her mother was yelling as several police officers tried to restrain her. Commissioner Gordon was standing in front of her trying to explain something.

"Stephanie!" Her mother said. "Come here and tell them that I have nothing to do with all of this. They're going to take you away from me."

"Mom, I…" Stephanie started.

Gordon turned around in surprise. "Weren't you asleep? I'm sorry about this. Barbara, go back to the room with Stephanie. Mrs. Brown, I promise if everything in this investigation comes back fine, you and your daughter can go back home. You just need to answer our questions."

A girl with hair the same color as Gordon's walked over and grabbed her shoulder steering her away. "C'mon."

Stephanie let herself be taken in a dreamlike state as she was still half asleep. The door shut behind them and the older girl sat beside her on the bed. "I'm Barbara by the way."

The older girl looked familiar to her for some reason, but Stephanie wasn't sure why. Maybe she just looked like her dad. Barbara continued. "It's been a crazy night, huh? I spend the night here every so often when Dad doesn't want me home alone. When I got here you were sleeping. We didn't want to wake you. Guess your mom takes care of that."

"What's gonna happen to her?" Stephanie asked.

"It depends. They're gonna run an investigation. Your mom probably won't go to jail, but if they think she's not a good person to look after you, then you'll be taken to a new home."

"Like an orphanage?"

"Probably a foster home. Or in your case, a safe house of some sort. I have a friend who's a foster kid, and he has a bunch of adopted siblings. One of them, well her dad was a…. Just not a good guy."

Stephanie stayed silent for a moment. She could feel Barbara watching her as if monitoring a situation. "I guess I'm okay with that. Will I ever see my mom though?"

Barbara sighed. "Maybe. As I said, it depends. Let's just say I understand parents like that, people who leave you alone to fend for yourself."

"But your Dad is awesome," Stephanie told her surprised.

"Yeah, but my mom wasn't so much."

"She wasn't some criminal or supervillain?"

Barbara laughed bitterly. "Not that I know of. She was good until I was like six. I had a little brother. Three years younger than me. I loved him, we all did. But he was strange, even as a three-year-old. He died doing something… I don't really want to talk about that. My mom left after that. She moved back to Chicago. I get one card a year. Nothing else."

Stephanie watched Barbara now before making a bold declaration. "That sucks."

"Yeah. It does, doesn't it?" Barbara turned to Stephanie with a smirk. "Now do you wanna sleep or watch something funny. I caught something funny when I hacked into the CCTV cameras the other day."

Stephanie brightened and nodded, watching Barbara's every move as if she hung the sun. Jim found them both in the morning under the blanket on the cot, Barbara's laptop was still open. Stephanie's head had fallen into Barbara's lap and his daughter's head was resting on the younger girl's back. Jim smiled, happy to take in this one moment before breaking the peace.

He picked up the laptop and closed it carefully before softly shaking both girls awake. Stephanie was disoriented for a moment but soon was sullen and looking at him questioningly.

"Did you two sleep well?"

"Don't stall," Stephanie said stubbornly. "What happened with my mom? What's gonna happen with me?"

"That's not exactly an easy question to answer," Jim spoke sadly as he sat on her other side.

"I'm gonna need to know eventually," Stephanie pointed out as she raised a sharp eyebrow.

"Barbara, mind going to gather your stuff while I talk to Stephanie?"

"Sure, Dad."

Barbara got up and left. Gordon waited until the door closed behind her to turn back to Stephanie. "You're a smart kid. You know what's going on and you were a huge help to all of us here in the GCPD. It's just sad that you had to end up in a situation like this."

Stephanie frowned. "So, my mom?"

"She can't take care of you anymore. She's not going to jail, but you're not going to be living with her either. We'll find you a better place to live. Somewhere you can be safe and happy."

Stephanie stayed quiet and wiped away a tear. "Will I ever get to see her?"

"Yes, there's a procedure but you won't be separated forever. You might be able to go back to her one day."

Stephanie straightened up a bit and looked Gordon straight in the eye as she blinked back the remaining tears. "Okay. So, then what happens now?"

The answer turned out to be simple. Remembering Batman's suggestion, Gordon took Stephanie and Barbara to Wayne Manor for the day. Neither should be in the way at the police station and it would be safe for Stephanie there under Bruce's security measures. The remaining gang members would be unable to get to her. Meanwhile, Gordon would be working with Social Services and CPS to find a better home for Stephanie and to work out the rest of the Browns' situation.

The man stood with the two girls at the doorway of Wayne Manor. Stephanie was staring up at the house in awe as they waited for the door to open. It was opened by Alfred, who smiled gently. "Mr. Gordon and Miss Gordon, and this must be Miss Brown."

"Stephanie," she corrected. "Are you a butler? Like in cartoons? Is Mr. Wayne that rich that he has a butler?"

"Stephanie," Gordon started. "It's—"

"Yes, that is one of my roles," Alfred nodded. "And as such I will be leading you to Mr. Wayne's office."

"Where's Dick?" Barbara asked.

Stephanie frowned. "What does that mean?"

"He's in the study as well. They're all waiting there for you," Alfred told her, not bothering to answer Stephanie's question. "This way."

Alfred led them down the halls. Every so often Stephanie would ask some questions of Barbara but mostly she stared quietly at her surroundings for the minute or two it took to get to the fancy door they now stood in front of. Alfred stood back as he pushed it open.

Stephanie peered in hesitantly as she followed the Gordons in. Hanging straight ahead was a portrait of the people who stood directly below it. Commissioner Gordon was shaking hands with a man that must have been Bruce Wayne. The man smiled down at her. "And this must be Stephanie."

She nodded.

"It's pretty hard, but try and stay whelmed," said a boy nearby. Barbara elbowed him and he yowled, pushing her in retaliation.

Bruce shook his head. "I'm not sure how much you know but Commissioner Gordon is an old friend of mine. I was happy to help when he called. These are my kids, the one who just spoke is Dick. Then there's Jason, Tim, and Cass."

Jason nodded as his name was called. Tim waved shyly as Cass smiled brightly at her. Bruce went on to tell her that Dick and Barbara were best friends and the younger two kids were closer to her age. Stephanie easily figured this was the friend Barbara had mentioned the night before. The three boys looked similar enough that she wouldn't have known they weren't siblings without the knowledge, the girl either had a different mother or was adopted as well. Stephanie was pretty sure it was the latter.

"I heard a little about what happened," Bruce continued.

Commissioner Gordon chuckled. "Bruce is a special circumstance. We brought you here because it's one of the safest places in Gotham. He's also had situations like this before."

"Cassie," Bruce explained. "Her dad was also what people call a supervillain. He was training her to help him. I adopted her almost a year ago, but before that, she never got the chance to learn to read, write or speak. She's learning now but the rest of the kids can translate sign language if you need."

The two girls looked at each other for a moment in silence. Cass blinked and smiled again and Stephanie smiled reluctantly as well. Commissioner Gordon knelt down next to her. "I want to be sure, you don't have to stay here for the day but it's a lot better than sitting and doing nothing at the station. Barbara will be here with you and Mr. Wayne or Alfred can reach me easily."

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded. "I think it'll be fine."

"Great," Dick said with a clap. "Now we commence the tour."

The kids filed out leaving just the two youngest. Stephanie looked at Tim nervously, he reached out his hand. "C'mon. I'll make sure you don't get lost."

The adults watched this with shared looks. When the kids were all gone, Jim Gordon and Bruce sat at the seats across from each other at the desk. There was quiet for another moment before Bruce looked at Jim with a serious expression. "You don't have to tell me, but …."

Jim sighed. "If you're going to ask what's going to happen to her, I don't know myself. I need to go work that out now. All I know is her mother might not be going to jail, but she can't take care of that girl."

"So foster care."

"Likely," Gordon agreed.

Bruce hummed as he thought for a moment. "I'm sure you remember what happened with Dick. We've been trying for improvements since but Gotham's system isn't the best."

"What other choice is there?"

"I would take her if I could. Cass just isn't adjusted enough yet. She needs all the attention Alfred and I can give her. But she needs a good home, a place she'll be safe. Especially after all the stuff she got mixed up in."

"I'll try my best to find one," Jim promised. "That girl deserves it."

Bruce shook his head. "Jim. Think about it for a minute."

Jim's eyebrows furrowed in confusion then shot up in surprise as his eyes widened the moment he fully took in what Bruce was inferring. He took a moment to recollect himself before speaking. "You mean I take her in? Where would you get that idea?"

Bruce shrugged. "She needs a place that's safe and that she's cared for. I've seen how well Barbara has turned out. You're a great father, even as busy as you are with your job. That girl is a special circumstance and she obviously can't just go to a normal foster home."

"But I'm barely ever around," Jim reminded him.

"Neither am I," Bruce sighed. "And I understand how that can dissuade you from the idea. I thought about that a lot when I took in Tim. His parents were never around and he was mostly raised by a housekeeper. I worried if I took him in he'd feel neglected again. Then I saw how Dick interacted with him. It was and is one of the best things I've ever seen. I knew it then that even when I wasn't there Tim would never feel neglected as long as my other boys were around.

"I still think about that a lot. It's not fair for them to go on all the time without me when I've promised to be the best parent I can. I make time at least once a week. Make sure to give them each attention when they need it… And you already do all that for Barbara."

Jim nodded. "I'll think about it. After all, you're right. The girl is something special. Barbara and her seem to get along well too. I'm just not sure if it's really the best idea."

Bruce stood and walked Jim to the door. "Don't worry about it. I'm here to answer any questions if you need me too, or help out in any way as well."

Jim shook his hand firmly before walking out towards his car. He sat down and took a deep breath as he turned on the engine and his thoughts roared along with it.

The tour took a while. Each of the siblings spoke over each other with fun facts and stories. Whenever Cass wanted to add something she'd tap someone's shoulder and her hands would move in a flurry of signs. Stephanie got more bewildered and amazed as each minute passed. Like Barbara, both Dick and Tim were familiar to her. It might have been because all of them were relatively famous due to their parents, but she didn't think that was it.

Either way, Stephanie was forgetting why she was there at the moment as Dick showed off on the trapeze and promised to teach her some tricks, or when Jason proudly showed off his very organized bookshelf and which he had read. Cass had pulled her along excitedly at times when she had something to show off. Barbara seemed just as home here as she had in the police station, making Stephanie wonder what she was like in her own home.

After nearly an hour and a half, Tim bounced up and down as he looked to Dick in excitement. "Can we show her now? Can we?"

"Might as well," Dick shrugged. "Cass, can you make sure Dad knows?"

He turned around but she was already gone. Tim grinned widely as he turned to Stephanie. "This way."

She was led back to Bruce's study. "Isn't this where we started?"

"Yeah, but you still haven't seen everything," Jason laughed. "Trust me. Sometimes I'm not even sure I have."

"What does that mean?"

"Just that this place has a lot of secrets," Barbara explained. "Like that."

She was pointing at the grandfather clock against the wall where Dick was turning the hands. Steph gasped as it swung open to reveal a cool and dimly lit stairwell. "Secret passageways? Awesome."

"It's a bit more than that," Barbara said mysteriously leaving Stephanie with no option but to follow her and the Wayne kids down the stairs. She looked around curiously as they descended further and further. She wondered how far down it went.

Her question was answered as the stairs opened up onto a metal platform. It was overlooking several other platforms jutting out of the sides of the cave. There were at least three levels and the bottom opened right onto a pool. There were bridges and staircases crisscrossing the place and attaching everything. Straight ahead of her sat several vehicles and a road leading out of another cave entrance. Stephanie was stuck looking between that and the T. Rex across from her that's mouth was about on an even level with her face.

While Stephanie was looking at all of this, she didn't notice everyone else watching her and her expression carefully. Nor the other person walking towards them from the other side of the cave.

"That's a T. Rex," she said finally, still staring ahead.

"Why is that always the first thing everyone notices?" wondered Dick.

"Are you saying that it wasn't the first thing you noticed?"

"Nah, not really," Dick shrugged. "I was more focused on other things."

"Quiet, both of you. She's still processing," Barbara scolded them before turning to Stephanie. "You good?"

Stephanie nodded. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You're Batgirl! And he's Robin! So Tim's gotta be Red Robin! And that means that Mr. Wayne is…" Then she noticed Bruce standing in front of them and trailed off.

"So you did decide to tell her."

Jason motioned for a time out "Can we go back for a second, why doesn't she know who I am?"

"Red Hood isn't exactly public yet," Dick reminded him. He turned to Stephanie. "That's Jason's alter ego. Cass goes by Black Bat."

Stephanie gaped for another moment. "Is that why I'm here? So you can tell me all this? Does Commissioner Gordon know?"

Bruce shook his head. "They were able to convince me you deserved to know after everything. I planted the idea in Gordon's mind last night after we caught your father. But that's not the reason you're here. Gordon would have likely brought you here at one point anyway.

"But you do need to understand how important it is to keep this all silent now that you know. If this gets out it will ruin all of our lives, and most of the Justice League's as a consequence. You're being trusted with something not many know about. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Stephanie saluted making the other kids laugh.

Bruce sighed. "Don't call me sir. Having Alfred address me that way is enough."

"Yes, ma'am," Stephanie said saluting again. The kids were sent further into fits of laughter. Bruce watched in a begrudging acceptance as they laughed. It took nearly five minutes for them to stop.

When they did, Jason looked up at him with a smirk. "I like her. We can keep her, right?"

"We're not keeping Stephanie."

"Why not? Isn't that the whole deal? You adopt kids and they become your sidekicks."

"She has a point there," Dick said smirking at Bruce. "I think Jason is right. We should keep her."

"I don't have to explain my decision but Stephanie will not be staying with us. I promised I'd help find her a home and I will, but that is it." Bruce turned and walked back up the stairs leaving all the kids a lot more somber than they had been five minutes before.

"I don't think he likes me."

"Nah, that's just how Bruce says he likes you," Dick told her. "Don't pay attention to that. We can convince him."

"Really?" asked Stephanie.

"Yeah. Jason and I got him to let me train as Red Robin. And Dick and Barbara got him to let them help him out. You'll be with us as Spoiler and Stephanie soon enough."

Stephanie grinned. "Thanks, but when I'm not Spoiler you can call me Steph."

"Well then Steph, we should probably start figuring out an outfit a little better than a purple hoodie. That's the first step, that and the name," Barbara said.

"It's eggplant, not purple."

"Sure."

The kids continued to debate as they gave Steph a tour of the several levels of the Batcave. Steph remained persistent while they designed a costume for her as well.

AN: Post from tumblr inspired the yes sir and yes ma'am thing. Batfam-nalu-olicity was the person who posted it I believe. So credit goes there.