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A Spoiler For Every Flame
…I just don’t think you’re cut out to play hero.
Bette couldn’t believe that Nightwing would say those things to her. Play hero? She wasn’t good enough? Quit?
Like hell she would. She’d show him.
But first she had to save Gar.
Once that was done, though, high on the adrenaline of winning (for once, outside a tennis court), Bette let her rage cool. It wasn’t until a few months after she’d moved in with Matt and Gar that she figured out how she was going to prove Nightwing wrong. She’d go to Gotham, fight crime there, put away some of the bigger bad guys, like maybe Two-Face or the Joker – Nightwing seemed to dislike them most – and then act like it was no big thing when he next saw her, because she was a superhero, and didn’t she do those things all the time?
That would show him.
Once Bette got to Gotham, however…she’d worked there before, but during the day. It was so dark and gloomy and creepy. Also, since the reconstruction after No Man’s Land, the landmarks had changed so much that she was lost, even perched on top of the WayneCorp building.
“Looking for someone?” a voice came from the dark, and Bette barely kept herself from jumping. It wasn’t Nightwing, though, or even Robin; the voice was female.
Bette thought it was Batgirl until she turned around and saw a girl in a purple suit – no, more of an eggplant, not the deep indigo of Catwoman’s costume – with a cowl and cape.
“Er…not really. But, um, sort of?” Bette said, and cringed at herself. She should be more assertive. Normally she was, but she didn’t even know if this kid – was she a kid? She was about her height, so they might be the same age… – was a hero or not. Nightwing had never mentioned her.
Then again, Nightwing never chitchatted with her, and anyway, maybe he though that Miss Eggplant wasn’t good enough to be a hero either.
Miss Eggplant laughed lightly and pulled up her mask. “I’m Spoiler,” she said. “Or Steph, take your pick.”
“Flamebird,” Bette said, and held out her hand to shake. “Or Bette.”
“So what brings you to Gotham?” Steph asked, and the inquisitiveness in her eye was clear even in the shadows. The shadows were in her eyes, too, and Better noticed that she looked…not tired, but worn out. Worn down.
“I wanted to take down a really big Gotham Rogue so Nightwing would quit telling me that I should quit being a superhero,” Bette said, because she couldn’t really think of an explanation that wasn’t the truth.
Steph’s laugh sounded somewhat broken. “I don’t…think…that’ll work,” she gasped out between laughs.
Bette pouted. “I could do it,” she said, anger boiling up inside her.
“Yeah, but I did the same thing, and Batman still tells me to stay off his streets, so…” Her laughter finally winded down, and Steph’s expression hardened.
“Nightwing’s nicer than Batman,” Bette told her, even thought half of her didn’t believe it. Nightwing grew more and more like Batman everyday, and was only rarely the carefree young man she remembered from her Titans’ days.
“Maybe you’ll manage it then,” Spoiler said with a shrug. She jumped up on the edge of the roof, and made as if to leave, readying her jumpline.
Bette didn’t know why she did what she did next; it just felt like the right thing to do. “Hey, wait!”
Steph twisted back around to face her, though her feet were still poised for flight. “Yeah?”
“Maybe we could work together?”
Steph hopped down onto the roof again and moved towards her. “You planning to stick around Gotham long?”
Bette blushed. “Well, I’m going to be coming down here for a while, y’know, until I catch someone to show up Nightwing, but I’ve actually got a place in Hollywood. But I was thinking… Me and Gar Logan, y’know, Beast Boy? We were gonna start up Titans’ West. Maybe you could join.”
Steph shook her head, laughing under her breath. “I live here, and I don’t have superspeed or anything; how would I get to California?”
Bette was only momentarily stumped. “You wouldn’t have to. We don’t have to have face to face meetings; we could conference call!” And she was sure a little wheedling would convince Roy to let her use the Titans’ JLA transporter occasionally. She could bribe him with offers to baby-sit.
“But then how would we be a team?” Steph asked, frowning.
“We’d help each other out when we needed it. Like, if Gemini broke out of prison, I could call you in to help, and if, uh…the Riddler broke out of Arkham, Gar or I could come here!” Bette was practically bouncing with excitement. Maybe, if she could get enough superheroes to agree, without moving to California, they could build a network! She could try for Risk next, maybe, or maybe Empress from the disbanded Young Justice.
“I think Batman would have the Riddler pretty sewn up,” Steph told her, but she was smiling. “But sure, you need something, give me a call. Um, I just don’t exactly have a phone with this get-up.” She gestured to her suit.
Bette brushed that off. “Not a problem!” she chirped. “I’ll get you a Titans’ communicator.” Which actually weren’t that hard to get; Cyborg had a surplus, because they got damaged in battle so often.
Steph’s grin was so bright it reminded her of Dick’s, back when he’d been Robin. Bette thought she’d like working with Steph. “Really? Cool.”
Bette found herself grinning back. Really cool summed it up.