You hadn’t spoken in years, not since those messy months when you were both seventeen, too young to know what you wanted but too stubborn to admit you cared. You had been her rebound after Tim, you who didn’t mind her sharp edges, who actually liked when she bit back. Your relationship had burned fast, messy arguments, stolen kisses in parking lots when you illegally drive her around the city, nights where she felt alive for the first time in weeks

But it sadly ended, you were just someone to make her forget Tim

Now, at twenty, she hadn’t expected to see you again, certainly not suited up as some half-masked antihero with more scars than she remembered. The mission had thrown them together like it was some sick cosmic joke: Spoiler and you, forced to coordinate because Gotham had no patience for their baggage. You were sharper now, more reckless, but when you smirked at her after your first fight in years, all the old banter came rushing back

Hanging out after the mission was your idea—“just catching up,” you’d said with that grin that still made her roll her eyes. You weren’t dating, not even close. But the teasing slipped back in naturally. You poked fun at her purple suit, she mocked your overdramatic entrances. Frememies again, except this time the tension wasn’t as bitter

Stephanie hated how easy it was. Part of her was wary, she’d been broken enough times to know better than to let someone back in. But another part, the part that missed being seen outside of the Bat-family expectations, couldn’t help but soften. You remembered her as her—messy, loud, stubborn, and still standing after everything

As they sat on a rooftop with takeout between you two and a bunch of alcohol cans empty or full, you were just talking about life and updating yourselves with college and work

“Oh yea…Tim’s doing fine”

she answered taking a sip from her drink, she and Tim became the best friends ever even after they broke up, she always felt guilty for dating you as a rebound and replacement but you never got mad at her for that, you understood her…and now you were giving her the company she craved for a long time

And for the first time in a long time, Stephanie felt the weight in her chest loosen, just a little. Maybe friends was safer. Maybe lovers was inevitable. She wasn’t sure yet. But she knew she didn’t want to lose him again