Chapter Text
Stephanie had been having a good day, which is why she should’ve known that would change about an hour into patrol. That and the fact she was finally getting to patrol with Cass again, so of course something would cut their “Batgirls time” short.
At least the time they’d had was well-spent: they’d played rooftop-tag for old times’ sake, from the new Clocktower all the way to the harbor. It was a once-in-a-blue-moon clear night over Gotham City, and Steph had gotten some beautiful pictures of the moonlight reflecting off the waves.
(“That’s for evidence, you know,” Cass pointed out as Steph pulled the small camera from her utility belt.
“Yeah, yeah,” Steph joked, “but this is a rare view! Besides, if it makes me better at photographing evidence, Batman can’t complain.”
Steph could hear the smirk in Cass’s voice, “He’ll find a way.”)
The call from Oracle came soon after: an abandoned warehouse nearby was producing strange lights and sounds, as well as increased energy consumption. All the usual suspects were accounted for, so they were just supposed to do some recon and call for backup if it was required. They’d been certain no one was there, even as Steph took pictures of the hodgepodge of tech and nearly-indecipherable math. Certain until Steph spotted the light distortion in the corner.
It happened in the span of a few seconds. The figure must have realized Steph had seen them, because their camouflage dropped as the device in their hands began to glow. A disturbingly gun-like device. She didn’t think, only calling out, “Batgirl!” as she leapt between the ray and Cass’s turned back.
She had barely enough time to register Cass dash past her, nothing but a blur of shadow, and kick the device from the criminal’s hand. The ray slammed into Steph’s chest, and her vision was overtaken by a stark white glow. The last things she processed were the wide-eye lenses of Cass’s cowl, the other Batgirl’s hand outstretched but just short of Steph’s fingers.
Stephanie’s awareness returned slowly as she picked herself up from the ground, which was the first sign something was wrong. The ground was the cracked and wet concrete of an alleyway, not the solid and dusty floor of a warehouse. There was no tech, no Cass, no criminal. No response on her comms. Only the sirens and smog of the Gotham City night.
“Okay. Okay, we’re fine, this is fine. Cass will be fine, I just need to figure out where I am. Easy peasy.” She took a deep breath to try and settle her heartbeat then aimed her grapple upward. With a flourish, she landed on the roof and took stock of the skyline.
Oh. Okay.
Now, one couldn’t be a Gotham vigilante for nearly a decade and not be familiar with Gotham. Sure, it was a big city, even the most seasoned of them could get lost on a bad day. But Steph felt like she at least knew the skyline like the back of her hand.
And what she saw was very different from the one she knew.
Okay. It’s gonna be okay. I just need to stay calm.
Stephanie nearly laughed at herself as she pulled out her camera. She had to look absurd, on the verge of a panic but aiming her camera at the skyline, cataloguing the differences she could recognize. She tweaked the lens and focused on capturing the essentials. It was almost meditative, and she soon found herself breathing easier.
She tried her comm again, “O? Do you read me?” Nothing again. “Batgirl?” Deep breath in, slow breath out. “Batman? Red Robin? Red Hood? Signal?” Static was her only response.
At least, until she heard leather flapping in the wind and feet hitting the roof behind her. “Playing dress-up tonight, are we, Spoiler?”
And in spite of the condescension, Stephanie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so relieved to hear Batman’s voice.
She turned to greet her old hero and mentor. “Thought you’d have heard about the costume change by now, boss–”
That’s not Batman.
Now that wasn’t exactly accurate. It was certainly someone wearing a Batman-like suit. The starkest difference was the lack of a traditional cape and batsymbol. Instead, the imposter-Batman wore a long trenchcoat with a high collar and a pattern that loosely resembled the bat. The visible part of his face had darker skin than Bruce Wayne. His gear had the right quality, he sounded like Bruce-Bat, but he wasn’t the Batman she knew.
“Oh, hey, Spoiler!” More evidence to that was that Stephanie didn’t recognize the Robin that stepped out from behind the Batman. It was a teenage girl with brown skin and long, dark hair which ruled out Maps Mizoguchi suiting up as Robin again. “Or are you going by Batgirl, now?”
It had been close to a year since she’d picked the Batgirl mantle back up. Presumably, whoever their version of Spoiler was (copycat? imposter? doppelganger?) was also a young blonde woman, which could work in her favor.
“Yeah, I was about ready for a change,” she said with a shrug.
“I thought you said you didn’t want to change unless a slot opened up? Three Batgirls could get confusing, even for Oracle. Four if you count NYBG.”
“I didn’t expect you to respond to this alert,” Batman observed, his tone laced with suspicion. “If anything, I expected Red Hood.”
“Well, I wanted to take a detour by the Harbor. When I got close, he passed it off to me.”
Robin froze, and Stephanie had to bite down a grimace. “‘He’?”
“You aren’t Spoiler,” Batman observed, almost nonchalant except for the way his hand slipped into his sleeve.
Well, that didn’t last long. Plan B, then. “Nine-four-two-two,” she demanded. Only a real Bat knew the identity verification code.
The Batman in front of her cocked his head just slightly, but he replied, “Two-seven-nine-zero-six.”
And, yeah, that was not Bruce’s code, which made her tense, almost reaching for her own batarangs. Until it registered that, while it wasn’t Bruce’s, it was familiar.
Then it hit her: that wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s ID code, it was Damian Wayne’s ID code.
“Well. Shit.”
Steph let out an exaggerated sigh from the backseat of the Batmobile. “I can’t believe you stuck me back here. I definitely have seniority over Robin here.”
The teen stuck her tongue out in the rear-view mirror. “You snooze, you lose.”
“Well, excuse me for being disoriented, shortstack.”
Batman, Damian, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If I didn’t already believe you were Stephanie Brown, your petulance would certainly convince me.”
“YoUr pEtuLaNce wOuLd coNvInCe mE,” she mocked, crossing her arms. Then, “Wait, there’s supposed to be a Bat Burger on that corner, not a Big Belly Burger!”
“Some of the reformed rogues sued after turning over a new leaf,” Robin told her. “There are still a few locations, but they had to downsize pretty hard.”
“This is truly the darkest timeline.”
“You fought in the Dark Knights Crisis,” Damian said dryly, “you know that is untrue.”
“Why is every Bat except me allowed to be overdramatic?” she lamented, slumping back with a hand over her forehead.
It wasn’t long before Robin turned around in her seat again. “So you’re really from the past? Maybe a different timeline?” Steph nodded, and Robin grinned. “That’s so crash!”
Steph could almost feel Damian’s dread as he tried not to groan. “Not this again. No one says ‘crash,’ Robin.”
“All my friends do!”
“It’s ridiculous.”
Stephanie snickered. “You always did struggle with slang. Remember when I convinced you to start saying ‘fetch’?”
The cowl’s lenses narrowed at her in the rear-view, but she’d gotten that look too often from Bruce to be phased by it. “No, I do not remember that, because it did not happen.”
“Wait, ‘fetch’? Like, from that old movie Mean Girls?”
Stephanie recoiled, “Oh, no, I can feel my bones turning into dust. I really am in the future. What do you mean Mean Girls is ‘old’ now? How far into the future am I?”
While neither replied, Steph took some small comfort in knowing she’d get answers once they reached the Batcave.
When Steph climbed out of the Batmobile and the first unmasked face she saw was an alive-and-well, if older, Alfred Pennyworth, she froze in her tracks.
“Welcome back, Master Damian, Miss Helena. Hello, Miss Stephanie.” When she didn’t reply, he smiled sadly at her. “Ah. You must come from a time where I’ve been killed. Is that correct?” And that was exactly true. Where – or, rather, when – Stephanie was from, Alfred Pennyworth was dead. He’d been killed by Bane in front of Damian.
Speaking of which, Batman finally pulled back his cowl to reveal the face of a fully-grown Damian Wayne, now several years her senior. Robin removed her domino mask, but Stephanie still didn’t recognize her. She had familiar features, but Steph couldn’t place them yet.
After another long moment, Steph finally removed her cowl too. “Um, yeah, yes, sorry. It’s, um. It’s really good to see you, Alfred.” She took a deep breath. “Glad to know there’s a good chance we’ll get you back.”
Damian cleared his throat and averted his gaze. “I presume Oracle updated you?”
“Yes, Master Damian. She’s at the computer now, reaching out to the others. I’ve prepared some tea for all of you, as well.” He turned to the young teen. “Miss Helena, why don’t you go with Miss Stephanie and introduce her to Oracle?”
“Okay! Thank you, Alfie!” Robin, Helena apparently, took Steph’s hand and pulled her toward the Batcomputer.
As they walked away, Steph strained her ears to listen, only to hear, “You know you are long-since forgiven for what happened, my boy,” and decided that wasn’t a conversation for her to eavesdrop on.
“Hey, Ali!”
It was a bit of a surprise to realize even the Oracle mantle had been taken over by someone new, and Steph found herself wondering if any of them held the same mantle as before in this future. Then she recognized the figure sitting there and typing away, a pale woman with fair hair and light eyes.
“Hey, Helena, Stephanie.” She smiled comfortingly at Steph. “Good to, uh, meet you, I guess. I’m–”
“Alina,” Steph greeted as she stepped forward and hugged the woman tightly. Alina Shelley was, where Stephanie was from, another kid Bruce had taken in. Her mother tried to claim Bruce was her father, but they'd ultimately determined she was more likely the daughter of the Joker. She was eleven, almost twelve, last she remembered. And unlike most kids in the Wayne family (and friends), she seemed to have no desire to join the Cape and Cowl life.
“Oh! I didn’t know if you’d recognize me.” She returned the hug just as tight. “You’ve gotta be at least a decade out of time, but we’re already working on it.”
“That’s good to hear.” Steph turned to Helena. “So! I know Dames and Ali, but I don’t think I’ve met you where I’m from. What’s your name?”
The teen smirked and crossed her arms. “I’m Helena Wayne.”
Steph almost asked if she was another adoptee, but then she recognized the features of her face. “Oh, shit, are you Damian’s daughter?” Damian didn’t seem old enough to have a teenage daughter.
“Oh! No, no, no!” Helena burst out cackling. “I’ve gotten mistaken for the other boys’ daughter, even Cass’s once, but never Damian’s.”
Damian started making his way over. “Helena is our,” he gestured between Alina and himself (which was a great improvement, considering he’d been slow to trust her in Stephanie’s time), “youngest sister. Father’s biological daughter with Selina Kyle.”
“Wait, Selina and Bruce have a daughter? There’s no way! How old are you?”
“Fourteen!”
“And how old are you two?” Damian was now 28, and Alina was 25. After some quick mental math, “I’m fourteen years in the future?! That means Selina is probably pregnant right now where I’m from!”
Helena winced toward Alina. “Oops. Spoilers.”
Alina just smirked and shook her head, then she turned back to the computer. “Good thing I got Meridian on standby. Do you remember the date when you time-travelled? She can get a message to your Bats and we can work together on a way to get you home.”
Steph loosely recalled that name. A future version of Mia Mizoguchi called Meridian found a way to tap into the Green and used it to gain temporary time-travelling abilities. She’d helped the Birds of Prey recently, so at least Babs and Cass would recognize her. Plus, Steph would really appreciate confirmation that Cass was okay. If she thought she’d let Steph get killed (again, from her perspective), she’d never forgive herself.
It wasn’t long before they got confirmation that Meridian would contact Steph’s timeline before making her way to the Batcave with Bluebird and Red Robin. Harper Row was mostly retired in this time, but she still suited up when needed and used her electrical engineering skill to help perfect the Bats’ technology. Tim, on the other hand, seemed to have avoided the “Gun Batman” future he’d feared and was still operating as Red Robin in Gotham and on the Justice League. If anyone could work together to reverse-engineer a time-travel device, it was those three.
“In the meantime,” Alina said, something warning in her tone, “some of the others are on their way. Batgirl and Spoiler were already on their way back to work a case, low priority. The Bat and Batwoman will let us know when they can come tag Batman and Robin back in for patrol duty. We’ll probably get a visit from a few others, like the Hoods and Huntress.”
“Room for one more before it gets too crowded?” Footfalls and the sound of a cane echoed through the cave, and Stephanie turned to see who had just arrived.
“Dad!” Helena called, rushing toward Bruce Wayne. It was a jarring sight, seeing the Batman with gray hair, his back slightly hunched as he moved forward with his cane. “I didn’t think you’d be down here tonight!”
“Hello to you, too, sweetheart,” he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her in a hug. “I wasn’t planning on it until Alfred informed me of our guest.” His eyes sharpened calculatingly as he eyed Stephanie, reminding her just how dangerous Bruce could certainly still be. “Hello, Miss Brown.”
Steph laughed nervously. “Hey there, Bruce-man. Gotta say, I was surprised to hear you retired, but the gray looks good.”
It was another long moment before Bruce’s eyes softened and he gave her a small smirk. “You’re her alright.”
“You don’t need to scare her, Father,” Damian sighed. “I ran a blood test in the car, and Alfred is running another to determine which timeline and universe she’s from. Though I do believe her to be directly from our past, even if we have no recollection of this disappearance of hers.”
Bruce hummed. “I’ll trust your gut, then. You’re working on a solution?”
Stephanie looked around while Damian re-explained the plan. She watched the casual pride and affection Bruce showed Damian, Helena, and Alina, the familiar and lost kindness of Alfred quietly preparing cups of tea for each of them and handing one to Alina as she coordinated with the other Gotham vigilantes. She saw the vast wall of display cases, filled with old suits and empty mannequins for the ones being worn tonight. She tried not to get emotional when she saw a lineup of her Spoiler, Robin, and Batgirl suits, including the one she was currently wearing with the hood, facemask, and purple bat on the chest.
She tried not to startle when Bruce touched her shoulder. His hand was firm but gentle, more tender than he’d ever been. Had she ever seen that casual joy, affection, and humor in his eyes when he looked at her in the past?
“Care to join us in waiting on the couches?” he nodded over to the Cave’s lounge area, where Alina had carried a laptop and Helena had wheeled Alfred’s tea cart.
With her throat tightening, all Steph could do was nod gratefully.
Apparently Jason had retired first, passing the Red Hood mantle to his first protege, Sasha. He’d also trained a Blue Hood, Tyler – Stephanie remembered hearing the story of Cheer and the boy Jason had fostered while his mother recovered from an overdose – and his own Robin named Gan, who went on to become Huntress.
Bruce was the next to retire. He’d tried a few years ago, but the life called him back not long after. Back then, Cass took up the mantle of The Bat, bringing the Bat’s existence back to the realm of myth with her stealth and efficiency. Damian took up the Batman mantle in order to maintain the public perception, as well as to continue Helena’s training.
After Bruce retired, Dick decided to set aside the mask too. He had several kids himself and had trained a sidekick of his own named Iko Wahid – again, Steph recalled the boy Dick had saved and then later fostered – who became Flamebird but was now Nightwing. Dick’s eldest daughter, Mar’i, was itching to be Iko’s Flamebird.
Barbara followed Dick’s lead and retired from Oracle, and she was on her way to becoming Commissioner Gordon II. Alina trained to work with her as well, and the two were making greater strides than ever to dismantle and defund the militarization of the GCPD.
It was all a bit of information overload, but Steph was grateful for a rundown of who operated in the Batfamily nowadays.
The sound of motorcycles entering the cave was the only warning Steph got when the new arrivals showed up. Two purple bikes stopped and parked near the Batmobile, and their riders dismounted before removing their helmets.
The first was a young woman with dark skin and long, curly, black hair. She seemed to be wearing a replica of Steph’s original Batgirl suit from when Dick had been Batman. Steph suddenly got hit with a wave of déjà vu. And if that wasn’t enough, the second was a pale young woman with blonde hair and wearing something very similar to the Spoiler suit Stephanie wore before re-taking the Batgirl mantle, but with more blue and eggplant.
Something told her she knew the women, but she wasn’t sure how at first.
Alina waved a greeting to them. “Batgirl, Spoiler. Computer’s all yours.”
“Thanks, Ali!” the first woman replied cheerfully. Then she spotted Stephanie, and her eyes widened. “Wait, Stephanie?!”
Steph waved awkwardly. “Uh, hi.”
Damian held up a hand to cut the second girl off. “Batwoman is still out with The Bat. This is Batgirl, she’s time-travelled fourteen years into the future. She may not recognize the two of you.”
Batgirl nodded and removed her cowl. “Damn. Well, uh, I’m Nell.”
That was why Steph recognized her! Nell Little was a fan of Batgirl when Steph first took the mantle, and Steph had had a Black Mercy vision of Nell being the protege-Batgirl to her mentor-Nightwing. She wondered if something like that had come to pass in this timeline.
“Oh, my gosh! I do remember you!” The other Batgirl brightened, and Steph turned to Spoiler. “Do I know you, too?”
But the young woman had frozen, staring at her with wide blue eyes and her mask still covering the bottom half of her face. “Uh. No, um, no, no. We met, uh, about ten years ago.” She seemed to shrink in on herself. “I’m nobody.”
Now Stephanie was no master of social interaction, but she had a feeling she was treading dangerously close to an emotional landmine. That was fine, she could steer things back on course, right? “Well, I don’t mind meeting you a little earlier than planned. I’m Stephanie.”
Somehow, she only tensed further, even as her eyes went wide and she searched for something in Stephane’s expression. Then she turned to Alina. “Is it… safe? For me to tell her?”
Alina, meanwhile, looked between Bruce and Damian, then between Steph and Spoiler. “It’s hard to say. None of us remember Steph disappearing in our time and needing to bring her back, so we don’t think this will impact our timeline at least. How it affects hers is up to the two of you, I guess.”
The woman seemed to think for a long, long moment. Then she took a deep breath and pulled her hood and mask down.
This time, Stephanie froze. The woman across from her jarringly familiar. Long, curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Sharp blue eyes with long eyelashes. Her cheekbones, her nose, her jaw.
It was like looking in a mirror.
Spoiler took a deep breath. Her eyes began to water, and she gave Batgirl a wobbly smile. “Hey, Mom. It’s nice to meet you.”