if the best that we can hope for is revenge (part 2a)
fandom: Batman
warnings: fostercare, cursing, abuse
words: 694
characters: Stephanie Brown
It’s not the first family’s fault, not really. They’re actually pretty nice, all things considered. But ever since the state funeral for her parents, she’s walked around in a dull haze. Things don’t make sense like they used to. The only thing that makes her stop feeling blank is anger, and one black eye too many makes the family send her back.
“It’s not that we don’t care about you,” says Jen, with something like compassion. “It’s just that we can’t keep on caring for kids if they keep getting beaten up, however much the other guy deserves it. You understand?”
Steph shrugs, wears into the hole in her sneakers. “Yeah.” And there really isn’t much more to be said after that.
The second family, she isn’t so lucky. Charlie’s been in the foster care gig for years, he says. It’s easy money. He always gets a teenager to help out with the younger ones. You can do that, right, Steffy?
Steph breathes through her nose, and tries not to see red. Right, Charlie.
That’s a good girl.
She comes home with black eyes and nobody cares, but Charlie will give her a black eye himself if she comes home too late to cook dinner. According to him, his friends in the department will make sure nobody gives a shit. Freakin’ typical.
So typical, in fact, it feels almost normal. Steph finds herself coming home earlier, to watch over the kids. Charlie brings them home and then zonks out most nights, luckily. When he’s awake he’s a pain in the ass and a headcase to boot.
When she was younger, she’d wanted a little brother or sister. She’d wanted someone who’d get what her parents were like, someone she could conspire with, someone who’d listen to her. When she got a bit older, she got more realistic. She didn’t want someone else to have to deal with her dad’s shit. Now she’s listened to enough stories from the other kids to know that Gotham foster care is every kid for themselves. They’re all alone, even if they’re together. This will last for a year, two maybe. It won’t take long for one of them to move on.
But this - this can be nice. Steph learns how to comb kinky hair (right after a shower, and then styled; Jada’s only going to have to wash her hair once a week, the lucky brat). She learns how to make something besides mac and cheese, because someone has to worry about nutrition. She teaches Brian how to punch. She helps Stacy with algebra. When they all stay out of Charlie’s way, it’s almost okay, even if Brian is so withdrawn he barely speaks and Tad doesn’t respect anything unless you make him. (He’s scared of Charlie.) She teaches them her tricks for avoiding Charlie, how to hate and lie and get away with it. Some of the tricks are her dad’s, which feels weirdly right. She doesn’t get too attached, so it won’t hurt too much when they leave, but she gives them skills they can use to protect themselves, if they’re smart.
Every so often, she goes out and looks at the night sky over Gotham, and she wonders about the asshole who killed her parents. Her dad had it coming, yeah. But her mom wasn’t guilty of anything more than drug abuse. She was an addict, but she didn’t hurt people. Did she just get in the way? Was it just too much of an inconvenience for Wayne not to shoot? Did he think she was an accomplice? Did he just not bother to find out whether she was innocent or guilty?
Before…before, Steph would’ve said she was a fan of what Wayne was doing. Crazy motherfucker, but right. She’s seen this city. It’s never going to get any better unless somebody does something. That’s part of what makes her angry about this whole thing, that before this she would’ve said he was right. Now she just doesn’t know, because her mom is dead, and that’s not worth her father’s death. Even her father -
A batsignal flickers on over Drake Central. Steph goes inside.