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Dear Diary...

Steph sighs and puts her diary back down on her lap. She's watching Hana and Loo play out in front of the farmhouse. They're happily occupied with seeing who can cough the biggest fireball, and Steph is, therefore, lightly scorched. Luckily, the girls are more excited by explosions these days than by burning people, and they're now contentedly playing with each other.

Steph's smiling at them, because they're adorable. But that's all she has to smile about. The journal on her lap is still blank, and she's chewing her pen thoughtfully. (She has not yet noticed that she's chewed through the end and therefore now has a blue ink-stained lip. It's the newest fashion, bb.)

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"...oh."

Steph watches Hana set fire to her sister's seat and giggle before both girls concentrate hard and put it out.

"I'm ... not really sure how to take that."

She doesn't want to grow up to be Babs - not any more.

"I suppose that's not much of a compliment, huh?" Barbara snorts.

"I mean.... look at me."

Steph looks at her, obediently enough, and then at the chair. "It's not that," she says, hurriedly apologetic. "It's just ... you're not me, Babs. You have an enormous brain and a perfect memory and you're good at everything except being friends."

"The chair isn't the only thing that changed about me, Stephanie."

She sighs. "I wish we'd known each other back then."

But if wishes were fishes...

"You mean, back when I was three?"

Steph rubs her temple, tired and frustrated.

"I don't know what you want me to do. I'm not going to apologise for making that choice."

"No. You're not. I can't ask you to either."

Barbara shakes her head. "This was a bad idea."

Any chance that they could still be friends, well... it seems pretty clear that no such chance exists.

"What was? Talking to me?"

Steph sighs and rubs her temple again, trying to stave off the impending headache.

"I appreciate it, Babs, I do. It's just ... this is who I am now. I'm not really one of you any more. Maybe this was always going to happen."

"Yeah."

And it's clear that even if Barbara wants to build some bridges... one Stephanie Brown has moved on. Still... one more thing.

"Steph?"

Steph is not sure she believes she just said that out loud. That's - it's kind of ringing in her ears.

Didn't she always want that - wasn't that always the driving motivation for her life?

Admitting that it's maybe not any more is - kind of leaving her a little shaky.

"Hmm?"

"I'm not going anywhere. If you ever..." Well. If she ever.

The ball was in her court now.

"I know," Steph says quietly. "And I appreciate it. I really, really do.

"I know you worked with Huntress - maybe we can still ... I don't know."

Be ... at least teammates, if nothing better.

"Yeah."

Maybe.

And Babs knew... that was probably it. She'd lost Steph.

Steph can't go anywhere - she's babysitting.

"Yeah."

No matter how much she'd like to go punch things for a while.

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