Leaps and Bounds 7 : Objects in Mirror

[phaineofcatz]

Steph and Tim tag teamed helping her with catch up work. Geography in the morning and computers in the evening. Steph was mostly just helping her a little with Geo while trickling in world history details, trying to prep her for next year by tying different bits of information together over time. Phaine thought it was helping, but it was also frustrating how much was similar, but not quite the same. Tim on the other hand, had kind of lost the plot already.

It was obvious that he basically didn’t pay attention in his intro to computers class, and instead started doing his own thing. She can’t really blame him, part of the reason Tim can’t focus on her piddling data entry assignments is because she told him about her personal project she’s building towards. She had shown him how her note taking app worked on her old phone and explained how it was a glorified local web browser with support for a fairly human readable markup language, making in-page changes, and plugins that allowed connecting to other tools and data types. His mind went wild.

He helped her find something close to Markdown that was popular enough in their world, as well as showing her which languages and libraries most browsers support. She made the mistake of mentioning that the original project had paid services, but was ostensibly freeware in her world. The end result was Tim still talking about open source distribution over dinner on Sunday.

“You Could also sell it as enterprise software. What you’ve described about relational information mapping and sharing across teams is ABSOLUTELY a niche that lacks good options in the current market.”

“That’s cool and all, but I don’t know how I feel about ripping off their project and selling it? Like, if I sell services I am standing up and managing that’s different I guess? But like, I mostly just want my own tools back, and wouldn’t mind letting other people have access to them if I finish it. I’m not even sure I could MAINTAIN software like that?”

“Oh sure, but once you get it off the ground you could hire a team for that and—”

Bruce clears his throat. “So. Tim. How’s Phaine’s tutoring coming along?”

“Huh? Oh, right, her class. Eh, she’s actually pretty familiar with computers already, so she mostly just needed help figuring out the differences and getting some direction. You just have typing stuff left this semester right?”

“Yeah. It and Geometry with probably be my easiest classes this semester. Tim’s been helping me prep for next semester’s programming class and a personal project.”

Bruce nods. “Just don’t get so wrapped up in next semester you do poorly this one.” As he says it he looks at Tim pointedly and she’s pretty sure this isn’t a warning for her as much as her tutors… “While I am thinking about it, J’onn should be here tonight for therapy. It’s only an interim solution while I try to find a therapist who can both keep your secrets and handle the…particulars of your mental health needs. But while J’onn is helping you it is a good opportunity to get help only a telepath can provide.”

“That’s feels like boardroom speak for ‘find the extra people in your head.’”

“I mean, we like, know there probably are, so I kinda get it.”

“I actually meant that J’onn may be able to help you understand the source of your splits and reconnect to some extent going forward. But understanding the full scope of your DID wouldn’t hurt either. Have you seen any indication since you were last split?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know, maybe it’s whatever’s left of Matty or something? Tay keeps an eye out at night a lot of times to make sure we aren’t wandering off in our sleep, but really it just seems to be the two of us.”

“J’onn said that he can sense more to your mind than just the two of you, but much like Tay when you first arrived, it is difficult to identify.”

“To be fair, I was kind of just trying to go back to sleep when he first met me.”

“Well, if you feel it wake up, let us know.”

---

Bruce wasn’t coming with her tonight, something about pretending she had doctor patient confidentiality, like that was a thing that applied in this situation where Batman was calling in a favor from his extraterrestrial alien friend as an unlicensed therapist to read her extra-dimensional alien mind. As she entered Bruce’s study she half expected J’onn to slide into the room from a wall, but instead he was already seated and waiting for her.

“For what it is worth, I am licensed as a therapist, albeit under an alias.”

Huh, wonder what the range on that is… Don’t answer that question.

“I was not planning to. And no, Tay. Martians do not have two hearts, the second beat you are hearing is due to our heart chambers being slightly offset.”

Huh, oh, actually she can tell what they’re talking about, she hadn’t noticed the last few times because she was usually kind of a wreck when she met with J’onn. She sat down across from him, trying not to let her mind wander too annoyingly. Did she even need to say anything out loud in this situation? Or was her talking before just for Bruce’s benefit?

“Humans tend to be uncomfortable with telepathic communication, many do not even think in voices such as the two of you do. I am uncertain if it is a consequence of one of your conditions or simply a quirk of you as individuals. Both of you speak to yourselves in your mind as if every thought is a dialog, even going so far as to answer back. You do so even when you do not expect me to be present. Perhaps at one time this was used to manage system interaction without drawing it to your attention, but when the two of you both are doing so it can become difficult to follow. I thought perhaps we would try something different today.”

“I mean, this is like, our second official therapy session. Not like we’ve figured out a pattern yet.”

“Perhaps not. Please close your eyes and try to relax. I am going to ask you to imagine a place of safety, it need not be a real place, the important component is that it feels like you could be yourself there… Yes, Tay, both of you. It is not important at this time that you both imagine the same place.”

Phaine tries to think of a safe place. It’s kind of difficult. For some reason she doesn’t actually feel safe being herself in any of the places that come to mind. Being in public has always been dangerous for her, sure, but even when she thinks of her room at her parents’ house it feels…stifling. Aunt Nix had a basement they trained in, and she didn’t have to hide her powers in there, but she still had to keep them restrained or she would damage something.

She’s starting to get frustrated, but then she remembers something. One time, over spring break, Aunt Nix and Uncle Lenoir took her and Tom out to the mountains for a camping trip. They specifically picked a place so far out that no one would find them. They just spent a week out there, no phones, no nothing. Just playing games in the woods, tracking animals, and being together. But it was the only time she’d ever been allowed to use her powers freely.

She tries to remember the mountains. Exposed rock and pine needles. There was a stream close enough to the site she could hear it. Birds and squirrels and rabbits were everywhere, but there was a mountain lion in a cave maybe a mile north of them. Nix had taken them to see it, used some power that let them get in sight without it sensing them back. Maybe if she lived someplace like that, away from prying eyes, maybe then she could still fly…

“Both of you chose dramatically different spaces, but you chose them for the same core reasons. You both wish to find freedom to be all of who you are.”

She turns and J’onn is standing on the mountain with her. When she realizes that it alerts her to the fact she isn’t just imagining the mountain, but actually there herself.

“Wah… Right, you can do the whole entering people’s minds and memories thing. I legit forgot about that.” She looks around again, realizing that it isn’t day or night here, it’s some weird patchy mix of both. Pools of sunlight rippling passed calm tides of night. “It’s pretty cool actually. They never show it like this in the comics. It’s like you took my memory and imagination and dialed it up to eleven.”

“I had expected it to be more difficult with the chaos of your minds, but you both are very skilled at picturing an idea once you find what you are looking for.”

“But we pictured different things, huh. What did Tay picture?”

“Would you like to see for yourself?”

She takes a deep breath. She can smell the pine needles and clear air. It’s free…but it’s lonely. When she thinks about it seriously, she’s not sure she actually could stay somewhere like this long. “…Yeah. Yeah, I do.” She turns to look back at J’onn, but there is just a door there. “Wow, laying the symbolism on a little thick… Or, I guess maybe I’m laying it on a little thick? I don’t really know how this whole mind palace thing works.”

She uses the door, and on the other side she finds a dark night. She’s standing on the roof of a building, high above the city. She walks to the edge, looking over the gargoyle rimmed terrace. The sky is dark, but the streets below are full of light and a blur that she knows is supposed to be the city life, but she can’t quite make out. She doesn’t have to ask where this is supposed to be, it’s obviously Gotham.

It’s a little frustrating. She racked her brain trying to find a place that she felt like she could be herself, and here Tay had just…imagined where they already were.

She wants to be mad about it. To be angry that Tay feels safe in this catastrophe of a city.

But she can’t, not really. Because looking out over the imaginary night city, she feels free too. She knows that all she’d need is a little bit of cloth and she’d be able to go anywhere she wants. She doesn’t even need all that, she can just step

Over

The

Edge…

She walks down the wall, calmly, secure in the knowledge that she just CAN on a building this sturdy. Not because it’s an imaginary place, but because she is just capable of that. When she doesn’t have to hide her power, just keep her day life and super life separate, she still gets to HAVE a super life.

Back home her powers are a risk. Even if she tries to never use them again, just getting a cut, or being startled and having her PK react would probably be the end of her life. Hell, people can see her not aging right, it probably won’t be long before someone figures it out just by her existing.

But here?

She leans her back against the bottom of a gargoyle, looking down into the incomplete imagining of the city lights like they are stars in the sky. No, she can’t be mad at Tay, because they are right. She feels just as safe in this space as she did on the mountain. Just as free. And unlike the mountain, she doesn’t feel alone…

“It was kinda just the first thing that came to mind. I don’t think I remembered it quite right, but it’s based on a mix of the comics and what we saw when we jumped out of that sky scraper. There’s really nothing quite like flying under your own power…”

She could feel Tay above her, almost a mirror of her, looking up at the dark night sky. In fact, she can almost feel Tay like she could back before they were split in the woods. It feels…

Really good…

Tay…cares so much about her…

Does Tay feel her love back?

“Yeah…it was…it IS amazing. I don’t know that I can give it up, no matter what happens.”

“I don’t want to either. Look, sis, we aren’t going to stop looking for a way home. Even if we get back and things are as bad as they were, even if they are worse, we still have people we care about there. Maybe we find a way to bring them here? Someplace we can all be free? Either way, we have a chance to build something here, yeah?”

Phaine nods. Somehow she knows Tay can feel it. But feeling it from the inside is different than the outside, and so there is something she wants to do while she’s here.

She grabs the edge of the gargoyle for stability and walks around it like a pillar sticking out of the ground instead of the wall ornament it actually is. When she gets to the top she swings around to hug Tay, but freezes at the sight.

Tay is white. Not Caucasian, but pure, almost glowing white. Sure they have dark eyes and slicked back black hair, and they are in a grey t-shirt with some black boyish jeans, but Tay themselves? Their skin is the white of their highlight. They look over at her, relaxed, almost in a practiced way.

“Like a ghost right? You should see what YOU look like, sis.”

Phaine walks over to a window in the wall, peering down into her reflection. She is wearing a cute, but simple green and pink dress. Her Hair is a white flickering flame, her eyes, glowing hot beads of the same. And it all stands out against her void like skin. She looks down at her hands, not sure how she hadn’t noticed other than this being something a bit like a dream.

She goes back to Tay, a little more prepared for the sight this time.

“Before you ask, I didn’t do that to us, at least not as far as I know. I was just as—”

Phaine doesn’t bother saying anything, she just hugs her sibling. She just hugs the part of herself that protects her. That helps her study. That shows her the joy she can have if she just lets herself. The part that loves her so much.

It doesn’t matter where they are, or even what they are, she knows that Tay will always be there for her.

And she’s going to be there for Tay too.

---

She’s decided it’s not worth stopping by her locker to swap out her books every period. Instead, she grabs what she needs for her first two classes, and then when she’s headed to homeroom after lunch she swaps for her two afternoon classes. Half the time that’s just her Geography text book anyway. She got a leftover locker, so it’s not right next to her Geo class, but it’s close enough by that it’s pretty much on the way regardless of where she’s coming from.

This morning though, Tiff is standing beside her locker waiting for her.

“Hey Tiff, what’s up?”

“Don’t you ‘what’s up me’! What the hell is this?” She’s waving what looks like a newspaper clipping around in the air between them.

“I don’t know Tiff, but maybe if you hold it still I’ll be able to see it.”

Tiff stops waving it and thrusts it at Phaine in an almost threatening way. “Dad showed this to me from the Sunday paper!”

There is an article and an attached photo.

Thieving Cat in the Wayne Manor

Phaine Stamos(pictured left) dressed up as the notorious thief 'Catwoman' in front of crowds this Halloween. Despite having just lost her family, the young woman is seen laughing and frolicking in an expensively tailored costume. The outfit synonymous with thievery and tricking men into giving up their fortunes. Is this a sign of things to come? What will happen to the Wayne foundation with this new cat in the hen house…

“You know, a few weeks ago they were like, calling me a child, and now I’m a young woman. I grew up so fast…”

“I thought you said you weren’t coming to the party cause you were staying in doing a quiet Halloween with your foster family?”

“I mean, that is where I live now. And like, I am an orphan, giving out candy to other orphans kinda did feel like family.” She looks at the photo with a somewhat bittersweet mix of feelings. They tried to make her out to be a tactless gold digger, but they didn’t quite manage to cut out the kids looking delighted as she passed out candy and pretended to be a villainess. “Can I actually keep that clipping, it’s kinda cute.”

Tiff gives her a look, but shrugs. “Yeah, sure, I wasn’t gonna keep it. Aren’t you not an orphan anymore? You got adopted by Mr. Wayne right?”

“I wasn’t adopted as his daughter, I was adopted as his ward. It’s still a like, promise to raise me like his child, but I technically don’t have any claim to his name or any inheritance unless explicitly stated otherwise later. Plus when I turn eighteen his legal obligation to me ends.”

“Wait, then the whole thing about you being a thieving cat and planning to make off with his inheritance is a lie?”

“I mean yeah, you can’t trust everything you read, Tiff, not even in the newspaper. Alfred warned me there’d be a stink, but whatever, it was fun. I just wanted to dress up and forget about all the shit that’s happened to me and just like, be someone else for a night, you know?”

Tiff seems to mull it over as Phaine swaps out her textbooks for her morning classes. “Okay, but why didn’t you tell me you were one of the Wayne kids?”

Phaine nearly drops her Bio textbook, but she feels Tay catch it with her other hand. “Wah…What? You didn’t know? It was in the newspaper, I thought everyone knew. Bruce was the guy who brought me to practice a couple weeks ago, he’s the only reason Coach Norflee even gave me the time of day. She acted like everyone would know who I was and I’d have to watch out for people trying to get in good with me about it. I…uh…kinda thought that was why you were being so nice to me…”

Tiff’s face runs through several emotions Phaine can’t keep track of. It’d be really funny if she weren’t kind of worried that was the thing to say that would make Tiff STOP being so nice to her.

“I can’t… Okay… No, you know what, that’s fair. You didn’t know me. You still hardly know me. And honestly? That IS the kind of thing a lot of girls might do. Okay, maybe even I would have done it. I guess I can see how you’d think that. I didn’t know though. Someone on the squad swore up and down that was Bruce Wayne, but I just thought she was full of it.”

“So you uh, aren’t like, mad at me for thinking that?”

Tiff looks confused about the question. “Phaine, you are now one of the three wealthiest kids at this school of wealthy kids. You are just going to have to think like that. I was more upset you didn’t know me better than that yet, but that’s not really fair, cause you’ve only known me for a week.”

As they sit down in homeroom she looks thoughtful.

“It does feel a little longer than that, you kinda just slipped into our group weirdly fast, but it makes sense you don’t actually know me yet.”

“You’ve all been nice. Okay, Anne is kinda catty, but the rest of you have been nice.”

Tiff grins at her, “Oh, that is nice for Anne, you don’t wanna see her when she’s being mean.”

“Noted. I’ll like, try not to get on her bad side.”

Tiff giggles and sits back in her chair looking more relaxed now. “Hey, why don’t we fix that?”

“Uh, fix me not being on Anne’s bad side?”

“No, fix you not knowing us. Let’s hang out after school sometime.”

“Oh, that’s chill. But I have to stay after school for makeup quizzes and tests this Tuesday and Wednesday. And I should probably like, tell people before just making plans. And honestly, I’ve got sooo much makeup work…”

“Okay, maybe we do a study hangout instead of the mall? Coach has actually been pushing us pretty hard with three practices a week anyway, so hanging out sitting down sounds great.”

“And I’m sure the Geometry test coming up on Monday has nothing to do with your willingness to join a study hangout.”

Tiff grins again. “Okay, so I could maybe use a study sesh this weekend anyway. We have practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays right now. What do you say to Friday or Sunday?”

“Doesn’t Anne have church on Sunday?”

“Yeah, in the MORNING. Just cause she’s Catholic doesn’t mean she spends the whole day in church.”

“Fair enough. I’ll talk to the Waynes and see which day would be good for you all to come over.”

“…You’re just inviting us over to your mansion? Part of the point was you getting to know us better so you can trust us first.”

“It doesn’t have to be at the manor, but I just figured there’s space. And um…I’m kinda not comfortable inviting myself over to someone else’s place?” She kind of winces as she says it.

“That’s maybe something you should talk to your fancy therapist about.”

Phaine sighs. “Yeah, I’ll add it to the list… Okay, but it’s probably fine for you girls to come hang out at the manor, so why don’t we talk about it at lunch and the manor can be our fallback?”

“Better. It would be pretty cool to see ‘The Manor’ though. The way you say it sounds like a formal title, like it’s a place in a history book.”

“Funny you say that, sometimes that’s how I feel saying it.”

---

“It’s like, totally non-obligatory, but I kinda can’t do much but homework and studying right now, and Tiff said you guys have three practices a week right now and she needs my help prepping for the geometry test on Monday, so we were talking about hanging out and doing a study sesh at one of our houses or something.”

“Whoa, down girl. You gotta remember to breath.” Tiff gives her a look like she might explode from anxiety, but Phaine doesn’t take offense. Because she might explode from anxiety.

These girls might legit be the first friends she makes here and she doesn’t want to push or pull anyone into anything without all the info.

Grace gives it a thoughtful moment. “Actually, I could use some help in Chem if anyone else is good at that?”

“Oh, I’m not in Chemistry yet, but I help Duke with his homework sometimes.”

“Wait, YOU’RE the reason Duke stopped blowing things up in Chem lab? I thought it was Ana helping him out since they’re dating.”

“Oh, Ana might be helping him too, I don’t know, but I helped him with all the organic chem stuff that was the focus last month and he still comes to me sometimes with questions. He helps me with Lit for trade.”

“His grade has gone up almost ten points in the last month, I’m sold.”

“I don’t really need tutoring, but I could use someone to ask me questions for French and double-check my pronunciation.”

“Mmm…I can only read French at like, a grade school level, but my best friend back in Santa Clarita and his dad were both fluent French speakers, so I picked up a lot of the spoken components. I can’t promise I’ll be able to help, but I can try.”

“If you can carry a quarter of a conversation you’re more help than Bunny.”

“Hey! …Okay, but Anne’s right, I could use the help in French too… What about you Phaine, you’re the one who has to make up two whole months of work, shouldn’t we be helping you?”

Phaine shrugs. “I’m good in most of my classes and I have a tutor for two of them. Three tutors if you count Duke with Lit. Besides, teaching IS good practice.”

Anne still doesn’t look sold. “Well, the question is when and WHERE. You can’t come to my place, my parents don’t like guests and like you said, we have practice three days a week.”

“Tiff said practice is Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, I have a makeup test after school Wednesday, and I figured you have church Sunday right? How does Friday look for people?”

Anne looks slightly impressed for some reason. “Okay, I am good Friday, how about everyone else?” There is a concourse of nods around the table. “Now. Where?”

Tiff looks a little sheepish. “I know I am the one who brought it up, but it’d be hard for us all to fit at my place.”

Grace wrinkles her nose, “I don’t really want to deal with my parents around a bunch of white girls… No offense.”

Phaine nods, “None taken. I should be able host us if everyone’s like, willing to make the trip, how about you, Bunny?”

“I have the space, but my parents are going out of town this weekend and they don’t like me to have friends over while they’re gone.”

“That’s like, totally legit. Okay, so I still haven’t talked to Alfred and Bruce, but I think it should be okay? I’ll text Tiff what they say tonight and she can let you all know.”

Anne makes a face that might be disgust. “That’s dumb. Tiff, just invite her to our group text. She’s going to have to get our numbers eventually, she’s joining the squad.”

“Oh, fair. And that way we can update Stacy about it too.”

“So, Phaine, where do you live?”

“Oh, you didn’t tell them?”

“You got to the table before me and none of them are in second period with me today.”

Anne looks impatient. “Well?”

“Remember about the whole uh…” She glances at Phaine, “accident I told you about? Phaine moved here because she was adopted…by Bruce Wayne…”

There is a long pause at the table as all of the girls study her for a moment.

It’s Bunny who breaks the silence. “Oh wow! You DO have enough space for all of us to study!”

---

You have been added to

🎆📣GAB SQUAD📣🎆

Tiff: Hey, Stacy, we're planning a study hangout at Phaine's Friday

Stacy: Why at Phaine's?

Stacy: Wow, her name is spelled weird

Phaine: It's just because it's like, Greek...

Kara: Cause she lives in a MANSION!!

Stacy: What?

Stacy: Oh, hi Phaine

Phaine: Bruce and Alfred said yes btw, but they brought up a really valid point. It's silly for like, each of your parents to pick you up and drop you off here or whatever.

Stacy: Bruce? Alfred? Mansion? WAIT WAS JENN ACTUALLY RIGHT?

Phaine: I don't know who Jenn is.

Phaine: So we were talking about it and Dick is going to come into town for the weekend anyway, so we're asking him to drive some of us. It'll be 5 people in each car, so if everyone's chill with it, we need to figure out how to split us all up.

Stacy: Jennifer Thompson, she's oh wow how do you text so fast?

Tiff: 🤣

Tiff: It's not just me

Stacy: So just to be clear, you are inviting us over to the Wayne mansion to study and your butler is picking us up?

Phaine: Well, Alfred is picking half of us up. The other half have to ride with Dick Grayson. He's I guess my like, older step brother? I don't know how that works with wards. Dick's really nice, but I don't actually know him that well yet.

Stacy: Is he hot?

Phaine: I am…uh…I guess? He's an athlete, but he's 26.

Stacy: Hell yeah, I'm riding with him!

Tiff: You didn't tell me you had a hot older brother!!!

Phaine: Why are all of you so weird about older men?

Anne ended up being the only one of the girls who wasn’t trying to ride with Dick, Especially once Grayson and Alfred drove up and they SAW Dick. Thank you for your sacrifice Grayson, be careful with that smile of yours.

It felt kind of silly to Phaine, Dick was gonna go hang out with Tim as soon as they got there, and they didn’t honestly think a twenty six year old was going to be interested in high schoolers? At least not if he was a decent person. But maybe that was the point? A pretty boy to pine over that was probably unattainable, and safe in that fact as a result.

It takes her a little bit of corralling to get the girls into a study room. They’d picked one that had enough table space for all of them and did NOT have a secret entrance to the cave installed in it.

“Wow, okay, this is pretty crazy.” Grace picks a spot at the table and sets down her books. “This is basically your own personal library.”

“I think this is just a study? I wouldn’t know how to find any books I was looking for here, they’re all like, spread out across rooms and it’s not like there’s an index… I don’t think there’s an index? I should probably ask Alfred at some point.”

“You were right, Dick’s really nice! I’m glad we got to talk on the ride.” Bunny sits next to Grace and across from Tiff, and Phaine realizes they’re kind of all automatically sitting down in their normal arrangement from school lunches. Creatures of habit she guesses.

Stacy looks at her with a grin. “How do you get anything done with him around, he’s got a smile that could melt a nun!”

“Wow, Stacey, ick! He’s kinda my brother… I think? And even if he wasn’t, I don’t know, that’s not really my thing?”

“So wait, are you into girls?” Anne is giving her a serious look and wow, wasn’t this supposed to be a study session?

“Uh…I mean, I like, am not looking to date anyone yet. I like guys fine, but I’m still just thirteen, ya know?”

This only seems to increase the level of scrutiny, now from all sides.

“Thirteen? Are you a freshman?”

“Yeah? Tiff, you should know that, it’s why I’m in Geography and Geometry with you.”

“I thought you were in Geography for the same reason as me, that you transferred in from a school with a weird schedule. And Geometry is only a freshman class if you’re some kind of math wiiizzz… Oh my god you are a math wiz, how did I not realize that.”

“So that’s why you aren’t in any of the rest of our classes!” Bunny looks pleased with herself, “I asked about that, but Tiff told me it was probably just cause of the transfer thing.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to like, hide it, I just didn’t realize you thought I was a sophomore.”

Anne gives her a dismissive wave, “We should have figured it out. You told us what classes you have and you don’t really look old enough to be a sophomore yet.”

Oh. Ouch. She can’t say she should be a senior this year, cause that’d mess up her cover phenomenally, but boy was that one a kick in the teeth. She’s literally the oldest one here, but apparently no one would believe that even if her cover didn’t say she was the youngest…

“Well, uh. Sorry, I’m a freshman.”

“It’s fine, like I said, we should have figured it out or asked. And none of the help you offered to study was based on your age. Speaking of studying, we did come over for a reason.”

Phaine couldn’t help feeling anxious now, but she tried to just focus on homework. They flipped back and forth between asking each other questions and working on assignments quietly. It was all very business and focus for an hour or so until Alfred came and interrupted them with snacks.

“I thought that the young ladies might be in need of refreshment.”

“Oh, good timing, Jeeves.”

“Grace, come on, that’s rude. Alfred is great, he’s honestly more a part of the family than I am.”

“Oh, uh, fair, sorry, Alfred.”

Alfred smiles at her, “I appreciate the courtesy, Miss Ashwood.”

While he set out cups, plates and platters the girls moved their books and papers out of the way and stretched.

As one of the platters goes down Bunny perks up. “Ooh, are those some of the tarts you make, Mr. Pennyworth? You guys gotta try these, I had one the last time I was here and they are sooo goood!”

“You’ve been here before, Kara?” Phaine asks confused. Duke didn’t mention knowing any of her friends.

“Miss Bunster has attended one of Master Bruce’s parties. The Bunsters own a machining and manufacturing company that regularly works with Wayne industries. To answer your question, these tarts are my recipe, but Miss Stamos was the one who baked them last night.”

Kara, who has already taken a bite out of one of the tarts, has to struggle to chew fast enough to be able to speak again, “You made these Phaine? I didn’t know you could bake!”

They all unwound as they snacked, and Phaine felt a little less tense for the second hour of homework. By that point most of the girls were caught up on their work and even Tiff seemed to feel confident for her upcoming test. It turned out Phaine was actually able to help a lot with Anne and Kara’s French work, and her confident conversational speaking had gotten Anne to open up a little more towards her.

But that was about all the patience Tiff and Stacy had for studying. “Okay, this is a super cool mansion, but what do you actually do for fun around here?”

Phaine shrugs. “Right now? Homework and training in the gym. And I guess I play guitar to relax, but that’s kind of homework too. Sometimes I help Alfred cook and stuff.”

“You help your butler cook. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose?”

“I didn’t hire him, and I like cooking. Besides, I wasn’t joking about Alfred being more a part of the family than me. He basically raised Bruce.”

“I think I heard about that. Hey, what kind of training can you do in a home gym?”

“Hah…that’s fair, wanna find out?”

They packed up their things and she led them to the gymnasium. The lot of them were impressed, even Bunny, “Wow! This is as big as the school gym, and you’ve got WAY better equipment. And, oh wow…”

Oh, shoot, should have checked the gym was empty first. Dick and Tim are the only ones there, but Dick is doing some kind of exercise on the hanging rings that she doesn’t know the name of, and Tim is upside down doing some kind of crunches hanging from a bar.

“Uh, sorry guys, the girls wanted to see the gym.”

Dick flashes them a smile, “Hey! You’re good, we just got back from the arcade and thought we’d do some warm ups.”

“That’s a warm up?” Stacy is looking up at him with a degree of reverence. Okay, actually, all the girls are.

Dick laughs, “It’s a warm up for me.” He leans back and holds himself in a plank position suspended in the air.

“Yeah, we get it, Dick, you were born in the air. You still lost to me in the arcade though.”

“Only because you picked those new games I haven’t played yet!”

“Dick, every game we played has been out at least three years.”

Grayson seems to decide to change the topic. “So, you gonna come train with us some?”

“Eh, we’re all in our school uniforms, and the girls have practice all week, so they probably shouldn’t push themselves on their rest day.”

“YOU don’t have practice. Come on, I haven’t really gotten to see what you’re capable of and Tim says you wanted me to toss you.”

Phaine turns bright red. And the girls behind her all start making an ’oooh’ing noise like they just heard some juicy gossip. “TIM! Dang it, why can no one keep a secret around here? Fine, sure. But I’m not gonna risk wrecking my school uniform, so you’ll have to wait for me to get changed.”

“We’ll uh…wait here.” Tiff is…not drooling. Actually, she will admit that the girls look more impressed now that they are seeing Dick actually move than they look interested in him. Perhaps the athlete in them wins out over the teenage girl.

She swaps for a black pleated skirt and spats plus a fitted T-shirt and heads back down. By the time she gets there both Tim and Dick are showing off like some sort of circus act and the girls have sat down to watch.

“Alright, alright, you two can stop your showboating in front of my friends and help ME showboat some!”

Dick was honestly just as good at being a base as she thought he’d be. Years of acrobatic work and crime fighting had built a body and mind that could handle just about anything she could throw at him. Partway through Anne starts calling out stunts she wants to see them attempt, and while Phaine has to explain a couple of them to Dick, there is enough overlap that he mostly knows what’s needed without instruction. They played around for probably half an hour before Alfred came to inform them that Anne and Grace’s ride had shown up to bring them home.

Before she gets in the car Anne stops to shake Phaine’s hand. “I am looking forward to you joining the main squad this spring. If you move like that as a freshman, we’re guaranteed to make it to nationals next year.”

As they drive away Tiff leans over so only Phaine can hear. “I don’t think I told you this, but Anne’s the vice captain on the squad. Everyone talked about what you did at practice a couple of weeks back, but most of us didn’t really see it. She’s been wanting to see what you were actually made of with her own eyes. I think you just passed your REAL try out today.”

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