Shadow!Steph being benched during War Games because Bruce won’t risk her life in a war zone with a toddler at home. She insists she can do it, she’ll be fine, she can help!
“You’ve done enough,” Bruce says.
(He intended to placate her. Instead, Steph recoils as though struck.)
She looks around, desperate for support. But Duke knows what it’s like to lose parents and shakes his head. Cass won’t meet Steph’s eyes, mentally weighing the protection of her goddaughter against the safety of the city & knowing Cass herself will do more good in the city but needs Luna safe to concentrate. Damian’s already in the city and unaware of their fight until Steph calls him—at which point, Damian curtly says they’ll call Steph if they need her but he’s a little busy right now.
“What about Tim?” Steph blurts out, pointing. “He’s got a family! His parents don’t even know he’s working with us!”
Tim opens his mouth to argue, but is interrupted.
“Tim’s benched too,” Bruce says.
“What?!” Tim glares. “No I’m not. You need me out there.”
“They need me out there,” Steph snaps, unable to keep the bitterness & rage out of her voice.
(She’s been trying so, so hard to swallow the jealousy & betrayal ever since Cass made Tim Spoiler without asking, and Tim let slip he’d known their identities long before the first time he approached Steph to befriend her. When Cass was too busy being a mentor, when Bruce played blatant favorites, when everyone seemed to think motherhood had cost Steph all her hard-earned hero credentials and she should just stay home with the baby while they did all the work. Steph tried.)
Bruce picked up the phone and called the Drakes while making direct eye-contact, assuring them their son was safe and that Bruce was sending him home right away, that Alfred will bring him right over, it’s no trouble at all.
“Thanks for nothing,” Tim hissed, chucking his cape back in his locker and shouldering past Steph after a few more minutes of heated 3-way arguing which only made Bruce triple down on his decree.
(Steph called her mother and successfully convinced her to look after Luna while everyone was busy, threw on her suit, and stormed out to prove herself by helping the city. No one would ever dismiss her capabilities after this, Steph would make sure of it.)
