She stood alone in the darkness, collecting her thoughts for a moment, trying to calm the storm raging inside her brain. She exhaled loudly, waving a hand to trigger the lights in the gym. The woman walked over towards the heavy bag, her blonde pony tail flicking back and forth in time with her steps.
She didn't respond to the voice, instead holding a hand up and caressing the heavy bag, finally pinning something to it with her thumb. A picture. Three young men in football uniforms, laughing with arms around each other, not a care in the world.
The thud was audible in the silent gym as Stephanie's fist slammed into the photo on the heavy bag over and over again.
"Stephanie..." the voice tried again.
Despite everyone's best efforts, Stephanie never was a martial artist. She was a brawler, a scrapper. The years as a vigilante had honed her. She punched with her whole body, drawing power from her stance, from the earth itself sometimes.
"Steph..." the voice tried, pleading for her attention.
Stephanie turned around, tear tracks glistening on her cheeks. "Don't. Just.... don't. Dinah, Bruce, Cass, Kara, Dick, Babs, everyone... they want me to talk about it, to acknowledge what happened, and to move on. There's nothing I can do, they tell me. It wouldn't solve anything, they tell me. I... I..." she trailed off, her head slumped forward. Her shoulders curled in, shrinking her for a moment, before she exploded around and forced her fist through the photo, through the bag itself. Her breath came in deep jagged gasps, her fist red and already starting to swell as she turned back around to face the other person in the room.
"I gave her up for adoption, you know. I was 15 years old, I was an idiot kid running around rooftops. I couldn't do that and provide for a baby. My home life was in shambles, mom popping pills and my father in Blackgate. Not that he was any better when he was home, trying to kill me or beat me or pimp me... I wanted my daughter to have a better life. I thought that if I was out of her life, she wouldn't..." Stephanie struggled for words, waving her hands around, gesturing at everything. "She wouldn't have to deal with this. She could grow up normal and have a full life." She slumped to the ground, drained and exhausted.
The hiss of a match being struck broke the silence. The man took a small drag on his cigarette before kneeling in front of Stephanie. He knelt there with her for a few moments, then put his hand on her shoulder. "Steph, what happened wasn't your fault. Your daughter... she grew up good, y'know? She saw something that wasn't right, and she did what a lot of people don't have the guts to do. She stood up and said, 'Stop. That's not right, and I won't accept it.' In my book, that's worth more than almost anything." He ran a hand through his reddish brown hair, his hand coming to rest on the red helmet on the floor next to him.
Steph raised her head and looked at him, a watery smile on her face. "Did you know... turns out... she was a huge fan of Batgirl? Had been since she was about 5 years old. Had clippings about her and apparently, wore a 'What Would Batgirl Do?' bracelet. I didn't even know those existed. So she saw what was happening and thought to herself, 'What would Batgirl do?' and then... they... Jason... they..." Stephanie couldn't finish, tears in her eyes.
Jason sighed and walked around the crying blonde, leaning down to pick up the mangled photo. He looked at it, shrugging off his jacket and holsters, leaving them in a pile next to his helmet. He set the photo on top of his helmet and then lifted Stephanie up to face him. The cigarette bounced as he spoke. "I'm not going to tell you to talk about it, or acknowledge it or anything like that. You have to do what you have to do. If you want to talk, I'll be at Hoolihan's."
"Hoolihan's? But that..."
"Oh... that's right... it's near East Gotham Prep... about 5 blocks down from there... Hrm. I'll probably be seen in about an hour or two, cameras will pick me up and everyone will know that Red Hood has been in that area..." Jason kissed Stephanie on the cheek, before turning to walk off.
Stephanie stared at him as he walked off, an unsaid thank you in her mouth as she tied her hair back and slipped on the red helmet, buckling the holsters around her shoulders.
