Work Text:
“Whatcha doing?”
It took all of Steph’s bat training not to jump in surprise. She hadn’t noticed before, but it seemed Dick was just as good at sneaking up on people as Bruce had been. Perhaps the Batsuit had something to do with it. Or maybe Nightwing was just more considerate than Batman.
“Some college application paperwork,” she said. “The FAFSA in particular, right now.” She angrily punched keys on her very expensive graphing calculator, which she hadn’t actually used for class except to program the OG snake game. Without Tim’s help, thank you very much.
Dick stopped creepily peering over her shoulder, pushed back his cowl, and sat on the batcomputer desk, swinging his feet like an obnoxious five-year-old. “Why are you bothering to fill that out?”
Steph knew Dick had grown up with a bajizillionaire, but she had assumed that Dick’s humble roots (plus that shitty Blüdhaven apartment) had kept him relatively down to earth. Apparently not. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You fill it out to get grants and loans for college.”
Dick did a little forehead wrinkle that, in Stephanie’s professional opinion as a bat, looked too adorably clueless for him to pass as Batman at the moment, despite being in the suit. “Right. I know what the FAFSA is. But why are you filling it out?”
Could…Dick be secretly dumb? Like, she knew he wasn’t the World’s Greatest Detective, or even the World’s Second Greatest Detective (an honor belonging to her ex), but she had pretty much assumed he was the Third. “Dick,” she said, gritting her teeth, hoping that he didn’t notice that her inflection implied she was using the word more as an insult and less as his name, “not everyone grew up with a father figure that had enough money to buy universities , or even enough to just set up a trust fund.”
“Right…not everyone did.” He paused. “So why are you filling it out again?”
“Omigod, Dick! Did you hit your head on patrol? I’M FILLING OUT THE FAFSA BECAUSE I’M POOR AS FUCK!!”
Dick did not seem upset by Steph yelling in his face (and perhaps there was a little spit spray action going on there too, but Steph didn’t feel too bad about it); he just returned to that confused-puppy-dog look. “I realize that, Stephanie, I just assumed that for college you’d be using…” Dick trailed off and stared at her for a moment with wide eyes. “Good grief, did Bruce not even tell you ?” Dick’s chin met his chest and he started muttering.
“Did Bruce not tell me what?” Stephanie asked.
Dick continued to mutter to himself.
“Dick! Did Bruce not tell me what ?”
“I guess it’s easier if I just show you,” Dick said cryptically. “Scoot over.”
Stephanie reluctantly vacated the batchair. Dick typed at the batcomputer, saying, “Since Bruce has been…gone…I’ve got all the logins and passwords to this stuff. I don’t personally manage any of it, but Bruce’s financial advisors do consult me from time to time. Here, look at this.” Dick rolled his chair back and gestured at the computer screen.
Stephanie squinted at the screen. It had lots of…numbers. Dates and…dollars, actually. Lots of numbers that translated into dollars. And at the top, it said “BENEFICIARY: STEPHANIE BROWN.”
“It’s an educational trust account,” Dick explained. “I assumed Bruce had told you he set it up. But I guess his emotional constipation is…was…even more serious than I had imagined. He was probably planning on telling you once you started applying to schools.” He stood up and motioned for Stephanie to sit back down. “You should take a look at it.”
“Wow,” Stephanie said, sitting down. “That’s…wow.” She looked back down at her FAFSA paperwork. “I guess I’m going to have to fill this out all over again now, huh.” As thankful as she was to Bruce for helping out, she grimaced at the thought of redoing all that paperwork with new numbers. Maybe if she was really nice to Babs, she would do it for her. It would sure take her a lot less time.
Dick blinked owlishly and tilted his head to the side, looking a bit like an actual robin. “Ummm, these summaries can be a little confusing. Let me juuuust…” he scrolled down the screen. “Here. Look at this number. This is the total amount of money in your account right now.”
Stephanie looked at the number that Dick had pointed out. She closed her eyes. She opened them again. The number remained the same. She squinted. The number remained the same. She blinked a few times. The number remained the same.
The number that had hella zeros.
Stephanie promptly fell out of her chair.
“Stephanie! Stephanie, are you ok?” Dick said, crouching down on the ground beside her.
“Uhhhhhh...”
“Don’t get too excited by the big number. That’s to cover not only four years of tuition, but also fees, room & board, books, and living expenses.”
“Uhhhhhhhh...”
“And then of course if you end up going to grad school, that’s expensive too,” Dick continued. “So it’s not as much money as it seems like at first.”
“Not as much! Money! As it! Seems like???” Stephanie choked out. “You’re telling me this will cover not only tuition but all my costs for four years plus a master’s degree?”
“Well, it would actually probably be enough for a law degree or a medical degree, not just a Master’s. Or a Ph.D., if you’re not able to get a fellowship for that. But I doubt that would happen.”
It took Stephanie a moment to realize that Dick had just complimented her intelligence, and she felt (a little bit) bad (maybe) for thinking he was a dumb, privileged puppy dog moments earlier.
“Um...thanks.” Dick responded.
Shit, she said the dumb puppy dog part out loud. Really, she couldn’t be blamed for what she said when she was in such a state.
“Think you’re ready to get off the floor there, Batgirl? Have you decided yet where you’re applying?”
Something about Dick calling her “Batgirl” snapped Stephanie out of her near catatonia. She shot straight up into a sitting position. “Wait. This is a guilt thing, isn’t it?”
“I—” Dick started.
“It is, isn’t it! Typical Bruce, trying to avoid saying ‘sorry’ or avoid having any fucking emotions, and like, thinking he can bribe me or whatever because he’s got angst or whatever about me getting tortured and dying.”
“I don’t think—”
“Well, I don’t need his guilt! I never asked for his brooding over my ‘death’ and I sure as hell don’t need an apology that isn’t even really an apology. I’ve had enough fathers and father figures getting my hopes up and then dashing them to last a lifetime. And I can’t even yell at him about it because he’s not here .” The last part came out as a gasp, and tears stung Stephanie’s eyes.
“Stephanie,” Dick said quietly, “I can tell you it wasn’t a guilt thing. Look at the date the account was opened.”
Not having enough emotional bandwidth to get up from the floor and sit in the chair, Steph just leaned over and put her chin on the desk in front of the monitor and scrolled back up. She found the date Dick was talking about. It was...a while ago. Before she “died.” Before the gang wars.
“So, he opened the account before he had a reason to feel guilty,” she said, “but also before he realized exactly how much of a screw up I am.”
“Hey, those are your words, not mine or Bruce’s.”
“Oh please. Bruce didn’t have to call me a screw up for me to know that’s what he thought of me. Disapproval oozed out of his every pore.”
“Bruce was Batman. Disapproval oozed out of his every pore for everyone . Do you know how much I use to crave a simple ‘good work’ from him?” Dick leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms. “Bruce was many things, but effusive in his praise was not one of them. I spent years chasing pats on the back that never quite materialized.” He sighed. “That doesn’t mean he didn’t care about me or believe in me. He just didn’t have the skill or words to show it. The same goes for you.”
“You felt that way too?” Steph asked. “But...you’re Dick Grayson, Bruce’s golden boy.”
Dick laughed. More of a cackle, really. Jesus, but it was creepy. “Stephanie. Clearly you weren’t around for my angsty teenage rebellion years. Or my angsty early twenties rebellion years.”
Stephanie groaned. “Ugh. I don’t know how to feel about this. Obviously the money would be...life changing. But I never wanted to feel indebted to Bruce while he was alive, and I sure as hell don’t want to be now that he’s gone. Dammit, Bruce, why did you have to be so extra ?” Stephanie fumed. More tears came, and that made her even angrier.
“If it will make you feel any better, I can put the cowl back on and “hn” at you while you yell at me,” Dick offered.
Stephanie smiled. Ok, that was a little funny. Steph glanced back at the screen and sighed. When did her life become so complicated?
Dick interrupted her thoughts. "You know what would really stick it to him?"
"What?"
“Use the money to go to Yale. And unlike him...graduate.”
...well. Maybe that she could do.