Stephanie was one of the earliest people to come to Dora's Coffee Haunt for that entire week since her classes had shifted in the evening schedule. But that day she came without Tim which wasn't surprising to Dora considering that he had been injured on patrol just last night.

But Stephanie wasn't aware that she knew so she had thought of a couple rather convincing excuses to give in order to validate Timmy's unexpected absence.

"You won't believe what happened yesterday," as usual she was the first to initiate the conversation soon as she stepped up to the counter, "Timmy got into a mess again."

"What happened?"

"The poor bloke was so low on caffeine that he was practically blinded and he fell down the entire flight of stairs!" Steph was a rather proficient actress as she had managed just the right amount of concern and pity in her tone and facial expressions.

Dora realized that she was making up an excuse because she didn't know that Tim had come there as Red Robin so she too had to go along with it, "oh no..."

Steph's green eyes flickered suspiciously as if she had expected her reaction to be more but she shrugged, "and as a cherry on top, he broke his jaw."

"That's terrible," Dora remarked, that once her eyes actually softening in sympathy, "how's he now?"

"His head is all wound up in bandages to keep the jaw in place until it is fully healed and he's taking a break from all of us," she replied, "frankly speaking, Wayne Manor has never been that quiet because almost every minute we can hear Tim whining about all the troubles he has in his life. But now that he can't speak, no more whining can be heard."

"Poor him," Dora mumbled turning to the customers who had just come in and jotted down their orders, "I'll just be back in a minute, Steph."

When she came back, Steph had two more orders lined up so the two had to deal with them first. Later she spoke, "how's Alex though?"

"Much better," Dora replied, "he's rejoining his nightly duties from tonight."

"Too soon?"

"He says he'll get fired if he doesn't."

"Good for him then. Don't let him go."

"Without all the pay," she emphasized, "and that would be worse knowing that he went through all this crap for nothing."

"Oh... That's mean."

"That's what you get when you work at disreputable places so... Al kinda brought it upon himself."

A short while passed in silence which was as usual broken by Steph because she couldn't stay quiet for long, "hey do you have the evening free?"

Dora was a bit surprised at the question, "after the shop hours, yeah."

"Why don't you come at our place tonight? The whole family's dying to meet you," a bright smile had spread across her features, "I mean except Damian of course that kid would rather die than socialize..."

"Damian sounds like a very interesting person."

"He's not. Don't expect anything from him, you'll be heavily disappointed."

She brought back the orders from the kitchen then turning to Steph she added, "I talked to Alex and he agreed so I'm in."

"Great," Steph's smile widened, "and that way you'll get to see Tim as well."

"His mood would improve for sure."

"Of course," she nodded, her green eyes glistening with a fond look, "he's a very different person around you."

Dora raised an eyebrow uncertainly, "is he?"

"Like for starters, he stops complaining and actually smiles when he's with you," Steph had a thoughtful expression as if recalling Tim's behavior around her, "and you also know how cute he looks with that slight red shade on his face."

She nodded smiling as well, "red really suits him though."

***

As decided Stephanie took Dora to Wayne Manor after the two had carefully locked the shop. She had also promised that they would drop her off after dinner by themselves for Gotham was not a place for a young girl to go back home alone.

For Dora, the Wayne family was unique to say the least. Nearly all the members were adopted, fostered or just taken in without legal documentation. All except for Damian Wayne, the only biological child of Gotham's resident billionaire Bruce Wayne.

They had a special characteristic of being highly accepting such that different types of people existed within the same family and everyone had adapted in their own way to each other.

It would be the first time for her to meet all of them together including those who she hadn't seen before such as Barbara, Damian and Alfred.

"Good evening Miss Stephanie, Miss Isadora," Alfred had opened the door for the girls and it seemed as if he had been expecting their arrival.

"Hi Alfred," they replied as the two stepped in.

Steph led her inside and soon enough they spotted Barbara and Jason in the living room, watching Say Yes To The Dress. A bucket of popcorn rested between the two and a live commentary was going on provided by Jason.

"What the hell are you thinking, Rebecca? The dress does nothing for your waistline," Jay remarked, "and there's a difference between fat and bloated."

"I liked the previous dress better," Barbara replied, "off shoulders don't work for her."

"Try boat neckline instead," he added, "or the sweetheart one. But no off shoulders."

Steph looked at Dora with a slight smile, "meet the fashion experts of our family; Barbara and Jason."

The two turned to face them and Jason spoke up, "oh if it's not the snitchy friend of ours... Lovely to see you again Dora. Same can't be said for you, Steph."

"Look who's talking, you were the one who snitched," Dora remarked.

Barbara had a lovely smile on her face as she extended her hand out for her to take, "it's so good to finally meet you. Steph and Tim mention you a lot."

"It's nice to meet you too," she smiled politely.

"And here comes the resident psycho of the Wayne family," Steph remarked as she saw Damian descending the stairs.

"Stephanie," Barbara gently rebuked her but her attention was diverted to the television again as an exasperated sigh escaped Jason.

"This woman can't choose dresses," he was shaking his head in disappointment, "and what kind of hypocrite friends does she have? I bet they are laughing inside but not telling her how awful the color is on her."

Damian was holding a small box in his hand which he threw straight at Steph in retaliation, but she effortlessly caught it in her hand before it could hit her. "Better luck next time, kid!"

"Next time, you die at my hands."

"Oooooh, I'm so terrified," Steph had started laughing by then completely avoiding his hostile gaze.

Dora had an idea by then that Tim wasn't the only member of the family who was a vigilante in fact all of them combined made the vast clan of Bat vigilantes. She had a guess that Dick was Nightwing because the two shared the same sense of humor and were fine as hell. And it could all be possible if Bruce Wayne was Batman himself.

"Let's go meet Tim before Dami actually decides to kill me."

Damian's eyes flickered towards Dora, "so you're Drake's girlfriend. Such a shame."

"Oh hello, you can't insult my friend like that!"

Barbara gave a stern glare to Steph and Damian, "stop squabbling and let me watch the show in peace."

"I am not insulting her," Damian elaborated, "I am just disappointed in her choice."

"Let's go," Steph had taken her hand as she led her up the stairs to Tim's room, "fair warning though, Tim lives in a trash can."

She laughed, "a trash can?"

"Messy would be an understatement while describing his room."

***