(no subject)

[secondchances]

[Unlike Tim, Stephanie sounds fairly friendly in her filter. No need to jump to any conclusions even if her gut is, and therefore is doing backflips.]

Got a moment? I need to ask you a few things.

Comments

Stephanie

[assassino]

[He figures this is serious if she's not sugar-coating anything with casual babble or even a "hello" first.]

Of course. I am in the library, if you want to meet.

Ezio

[secondchances]

[It's about to get more serious.]

Actually, can we meet at your room?

[Let's not have anyone eavesdropping.]

Stephanie

[assassino]

If you'd prefer.

[He'll start heading there anyway.]

Ezio

[secondchances]

Thanks.

[And she'll be waiting outside his door, leaning against the door frame. Yeah, he probably knows something is up.]

Stephanie

[assassino]

[She's already there. Christ. Ezio frowns a touch, out of both concern and suspicion.]

Good afternoon to you as well.

[He reaches to squeeze her shoulder, and then he fishes out his key to let them in.]

Ezio

[secondchances]

Hey, you. [She smiles at the touch, but it doesn't stay on her face too long.]

Sorry if I interrupted you.

Stephanie

[assassino]

[He shakes her head, opening the door for her.]

It is alright. I imagine this is about something important.

Ezio 4ever

[secondchances]

Yeah, it is.

[She steps in and waits for him to go somewhere. Usually she'd make herself at home, but she can't do that until she gets this all straightened out.]

Have you been looking at the journals lately?

[assassino]

[He sits anyway. It's his place.]

Of course.

[secondchances]

Did you see this one?

[She pulls out her journal, bookmarked on that anonymous entry. She hands it over to him.]

[assassino]

[He hardly needs to look to it.]

I did.

[He looks at her, pointedly.]

Do you know what it is referring to?

[secondchances]

I want to know who wrote it. And the one earlier in the year.

[There's not much bite in her questioning.]

[assassino]

[A pause.]

I think you know the answer to that, dolcezza.

[secondchances]

[Fuck. He was supposed to deny it, even if it was true. Steph snaps the journal shut and spins around, away from Ezio, palms pressing into her eyes.

She's supposed to keep her cool. Ask who he killed, why, what happened. Deal with this, like she told Tim. But she's just incredibly hurt. He kept this from her, and she didn't see it until recently.]

--god.

[Rebooting.]

[assassino]

[Ezio just watches her from his seat on the couch, and he feels himself getting tired. He knew this was coming; he had to. He should have even expected it to happen soon, given the anonymous entries.]

Stephanie. You've known what my work is from the first day... and if it brings you any comfort at all, I killed him in defense.

[secondchances]

[In a small sense it does. She'd always prefer to have Ezio alive than dead.

Though she still feels like strangling him herself right now.]

And you still didn't tell me. Instead, you kept it to yourself until you just couldn't help it and had to make that entry.

[She's still not looking at him.]

Who was it?

[assassino]

What would have tell you served? I made the entry because I thought it prudent to warn people that the castle may be acting differently now.

[But he shrugs.]

Micheletto.

[secondchances]

The castle changes the rules all the time. We're friends. Allies, and you are screwing that up. [Micheletto. She should have known. She sighs and turns to face him, frowning.]

Tim is on to you. We could have kept this under wraps.

[She would have covered for him.]

I can't believe you kept this from me. Me. [She can't give killing a thumbs up, but she would have had his back. Now she's not sure what to do.]

[assassino]

[Ezio sighs.]

Stephanie, Tim has no evidence against me. There is no need for concern.

[secondchances]

You're enough evidence. And you admitted it to me.

[She runs her hands through her hair and just sits on her heels where she had been standing.]

I've trusted you with everything. Did you know that?

[assassino]

Dolcezza, what does he expect to do? What do you expect to do? Arrest me?

[He stands up to approach her, kneeling down to her level. He reaches to push a hand on her shoulder.]

I know, yes. But you know that is my work, too.

[secondchances]

He probably expects me to throw you into the cells until you go home. You're my responsibility until he feels I fucked this up.

[Punching him is still very enticing. She brushes his hand away and stands to walk off to the other side of the room.]

I've kept your work related secrets. I've gone out of my way to. I've had fights with people over you.

[assassino]

[He follows, though he keeps a little space between them for her sake.]

He has no authority over you, nor over me. You know that... and if you've kept so many secrets, you can keep one more.

[secondchances]

[A large part of her agrees with that. Murder is wrong, but maybe this was unavoidable. She wants to believe it was. What did Tim expect her to do? Justice was shaky here, even more shaky than in Gotham. If she didn't do something, Tim...

He'd want to take Batgirl away.

And maybe she would let him, because perhaps she didn't need to be Batgirl after four years in Paradisa. Four years of struggle and different viewpoints and so much unresolved crime. How much did Batgirl do, and how much did Stephanie Brown do? She did her best to help people here, but she didn't need the Bat or Batman's resources to do it.

But any step away from Gotham was a step away from Tim. Then again, he knew what this was doing to her. He was setting her up for this decision. It was all part of the game that he and Bruce liked to play with her. It made her blood boil.

On the other hand, she didn't owe Ezio shit anymore.]

So I get to scrounge up a last moment lie for my boyfriend. And hope my body language reading best friend doesn't tattle on me. For you.

[No warmth in that.]

[assassino]

Cassandra will side with you. She has known since it happened.