I know it's hard but...

[controlledvariable]

Who: Steph Brown, others [closed]
What: Monster fighting, rescues, healing
Where: All around Baedal
When: Over a two week period since Hasi broke reality
Notes: Everyone has their own thread starter, which are in no particular order, if there are any problems/questions please let me know!
Warnings: NPC death, gore, violence, monsters, PTSD, my inability to be succint, if I've missed any feel free to tell me

The monsters are new for her.

It's not that she isn't used to dealing with all the assorted bullshit that Gotham can throw at a vigilante, but there's nothing quite like this. There are people like Killer Croc and Zsasz and Black Mask, who might be horrific, but they're still people. These monsters are more like animals, but they're huge and violent and they hunt people. She's not trained for this, she's not equipped for this and she sure as hell isn't prepared for it. Getting the gun and new batarangs from Rex helps, and she adds a large hunting knife to her array of weaponry, but it still doesn't feel like enough.

It's terrifying, in a way that she doesn't have time to deal with, so she pushes that down and focuses on doing what she can. There's moments, as she faces down things that eclipse her worst nightmares, when she wonders if she should be hiding instead of out here fighting. But there are other moments, times when she wins, when she gets to reunite a parent with their lost child, and it doesn't matter that Steph is bleeding, bruised and exhausted, because she did good.

At the behest of Babs, and the reminders her own body sends, she forces herself to stop and rest once in a while. Usually she goes back to wherever Babs is, or Kate, if she happens to be resting at the same time. Her sleep happens in small bursts, a few hours here or there, curled up near Babs or Kate and letting the exhaustion take over. She tries not to eat too much, because she has no idea how long these monsters will stay in the city and she's scared that food will start running out. She's already started collect supplies, bringing them to the safe places and distributing them to people.

She doesn't think about the dead bodies she sees, or the injured people. A lot of Baedalites can look after themselves, but some of them can't and it's those who end up as smears on a wall. Except for when she has to stop to throw up, after seeing half eaten corpses; then she thinks about it, and she doesn't know how long she can keep going out and coming back alive.

She hopes no one will hold it against her if she gets killed.

Comments

[joiedeviolet]

"Too tired," she replies as she shakes her head. She'll nap a bit and then maybe wake up and eat something. Chewing just seems like so much work right now; she uses a bit of her last energy reserves to move over some more. It's a small bed, but neither one of them are big girls. They'll fit with a little creativity.

While Steph's sitting up, Kate stretches out on her back, pushing one of the pillows under her arm. It'll double as a body block so she doesn't roll over on it in her sleep. With her good hand, she reaches over to poke Steph in the thigh with a sheepish smile on her face. "Thanks. I know I'm not the best patient."

[controlledvariable]

"I'll hold you to that," Even if she has to force Kate to drink a protein shake or something; it's better than nothing.

She eats the second half of her sandwich as she waits for Kate to settle, then returns the plate to the nightstand, smiling back, "You were fine. I didn't even have to give you a lollipop." She's not ready to liw down and sleep yet; she wants to watch Kate for a bit to make sure she's okay. But she shifts a little so that she can run her fingers through Kate's hair, hoping it'll soothe her a little.

[joiedeviolet]

"Wait, if I acted up, I could have gotten candy? Jeez. Now you tell me." She chuckles sleepily, pushing up into Steph's hand like a cat. Somebody should really come in here and question them about what the hell they are doing because none of how they just fall so naturally into this position, these roles, makes sense. Maybe it's just because Kate is sick. Yes, that's it.

That's her story and she's sticking to it.

[controlledvariable]

"Only if you want me to go out and fight my way through the monsters to get you some," Steph is pretty sure Babs doesn't keep a lot of candy in her house, and any that was would've gone to the few kids staying there already.

Steph closes her eyes, head leaning back against the bed, but she doesn't stop petting Kate's hair, "If you get better by tomorrow, I'll give you all the candy you want."

[joiedeviolet]

Even if she really did want candy, Kate will let the kids have it. They need something to cheer up with while Hell rains down outside. A hug, a stuffed animal, a wad of bubble gum. They all do wonders. No taking candy from a baby here.

Exhaustion wins this fight and Kate calls it a defeat. She curls in closer to Steph, hoping she doesn't sweat too much during the night, and closes her eyes. "I'll hold you to that."

[controlledvariable]

Steph doesn't say anything at first, she's suddenly lost for words and she's not entirely sure why. Maybe it has something to do with how easy and right it feels to have Kate curled up against her. Or maybe she's just overthinking everything because she's scared and exhausted. After a while she settles on, "Goodnight, Kate." Which doesn't even begin to cover her complicated feelings, but she can deal with that later.

Right now she focuses on making sure Kate is sleeping as peacefully as possible. Eventually she'll fall asleep as well, curled up around Kate like she belongs there.