Re: eddie/steph - pre-saving arkham.
She made a noise when she saw the blood, and she fished into her pocket for her packet of tissues. (For all its gloominess, Gotham's allergy season was a bitch.) She held it out for him, but kind of froze as he assured her that she could have so many of the things she was scared to ask for. He could see it in her face, how much he'd caught her off-guard with his approval of all the things she still loved about her old life with him. Things she still needed. "I didn't think I was allowed to ask for any of that after everything, honestly," she confessed softly, finally handing him the packet and retreating back to herself for a moment. It wasn't as though she hadn't thought about any of that, but she still carried the weight of guilt on her shoulders. She had a sneaking suspicion that she would for a long, long time if not forever. But, she smiled slightly at the thought of Father Mike. "He must've forgotten how much of a heathen I am," she said, soft again and trying to shake off the wide-eyed confusion of his offer.
She sighed, and she rubbed the back of her neck as her mouth twisted up. "You're right. This Bruce is too good a man. He's too good a father." And clearly Stephanie had been the only one of the family to think that. The boys struggled, Helena had disappeared to god knows where, and Damian...well. It was exactly that. A tragedy. She looked off into the distance again. "After all those years of fighting for my name, I didn't think there'd come a time where I didn't want it. Aside from, you know, that time when I was nineteen." She waved her hand; that had been right after she and Damian dipped Jason in the pit. She couldn't be more disgusted with herself at that point in her life. "But here I am. I've got bats to lead because I'm the only one to do it, and I'm not just terrified of it. It feels useless."
There was a soft smile though as he talked about the Justice League. "You've always loved it." He had, even well before the batfamily edged him out again, and their marriage had fallen to pieces. "You belong there, Eddie. It's perfect." Her fingers pressed into the desk as a distraction, pressure on until the tips of her fingers turned white. "I've been fighting for most of my life trying to fit into that family, and guess what? There's no family to fit into anymore. It's all for moot anyway." Another shrug. "Maybe we're better apart than together. Maybe we need to find something else to use our bat-skills with that takes the cowl out of the equation." What that was for herself? Oh, she had no idea. But it sure as hell didn't involve Arkham anymore.