Stephanie Brown smiled sleepily at Kate Kane. 

And then she lost her mind. She didn't rise from the chair. She didn't hop up, or stand; no, Stephanie Brown was out of the chair so fast and with such force that she'd all but leapt out of it. Stephanie had never really considered herself a violent person, at least, not before seeing just a few of the injustices that occured within Gotham City on a nightly basis. There's only so many times a brand new vigilante like the Spoiler could sneak in darkness, and listen to a woman get raped by mean men, before said new vigilante wanted only to learn how to hurt those mean men without getting herself killed.

Bruce had begun her training, but quickly sent Stephanie over seas for the sort of training Batman simply could not provide. It was O-Sensei who trained her mentally, even metaphysically. Then it was Richard Dragon, then Lady Shiva. By the time Stephanie Brown had returned to Gotham City, her combat capabilities had warped so far ahead of where they'd been that no one seemed to know just how capable a fighter the new Batgirl really was.

Of quickness and speed, Damian Wayne had met his match; before the boy could blink another sulky blink, Stephanie Brown's right hand had taken the injured boy by the throat--and [b]squeezed[/b]. The voice that came was dark and heavy and hot, her tone little more than fire and blood, getting quiet instead of louder. The sign of true rage in the Brown family. 

"You almost got both of us killed." When Damian tried to break the hold, he'd discover the iron lock of the grip. His legs kicked, but his injured little body was just no match for her. That he was unable to breath, she seemed not to even notice. "If you [i]ever[/i] come close to doing it again, I'll put you down and strip your mantle from you myself. For now just shut your mouth...I'm tired of hearing you talk."

The grip broke, and Stephanie Brown turned away from Damian, looking at Kate as if she'd just seen her for the first time. It was only when Steph saw Kate's face...that she seemed to realize just what she'd done. "Yeah," she began, her tone as lifeless and tired as it was when she'd just woken up--before Damian enacted her rage. "It was a bad night."

What had Stephanie silently thanking God was when she walked out of the room, Kate followed. It was an armory room Steph had gone to, from the looks of it; a single white bulb hanging from the dirty concrete roof, all walls and even the floor the same type and shade of old concrete. The walls were lined with metallic lockers. The moment Steph arrived at the first locker she began unlocking the Batsuit she'd slept in, and taking it off. 

Only when she was in a teeshirt and shorts did Stephanie accept the cup of coffee originally meant for her, and sip on it as she took a seat on the lone wooden bench in the room. When her big, bright, eyes looked up to Kate...they were filled with only angst. Pain. "I'm sorry. I've never snapped at him before. Him talking to me like that...fine, whatever. Talk is cheap. But talk to you that way? In addition to last night?...I guess I lost it."

Again, her voice seemed a shell of it's normal self, her eyes breaking from Kate's and descending to the ground before her head shook, and Steph sipped at the coffee once more. "Thank you, Kate. There are times I don't feel like I deserve your friendship, like I've dragged you deeper into this Bat-hole....." As sad as she may have sounded, nothing would keep Batgirl from the following joke: "You know, but don't ever let that stop you from bringing me coffee...girl could get used to this."

Despite every emotion in her body, Stephanie's pink lips slipped into the tiniest of smirks.