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She wasn't, strictly speaking, supposed to bring guests back to the cave. Also strictly speaking, she probably should have asked Babs' permission first.
But Steph figured that if Dick Grayson could bring The Spoiled Bio Kid (as Steph would always refer to Damian in her head, she was pretty sure) to the Cave when he'd roughed up Alfred and attacked Tim there (Oracle had all the best stories, Steph was finding out) then certainly Steph had every right to bring an actual hero to the cave.
Steph figured that right had to double when the hero was a kickass woman (she could totally be Bird of Prey, in Steph's not at all humble opinion) who was lost from her own world and stuck in what sounded like a pretty lesser world.
Or maybe Steph was just over-excusing the impulsive decision to bring Hawkeye to the cave.
"It's kind of ... grungy," Hawkeye decided, using a voice that made it clear she was trying to be polite about it. "And dark. And...um, whoever lives here doesn't seem to like color very much."
"Well, technically..." Steph trailed off, and bit the inside of her cheek as she thought how best to answer that while still preserving identities. "Technically, that's not entirely true."
Hawkeye turned to look at her, waiting for her to finish that thought, apparently. Steph wondered what it was about archers that let them get away with wearing sunglasses instead of actual masks.
Barbara would kill her if she tried to wear purple sunglasses for her costume.
But Hawkeye's sunglasses were nice, or maybe it was just the eyes behind them, which were also nice. Very nice, in Steph's estimation.
"You couldn't tell by looking at the place," Hawkeye answered. There was a sigh of resignation about her tone, and Steph wanted to give her a hug to make her feel better.
"Look, I know our world sucks - a lot! But it's not that bad. I mean, it has its good spots," Steph promised.
"You told me on the way here that your archers have a history of going crazy, getting their arms ripped off or quitting the superhero business all together," Hakweye pointed out.
Steph frowned. Well, what was she supposed to say in reply to that? "You know, I'm not very good at this comforting thing."
"No," Hawkeye agreed. "So it's a good thing I'm Hawkeye. Hawkeyes have a long history of adjusting to the bizarre just fine."
"There was another before you?" Steph asked.
"Yeah. It's a legacy thing," Hawkeye answered with a light shrug of her bare shoulder.
"I've tried that. A couple times. I'm better at it this time around than last time," Steph admitted.
"You can tell me all about that," Hawkeye suggested. "Between the times we punch bad guys in the teeth."
"You are definitely my kind of girl," Steph laughed.
She didn't expect Hawkeye to lift her glasses and give her a smirk. "You can tell that so soon, Batgirl?"
Well, that wasn't exactly what she'd meant, but - "...Maybe."
"In that case, you can call me Kate."
Steph was still pondering whether or not she was strictly allowed to give her name when she realized that Kate was halfway out of the cave.
Pondering could come later - right now she had to partner to keep up with.