Chapter Text
Life in Bludhaven had never been easy. It was known as Gotham’s sister city for a reason, and it wasn't just because of the location. Bludhaven wasn’t a kind place. It had all the crime of Gotham but none of the publicity.
Despite that I still loved it with all my heart. It was my home and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. And that’s how I always felt, sitting on the rooftops, looking over the skyline at the city I worked hard to take care of.
I’d grown up in the new age of heroes. I’d only been a few years old when they started popping up around the country, and was only 9 when a threat to the world had brought the Justice League together. And they were truly an inspiration. And as I grew up watching the good they did for the world, the same feeling welled up in me, so I took to the streets myself as the white-clad vigilante, Stellar.
I wasn’t getting any brand deals or anything, and that wasn’t the point. I was just Bludhaven’s local hero. Stopping crime with nothing but some bright lights and my meteor hammer. For a while I wasn’t even sure if the Justice League knew I existed. But then Nightwing moved to town, and I met his old mentor Batman. And now I think it’s pretty safe to say they are at least aware of me.
It had been a slow-night, a few muggings, but nothing crazy so I sat up on the roof of the apartment building until I saw the sun begin to rise.
“Shit,” I muttered, climbing down the fire escape to the window of my bedroom. I’d gotten so caught up in my own thoughts that I’d lost track of time.
I threw off my costume and changed into my school uniform, shoving my vigilante outfit into the bottom of my backpack. It’s not like my dad ever bothered coming into my room, but on the off chance he did I don’t know how he’d react to finding out I’m the “idiot with flashlights for hands”. His words not mine.
I finished dressing, pulling on my cardigan to cover the bruises on my arms from a not-so-nice wannabe burglar and I packed my bag. I shoved my unfinished homework into my backpack, grabbing something from the fridge on my way out. I’d have time to do the homework at school, and maybe even be able to catch at least 30 minutes of sleep before I would have to go to class.
“Where are you going so early?” my dad questioned from behind his newspaper.
I jumped at his voice, “Oh I have a club meeting early this morning. Wanted to make sure I caught the bus so I make it in time.”
It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a club meeting, I wasn’t even in any clubs at school. But my dad has never paid enough attention to what I do. All that matters to him was I was going to be out of the house and not bothering him.
And I’d be out of the house for plenty of time because thankfully it was Friday, and Friday’s meant that I got to escape the hell that was home for just a few days. I got to the lobby and stopped to grab the mail, crossing my fingers.
I had heard other kids at school talking about their college acceptance letters arriving and I couldn’t wait for mine. Though I wasn’t sure how I’d afford it, I’d applied for Gotham U and eagerly awaited to hear back. I mean I came from a single-parent, single-income household, had good grades, and was from a pretty bad area of Bludhaven. I should be a shoe-in for a scholarship. And imagine my surprise when I opened our little mailbox and found the letter I’d been waiting for, alongside a smaller letter addressed to me.
The small letter could wait. I tore open the mail from Gotham U and squealed quietly in the mailroom when I read the words “Dear Olive, Welcome to Gotham University.”
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” I cheered in the empty room.
But then I turned my attention to the smaller letter. On the back, in fancy calligraphy, it had my name, Olive Oscars, and the return address was somewhere in Gotham. I carefully opened it, not completely certain it wasn’t some sort of prank. But the letter I found inside was somehow even better than my college acceptance.
It was from Wayne Enterprises saying I had qualified for a scholarship to Gotham U, a full-ride scholarship. I didn’t even remember applying for this, but I had applied for so many scholarships at this point they had all started to blur together.
Another cheer escaped me as I put the letters in my backpack and left the building. I couldn’t contain my excitement, thinking about how in just a few weeks I would graduate and finally have the freedom I’d been dreaming of.
I continued to think of my plans for the weekend. Tonight I had work, singing at one of the local bars. And then I would be taking a trip to Happy Harbor to the Secret Sanctuary, the only place I was actually free. And the best part, I knew I didn’t have to worry about Bludhaven cause Nightwing would take care of it. Did Nightwing know that I was taking the weekend off? Probably not. But he’ll be fine.
When I got to school the music teacher, Mr. Carr, let me into the building early and I finished up my homework before passing out. I was very rudely awoken by the warning bell and rushed off to my first period. And soon enough the day was over. I made my way to the locker room to get a quick shower in before heading to work.
I finished my shower, grabbed spare clothes from my locker, and headed to the bus stop waiting for it to pick me up and take me to the stop just across the street from the bar. I waltzed in without even a second look at the bouncer, who was starting to get set up for the evening.
Despite me being under 21, I had been doing gigs at Hank’s for a few years now, and the whole staff just knew not to question the very clearly underage kid running around. I truly loved this job. Singing was one of my passions, something my mother had always encouraged me to do. And although I had left it behind for a bit, I found my way back. But this job also provided me with information. Hank’s was a popular cop bar, and Bludhaven cops get real loose-lipped once you get a little alcohol in them.
I made my way to the back passing by the bartender on duty, Ronnie.
He stared at me confused, “Olive, I thought you weren’t on until 7? What are you doing here so early?”
I couldn’t tell him it was because I would rather be in a seedy bar than a room with my dad.
“I didn’t have anything to do after school so I was hoping I could just hang out in the back until my set?” I asked.
I knew I could. It’s what I always did, but we always had this exchange. Ronnie acts confused on why I’d rather spend extra time here than with some friends he knows I don’t have. And I tell him that I have nothing better to do.
He went back to cleaning the countertop, “Fine by me, just don’t cause any trouble.”
I smiled as I opened the door to the employee lounge, “I never do.”
I sat down and began applying my makeup from the case I kept at Hanks. I always ended up doing it darker than I wanted, but everyone agreed I needed to at least attempt to make myself look older.
Once I finished with that I brought out my homework for the night, hoping to get some start on it. I knew that as soon as I got to the Secret Sanctuary tonight, my homework was going to sit untouched for two days. But it was no use. I was too tired to focus on math equations right now. I’ll just ask someone at the cave for help.
Soon enough it was time for my set. I exited the lounge and approached the small stage nestled in the corner where the resident drummer and keyboard player always were. It started normal, same as it did every week. No one was really listening to me, I was just background music. At least until I looked into the crowd and saw a pair of blue eyes watching me closely.
I tried to recognize them in the dimly lit room but it was no use. Even if I didn’t know all their names, I at least recognized the faces of the cops who frequented the place. But those eyes were new, and I feared they might belong to someone looking for me. Or more specifically looking for Stellar.
I finished my set, nervously exiting the stage and returned to the lounge to pack my bag. It was finally time to get to the nearest teleporter and to the Secret Sanctuary. But first I had to investigate the blue-eyed stranger. By the time I left the lounge though, he was gone.
“Hey Ronnie, did you know that dark-haired blue-eyed guy that was in here during my set?” I asked the bartender.
Ronnie almost laughed at me, “And you didn’t? That was Dick Grayson.”
“I can’t see a thing when I’m up there,” I defended myself, “And if that was Dick Grayson, you must be Bruce Wayne.”
“I’m bein’ serious. He came in for a drink, watched your set, and left. He asked who you were, but that was it.”
Ronnie returned to helping other customers as I walked out of the bar, more confused than anything. I just don’t get why Dick Grayson was at Hank’s watching my set. Shouldn’t he be at some fancy restaurant downing glasses of thousand dollar wine?
It didn’t matter too much though, as I walked down the street, through an alley, and into an abandoned construction site. Under some rubble hid a Justice League teleporter, which I used to get all the way to Happy Harbor in seconds.
Just as my vision cleared, marking my arrival in the mountain, I was bombarded with the voices of my teammates, most clear among them Stephanie Brown.
“Oh my god Olive! You are so late!” she yelled before dragging me away, “We were about to start the movie without you.”
This was the place I wanted to be. Surrounded by my friends, watching the most recent classic film that we found out Connor had never seen. I think tonight was The Princess Bride. We rarely actually watched the movies we put on though. We usually talked over the whole thing.
I got into the living room and before they could even start the movie I began telling my friends about my day, “You guys will never guess who I saw at work today.”
“Work-work or this kind of work?” Robin said gesturing to the room around us. How he was supposed to watch a movie with those “secret-identity” hiding sunglasses on, I don't know.
“Work-work,” I replied.
As impatient as always Bart ran over and got in my face repeating “Who was it?” incessantly.
I pushed him away as I told everyone, “The one and only…Dick Grayson!”
Cissie seemed to be the only one even remotely interested. I mean I didn’t expect much from the boys, but at least hoped the girls would understand that seeing Gotham’s most eligible bachelor in the wild was a huge deal. It wasn’t every day you saw a celebrity waltzing around the city. But instead Stephanie and Robin just shared a look and snickered.
“Oh and then I got a scholarship to Gotham U from Wayne Enterprises,” I added, trying to salvage the conversation, “It’s like the Wayne’s are stalking me or something.”
Steph and Robin just looked at each other again before Steph spoke.
“It’s more likely than you think,” which received her a punch in the arm from Robin.
Cissie glared at the two, “What do you Gothamites know that we don’t?”
“Nothing” they squeaked at the same time, and none of us believed them, but we moved on anyway.
We caught each other up on our most recent missions, how school was going, all the usual things. And as the weekend progressed and no missions came in, we continued to relax. We baked a cake, pretended to watch the entire Star Wars saga (which upset Cassie who actually wanted to pay attention), and eventually the weekend came to an end and we had to return to our real lives.
On Monday morning I was the last to leave, which caused me to nearly be late for school but it was fine. A new week just meant a new countdown until I could return to Happy Harbor. And it also meant I was one week closer to graduation.
The week passed in a blur. School was school, Bludhaven was Bludhaven, and everything was just average. The only thing I could think about was that there was very little excitement to share with my friends this upcoming weekend. And that’s how the weeks continued to pass all the way until just before graduation. I mean everyone else had at least fought someone cool. I had just stopped a few robberies.
The only time I even had an inkling of excitement was when Nightwing called me for back-up, which is something he rarely did.
“Hey Nightwing, what’s up?” I said answering the phone.
He answered quietly, “How fast can you get to the docks?”
I was already looking for my suit in my bag before he finished the question, “Maybe like 10 minutes. What do you need?”
“There’s something going down here and I need more eyes. Be quick.” And then he hung up.
My grades could handle me missing my last class. I raced up to the roof of the school ready to make my way to the docks. And once I could see them I turned on the comlink in my wrist, waiting for it to connect to Nightwing's. Once I saw the light flash green I began to speak.
“I’m here, where are you?” I asked into my wrist.
“I’m down by the water,” he replied, “Can you get up high? I want to get a headcount before we head in.”
I listened, climbing up shipping containers and sneaking my way forward. Eventually I was close enough to get a count, around 15 men, moving something from shipping containers to a boat. I relayed my information to Nightwing who shared his plan.
“We’ll come at them from either side, you on the left, me on the right. And be subtle, take them one at a time if you can. None of those flashlights you like so much.”
“Seriously, those ‘flashlights’ are high powered LED’s used for throwing off my enemies,” I defended my most iconic weapon, making my way to my first target.
Nightwing and I worked our way through the henchman, and I listened and didn’t use my lights, instead opting for my meteor hammer, a metal ball tied to a long string, that I swung at my enemies. But he and I continued to quietly bicker as we made our way through the henchmen.
Eventually we reached the final guy, and with practiced teamwork I caught his wrists in my rope and Nightwing had his escrima sticks at the guys throat, ready to shock information out of him.
“What are you transporting?” Nightwing asked forcefully.
“I’d listen to him if I were you. Those things deliver a nasty shock,” I added on.
The guy spilled, saying they were sending over ingredients to Santa Prisca for a new strain of Venom. Why they were shipping something from New Jersey to the Caribbean beat me, but it didn’t matter. We’d stopped the ingredients from even leaving. Nightwing and I tied up the guys and called the cops to come pick them up before we left.
“I gotta let the League know Bane is trying something new,” Nightwing said as we traveled back into the city, “This could get big real quick.”
“Outside my paygrade,” I told him.
“Oh come on Stell, you could do some big stuff if you left Bludhaven.The Titans would love to have you.”
Nightwing had been trying to get me to join the big leagues for awhile now. He thought I would be good on the Titans, but I didn’t have any interest in that. I just wanted to help Bludhaven. Yes, I was technically on Young Justice, but we barely ever got missions. Ninety percent of our time was just spent hanging out. And Nightwing knew that, which is why he kept pushing the Titans issue.
“Nightwing you know I only do this for my city,” I told him off, “I’ll help out my friends when I’m needed but I’m not into saving the world.”
“Even if saving the world saves your city?”
I scoffed at him, “You’re a transplant, you don’t know Bludhaven like I do… Robin.”
I may not know much about Nightwing, but I did know that he used to be Robin, and bringing it up was still a sore subject for him.
Things were tense for a second, before he let it go and thanked me for the help today.
“Anyways, thanks for the assist Stellar,” he said kindly before heading off on his own.
“Your welcome Bird Brain. I know you couldn’t do it without me!”
I heard him laughing as he tumbled away.
Nightwing and I weren’t close, but we had a good working relationship. We both understood that we had to share the city, and though we had different approaches, it was all towards the same goal.
But my team up with Nightwing quickly became old news when Friday rolled around.
I was on my way to Hank’s for work, much more somber than normal. Not because anything bad had happened. It was just that tomorrow was graduation and that meant I wouldn’t be going to see the team this weekend. But it’s fine, after graduation I could spend the whole summer there if I wanted.
I got ready for my set in the lounge, like I did every week. And when seven rolled around I got up and headed to the stage. And once I was in front of that mic I saw them, two sets of blue eyes staring at me, pressuring me into performing.
The team was never gonna believe what I saw. Dick Grayson was back and this time he had brought his dad. Dick Grayson had brought Bruce Wayne to watch my set. I seriously think the Wayne’s are stalking me.