Blair woke up the next day, turning over to see that it was no longer morning, but afternoon. She sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes thinking over the events of the night before. It seemed so weird to her, maybe she had dreamt the whole thing. A replacement for Dick? Only her mind would come up with something that crazy, right? Playing on her worst fears was something her brain was good at every now and then.
She felt stiff getting out of bed, remembering the hit she took into the wall the night before. Going to her mirror, she saw her tired eyes looking back at her. There was a bruise right below her eye she had to cover up before she met her uncle later for an early dinner that day. She didn't want him asking any questions
Blair left her room, closing her door behind her. The room across from her was partially open, it never was before. Blair peeked her head in, seeing a duffel bag with clothes open on the floor next to the bed and sighed loudly. So the night before wasn't just some blackout dream she had after the fight in the alleyway.
Closing the door, Blair slumped down the stairs until she reached the dining room. She walked through the doorway, rubbing her eyes and fixing her ponytail.
"Good morning Miss Blair, or should I say good afternoon?" Alfred joked, handing the tired girl a Coke.
"Haha. Very funny Alfred." Blair yawned, taking the Coke and sitting down at the table. She felt eyes on her and glanced up, meeting the gaze of Jason Todd across from her.
"Is there anything stronger than Coke, Alfred?" She groaned.
"Not for you there isn't." Alfred responded, placing a plate of spaghetti in front of her. Blair whined slightly, picking up her fork. Jason smirked into his pasta, Blair glaring at him.
At that moment, Bruce walked in, taking his place at the head of the table. Blair looked up from her food, giving Alfred a confused look before looking over at Bruce.
"Since when do you eat lunch here?"
"I can't eat lunch at my own home?" Bruce shot back, taking a bite out of his spaghetti.
"Not when you're running a company and haven't done it in years." Blair rolled her eyes. Jason looked between her and Bruce, sensing Blair's annoyance. He didn't get why she was so upset, shouldn't she be happy that Bruce came home from lunch if he hadn't done it in a while?
"Well, I am today," Bruce paused, looking up at his goddaughter. Blair nodded, taking a bite out of her spaghetti. "I want you to start training Jason today while I'm at work."
Blair started choking, Bruce patting her on the back. She glanced up at him in shock and a little bit of anger, "So that's why you're home for lunch? To tell me to start training Replacement over here? Why am I surprised?"
"Do you still want that something stronger, Miss Blair?" Alfred exclaimed, holding a bottle of whiskey in his hands.
"I'll take some," Jason answered. Alfred shook his head at the boy.
"Blair, you have to start sometime." Bruce continued in a low voice. Blair shook the shock off, nodding to herself.
"Yeah, you didn't have to come all this way just to give me orders though, did you?" She snapped. Bruce opened his mouth to argue, being cut off by Blair's ringtone.
"I've got to take this. Excuse me," Blair muttered, standing up from the table and walking out to the living room.
********
"He took in another one, Kate." Blair whined, stretching her body out over the couch.
"You make it sound so terrible and like he does it all the time." Kate laughed on the other end of the line. Blair had met Bruce's cousin, Kate Kane at one of the galas the company had thrown years ago. The two became quick friends after Blair had made a comment about the strict and annoying dress code the gala had. Kate had shown up in slacks and a nice shirt, wearing her boots underneath. It was like a friendship match made in heaven.
"He took me in, didn't he?" Blair pointed out. Thinking back on the statement, she scrunched her nose up in discontent at how stupid it sounded.
"Again, you make it sound so horrible. If I remember correctly, you just announced you were moving in and started putting your stuff in a free room." Kate said between laughs. Blair rolled her eyes. Of course Kate would find her situation amusing.
"That wasn't what I meant! You know what I meant!" Blair insisted through Kate's laughs. "Bruce wants me to train him as the new Robin."
For a moment, Kate is silent. A year ago, she had found out about their secret operation when Jervis Tetch, also known as the Mad Hatter, had taken her to play a game with her father, Colonel Jacob Kane. Three months later, she had taken up the mantle of Batwoman, occasionally helping out on cases.
"I see your solution right here." Blair is silent, waiting for Kate to explain herself. "Training him to be Robin is like training him in self defense. You have to be the offense so he can be the defense."
"Wow. I didn't know that's how self defense teaching worked, Kate."
"Blair, I mean you get to punch the dude in the face." Kate sighed. Blair snorted.
"That's not the issue here."
"I know. It's only been two weeks since Dick left," Kate sympathized. "But you got a goodbye. Bruce didn't. He's just doing what he can to deal with it."
Blair stayed silent, thinking about Kate's words. She was right, Blair knew she was right. The knowledge didn't stop her from hurting though.
"Life goes on, with or without Dick. You have to learn to go with it, or you'll be miserable."
"Fine. I'll try. But does that mean I have to like it?"
"Blair." Kate warned, her voice stern.
"Alright. Alright. I will try." Blair relented.
"See, was that hard?"
********
Dragging her feet, Blair walked back into the dining room, kicking her feet up on the chair next to her. Bruce and Jason had been in the middle of a conversation about when Bruce would start to train him, stopping when she walked in.
"Kate says hi." Blair tells Bruce, taking a sip from her Coke. Jason perks his head up.
"Who's Kate?"
"Bruce's cousin. Also, none of your business, Todd, was it?" Blair jerked her head in his direction. Jason gritted his teeth together.
"Jason Todd, but yes." Blair nodded like she didn't have a care in the world, staring directly into his blue eyes. Bruce looked between the two, sensing that one or the other was ready to snap.
"Blair."
"Why does everyone keep saying my name like that? Why does everyone keep talking to me like I'm a child?" Blair ranted. Jason smirked from his side of the table.
"Well I can think of a few reasons why. Want to hear them?" Blair narrowed her eyes at the boy. If looks could kill, Jason would be six feet under, pushing daisies.
"Maybe. If I was asking you. But I wasn't, was I?" She snapped, pushing her chair out and making her way to the Batcave. She needed away from everyone for a while.
Sitting in the chair by the computer, Blair took out her phone. She scrolled through hundreds of pictures of her and Dick and friends from her past. There were so many, so many of her smiling and laughing. She was the youngest, the one everyone considered their little sister, even Hank and Dawn. She stopped scrolling when she landed on a picture of her and Dick on Christmas with Donna, Bruce, Alfred, and Gordon.
Feeling the prick of tears forming in her eyes, Blair locked her phone, putting her head in her hands.
********
Jason looked at Blair's empty chair, wondering what life had been like before he had shown up. More specifically, he was wondering what Blair was like before he had shown up. He had seen her name in the papers a couple times, usually for some Wayne charity event or some volunteer effort.
"Is she always like that?" He asked aloud, hoping either Bruce or Alfred would give him some clue as to what she had been like before.
"She's been having a rough few weeks." Alfred answered from behind him, cutting Bruce off before he even answered.
"I have to head back to work," Bruce said suddenly. "You need to start training. Get ready and meet Blair in the Cave."
Jason sat still in his seat, even after Bruce had left.
"What's wrong, Master Jason?" Alfred asked. Jason shook his head, still thinking of Blair's actions just a few minutes before.
"What happened before I got here? What happened to the other Robin?"
"That's up to Master Wayne and Miss Blair to tell you. It's hard enough on them as it is."
"Is that why Blair is the way that she is?" Jason tried. Alfred smiled.
"There may be hope for you yet."