Be Better

Chapter Five: Not Friends

It's been a while, huh? Let's get this party started then!

Onwards!

Dan is currently squaring off against Stephanie Brown in his human form. He was sparring alone, using the obstacle course to try and work up a sweat. After all, he's been working out for five hours. Still, nothing was exhilarating as fighting a live target. Or an unalive one.

She slides around an attempt grapple, aiming a jab for his hip which he grabs and spins her until she's in his arms. He snickers, grinning as he tilts his head up to avoid a headbutt to the chin. She calmly tests how tight of a grip he has on her before stopping in movement, panting hard.

"Gotta say, you lasted longer than most." He laments. "Then again, I'm not taking this seriously."

"Why? Because I'm a girl?" She grunts.

"Hey, I may be an asshole, but I've had many women as adversaries. They put up the best fights." He let's his mind wander to when he was a teen. "Three teamed up and almost erased every male from existence."

"Huh," Steph murmurs before curling in and then pushing herself backwards, bashing him in the nose in his distraction. He releases and she vaults over him, using his strong chest as a trampoline to flip in the air and land behind him. Dan caught himself when he stumbled back, whirling around to grin wickedly at her.

"Nice!" He purrs, complimenting her even if it hurt her more than it did him. She's rubbing at her head and grinning back at him. For a moment, he sees his clone in her and pride swells in his chest. Even when he snaps out of it, he's still smiling at her. Sure, he hated that the slight humanity in him made him a tad tamer but he couldn't help it. He'd been in this house for five weeks and out of all of them, Steph and Alfred were the most kind to him and the only ones he tolerated.

"Really? You don't think I should've gotten out of that hold faster or differently?" She beams, tilting her head.

"You're fighting me, you'd never be able to get out faster." Dan smirks with a glint in his blue eyes. Steph grins back.

"Oh really?"

"You're human. Even those," he pauses, both in his sentence and his stance, "what do you call them? The ones with powers?"

"Metahumans." She supplies. He rolls his eyes and nods.

"Stupid name. Well, what do you expect of humans."

"Hey! Weren't you once alive and human?" Steph grunts, dodging a punch from the ghost.

"I haven't been human for years." He replies darkly, his arms storming with emotions as he phases through a roundhouse kick. She stops suddenly, remembering a key fact about Bruce's new guest. He's dead. She frowns slightly and sighs, changing the subject.

"Man, how long were we sparring?"

"About-"

"An hour and fifteen minutes." Bruce cuts Dan off. The pair turn to find Bruce, Alfred, and Damian watching them from the doorway. The brat with his usual frown on his face. Bruce and Alfred however were watching Dan with amusement at his soft behavior.

Dan grimaces, scowling at them. "What?" He huffs.

"Getting soft there, aren't you?"

"Oh, please," Dan scoffs, "so I spar with the kid and go easy on her, so what?" He stalks over to the new company nonchalantly.

"Thanks, Danny!" Steph chirps to which Dan freezes and everyone in the doorway tenses up as his red eyes blaze instead of the blue. He whirls around with sharpening canines as he snarls at her.