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She crashes into the water, the armour that stopped her from burning now dragging her down, and all Cass can think about is how disappointed Batman will be when he finds out she died.
He trusted her to look after Bludhaven, to look after Tim. Her own city to be responsible for, the welfare of her younger brother in all but blood and paperwork, handed carefully over to her. It's the greatest challenge she’s been given in terms of proving herself worthy to be his future successor. And now she’s going to drown here without even lasting a month. The thought makes her kick even harder, fighting to get to the surface even as darkness begins to seep in at the edges of her vision.
She’s familiar with dying, and it doesn’t scare her. But failing Batman? Disappointing the man who took this girl and her bloody, murderous hands, and loved her anyways? That gets her fighting like nothing else.
Fucking Brotherhood of Evil. This is her city now, and she isn’t going to let them win. They can't stop her. Nothing can.
Except maybe lack of oxygen. It was a deep fall, and the surface is still so far away. As much as she refuses to give up and sink, part of her is resigned, morbidly wondering if anyone will find her body.
Tim will probably be the first to find out. He's already struggling with the loss of a classmate he liked, killed during the latest Gotham gang war. She doesn't want to add to that pain, although she's also grimly aware that he might be a little happy to have her gone.
She sees the resentment sometimes, in the way his eyes narrow when she speaks and his shoulders hunch when Batman praises her. At first she just assumed it was the seniority thing. He works side by side with Batman for years and then she shows up and a few months later he's taking orders from her too. Not that she gives much orders, it's not her style and she doesn't think Bruce's micromanaging will ever suit her. But the authority must still chafe, especially if he doesn't think she's earned it.
Although… It's been over a year now. Long enough for Cass to start wondering if it's something else. Tim has a dad. Or he had a dad until very recently, so Bruce never adopted him. Nor would Tim want him too with the loss of Jack Drake so fresh. But Batman did adopt Cass, and no matter how different the circumstances are, Cass thinks that maybe Tim was hurt by that too.
Her lungs are burning hard now. It’s not a big deal, lack of oxygen doesn’t hurt nearly as badly as being shot. It’s a different kind of pain, but a familiar one all the same. Her childhood swimming lessons had involved a fair amount of her father holding her under the water as she fought to get free. The only difference now is that there’s no one to fight, no swimming pool or shallow water. It’s the ocean itself that is keeping her under. It’s probably not a good thing that she misses David Cain right now, but honestly she misses everyone. Bruce, Alfred, Damian, Tim…
It's a shame she'll never get to figure Robin out properly or build a good relationship with him. On account of the drowning and slow death she's currently experiencing. She should have tried harder, not let him go off on his own. Then maybe she’d have someone to help her reach the surface.
But Tim had glared at her when they first met up in Bludhaven, and she remembers the bite in his tone when she suggested patrolling together.
“You’re not Bruce. You never will be, you know that right?” He was in so much pain, and she was a convenient target. She understood that feeling well. “Just because you do everything he says like a good little soldier doesn’t mean I’ll do the same with you.”
He was sweating, breathing too quickly. Afraid of her reaction, and that saddened her more than his words. The words were mostly projection and grief, easily ignored. But the fear was practically screaming at her. They both knew how Bruce would have reacted to Tim’s disrespect, how he would want Cass to react as well. The chain of command had to be maintained, he was always firm and unyielding about that. If he found out she was letting Tim get away with disrespecting her, there was no doubt in Cass’s mind that he would punish both of them for it.
But Bruce was miles away in another city. There was no authority here that could pressure Cass into doing something she wasn’t comfortable with. What happened next was fully up to her and her conscience to decide.
Tim was right about Cass not being Bruce. But he was wrong about her doing everything her father said. She didn’t have to be exactly like Bruce in order to be a good Batman. And she didn’t want to be.
“So we do separate patrols?” She said lightly.
He froze, still anticipating a blow she would never deliver. Idly she wondered if he was grateful, or if he saw her mercy as another reason to look down on her. She didn’t care either way. She liked Tim, but she didn’t base her principles around his approval. Or anyone’s approval. Not even Bruce’s.
Slowly, as he began to understand that this was not a trap, his body relaxed. It was nice to see, his fear made her tense too. He gave a jerky little nod, and Cass took that as her cue to leave.
Now she wishes she’d pushed just a little harder. She hadn’t thought she needed anyone, but well. Even Batman has help. She shouldn’t have let Tim fly solo, should have kept him close and in line just like Batman did with all of them.
Damian. She’ll never get to see her baby brother again, never get to hug him or hear about how his Robin training went. She’ll never get to visit Dick in New York or see Jason heal. She’s going to die alone.
At least she’s dying for a good cause.
Her vision is almost entirely black now, her lungs are screaming, and the water is endless. It surrounds her, cold and inescapable. Every kick does nothing but waste energy. She keeps trying anyway, fighting until the end.
There’s a disruption in the water above her. She sees a streak of red coming towards her, and her heart leaps.
Tim came for her. Robin is here to rescue his Batgirl. They’re a team, a family. He may be jealous and threatened and a grieving angry mess, but he still cares.
Only as the green and red blurry image gets closer, something is off. Cass frowns, dizzy and confused. Why is Tim’s hair long and blonde?
Oh.
It’s not Tim. Cass thinks, and then she can’t fight the darkness any longer.
When Barbara asked Steph to go to Bludhaven for the weekend, this isn’t how Steph expected it to go. Some new scenery sure, an encounter with the Penguin highly likely. Maybe she’d even find a fun little souvenir to bring back for Helena, like a fridge magnet that would make Babs sigh deeply and Dinah cackle loudly. Or she’d take a photo next to some important Bludhaven bureaucratic building, and send it to Lonnie just to piss him off. Regular Stephanie Brown shenanigans, that’s what she was anticipating for this weekend.
Now she’s sitting on the edge of Bludhaven docks with an unconscious Batgirl next to her, and any plans she’s made to scope out the Penguin’s business operations in this city have been abruptly shoved to priority number two. Batgirl- Cassandra, that’s what Barbara calls her- knows she’s here. And that means Steph has to contain the situation before Batman gets wind of it and comes over personally to throw her in jail.
(He’s still highly pissed about the gang war situation, as if that wasn’t his own fucking fault for playing God and twisting everything into an incredibly volatile situation that could only have gone right if he had complete control. It wasn’t Steph’s fault that she didn’t know the criminals she busted were a part of Bruce’s 5D chess game. It definitely wasn’t her fault that busting their operation had caused his whole plan to fall apart. If he’d tried cooperating with other vigilantes instead of acting like he had the ultimate authority over who was allowed to fight crime in Gotham, maybe his precious plan wouldn’t have exploded in his face when Steph did a routine takedown of gang members.)
Right now, she’ll have to somehow make a good impression, and for that reason Steph is very grateful she chose the Robin outfit today over her own Batgirl outfit. Cassandra might still get mad, but honestly the girl doesn’t seem to get pissed off like Bruce and Tim do when Stephanie takes the Robin uniform out for a spin. The first time Cassandra saw Steph wearing the Batgirl outfit she almost seemed hurt, but after that she mostly just looked amused. Like Steph’s attempts to infuriate the Bats were just harmless and funny.
A Bat with a sense of humour, no wonder she almost died today.
Steph’s so lost in thought she doesn’t notice that the girl next to her is conscious again. Not until her eyes wander over and she sees Cass staring blankly up at her.
Steph yelps, but she doesn’t scramble away.
Cassandra sits up slowly, adjusting to her surroundings. Steph watches, unable to move. She feels like she’s in the presence of a bear, praying they don’t notice the pot of honey and a ham sandwich she’s hiding behind her.
“You saved me.” Cassandra’s voice is hoarse, probably from the drowning. “Why?”
The question catches Steph off guard. She does her best not to let it show, but according to the files Oracle has on Batgirl, Cassandra probably sees through it anyway.
“Because you were dying?” Steph raises an eyebrow, bemused. “Not a fan of watching innocent people drown without at least trying to save them, believe it or not.”
“But we’re…” Cassandra frowns, confused. “Enemies?”
Steph can’t help it. She laughs at that, a short, disbelieving scoff.
“Enemies?” She grins incredulously. “Just because your boss is an asshole and mine is… kind of cranky sometimes but y’know, human and understanding beneath it all, doesn’t make us enemies . Last I checked we’re both working towards the same thing.”
“Which is?” Cassandra says curiously.
“A safer Gotham.” Steph doesn’t miss a beat. “A place where kids can grow up without being scared that their parents are either going to turn into villains, get killed by them, end up working for them, or some sick combination of the first three. I don’t know you, but Babs seems to believe you’re a good person despite the shitty boss you work for. You know her name and what she does and you don’t seem as pissed about it as Bruce is. Right now that’s good enough for me. So no, we’re not enemies. We’re rivals at best.”
Cassandra frowns again, and Steph suddenly remembers Barbara telling her that Batgirl has difficulty with language. Shit, has she just wasted a pretty decent mini speech confusing the girl she’s trying to make peace with?
“Rivals…” Cass says slowly. “Is that why you wear the… Batgirl suit?”
Ah darn. Steph knew that would come up at some point. She tries to mask any nervousness under a bright grin, no matter how futile trying to hide emotions from Ms Body Reader Extraordinaire might be.
“Kinda.” Steph chirps, with a breeziness she does not feel. “It basically started when Tim and I clashed on patrol once- yeah I know who Robin is, don’t worry about it. He got super mad and said I would never be good enough to be one of you guys, and I said that the costumes don’t mean shit and I don’t need Batman’s approval and neither should he, and things got nasty until we just went our separate ways. Next day I figured in order to prove my point I’d go out in a Robin costume, and it sort of uh… Escalated from there.”
Cass seems more confused than before. Steph is really not doing well at keeping these stories short and sweet.
“Basically it started as another way to show Batman he doesn’t own crime fighting in Gotham. Then you guys kept getting hilariously pissed off at my little homemade Robin and Batgirl outfits so it felt like a moral obligation to keep doing it. Like no offence, but your family is full of control freaks and it’s fun to take their egos down a peg.”
Steph is aware that she should probably be a bit more tactful when the girl next to her can probably nerve strike her before she even blinks. But right now Cassandra Wayne looks like a harmless and sad wet kitten, and on top of that Steph’s never been good at holding her tongue. She makes it work towards her advantage in fights, but when it comes to negotiations, Babs sometimes has to interfere still. Steph wishes she had Oracle in her ear right now, but her earpiece got damaged when she dove into Bludhaven’s disgusting bay.
Maybe she should focus on that. They’re both still soaking wet, that’s a problem they need to fix. Less words and more action, isn’t that what the current Batgirl is all about?
“So we should probably go somewhere warm, get out of our wet clothes and dry off.” Steph stands up and stretches. “I’ve got some civvies stashed nearby. You want to share?”
Cassandra still looks very confused. But she nods slowly.
“Great.” Steph grins, and this time it’s very much real. “Then after we get changed, what are your thoughts on hot chocolate?”
The case is straightforward. It’s the Penguin, he’s a familiar target. Tim’s done this a thousand times before, and right now he’s not even doing anything dangerous. Just scouting the area and looking for clues.
So why are his hands so shaky as he climbs and swings? Why do his knees feel weak?
He knows his father died. He knows he’s not coping. But his mother’s death left him familiar with grief, and this isn’t it. No, this is another, even more familiar sensation.
Fear.
He should be over this by now. He’s been Robin for years now. He’s earned his place by Batman’s side. He’s proven too useful, too good a soldier for Bruce to discard him.
But Damian will be ten soon. And Batman sent Tim away to work under Batgirl. Tim is an orphan now, no family left except the bats. Before Jack’s death, he never thought of Robin as a permanent role. Even if he didn’t exactly like the thought of passing it on to Damian one day, it was an inevitability he accepted.
But now… without Robin, what is he? An orphan with no big dreams or goals in life, just the desire to fight the good fight. Maybe he could do what Dick did, pass on the mantle gracefully and move full time to work with his team.
But the thought of leaving Gotham permanently, of leaving Bruce and letting some other kid take his place… he doesn’t know how Dick managed it. Tim hasn’t even gone through it yet and the thought alone fills him with a hollow ache. It would help if he could be by Bruce’s side right now, and not stuck out here with Cassandra Cain, the creepiest of the Bats.
Things are always so much clearer when he’s side by side with Batman. Tim can hold his own, Batman made sure of that when training him, but he still… he misses the focus, the clarity of it all.
Cass gives him none of that. She’s been part of the team for over a year now, and he still can’t understand her. Jason is easy, everything he says is out of anger and desperation. All Tim has to do is ignore him and pity him, and nothing changes. Damian is easy too. He knows that Bruce favours Tim over the boy, that Tim is the Robin he chose. He knows Tim has the power, and the fear that creates is easy for Tim to control.
But Cass… Bruce chose Cass too. And he adopted her. And he made it clear that if anything were to happen to him, she was to take over. And she’s older, which means she’s higher up the chain of command. It’s a lot of power, and that makes Tim wary.
Only Cass doesn’t seem interested in the authority at all. Things Tim would call Damian out on, she ignores. It makes Tim feel like a bit of an asshole, because he does sometimes enjoy watching Damian’s face drop when the baby Wayne realises he messed up. And Tim shouldn’t have to feel bad about it. Kid tried to kill him the first time they met, desperate to get back to the mother who stole him away in the first place. Tim’s allowed to be a little petty over that, even if the schadenfreude fades away as soon as the cries from Bruce’s study get too loud to ignore.
But whatever, the point is: Cass never calls them out on stuff. Not properly anyways. If they seriously fuck up, she corrects them and then moves on. And not a Batman style correction either, Tim can’t remember a single time she’s even slapped him. He’s seen Bruce whip her for not holding Tim accountable in the field, and she just takes it and keeps doing her thing. It’s freaky.
And it’s unpredictable. Tim doesn’t like unpredictable.
He knows he messed up by yelling at her. He was in a bad mood, and he lost control. It was childish and emotional and everything he wants to prove to Bruce he isn’t. She may be the better fighter, but he can still prove that he’s worthy of Batman’s respect. He can still prove he’s the better soldier.
Only he’s already screwing that up. Because even though Batgirl ignores every rule she doesn’t like, Batman still looks at her like she’s perfect to him. And Tim’s always had to think on his feet, always had to learn where the wiggle room is in the boundaries Bruce sets. He knows how to follow the rules, and how to apologise when he disobeys so that Bruce doesn’t think he’s more trouble than he’s worth. But the way Cass can act like the rules are mere suggestions and not get fired, the way Bruce almost seems to respect how she balances her actions and the consequences and chooses whatever feels right… Tim doesn’t like to think too hard about it, or else he feels a pressure build up behind his eyes.
It’s not fair! The whiny child part of him cries, but he ignores it and focuses on the logic. Just like Batman taught him.
He basically called her a robot and mocked her for following Batman’s orders. The exact kind of thing Tim would punish Damian for if the roles were reversed. So Tim was hypocritical and rude, and yet… Nothing. She just let him go, and now he’s doing solo patrols. Just like he wanted.
He needs to figure out her angle, or else this queasy feeling in his stomach is never going to go away.
Maybe that’s the point. Maybe she let him go knowing she can use his tantrum as leverage or blackmail. Or maybe she knows he looks down on her and she’s baiting him to prove himself, to tell Bruce he messed up and was disrespectful. It could be either one, and he doesn’t have a good enough read on her to tell either way. Which means the best thing he can do is actually get to know her better.
He doesn’t think she’s capable of this level of manipulation, but if her goal all along was team bonding, she’s done a good job backing Tim into a corner. Especially since he’ll basically have to grovel and apologise since he was the one who wanted solo patrols in the first place. Either work paranoid and alone, or study her until he gets a clearer idea on what he’s dealing with.
Leaving it up to fate and hoping Bruce won’t find out about his mistakes has never ended well for Tim in the past. Stalking Batgirl it is.
Her tracker says she’s near the docks. Tim doesn’t know why, and that’s another point which proves Bruce was right. Working together benefits the mission, and that matters more than any childish emotions Tim’s feeling. He needs to make things right with Cass, needs to get back on track and start doing better. Maybe he even needs to confess to Bruce, take the punishment and move on instead of having it hang over him.
He remembers the bruises he had from last time he screwed up, and he winces. Maybe he should stick with hiding it. He’s learned his lesson, he doesn’t need a physical reminder. Bruce is stuck in his ways, he wouldn’t understand. Tim respects his methods but he’s not an idiot. There’s a line between worship and respect and Tim likes to think he’s got that line pretty well figured out. More than Bruce’s actual kids anyway.
He’ll take this one step at a time, starting with finding Cassandra. No matter what happens, the worst has already come to pass. There’s nothing she could do to him that compares to the pain of what he’s already lost.
He just hopes that, wherever they may be in the afterlife, his parents are still proud of him.
The cafe is nice. Bigger than Brenda’s shop, but Cass still prefers the familiarity of her local cafe. This place is too new. Stephanie could have a million traps hidden in the walls ready to help her take Cass down.
Cass doesn’t think she has a million traps. But still, the buzzing under her skin won’t stop.
Stephanie orders them two hot chocolates, and then they climb up to the cafe roof with their styrofoam cups. There’s enough chatter from the tables below them to make it difficult for random strangers to hear them unless they were deliberately trying. But the noise levels are low enough that it’s still easy to hear each other.
At first, they just sit and drink in comfortable silence. But once she’s clearly not shivering anymore, Steph turns to Cass and holds out her hand.
“So.” Stephanie grins, with only a mild bit of fear in her eyes. “Stephanie Brown, seventeen, currently attending Gotham High, currently living in Gotham Heights, which is a shitty part of town but the kind of shitty where real estate agents get to tell you ‘Hey at least it’s not Crime Alley or the Narrows .’ I like gymnastics, playing the piano, and stopping bad people from doing bad things. Nice to meet you outside of work.”
It’s a lot for Cass to take in, and she gives herself a moment to absorb all the words. Clearly, Stephanie is well aware that the Bats know pretty much everything about her. But she’s offering personal information herself, as a gesture of peace. Cass should do the same.
She takes Stephanie’s hand, and shakes it.
“Cassandra Wayne.” Cass begins hesitantly. “Eighteen. Uh…Not currently in school. Living in Bludhaven. And um…”
She tries to think of some random facts to give Stephanie. Things relating to her civilian identity, facts that don’t have to do with her life as Batgirl. It’s harder than she anticipated.
“I like chocolate ice cream.” She finishes.
Steph beams, not looking disappointed in the slightest. It confuses Cass, but this has honestly been a pretty confusing day in general. She’s already decided to just roll with whatever happens and process it later.
“Chocolate is pretty good. My mom always craves it.” Steph’s smile is fond, if a little pained. “But wait, you’re living in Bludhaven now? When did that happen?”
“Recently.” Cass can’t help but grin at the memory. “My uh… boss? He wants to expand, wants us to protect other cities too. He… He trusts me with Bludhaven.”
Should she be saying this to Stephanie? Well it’s not like Oracle won’t find out soon enough through her own means. This way Cass gets to show that she’s more than what Oracle’s file says on her. She works with Batman, but she can think for herself.
“Huh.” Stephanie looks surprised, but not the happy kind. She seems worried, and Cass can’t fathom why. “So is it just you out here?”
“Me and Rob-” Steph already knows Robin’s identity. “-Tim. Me and Tim.”
The concern increases. Cass frowns, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Stephanie hesitates for a second, but then something seems to shift behind her eyes and her words press forward confidently.
“So that leaves your dad alone in Gotham with Damian, right?”
Does she know about Jason? Cass isn’t sure. She is certain that Stephanie has never met any of her legal brothers aside from maybe Dick. Steph can only know Damian’s name thanks to Barbara, which makes the concern even more baffling.
“Yes?” Cass tilts her head to the side. “It will be good for them. Damian will get his full attention.”
“Are you sure that’s a good thing?” Steph’s lips are a thin line. “I’ve seen the effects of his attention on Tim.”
If Cass didn’t have such good control over her body, her fists would be clenched.
“You’re wrong.” She keeps her voice level. “When I first joined, I tried to fight Bruce. To protect Tim. Tim told me that I had it wrong, that he wanted the… relationship with Bruce they have. I know… your history with Cluemaster. But this isn't the same. So stop projecting.”
“Right.” Steph snorts. “Because I’m sure the daughter of David Cain isn’t projecting at all here.”
Cass glares harder. Just how much has Barbara told Stephanie? How much does Oracle even know? Does she know about the kill? About the blood on Cass’s hands? Probably. Batman knows, and what Batman knows Barbara Gordon finds a way to know as well. Whether she shared that information with Steph is another question entirely.
“Tim can leave at any point, and I’m an adult.” Cass tries not to let the edge in her voice grow too sharp. “We’re here because we chose to be. We do this work because… it means something. We’re not… victims for you to save.”
“Fair enough.” Stephanie isn’t convinced. “But Damian? Did he choose any of this?”
“Bruce is a good father.”
“Bullshit.” Steph says, and the lack of anger in her voice only makes Cass’s own ire grow.
“You don’t like him. I understand.” She really does, Batman is not an easy man to get along with. “But he loves Damian. That’s his son . That’s my brother. I trust Bruce with him.”
“Just like you trust Bruce with Jason?”
Shit.
Oracle really held nothing back from Steph, did she? Cass feels like there are pins and needles dancing up along her arms. Memories flash through her mind: an angry snarl, hateful narrowed eyes, metal bars rattling. Pained, desperate wails that never seem to end. Like a wounded animal doomed to live forever with no way of healing.
“He loves Jason too.” He does, she knows this, she tries to make her voice loud and firm to show just how strongly she believes this. “Jason isn’t OK, but we’re trying to help him.”
She knows she’s said something wrong, because Stephanie’s eyes glint coldly, warm blue now covered with an icy sheen. Cass finds herself missing the other girl’s smile an embarrassing amount considering she barely cared about Stephanie Brown’s existence before today.
“I was part of one of Barbara’s rescue attempts, way before you came along.” Steph takes another sip of her hot chocolate. “It didn’t work obviously, but I got to see a bit of the cave before we had to retreat. You’re telling me that Bruce isn’t still keeping him locked up in that cell? He loves his son so much he has to keep him locked away like fucking Rapunzel ?”
“If Jason gets free, he won’t just try to kill Bruce.” Cass can feel the tension building, and she doesn’t care anymore. “He’ll go for Tim, Alfred, even Damian. He needs… help and we’re trying to give it to him. I talk to him every day. I… He can change. He will change. We love him and we will help him.”
Stephanie doesn’t look angry anymore. Instead, she almost seems fascinated. Cass has a feeling that this is not a good sign.
“Your dads really fucked you up, huh?” Steph says at last, resting her chin on one hand. “I think Babs was right about you being a good person. I think you genuinely believe you’re helping, that this is the right thing to do. You’ve just got one hell of a warped perspective.”
“I don’t care what you think.” Cass replies flatly. “Nobody dies. Jason is family, but he doesn’t get to kill. Damian too, he needs Bruce. Bruce was… not nice to you. But he’s good. He does good. And he will help them. Like he helps me.”
The way Steph frowns with those wide, softened eyes, it almost looks like she’s pitying Cass. But that can’t be right, Cass needs to figure out what that emotion really is. She doesn’t like having gaps in her body reading skill.
“So you’re telling me that I’m totally off the mark?” Steph presses. “That if I said Bruce Wayne was an abusive control freak, you’d be able to tell me that I was a liar? I’m putting the pieces together all wrong, is that it?”
“Yes.” Cass snaps.
“So he doesn’t hit his kids?”
The anger catches in Cass’s throat. If she couldn't control her reactions, her body would have flinched. It takes her by surprise, but she shouldn’t let her hesitation show, Stephanie will only get the wrong impression from it. It’s understandable, Cass remembers her own fury and hurt when she first saw her father punish Damian, before Bruce explained everything to her.
David Cain is a bad father. Arthur Brown is a bad father. When they hurt their children, it’s abuse. Bruce has always been firm about that.
But what Bruce does isn’t abuse. It’s discipline, something normal to every family. It’s a regular part of society, she just got confused because of her own abnormal upbringing. He showed Cass the cartoons and the comics and the random strangers on social media joking about their parents hitting them as children. There is a difference, Bruce explained to her, between hitting a child and spanking them. He would never hurt Damian or Tim. He would never shoot them or trick them into killing a man. Sometimes they break the rules and as their father/mentor it’s his duty to discipline them, but it doesn’t make him abusive.
If Cass claims she doesn’t still have a sliver of doubt in her mind, she’d be lying. But she’s seen the evidence, and she’s had Tim snap at her for trying to interfere. She’s even been whipped by Bruce, and gotten first hand experience in how mild the discipline actually is. Most of the time he doesn’t ever scar her, it just tickles really. He even encourages her to hit back, when he can see she needs to get it out of her system. She knows that part freaks Tim out, coming back to the cave and seeing her and Bruce both dripping blood and smiling, but it works for them. It’s good.
Steph seems… very convinced Bruce is bad. But Steph is biased. Cass has seen the video footage of a few of Steph’s confrontations with Arthur Brown. It makes sense that she would be like Cass was, and think every dad who spanks kids is abusive. Bruce is a grumpy dad, but he hugs Cass and he helps her with reading and he listens to Damian play the piano and he studies Tim’s photography and he goes down every day to try and talk to Jason. He is good. He cares.
“He doesn’t hit his kids.” Cass says. It’s not a lie, even if her body won’t fully accept it as the truth. Spanking isn’t hitting, Bruce explained it to her and she’s not stupid . She can tell the difference now, even if Stephanie can’t.
“Right.” Stephanie drawls sceptically, but she thankfully drops the issue for now. “And am I also expected to believe that all the control freak energy he carries with him on the job just magically stays out of his private life?”
That’s a criticism Cass is far more comfortable with. Some of their punching, brawling, scrappy fights have been because she chafed too hard at the lines Bruce draws. He is controlling, she won’t deny that. But he understands her frustration. And he’s willing to listen. Not with words, but with fighting. It’s the best gift he can give Cass during those tense times.
“He’s… protective.” She says quietly. “Too protective sometimes. But he respects us. He respects our choices.”
“Uh huh.” Cass is getting very tired of Steph’s cynical smirk. “So out of curiosity, have you ever dated anyone? Has Tim ever dated anyone? Because I seem to recall a fight between Bruce and Tim about a girl called Arianna or something, all because Bruce didn’t approve of her.”
Cass frowns, shifting so she can stare at Stephanie better.
“How would you know what they fight about?”
“Sometimes they argue on rooftops.” Steph shrugs. “Barbara sees and hears everything. I just like to use her tech and eavesdrop for fun occasionally.”
Sloppy, letting themselves get caught by Barbara’s mics. Cass is pretty sure Bruce would have a conniption if he knew Stephanie Brown was listening to his arguments with Tim like some sort of reality radio show.
“He’s protective.” Cass says again, and she hates that it sounds weaker. “Sometimes he doesn’t like people. He’s allowed to have that opinion. We choose anyway.”
”I’m sure you do.” Steph shakes her head, grinning. “I’m sure you can pick any guy off the street and Daddy would be totally happy just letting you date him even if he disapproves .”
Punching Stephanie in the face would be rude considering she saved Cass’s life. But the more condescension Steph gives her the more Cass grows tempted.
“I’m not scared of him.” Cass growls. “He’s not controlling like that . I can date and kiss and do things I want. You’re still… projecting .”
“Whatever you say.” Steph sing songs. “Guess I have it aaaaall wrong. You showed me the error of my ways very convincingly.”
Cass is well and truly fed up at this point. She can’t punch Steph, but she refuses to let her win. As Steph’s lips twist into another smug smile, Cass gets a sudden stroke of inspiration. Steph thinks Bruce is too controlling? That Cass is a scared little girl that won't even flirt in case Bruce gets mad? Well there's one easy way to prove her wrong.
She leans forward and presses her lips against Stephanie’s.
Steph makes a startled squeaking sound, but she doesn’t pull away. In fact, she seems curious. Cass feels her kissing back for a second, chaste and quick, before Cass leans back and she feels Stephanie jerk away.
It’s finally Cass’s turn to give Steph a smug grin. The girl’s face has turned completely red, her pupils are dilated, and she’s staring at Cass with her mouth slightly open.
Oh yeah, Cass definitely caught her by surprise. Not so cocky now that Cass has finally proven her point in a way that’s impossible to deny.
“Told you he doesn’t control me.” Cass resists the urge to stick out her tongue. Barely. “I can kiss whoever I want, got it?”
Stephanie gulps. She looks so nervous now, like she wasn’t expecting Cass to win the argument. What she doesn’t understand is that Cass doesn’t lose. Ever.
“Yeah.” Stephanie croaks out. “Point taken. I- I got it.”
Cass smiles wider, and takes another gulp of her cooling hot chocolate.
This is, without a doubt, one of the top 5 weirdest days of Stephanie Brown’s life. And she’s a vigilante born and raised in the mopey, gothic clown of a city known as Gotham.
Saving Batman’s daughter from drowning is one thing. Getting hot chocolate with her? Weird but not massively out there. Getting kissed by Batman’s daughter? Ok funny joke Steph, time to wake up now.
(Liking the kiss? Yeah she’s not even going to think about that part until her brain cools down.)
She wishes she’d chosen ice cream instead of a hot beverage. Less practical when you’re trying to warm up from a dip in the water of Bludhaven, but much more useful now. She’s sitting next to a body language reader and her stupid traitorous face won’t stop blushing .
She’s supposed to be a professional. She’s trying to investigate an abusive father for fuck’s sake. Her hormones need to get it together, it was barely a kiss! They didn’t even open their lips at all! Not that Steph wanted to or anything-
She takes a long, hard gulp of her hot chocolate, relishing the bits that are still warm enough to sting her tongue. The burn grounds her, allows her to get her shit together.
Cass could be right about Bruce not being abusive. He could just be a regular asshole. He could be a good dad. Steph might have gotten him all wrong on the parental front.
But the little things just don’t add up. Steph’s not a body language expert but she did notice Cass’s hesitation on a few of the questions. Not to mention the whole Jason thing, and how Cass basically confirmed that Bruce does hit Tim and Tim just fights anyone who tries to intervene. If Bruce is comfortable enough hitting the kid who did actually have parents and is legally not his, then Steph finds it very, very hard to believe he’s nicer to Cass and Damian.
And again. Jason. There’s no justification for keeping him locked up in the Batcave for years . If he killed people, send him to jail. If he hasn’t killed anyone but really wants to, get him actual psychiatric help. There’s no way Bruce’s methods are working, because Steph may not be part of his team but she knows from the interactions they’ve had that Batman’s mental health is in the fucking gutter. He’s not OK, and his kids aren’t OK.
Cass is just… disturbingly convincing at making him sound like a regular, overbearing dad. If Steph hadn’t seen Jason in that cell years ago, she’d probably be more likely to believe the older girl.
As it is, she still doesn’t know what to think of Batgirl. Even putting aside the kiss, everything she’s learnt today paints a hazy picture. Cassandra was raised by a shitty dad who treated her as a living weapon, and she seems to view Bruce as the father who truly loves her. That part doesn’t evoke any emotion in Steph other than sympathy and understanding. Similarly, the way she tried to intervene with Tim and got stopped, that also paints the picture of a kind person who truly wants to fight for justice. She only stopped because Tim told her to, and Steph might be wrong but she’s pretty sure growing up outside of society like Cass did, it would be pretty easy to convince her some heinous behaviour was actually normal.
There’s a line, that’s what Steph figures. A line Bruce can cross where he could no longer convince Cass that his actions were acceptable. Steph understands that whatever Bruce did to Tim was below that line. What she can’t understand is how Jason’s situation didn’t completely tear that line to shreds.
The way Cass speaks about Jason… It’s the part that raised Steph’s hackles the most. The part that thinks that maybe Barbara is wrong. Maybe Bruce picked this girl because she’s exactly like him.
She glances across, swirling the dregs of her hot chocolate around the bottom of her cup. Cass has her own empty cup fully tilted, and is swallowing every last drop that trickles down. Stephanie takes two embarrassing seconds to stare at the girl’s neck muscles, and then she gets back to her musings.
Batman would never come here with Steph today. Batman would never talk to her as an equal, never let Steph claim she was a Gotham vigilante without arguing that she’s really a criminal. Cass isn’t like her father, not in the red flag ways that Steph has learned to keep note of. She’s like… the positive parts that Barbara speaks of, when she acknowledges the good Batman has done for Gotham City. Or the way fourteen year old Tim puffed out his chest that one patrol before telling Steph that he’d solved a case by himself and made Batman proud. Granted he was using that moment to insult her own detective skills, but the bright, childish joy on his face was what stuck with her.
She doesn’t like the man. She’s pretty sure he’s evil. But when she looks at Cass, she sees how people can end up conflicted, or even supportive of him. She can see why he’s still a member of the Justice League. Some people are strange and off-putting, but their hearts are in the right place.
Steph thinks Cassandra Wayne is one of those people. She’s also firm in her belief that Bruce Wayne is not.
But she knows, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that this is not something she will convince Cass of today. She needs to talk more with Barbara, and Helena too, make sure she has all the information and context, and then try for another neutral talk session. Maybe come on less strong next time, let Cass vent out whatever’s bothering her that day. She’ll workshop it once she’s done kicking the Penguin’s ass right out of Bludhaven.
“Well.” Steph gets up and stretches her legs, suddenly conscious of how long they’ve been sitting in silence. “It was nice talking with you properly. If you want to try it again sometime I’d be happy to. Penguin’s running a fighting ring over on the east side of town, so I need to break it up before it gets out of hand. You’re welcome to join as long as you don’t screw it up or try to arrest me or something.”
Cass studies her, and Steph realises that she’s barely said anything since the kiss. She feels a second of panic that she maybe made things awkward between them, but then Steph remembers that she’s not the one that initiated that insane kiss, so she has nothing to be scared of. Cass will think and feel in mysterious ways, and Steph will try and fail to figure it out.
At the very least, it’s more entertaining than her usual back and forth with the Bats.
“I’d like that.” Cass replies, tossing her hot chocolate cup off the roof and somehow into the trashcan below (Steph does not find that cool. Nope, not one bit.) “See you… later?”
“Yeah.” Steph smiles. “See you later, Cass.”
The name doesn’t flow off her tongue easily. Steph cuts herself some slack. Cassandra’s tongue had been way too close to her own mere minutes ago for her to be normal right now.
Cass stands up, stretches, and then backflips off the roof and down to the alleyway next to the restaurant.
Steph shakes her head, and makes her way over to the fire escape.
Weirdest day ever.
Tim isn’t sure if he’s the luckiest guy alive, or if what he’s seeing is going to make his life so much worse.
Cassandra Cain. Sitting on a rooftop with Stephanie Brown. Sharing drinks, smiling, laughing. The more Tim watches, the queasier he feels. What the actual hell is she thinking? If Bruce could see this-
Tim pauses. If Bruce saw this, he’d be furious. But he wouldn’t be furious at Tim . In fact, Tim now has a decent example of why he was right not to patrol with Cass. This might actually end up working out in his favour.
They seem to be saying goodbye on the rooftop. Tim inches closer, and waits until Cass flips down into the nearby alleyway. She probably notices him before her feet even touch the ground, but she doesn’t say anything. Just starts walking, while Tim follows from above. They walk for around five minutes, Robin shadowing an apparent civilian through Bludhaven’s grimy streets. It’s only when they reach an empty dead end that Cass turns and looks directly at Tim.
He doesn’t shiver, but his skin crawls slightly. He expected her to notice him, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy.
“Robin.” she nods at him, as calm as ever.
“I saw you.” Tim says. “What were you doing talking to Stephanie Brown? You know Batman told us to stay away from her.”
Confronting her as a civilian is not the wisest move. But Tim is burning with the need to know, and Cass doesn’t seem to think there’s anyone spying on them. Plus, she doesn’t care much about the civilian identity aspect of the job. Anyone in the assassin world who’s good enough to recognise Cassandra Cain knows who Batgirl is. So far they mostly just think Batman has her undercover guarding Bruce Wayne.
“She saved me from drowning.” Cass has the audacity to shrug. “She told me she’s in town to stop the Penguin. And she gave me hot chocolate.”
“So what? Batman said-”
“Batman isn’t here.” Cass cuts across him. “I’m in charge. My city now. She saved me and she’s here to help. She’s… not our enemy.”
Tim stares at her. Is she insane? Bruce is clear that people who willingly get in the way of justice are enemies, no matter their intentions. People who are misguided can be educated, but while in the field you can’t treat them as allies. It’s absurd.
“I’ll tell Batman you said that.” He tries to sound challenging, but his voice is merely a whisper.
“I’ll tell him myself.” Cassandra shrugs again. “She knows where the Penguin is. We’re stopping him tonight. She can help and that… matters more. More than feelings.”
Tim studies her. It doesn’t seem like she’s lying.
“You really think he’ll side with you on this?” He’s more curious than scornful at this point.
“The mission comes first.” Cass smiles fondly, with an open warmth towards Bruce that Tim has never seen any of his other kids express. “He knows that.”
Tim doesn’t think it’s that simple. It never is with Bruce. He knows that the right thing to do is to report that Cass is not following protocol. But if he does, then he’ll have to report that he broke protocol as well. And while Cassandra’s disobedience is much worse (Seriously, Stephanie Brown of all people?) Tim knows he’ll end up in trouble too. And being in trouble with Bruce is pretty much the worst state of existence he could currently get himself into.
It’s not worth it. Tim’s smart enough to listen to Bruce and respect his rules, but he’s also not such a goody two shoes that he’s going to willingly offer himself up for punishment. Cass wants to take charge? Then she can take all the heat from this when it inevitably backfires.
Besides, he’s seen her and Bruce fighting. She can handle punches to the face a whole lot better than Tim can.
“He’s expecting a report tonight.” Speaking the thought aloud makes Tim’s stomach sink. “Are you really going to tell him everything?”
Are you going to tell him how I disrespected you?
Cass hums, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
“No.” she decides in the end. “I will tell him what’s important. Facts about the mission. Not… personal stuff. He doesn’t need that.”
Tim feels a significant amount of stress leaving his body. He deflates a little, like a balloon that’s been gently popped. He’s not normally quick to assume someone is telling the truth, but in this case…
Last month Cass didn’t tell Bruce about Tim sneaking out to talk to Superboy. Weeks ago she covered for Damian and told Bruce that she broke the antique vase that belonged to his parents. She even argued with Bruce over withholding food from Jason that one time, and snuck some down for him despite Bruce telling her not to. When Tim caught her he obviously told Bruce, because they were trying to get Jason to talk to them and she was interfering with Bruce’s careful calculations. And even that was something she never seemed to hold against Tim. Her back ended up so badly shredded with whip marks she couldn’t move for two days, and when she saw Tim again she smiled at him as if it wasn’t his fucking fault she’d ended up that way.
He doesn’t understand her. But when it comes to keeping small things from Bruce… he thinks he can trust her. Hopefully
“Alright.” he says slowly. “I won’t work with Stephanie Brown, but if you think she can help you stop the Penguin tonight then I won’t interfere. I’m working on my own case against him, so we can catch up tomorrow and compare notes.”
She beams at him, her smile so bright it makes him uncomfortable. She notices that too, and gestures to him that they should leave. He nods, relieved, and fires off his grappling hook.
“See you later.” he says, cautious and waiting for a trap to spring.
She waves happily in reply.
Shaking his head, he swings away. At least now he can patrol normally with a clearer head. As long as he doesn’t think too hard about the inevitable disaster that is an alliance between Batgirl and Oracle’s favourite protege.
He’s pretty sure they’re already off to a bad start. On the roof earlier, he could clearly see that Stephanie Brown’s face was as red as a tomato. Whatever Cassandra was saying, or not saying, it clearly infuriated Spoiler. Granted he only got there to see the end, but he noticed the body language right off the bat. Stephanie even refused to meet Cassandra’s eyes at several different points, looking agitated and red every time. It wasn’t a huge surprise to Tim to see them clashing. Two of the most abrasive and off putting people he’s ever met?
Yeah, Tim thinks, that alliance is definitely not going anywhere good.
Cass wants to kick her feet with joy. Batman isn’t here, so she does. She skips her way back to where she stashed her Batgirl uniform, dances her way home, and taps a rhythm with her feet while she puts the now dry suit on.
She doesn’t know what it is about the talk with Steph that makes her so excited. It’s great that she has new intel on Penguin, that she now knows exactly where to go to punch him in the face. But that’s not the only reason she’s happy.
She thinks back to the talk on the roof. It wasn’t great at times, annoying at parts, but it was…
Fresh. That’s the word she’s looking for. Not fresh like milk but fresh like… Like talking to someone Cass knows everything and nothing about at the same time. Steph is exciting, she’s new, she makes Cass feel like a conversation is a challenge she has to win. It’s fun. And it’s different from the family fun, like playing tag with Damian or even watching TV with Tim. She doesn’t know what makes Steph different, but she is.
Things could go horribly wrong. But as Cass finishes putting on her mask, she decides right there and then that she’s not going to let that happen. She won their conversation on the roof tonight, the memory of which still sends a confusingly strong thrill through her body. All she needs to do is keep winning, Winning fights is easy, winning relationships is harder. Cass isn’t even totally sure what that’s going to end up looking like in the end.
But Cassandra Wayne does not lose. Not fights, and not relationships either she’s decided. Whatever happens, she’s not losing this new dynamic with Stephanie Brown. She’s seeing it through, and she’s going to make it work.
Across the city, Oracle watches her with sympathy and amusement from the other side of the computer as Stephanie Brown dramatically rests her still mildly blushing head on the table and groans loudly.
“I’m so fucked.”