Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The boy had a stupid smile on his face. The teenager was dressed nicely today, with a white tee, brown work pants, a belt, a school bag, and perfect round glasses. He was there on a field trip, the end-of-the-year trip, with the rest of his class. And get this, to ESU’s biology lab, of all places, this was probably one of the coolest places in New York! 

The boy was leaning against one of the counters, separated from his group, who were receiving a tour from Misses Connors. So there he stood, admiring everything about the lab. Someday, he swore he would work here. When he was in college, that is. Then…

“Ouch, what was that for?” He retracted the hand that was supporting him against the hard metal counter and rubbed it in pain.

Everybody in the room heard the commotion and turned to him in curiosity. Probably wondering if the geek finally got in trouble for something.

“This was about to bite you. I can’t believe this little guy escaped again.” Doctor Connors explained, holding the still alive- and frantically moving spider with tweezers.

The boy looked in fascination, the way it moved its legs up and down rapidly, trying to escape. And most likely trying to bite him successfully this time. It was kinda cool though.

“Huh, isn’t that one of the…” 

“Yes, radioactive spiders that we've been experimenting on. Such a little thing, but who knows what could’ve happened if this little thing bit you.”

“Ha, radioactive and spider bite don't mix well. Well, thanks, I guess, doctor.”

“Don’t mention it, Peter.” The good doctor said as he locked away the spider back into its cage. The spider clawed on the glass, trying to escape again, to no avail.

Thus, destiny was altered.

A man and woman walked together- well, not exactly walked. The man walked, his hand filled with their week's worth of groceries in paper bags. The woman, however, was in a wheelchair- one without handles. She pushed the wheel along, matching the pace of her partner. They were laughing, joking, and talking about the day. An ordinary duo of really good friends. Fairly common on the currently quiet streets.

The woman had jeans and a light green sweater on, whilst the man had sweatpants and a blue-black striped t-shirt.

“Oh, come on, Babs. You know I was just playing, right?” The man asked as a single sweat rolled down from his forehead. He gripped the paper bags tighter.

“Nuh uh, Dick. Even if you were, a promise’s a promise. You’re taking me to a fancy dinner tonight.” The woman said as she adjusted her glasses and closed her eyes. “ And I mean a real fancy one.” She quickly added, a sly smirk on her face.

He played along. “Barbara, please don’t try to drain a poor cop’s salary. What about takeout? That’s pretty fancy.” Dick said as he felt a strong urge to scratch the back of his head. 

“Hey, I’m a cop too, police dispatchers count.” She sighed. “Our salaries aren’t that bad yet, even after those cuts.” Barbara already planned their budget for the next few months, unless something drastic changes- like a baby happens- everything should be fine. And if everything works out, their ‘saving plan’ should be completed in two years.

Wait, why was that her first example? Her face grew slightly red, but Dick was too busy keeping his eyes in front to notice.

“Ugh, that’s the life of a city worker. Let’s hope it's only temporary. Besides, our benefits-” 

He was cut off by a distant sound of a click right next to him. His ear to be exact, and by god, Dick knew it all too well. 

“Not another step, sweethearts.” The man with the gun said, a grin on his face. 

They did as he demanded, slowly turning to face him and his group. Eight able-bodied men, tattoos, weapons in hand, and definitely just shady in general. Not in the profiling way. But they looked like and were most definitely gangsters.

Dick’s body twitched, he couldn't reach for the gun at his waist, any sudden movement would get the guy to blow his head off.

“Don’t do nothin’ stupid, hand over everything ya got. Even those bags.” Another thug said, patting his metal baseball bat, signaling the threat.

“Come on, pal. We’re just trying to get by. How about just our groceries?” Dick offered, causing Barbara to remember their previous topic of ‘if Dick be a police dispatcher.’ Clearly not, as he couldn’t negotiate for their lives.

“You think we’ stupid or something!? How about we teach this guy a lesson, guys!” One of the dumber gangsters threw his hands together and cracked his knuckles.

“We don’t want any trouble, and I’m sure you don’t either.” She said, moving her hand down slowly to flash the police badge that was previously in her pocket.

“You think we’ scared, lady? It’s eight on one and a half- half, get it? 'Cause ya legs don’t work. Hahaha!” The crook with a gun laughed hysterically at his own joke, as did his friends. Wow, making fun of disabled people, only the type of people who end up as lowlifes.

Dick and Barbara shared a brief glance with each other as if to communicate with each other. No talking their way out of this one. Couldn’t fight it either. Only one option remained to ensure both their safety.

“Fine, you win.” Dick stepped forward with the intention of handing the bags of groceries over first.

But just as the man holstered his pistol and was about to take them off Dick’s hand, a silent voice pierced through the air.

“Stop.”

The voice was soft. Gentle. Delicate. 

Precious.

It was special somehow. 

Barbara, Dick, and the criminals turned to see her, how in the world didn’t they notice her before? She came from the alleyway, deeper than where those thugs stood, slowly stepping towards the group. Her clothes were ragged and dirty, and her long hair was no better, disheveled. The woman- no, girl was small, no taller than 5’1. Based on her skin and face, Barbara noted she was mixed, somewhere between asian and caucasian.

Then her heart ached as did Dick’s. No child should have to live like this. Someone so young already on the streets, yet so common in New York, she had to help her get to an orphanage after this debacle.

Despite that, the girl had an unwavering smile on her face. It looked off, not fake… But as if she didn’t know what a smile was, like an animal doing its best impression of a human. Yet it was all too real.

“Huh? Just some homeless kid.” One of the grunts said in a surprised tone, must be brave to stand up to them.

“Scram, ya little runt, before I-” One of the men with a kitchen knife, quite scary, waltzed up to her. He tried to grab her hand and throw her away like a piñata, but the crook met her knuckles instead, falling on the floor cold.

Everyone looked on in shock, some little kid who probably didn’t even weigh a hundred pounds just took out a muscular big guy with one move, which should've been an impossible occurrence.

“Get her!” Somebody screamed, causing two of the seven remaining thugs to charge at her. The first one had a crowbar, and the second one had a pipe.

With a smile still on her face, the girl leaped slightly towards the right and used her right leg to bounce off the wall, bypassing the first man, dodging his swing, and doing a roundhouse kick on the second guy's face whilst backhanding the first man’s face, who was behind her now.

The two fell to the ground. 

“Ouch.” Barbara and Dick said at the same time, wincing their eyes.

Five remain. Most were in shock, and the rest were hesitant, but one brave soul ran towards her, armed with only his hands. The girl ran forward as well, dodging two punches from him before landing a single strike on the brave soul’s chest, which was somehow enough to keep him down.

Four remain. Most snapped out of the initial shock, deciding on strength in numbers, three thugs charged her at the same time with a variety of weapons in their hands. Yet they went down all the same. Barbara couldn’t see the rest of the specifics due to the amount of movement and body parts in the way. But she could see seven bodies lying on the floor in the alleyway, and the kid rushing towards the last guy.

The mugger quickly drew his gun and aimed it down the alley. At the same time, Dick let go of the paper grocery bags and went for his pistol on his waist. But the girl was faster than both of them, reaching her target before any triggers could be pulled.

She performed one swift strike to the mugger’s neck, which knocked him onto his back and out cold instantly. But alive. The gun also dropped with him, the safety never being switched off, so no accidental discharges. 

Everything went by so fast. All in a single minute.

“Kid, you- um.” Dick looked for the right word in his head that wasn’t condescending. “Good?”

She merely smiled and looked at him, a bit creepy if Barbara had to say so herself. And now that she had a good look at her, Barbara noticed she was quite slim, possibly malnourished.

“Ah, the food!” The off-duty police officer quickly bent down to recover their not-yet-spoiled food, throwing them back in the somehow unripped paper bags. And thank god the milk didn’t spill.

While Dick was doing that, Barbara rolled her wheelchair over to face the girl. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Gordon was feeling something special inside when she looked at her. After collecting her thoughts, she decided to go with the simplest question.

“Do you need help?” 

No response.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Still no response.

Barbara raised an eyebrow.

“Do you…”

Barbara picked up the apple from the ground, looking at it, and then at the girl. She had to wipe it with her sleeve first, as that apple had been on the floor for way longer than five seconds.

“Do you want this apple?” Barbara asked, extending her right hand, offering it to her.

The girl stared at the big red apple for a full five seconds, carefully picking it up and taking a bite. Then another bite. Then another, bigger bite this time. And another. Before she knew it, half the apple was gone. What Barbara didn’t see coming was being offered the apple back. The sweet gesture caused her to smile, and she appreciated it.

“You need to eat it,” Barbara said whilst shaking her head, patting the girl’s head with her hand. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Dick and Barbara we’re back at the police station. They had clocked out two hours ago, yet they were still back at their workplace, currently at their colleague's desk and staring at their computer screen.

The girl, meanwhile, was sitting in a waiting room with a huge glass plain, peacefully eating out of someone’s lunch box. How thoughtful of her co-workers to offer theirs to her. It must’ve been strange for the girl, being inside a police station for the first time.

“There’s no match in all the official data banks we have. And before you ask, yes, I’m sure. Triple checked.” The officer typing away at the computer said, stopping for a brief moment to rest his fingers.

“You sure, Wallace?” Dick asked, three seconds away from picking his ear.

“Quadruple yes.” Their friend sighed as some things never changed.

“You think she was an unregistered birth?” Barbara asked this time.

“Most likely. But this sort of thing is really rare. Aside from the whole ‘teach them martial arts then abandon them’ thing.” Wallace said in a tired and monotone voice.

“I saw at least two aikido and three karate moves,” Barbara said. She’d know, the off-duty cop used to attend classes while in high school, and practice regularly before… An on-duty incident.

“But on another point, we did find one possible piece of identification on her.” 

Wallace laid a plastic bag on the table, inside it contained a tiny knife, some dirt, and other even dirtier stuff covering it. It was impractical, too small and slim for anything other than thrusting. But there was something a lot more interesting about it. On the handle of the knife, there were tiny engravings, but still visible for Barbara and Dick to see.

“Officer Chen only managed to get it off her by trading her lunch.” Their friend commented, signaling to Dick that they owned her lunch tomorrow. 

“Cassandra Cain… 1/26… 1992…” Barbara squinted her eyes and adjusted her glasses. It was a bit hard to read, with how dirty the knife itself was built she managed.

“We don’t know that. It could’ve been someone else’s and she just happened to pick it up.” Wallace reasoned, causing another possibility to pop up in their head.

“Still. Sixteen. Age matches.” Dick said, turning back to examine Cassandra who was taking a bite out of Officer Chen’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich, before facing the desk again.

“I suppose that’s possible if you believe she’s on the smaller side.” Their friend said.

“Please, I had plenty of classmates who were that small.” Dick scoffed and shrugged at the same time, remembering the good old days of high school.

“What about our translators? They find any language that she knows?” Barbara asked, changing the subject, clearly more focused on the child than her partner.

“Nope.” Wallace popped the word. “They tried around thirty-something different languages, even ASL, but she didn’t even react to anything. So far, communication has been pointing fingers and hoping she understands.” He explained, still clicking away on his keyboard. 

Barbara and Dick realized the situation was at a standstill, nothing they could do but come back tomorrow and hope they have everything sorted out for the-

Then the door opened, and Officer Myers stepped into the room. “Hey Wall, just got the report back from forensics, pretty interesting for our little Jane Doe over there.” 

“Thanks, Myers.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The messenger placed the rather thick folder on the desk before leaving the room. It was one of those classic Manila file folders. Barbara and Dick tensed up in anticipation, as curious as a dolphin.

“Huh, better news,” Wallace said as he opened the folder and scanned through the papers.

“Really?” Barbara raised an eyebrow, gripping the armrests of her wheelchair.

“DNA test came back. Her cells are around sixteen years old. She’s also half Chinese and has a whole mix of different European ancestries. Which means one of her parents was probably American.” Wallace spoke with a hand on his chin.

He then opened another tab and began typing something again on his computer, only stopping to groan a minute later.

“But for some reason, no one related is showing up on our database. Not even a fifth cousin or estranged aunt.” 

That was truly shocking. That would mean all her relatives were unregistered or something else entirely…

“Very weird.” Dick narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“Well, what happens to her then?” Barbara asked, glancing at the girl with a concerned look.

“I’d guess we’re going to have to ship her off to foster care. No one blood-related can take her in. Social services will have to take care of her.” Wallace said casually whilst scratching his head. He handled cases like this a lot, where he’d have to separate kids from their unreliable guardians and send them to an unfamiliar environment.

Barbara bit her lips, knowing what would happen to her in the scenario. A girl, sixteen years old, doesn’t know English, social norms, or even what law enforcement is, from the looks of it. Someone like that thrown into a foster group home would cause nothing but trouble. As she thought about it more, her heart beat faster. 

Then she came to a realization, and it was in that moment, Barbara decided to follow her heart.

“What if we fostered her?” Barbara cut the silence.

“Wait, Babs, you serious?” Dick was snapped out of his own train of thought.

“That’s a big decision and even bigger responsibility. Don’t do it on an impulse, Barbara. You’re way smarter than that. Besides, you and Dick are only in your mid twenties,” Their friend looked at Barbara with enough confusion on his face that you’d think she had just thrown a puppy across the room.

“I know that, but… She needs help. The girl doesn’t speak any common language and probably never had an actual place to call home.” She reasoned, turning her face to Dick to see his reaction. 

A mix of uncertainty and hesitation. He was unsure.

“You can’t help every orphan in the city, Gordon. Sympathy can only go so far.” Wallace berated her. “What even makes her so special?”

“I think taking on eight able-bodied men in close combat and winning counts for something,” Barbara said in an all-knowing tone, letting a smug smile form on her face.

“I mean- Barbara, do you think we’re really qualified to take a kid under our wing? We’ve only been working adults for five years.” Dick said, looking up into the ceiling and running his right hand through his hair. 

It was something he did when he was truly nervous.

“I just feel something. Between me and her. And I’m sure we can take care of her if we try our best. It’ll be leagues better than whatever this city’s system throws her in.” She continued. The city itself wasn’t doing so well right now, and with the current economic situation, budget cuts had to be made everywhere.

“If you believe that… Then let’s give it a shot.” Dick said cautiously with a serious, but still nervous, face.

Wallace blinked, studying Dick’s face and then Barbara’s. His shift was already long enough, only three more hours left, and he was stuck with them- who should’ve been home by now, enjoying a cup of coffee with each other as company. 

“You two really dead serious on this?” 

“Only if Barbara is. She’s smarter than I.” Dick deflected all the pressure on her.

It was a little annoying, but she appreciated his faith in her, ever since they were children.

“Yes. She’s at the age where the adults in her life really matter.” Barbara answered with a determined smile.

Their friend sighed; he knew better than to try to change the minds of the most headstrong people within the precinct, even at the college they attended together. Thus, Wallace relented, unwilling to dwell any more on this.

“Well,” He searched in his cabinet for a quick second before dropping a huge stack of adoption papers on the desk and began gesturing with his hand. “You two can start by signing here, here, and here.”

“Oh.” Both Dick and Barbara exclaimed at once.

“You two didn’t think you could just take her home, did you?”

This was new. She’d never been here before. And the people seemed nice, though strange. But the nice chair-wheel woman who gave her the red food was still here, so it couldn’t hurt to stay here a little longer. Besides, it wasn’t like there was anything urgent she had to do.

The girl held the box above her mouth, sticking her tongue out, and squeezed it, getting every last drop of the apple juice into her system. It was nice not drinking out of almost empty cartons from the dumpster, and she even had an actual apple today, courtesy of the nice woman.

She closed her eyes and savored the flavor in her mouth, not knowing when she’d get something like this, so she might as well enjoy it now.

Then the door opened, her eyes snapped out instantly, and she put the juice box down. 

The chair-woman and built-man from whom she had previously helped came in. 

“Cassandra. Hello. My name is Barbara. She did a little wave gesture and pointed at herself with her finger before pointing at the man. “And you can call him Dick.”

Her body tensed up immediately, flinching. She didn’t like that sound. It felt like forever ago since the last time anyone’s called her that, how does she- or they know?

“I hope you enjoyed the lunch. Well- I mean firstly, thank you for helping us back there. That was very brave of you.”

It was weird, in all her time traveling, she’s never heard anyone make those sounds to her before. The woman’s intentions were good, her body openly said that much. She was… A good person.

“And we’re… Going to be your guardians from now on. We’re going to try our best and do everything we can for you. Promise.” The woman’s mouth formed those words with a bright smile, extending her hand for the girl to grab.

“That’s if you’d have us, that is.” The man added whilst scratching the back of his head. His body read he was unsure.

There was a slight level of uncertainty in her own eyes, but the girl looked up to see the woman, making eye contact behind her glasses, and something tingled in her chest. Something she has never felt before. And it compelled her to act.

The girl nodded and accepted her hand.

SCENE

She’d never quite felt a sensation like this before, the large quantity of running water falling on her head, all from a small stick. The bubbles and white foam also felt weird. Cassandra hasn’t seen those since she…

Cassandra was on her knees and had her head hanging over the bathtub with Barbara giving her hair a much-needed wash. The entire process was twenty minutes, Barbara using an excess of shampoo and conditioner through a multi-step process. It felt good, and her knees weren’t tired at all.

“Aaannnddd there!” The woman declared and shut off the shower head. But before the girl could do anything else, a medium white towel fell onto her head, and Barbara wrapped it around her hair, ensuring her wet hair didn’t make a mess.

Then her hair was blow-dried, which was another long process where the girl sat on the edge of the bathtub while the woman used a comb and hair dryer. In the end, it was another ten minutes where Cassandra had to sit there, staring at the wall.

“Phew, finally done.” Babs tapped the girl’s shoulder twice, which she understood as the signal that they were finished. The girl turned her body to face her.

The girl had a bored look on her face, probably halfway through counting every dot on the wall. 

Barbara giggled. “Y’know, you’re going to have to do that on your own every other day to keep your hair clean.” She said before tossing the wet towel onto the sink’s counter.

Cassandra tilted her head in curiosity as a smile grew on her face and she read Barbara’s body.

“Say, do you want to cut your hair?”

The woman asked suddenly. But it gauged no reaction from the teen. 

She decided to go with a different approach, opening the nearby sink drawer and pulling out a pair of hair scissors. Barbara didn’t use it often, and when she did, Dick was already there to help. The woman liked to keep her hair short; it looked nice with her red hair and blue eyes, along with her glasses.

“Maybe short like mine? I’m no barber but I have some experience with my own hair and Dick’s.” 

Barbara pointed at her own hair, then she moved her other hand with the scissors under her hair, snipping them. Of course, she didn’t cut any of her hair, but the girl should somewhat understand. 

The girl nodded with a moderate amount of enthusiasm and pointed at her hair. Barbara took this as the ‘good to go’ sign. 

And so she snipped away, feeling Cassandra’s now soft hair, which felt naturally more silky than her own, even if just a little. The end product was something Barbara could be proud of, a more practical hairstyle that was longer than her own but stayed just above the shoulders, so she’d say medium. In her opinion, it really brought out Cassandra’s facial features, especially her cute brown eyes.

The girl also looked happy as she stood up to look at herself in the mirror, playing around with her own hair. Barbara smiled at such joy on her face. 

Then she looked at the floor, seeing the pile of cut and disregarded black hair. Barbara should probably bathe her, seeing as she didn’t know so many common place things, she probably needed help. 

“Dick! Could you look through my closet for some old clothes!? Like the really old ones that you wanted me to donate!” She turned her head towards the door and shouted. 

Then Barbara turned her attention back towards Cassandra, pushing the mobility wheelchair to the faucet, and running hot water for a bath. She also reached for a bath sponge and body scrubber.

“Now let’s get the rest of you washed up.”

This wasn’t the fancy dinner she was hoping for, but Chinese takeout bought from across the street would have to do. They spent too much time helping their new family member and setting everything up for her. It was approaching midnight, and they still had work tomorrow, so takeout had to do.

“Oh dear,” Barbara exclaimed as she watched in more horror than shock. It was worse than watching Dick eat a chimichanga for the first time in 7th grade.

The girl shoveled the noodles, straight out of the food box, into her mouth with both of her bare hands. All with the most innocent smile in the world on her face- the sesame noodles leaving peanut sauce around that beautiful smile of hers.

Barbara could get used to seeing that every time they had dinner.

“I’ll show her how to use a fork,” Dick said, dropping his chopsticks and getting up from his chair. He speed walked over to the side of the table she was sitting on, grabbing a napkin from the table to wipe her mouth.

Cassandra didn’t resist, even turning her face to Dick to make it easier, and after he was done, the man wiped her hands next. Then he placed a plastic fork in her hand and gently guided her with his own hand, like how you’d teach a child to use a crayon for the first time.

Seeing this rare side of Dick was good too.

“And that’s how you buy something,” Barbara said as the two exited the grocery market. Sure, grocery shopping at night might not be the best idea, but better to teach her the norms of society as soon as possible.

The girl was now dressed properly in clean clothes, dark earth green jeans, and a little brighter but still dark green sweater with rolled up sleeves.

Cassandra nodded in response. She still didn’t understand currency, but at least she knew the general concept now. 

Barbara sighed, “If only I knew what was going on inside your head, Cassandra. I know we haven’t known each other long- like two weeks now. But is there any other sign you can send? So I know I’m somewhat succeeding?” She looked at the girl with pleading eyes.

Cassandra nodded.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

Cassandra nodded.

She sighed. “Guess you really don’t speak any language. It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll start learning naturally.” Barbara felt like she was talking to herself, but that was fine, it genuinely was; this was what she signed those papers for. She wanted this.

She turned her eyes to where her ward had previously been, only to see two brown bags filled with groceries on the ground.

“Huh, Cassandra?”

Barbara was really starting to dislike that disappearing trick of hers. If that girl gets into any trouble- Wait, how should she discipline her? Normally- 

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of a body falling to the ground, along with a handgun. Barbara snapped out of it, looking up to see Cassandra standing over a knocked-out, old man’s body, dressed in all black like a stereotypical burglar. She was smiling like she had accomplished something great.

Barbara rolled towards the scene like her life depended on it. 

“Uncle Ben!” A boy with round glasses shouted and ran out of the library.

The boy helped another old man, who was previously leaning against a rather lousy red car, breathing heavily. 

“Thank you, young lady…. Who knows… What could’ve happened…” The old man said through his huffs, finally standing without on his two feet with the boy’s help.

The girl could only continue to smile at them like it was the only thing she knew how to do. Her eyes connected for the briefest moment before he quickly glanced away and started rubbing his nape.

“Cassandra!” Barbara shouted as she was right behind her. The girl walked over and stood next to her in response, like a parrot returning back to its owner.

“I’ll take it,” The man said in a kind, gentle voice, expected from a grandfather. “You’re her mother.”

“Froster. And I think I have a picture of what happened here.” She said whilst glancing at the handgun on the ground.

“You must’ve taught her well, that was a mighty good hit.” The man stretched his arms. “Though I could’ve handled it myself.” He said before laughing.

“Well, I wasn’t-” Barbara stopped herself, not like she knew who anyway, deciding it was too personal to just share with everyone. She pulled out her police badge instead. “I’m going to need you to stay. A statement and all that stuff.”

“Of course, officer.” He said with no hesitation.

“But Uncle Ben, Aunt May is totally gonna be mad at us for being late again! Maybe she’ll even start to think we hate her cooking.” The boy protested and clutched the books in front of his chest with both his hands.

“Sorry, Peter. But this is just the law.” He ruffled the boy’s hair, causing him to seemingly accept it.

As that was happening, Barbara leaned in as Cassandra bent down, covering her mouth as she spoke.

“Y’know, Cassandra. You have a real knack for saving people. I think you’ll make a great police officer one day.” Barbara whispered right into her ear with a satisfied look on her face.

The girl still smiled, but somehow, it was brighter than before. Like she understood her words.

“Ah, gotta call dispatch.”

Barbara went for her phone.

Chapter Text

The black man walked home, a bag of groceries in his hand. His neighborhood left a lot to be desired, but rent was cheap, he had a wife, and a stable job. And most importantly of all. He was happy, ordinary. So all he had to do was look the other way, like he always did. Like his father before him, wisdom passed down.

“What- You’re married now!?” The white man said in a heavy Italian accent.

“Private Party. Keep walking.” The man with dreads and the revolver to his head said, shooing him away.

“So I’m supposed to just forget about you?” He heard the Italian guy again as the man did what he was instructed to. 

“P-Please!” The short-haired blonde screams whilst trying to make eye contact with him, only for the man with an Italian accent to throw a hand on her chin, shutting her up.

A group of three is about to do something horrible to an innocent woman.

He gripped the paper bag tightly as he continued walking, hearing another commotion behind him. The man turned around to see a couple running. They probably received the same treatment as him.

“What, uh… What’s going on?” The man with glasses asked.

“Call 911. Run down the block first.” He didn’t know why he said that. It was as if something came over his usual passive self. A mix of excitement and courage washed over him. The couple did as he said, running off. They would round the corner in about a minute.

He gently placed the brown paper down on the sidewalk, and an emerald green beer alcohol took its place in his hand. 

“What are you doing, John?” 

He began talking to himself, which helped him calm down, perhaps mentally preparing himself, even if his wife thought it was weird. But it was probably what his wife would’ve said to him if she were here, and about to see what he was getting himself into.

“God.” 

Usually timid John was about to get into trouble, something he’s never done in all of his years.

“What are you doing?”

John stared deeply into the bottle, not thinking about what he should do; he had already made up his mind, but how was he going to end up? He held the bottle up by the shorter end and hid it behind his back as he walked about to the scene.

“Huh, you came back? Scram, baldy-” 

The guy couldn’t finish insulting him as John smashed the fragile bottle into his face, knocking him down, and causing his revolver to fly into the alley. 

“L-Let her go. At least two people have seen you. The c-cops are already on their way. Be smart and let h-her go.” John said while taking on the best fighting stance that he could, holding the sharp side of the broken bottle towards the group. He was already sweating, and he bit his lip in anticipation.

The one who seemed to be their leader looked unfazed. 

“Stand him up.” He said with a mean look on his face.

Just as their boss said that, the one with dreads got back up from the ground and shoved him into the brick wall along with another goon, causing him to drop his weapon. The two pressed against him, making sure he couldn’t run.

Then the Italian picked up the revolver from the ground, checking the cylinder.

“W-Wait! Don’t! Why w-would you-!?” John was sweating bullets now, no pun intended.

“Why would I what? Why wouldn’t I do the smart thing?” The man said with a smile, acting like this entire thing was a joke to him.

John eyed the woman who was behind the Italian man; her eyes were of guilt and sorrow, and she was frozen still in place. He blinked three times, like communicating a secret message, causing her to run away in an instant. The men paid her no attention.

Good for her. Bad for him.

“Why would I risk 25 to life by blowing your filthy brains all over this wall?” He narrowed his eyes and showed a sinister smirk.

The man aimed the gun squarely at his head.

“I dunno. Does it really matter to someone like me? Ask yourself that.” 

The gun was now pressed against his temple.

“But isn’t the important question… Why didn’t you do the smart thing, huh? And walk away? Back to your normal, mundane life?” And with that, his titrate was over, he put his finger on the trigger and…

“Please…” John begged for the last time, choking on nothing as his voice cracked. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable.

A dark figure came crashing down, arms and legs extended, and she hit all three of the men at the same time while airborne. One punch for each of his subordinates and one kick in the face for the boss. John slowly opened his eyes as he heard the sound of their bodies dropping.

“Huh?” 

He awoke to see a dark figure holding his groceries with one hand, offering them back to him. 

Weird.

John blinked rapidly to see if he was dreaming.

He wasn’t. Analyzing the figure, he could see that they were a she, maybe taller than five feet? Probably still a child. The girl was dressed in all black, her short hair tied behind her, and a black headband sitting right above her nose, concealing her face. The said headband was also all black and had two holes poked in it for her eyes. And weirdly enough, she was beaming like she’d just eaten cake for the first time.

The man gracelessly accepted his brown bag of groceries, holding it with both hands.

“Thank you?” John wasn’t exactly sure what else to say in their predicament.

The masked one merely continued to smile at him before making a fist with her right hand and slowly extending it into his chest, making physical contact. Weird, usually people did fistbumps from around here.

Then she ran off, climbing the cage-like fire escape at quite an impressive speed, reaching the rooftop and disappearing from his sight.

The two sat at the dining table, Cassandra sat with a notebook with something scribbled on it in front of her, with Barbara right at her side.

“Wwwwww… Woooo… Wwwwoooohhhddaaaaa…. Whhhddhhaaaatttthh…”

“Yes, you’re getting closer!” 

“Wwwwwooooohhhhattttt… Vvvuuuuhhhattt…”

“Come on, I know you can do it!”

“Wwwhhhaatt.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! What!.”

“What,” Cassandra said perfectly this time.

“Yes, that’s correct! We did it! Two words in one day!” Barbara cheered, throwing her hands along with the notebook into the air. Her glasses also came loose with the sudden movement, and she had to adjust them back into the perfect position where they belong.

Cassandra smiled, reading her body and enjoying the praise it was expressing.

“Maybe we can go for three.” The foster mother said with much excitement in her voice.

Cassandra’s smile turned into a more neutral expression, and she began to fidget with her hands.

“You don’t want to?” She raised an eyebrow at the girl.

The girl shrugged her shoulders and raised her hands up in the ‘I don’t know’ gesture, looking towards the floor whilst smiling again.

“You know… The sooner you learn your vo-cab-u-lary, the sooner we can talk to each other like normal people without these not-so-normal gestures.” Her foster mother held up and pointed at the ‘learning words’ book before pointing at her mouth, then at Cassandra herself.

The girl, in response, pointed at Barbara and held her right hand up like a claw, opening and closing repeatedly.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. ‘Blah Blah Blah.’” Barbara said, rolling her eyes. 

Then Cassandra stared at her with puppy eyes, the ones she used when she wanted to go outside without supervision, day or night.

Barbara sighed, “Fine, you’re done for the day. I guess we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. But next time, you’re going to get even more complicated words. Then you’re learning how to write.” She ended it off with a promise.

Cassandra nodded before letting out a simple, “Okay.” 

Then she bolted up from her seat and towards their apartment’s front door, quickly sliding into her brand new sneakers.

“Don’t explore too much! Be back in time for dinner!” Barbara said as Cassandra ran out the door. 

It was mostly how she spent her days while she and Dick were at work, exploring the neighborhood, playing in the park, or who knows what. It wasn’t like they could just keep the girl cooped up in this apartment forever. 

“How does she tell time…? I should give her my old phone…”

“Hey dad- Yeah, I’m doing great- Mhm- Oh, yeah I did- No- No, I swear- Yes, I did- No- I will- Love you too, have a great day too.” And so Barbara hung up, slipping her personal back into her right pocket.

They were sitting at the dining table again, all three, but this time they were eating, not teaching Cassandra how to pronounce more words. Chicken, rice, and broccoli was being served, courtesy of Dick who happened to be a great cook. The television was also on, playing local news. Apparently Dick had insisted on putting the old shabby TV box, which he bought off a friend, on the dinner table when they moved in.

Cassandra ignored most of it, only recognizing maybe five percent of the words it was spitting out, instead focusing on her plate.

“What was that?” Dick asked as he stabbed his fork into the broccoli.

“Just my dad. He heard about what we did from a colleague.” She replied nonchalantly as she promised to pay a certain colleague a visit in her mind.

“So you’re grounded?” He laughed whilst still chewing on the broccoli, but quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

“Haha. Very funny. A bit too old to be grounded, don’t cha think? Besides, I’m not the one who stole daddy’s car to impress someone, and then got grounded for a whole year.” Barbara said while giggling like a schoolgirl again.

“Aw, come on, that’s not fair! I almost had my learner’s permit by then! And that ‘someone’ was you!” Dick shouted. His senior year still continues to haunt him.

Cassandra was unphased, now used to the banter Barbara and Dick constantly did whilst in the same vicinity. It always ended with the same outcome, too. But the girl focused on using her fork, having recently learned how not to use it like a knife or any other sharp tool, yet practice was still needed.

“It was so sweet yet stupid at the same time. Y’Know I still have the video, we can watch it again later if we want.” The redhead reminisced, closing her emerald eyes whilst sipping on a warm cup of tea. 

“Hey! I thought you deleted it!” 

“Pfffffffff, As if I would delete such a treasure from the world.” 

Barbara began laughing hysterically, mostly at Dick, but also the idea she wouldn’t have it backed up on every device she owned and even burned onto a disk. That video was truly something, perhaps she’ll show Cassandra someday.

The girl continued shoveling the food into her mouth with her fork, slightly resisting the temptation just to use her hands. Adapting could be hard, but it was also nice not getting her hands dirty every time. She had her signature smile on as usual whilst eating.

“... The masked vigilante has not yet been identified as the mayor continues to express they are nothing more than a hoax… In other news, good samaritan John Robinson, who saved a young woman from a group of mobsters three days ago, has been abducted while on his way to work… Earlier this afternoon, this was what his wife had to say…”

Cassandra’s eyes widened, recognizing the photo of the man that the news put up; it was the same man from a few nights ago… 

“ ... Please, I just want my husband back… I’ll pay any ransom they give. ”

The woman was shedding tears, doing her best to get her few words out as a group of cops and a detective stood behind her with serious looks on their faces. 

The girl could understand all of it, every last movement, every last feeling.

“Poor guy… Do the right thing and this happens.” Barbara frowned at the news, putting down her fork.

“Reeks of retaliation, I’m sure they’ll save that guy in no time,” Dick stated with a serious face.

Then the girl pointed at the old television, her finger physically touching the screen.

“Act of vengeance?” Dick read off the text that she gestured at as it scrolled through. It made sense, strike someone important in the group, and the group strikes back three times as hard.

“Vengeance…” Cassandra let the word sit in her mouth, feeling how she had to move her tongue and mouth to get the correct sound.

“It’s like hitting someone after they kicked a puppy, payback… With emotion.” Dick explained it in the simplest terms he could. 

“Wait, you said that perfectly!” Barbara exclaimed after a moment of processing.

She quickly shoveled the remaining pieces of chicken, broccoli, and rice into her mouth, chewing and taking it all down in one gulp. The girl hadn’t eaten like that since her first night.

“Done… Room… Sleep…” Cassandra spoke quietly. The girl’s smile disappeared, replaced with a neutral face and concentrated eyes.

“Huh, so soon? You don’t wanna watch TV or go out first?” Dick asked. 

Strange. Going for a walk outside after a meal was routine, almost a habit for her, ever since she first set foot in the apartment.

“Done…”

“Good night, I guess.”

The girl shut the door behind her, heading towards the closet, she opened it and began changing clothes. It was all black, just like the night outside, only some skin and tied-up hair were revealed. All hand-me-downs from Barbara’s middle and high school years. She looked out the window as she wrapped the black fabric around her eyes before adjusting it so she could see out the holes.

The vigilante opened the window as silently as a mouse, slipping out onto the fire escape and climbing into the darkness. 

This part of New York was strangely quiet, filled with mostly empty and rundown buildings, which almost meant free real estate. For a base, safehouse, or anything else similar. 

The dark figure jumped from rooftop to rooftop, building to building, eyes open and alertly scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Anyone from below would’ve sworn it was just a shadow. Nothing to be feared.

She stopped on the perched side of the building, like a ninja in the wind, staring at the only apartment complex, the only one with every single room’s light on and two men standing on the rooftop. 

The shadow landed behind both of them, in the middle area. Grabbing both of their heads, she knocked them together as she would bowling pins, knocking both out.

Luckily, the door was unlocked, allowing free access to the complex.

There weren’t any more shadows, no places to blend into; she had to act fast before she was discovered. The shadow silently ran, taking anyone who crossed her path with a swift blow to the head. She followed the faint sounds, picking them up like an elephant's ears.

“The hell do we do with this guy now?” 

“Beat him more?”

“We could stick ranch up his nose.”

“I dunno, the boss said to just keep him alive here.” 

“That’s weird, he usually just makes us kill them and dump the body.” 

“Maybe he’s coming here to you’re this idiot in person!” 

“Bastard’s lucky our boss is so kind, he even let the guy write his will.” 

“His wife is pretty cute too.”

“Hahahahaha!” The entire group of men started laughing hysterically, waking the man up again. 

It’d been a cycle. Wake up, get beaten, tortured, pass out, rinse and repeat. How many times has the group of guards changed now? Four times he thinks?

When he finally mustered the strength to open his eyes again, he didn’t see a group of men ready to torture him like hell. Weapons were scattered on the floor, and bodies were in all sorts of weird positions as they were out cold. Someone’s head was even sticking through a hole in the wooden closet. 

John looked up, seeing the dark figure- the girl standing over him. 

“Huh, we gotta stop meeting like this.” 

The girl didn’t respond, merely lowering herself to pick him up, slinging his arms over her shoulders. He noticed she was strong, for someone her size, at least, so small yet able to pick up someone as big as him. 

“E-Easy… Got beat up… Pretty good…” It hurt just trying to straighten his back. Working in a cubicle all day probably didn’t help either. 

The girl poked the middle of his chest.

“Ow!” He let out on instinct. 

He could feel the ribs in his chest were moving- like moving into places they’ve never been in before, which wasn’t normal. 

“I-I can feel my ribs… Moving around… It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” 

“God…”

They had to keep moving. 

She brought him out of the apartment and into the complex’s hallway, facing down several more armed men. They looked mean and were definitely willing to kill, not just him, but also her.

“Y-You have to leave me… Go. Y-You’re just a-” He didn’t finish his sentence as he ran out of breath, huffing for oxygen. The girl seemingly understood, gently laying him down against the paper-wrapped wall. Then she charged into their captors, taking them out in a blitz, and their faces dropped onto the cold, hard wooden floor. 

The dark figure returned for him, carrying him up like she had before, down the tight concrete stairs, fighting whoever tried to stop them with only her free hand and legs. They didn’t stand a chance, going down in only one or two blows.

It was weird how someone so seemingly young could fight so well, not counting dressing as a ninja and saving people at night. 

John blacked out, and when he regained consciousness, they were already outside. He could feel the nightly breeze wash over him. It was refreshing. He could feel his legs burning, exhausted out of his mind, even with the girl helping him.

“I- Do you have a phone? I… Need to call my wife.” 

The girl didn’t respond, only continuing to drag his limp body down the street as his legs stopped. His legs didn’t hurt anymore, only going numb. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t feel much of anything. 

“Y-You definitely aren’t… Normal… You’re strong…” He admitted with his best attempt at a smile.

John didn’t know where they were going; they were just walking along the sidewalk. Were they going to a hospital? Somewhere that can help him? 

It didn’t matter. He could feel it, his time running out with each passing second. And the man couldn’t take it anymore.

“Wait… Please… stop…” 

He sounded deafly, like his life was slowly being sucked out of him. The girl didn’t understand, yet she stopped and laid him against a building. Despite wearing a mask, John could still see the look on her face, one of absolute fear and shame. 

The man slowly dug his right pocket, pulling out a sealed and crumpled envelope. One of his kidnappers let him write as his final words. John could feel the air start to leave his lungs.

“My wife… No time. Please, my wife. Please, my wife-” 

Glance.

Heartbeat.

Touch.

Eyes.

Dread, sadness, regret, anger, fear, confusion, joy, excitement, love, hope, pride, and happiness… They were all… Simply gone…

The book that was his body stopped. It was empty. Like a void.

Dead.

While clutching onto the letter, she heard a group of cars brake suddenly behind her. The girl turned around, facing her enemies with anger in her eyes, and she spotted the one from yesterday. 

The white man with an Italian accent, the man who commanded the rest. He stepped out of the car, still half inside, ready to run like the coward he was. Those on his payroll did exit, though, with guns and other blunt weapons, heading towards her. 

Call it intuition or a hunch, but she knew he was responsible for everything.

The shadow leaped in the air and landed on the hood of a car, kicking two men in the face, who were dressed in suits at the same time. They flew backwards due to the impact, their handguns soaring across the air with them. 

Their boss immediately got back into his fancy car and slammed the door shut. 

The dark figure continued taking them out, roundhouse kick, nerve strike, axe kick, jab, uppercut, and a back kick on the last one. Then she just stood there, staring at the man.

“Drive! Drive, god dammit!” He ordered frantically, the driver, who was previously distracted with lighting a cigarette, looked back to see the fear in his eyes. 

The driver stepped on the gas and reversed the car quickly, drifting to make a 180 turn, and then he accelerated the car as fast as he could. 

“God damn freak!”

He’d never seen anyone so quick, strong, or scary. It was like a ninja straight out of a fictional book. Someone so god- The sound of shattering glass snapped him out of it as his driver received a punch in the face, straight through the broken windshield, as glass flew everywhere. Knocking the man’s cigarette and sunglasses off, too, as he passed out.

How in hell did she catch up to them already!?

Then the dark figure came for him next, smashing the passenger window and forcefully dragging him out of the vehicle. 

Should’ve worn a seatbelt.

“W-W-What the hell are you!?” 

She thought about it for only a second, even if she didn’t know its exact meaning.

“Vengeance.” 

She could feel it was right. 

The man was dragged out and thrown onto the hood of another car, damaging it with a huge dent in the shape of his body. A car that had no affiliation with him or anybody related. Wrong place, wrong time.

The shadow struck his shoulder, and it hurt like hell. He tried to retaliate but… It wouldn’t move. It was like the entire arm was just dead weight. Then his leg. He couldn’t run anymore.

And finally, the shadow strikes a nerve in his chest, temporarily paralyzing him from the neck down. Then she held three fingers at his neck, like she was going to rip it apart, causing even more fear.

“Nngk!” 

He was forced to stare her down; the look in her eyes made him think he was going to die.

Then they both heard police sirens. Her head raised towards the sound’s direction, seeing the cop cars speeding towards them, then she glanced back at him. 

And the dark figure ran away, disappearing into an alleyway.

“Your husband was a hero, ma’am. We’re all sorry for your loss.” The commissioner said before walking away with an officer next to him.

“Thank you, Mr. Gordon.” She said with a shaky voice, biting her lip as she finished.

The moment the now widow shut the door, she collapsed onto the door, letting the tears seep out of her eyes. The woman wept quietly as she dug her nails into her palm. 

But then a window’s creek alerted her, causing her head to snap up to face…

“Ah! Who’re- What do you-”

It was a small girl, dressed in all black with a headband covering her eyes like a ninja. The dark figure was holding her hand out, offering her an envelope. 

“Wait, this is…”

The widow accepted it, gently tearing the seal open and removing the letter inside. She unfolded the piece of paper and began reading its contents.

“ ‘I hope you never have to read this…’ ”

Two minutes passed as the woman finished reading, while the girl merely stood there, waiting… For something to happen. And the widow smiled.

“Oh, John…”

The girl turned her back, intending to leave through the way she came from, and she glanced one more time at the woman. And saw the woman still smiling while water was escaping from her eyes.

Happy now. Even if she was still sad. 

Cassandra couldn’t understand it at all.

But she knew it had to do with the writing. And the word the old guy said...

“He… Ro…”

She was also going to have to learn that word.

She awoke to use the bathroom around ten minutes ago. And contrary to popular belief, she could still use the bathroom on her own, even despite the fact that she was wheelchair bound and paralyzed from the waist down. So no need to wake up Dick in the middle of the night in their shared room, he was a heavy sleeper anyway. More trouble than it was worth.

The sound of a toileting flushing ran out in their apartment as she pushed her chair back to her and Dick’s bedroom. At least before the open door and light from Cassandra’s room caught her attention. 

It was what? One in the morning? Strange, what on earth could she possibly be doing at this time? The woman’s curiosity was piqued.

Barbara gently opened the door, seeing the girl sleeping on her desk, pencil still in hand. She rolled into her room, mere inches away from the girl, spotting the scattered pieces of computer paper Cassandra was sleeping on top of. 

They were filled with her attempts at the alphabet. A’s, B’s, C’s, and D’s. The letters were… Not that bad. Even if some had the most abnormal shapes imaginable, the girl was trying.

“Now, she’s trying to learn?” Barbara muttered quietly, recalling what she had said to her a few days ago.

Cassandra willingly trying to learn to write? Definitely weird. Maybe the girl took Barbara’s word to heart? She wanted to impress her? That could explain why she returned to her room so early.

Either way, it was good progress.

“I wonder what brought that on…”

She bought her hand towards the lamp and shut it off with a click sound before leaving her room, shutting the door fully.

Not even five seconds later, Cassandra’s eyes opened, and she pulled her head up from the desk. The girl stared at the paper, her awful attempts at recreating the alphabet. 

She looked at them for a good while before standing up from her chair, slowly pushing it backwards to avoid making any sound. The girl threw off her usual green sweater and other clothes, tossing them onto her bed, revealing her grimy all black outfit underneath. 

Cassandra softly lifted the window without a sound, slipping out into the night again as she closed it on her way out.

It was a time of night when nobody was out, also making it the perfect time to scavenge and search in dumpsters. A pair of shoes, black sunglasses, tight full-body spandex, a used yellow belt with pouches, an open-mouth cowl, and along with a plethora of other items.

She gathered everything on a random rooftop, putting everything together like a puzzle. The girl sewed a piece of black fabric over the mouth, then the lenses of the sunglasses with glue, and the bottoms of a pair of shoes. Even a cape with spiky ends. 

Everything was laid out on the ground, something she created- her… Costume. It was all black, menacing, and very unfriendly.

But it’ll do its job. Then she heard another sound, one of an animal, causing her to turn around. 

It was… A bat, if she could recall. It was flying around her, circling above. 

And it… Was friendly. She still remembered her last encounter with bats, their language, and this one was nice. 

Cassandra extended her arm and then a finger out, letting the small creature land on it, staring at her. The girl smiled as the bat tilted its head at her. 

Then it flew off, leaving her all alone again. But with another idea in her head.

She made a symbol of the tiny mammal on the chest part of the spandex. A gold colored outline with black in and outside. Definitely made the costume itself look better. One quick modification got the cowl later, and it also had little ‘bat’ ears sticking out of the top.

As that was finished, her little friend came back, now with friends of their own, like a whole horde- colony. The dozens of bats flew in circles like a hurricane. It must’ve looked supernatural from an outsider's point of view.

The dark figure stood on the building’s edge, early morning light shining on her as the oversized cape fluttered, and bats flew away to wherever their home was. Only the most early of New York commuters were able to catch a glimpse before the phenomenon disappeared.

She knew.

Chapter Text

A Bat crashed through the window, shattering glass and spreading it all over the floor. But it was like the other bats; this one was huge! Like almost three times as big as her. And not only that, they also had a huge cape, it could probably even fit her inside of it. Oh, then the eyes! It didn’t have any at all!

That animal book must’ve been lying.

The blonde little girl stood in awe, wearing pajamas and clinging to her teddy bear, smiling with a broken tooth in the front. 

The Bat wasted no time picking the girl up with her right arm alone, and she leaped out of the same broken window she had entered through. And then she threw a plain old jute rope with a 3-fluke hook at the end, attaching it to a building. That lessened the pressure on her legs as she descended with her passenger, making a touchdown.

“Haha, again! Again! Again!” The girl shouted while practically jumping up and down in her arm. 

“There she is!” A rough voice yelled, catching attention. 

Both girls turned their heads to the side simultaneously, seeing a group of big and angry-looking men running at them. The Bat, as they say, went from one to a hundred instantly, full sprinting down the alley, taking random turns and zigzagging at every interval.

Thank god this part of the city was like a maze, and with the ability to run like a tiger, she quickly shook off their pursuers as they entered a typical New York subway yard. Then the Bat looked down, checking up on the little girl, who was now visibly more nervous. Afraid even. 

The Bat stayed quiet, focusing on only sound, and heard a single pair of footsteps heading towards them. Big ones too, which must have meant a big person. She picked a random train cart and fiddled with the handle until it opened and dropped the little girl inside.

“Scared…” The little girl tugged on the Bat’s cape, looking up at her with watery eyes.

And she began pulling the cape harder.

“I- I wanna go home… I-I’m tired.” The little girl said as a single tear left her right eye. It must’ve been a long day. 

The Bat placed her hand over the little girl’s eyes and placed a finger on her mouth. 

“Shh…” 

The Bat did what she knew how to, like how… He did… The same way. The remembered sensation flowed through her body. The happiness and pride she felt.

“I want to go home… And see my mommy…” She admitted.

The footsteps were getting louder- time was running out. The Bat picked the little girl up again, went to the end of the cart, pulled the red emergency window lever, and yanked it down. She gently put the little girl through the open window, placing her onto the ground covered with ballast. And just in time, the sliding door was literally ripped off from its frame.

He was triple the size of the Bat and bigger than even the usual big men. The man was… A huge man. 

“Stay.” 

The Bat patted the little girl’s head, then turned to face her opponent.

The man lunged at her, trying to grab her with both his hands, but she was quicker and swiftly dodged before retaliating with a strike to the neck, which… Didn’t seem to affect him all that much. Then she tried again with her knee, but nothing. The Bat took a step back and then launched a front kick right into his chin.

He staggered back, not anticipating the resistance she was giving, and groaned. Then the man charged, grabbing onto her cape, and threw her across the room. The Bat flew across the subway cart, slamming into the cold floor face-first.

And she stayed down.

He walked forward with a slight chuckle.

“This was da’ shadow everyone was talkin’ abou’? Too easy.” The man grinned, lifting the oversized cape to find…

Nothing.

“Huh?”

Then from behind him, a window shattered before his neck was met with the full force of the Bat’s knee as she grabbed onto the front of his face for the extra force. His neck ached at the attack, feeling like his neck itself was on the verge of splitting in half, and adrenaline rushed through his bloodstream. But he continued on, grabbing onto her arm and then slamming her entire body into a row of seats, clinging onto her this time so she couldn't escape. 

The little girl stared on from outside, barely able to lift herself up to see through the window, and looked into the Bat’s void-like eyes.

Can’t fail. 

That was the only message ringing in her head as the man pulled his arm back, like he was charging it up, intending to bury his fist into her face. 

The Bat pulled a metal hook out and threw it at the man’s forehead, causing him to wince at the pain, and she used the opportunity to free herself. She performed a roundhouse kick at his neck, causing him to become even more disorientated. Then a side kick at the exact same spot. 

He looked like he was ready to give up.

And so she finished him off with a spinning back kick, knocking him down to the floor for good. The Bat slowly straightens her back before climbing out of the window to see the little girl again.

“Y-You won Miss Batsy!” 

The Bat-themed figure tilted her head. She hadn’t heard three out of four of those words yet.

“But ugh, do you need my mommy to give you a bath?” The girl pinched her nose and recoiled back a little.

Glance.

Heartbeat.

Nose.

Okay, the Bat understood that. And she held her arm up to her face to sniff it.

“Wow, you really want to!?” 

Cassandra nodded enthusiastically. This was nothing, couldn’t be that hard doing this once a week, especially when compared to her more nightly activities.

“Awesome, great to see you step up.”

Dick said whilst dragging a nearby basket over. It was filled with this week’s worth of used and dirty clothes. Cassandra knew about that, Barbara showed her every step of what to do after taking a shower, which the girl followed strictly. 

“First thing is to throw all used clothes into his basket, and then into the washing machine!” He exclaimed in an overly exaggerated tone. Dick then yanked the washing machine’s glass door open and did a swinging motion, causing all the clothes to fly into the metal box.

Cassandra paid attention closely, watching as the glass door was shut. Then he pulled a weirdly shaped orange container out, along with a really small see-through cup with markings.

“Now we fill this small cup detergent till here and then put it in here,” Dick muttered before humming a weird beat. She’d been used to it by now, learning all of his weird habits by now.

This thing was… Interesting, and seemed really complicated. But if it could make her suit smell good, then it was worth learning.

“Then you move this over here, click then, then hold this button down until it beeps. And this button stops the machine in case you make a mistake.” He pointed at the red one. “Can you… Remember this, uh- Pattern?”

The girl nodded her head, crouching down and staying in a squatting position as the machine roared to life. It moved slowly at first, turning continuously and flipping the pile of clothes all over. Then it began to speed up, soapy water being sprayed from somewhere and onto the clothes until they spun faster and faster.

“Alright, now we wait until it's finished before we put it in the dryer, so uh- You want to watch TV or something?” Dick asked, scratching the back of his head. He didn’t know what she usually did to pass the time, or what kids in her age group in general did.

She shook her head while still watching the machine’s mesmerizing performance closely. 

Up and down. Up and down. And even more up and down.

“Uh, alright, I guess.” He said before walking out of the room.

Not even a minute later, Cassandra could hear the television playing, nothing out of the ordinary, just the local news channel as always. She could recognize it by the newanchopr’s voice. It was the same man as always.

She continued staring intently before a mischievous smile broke out on her face. Perhaps it was the thrill of hiding a secret. But nonetheless, she silently went over to the nearby closet and retrieved the smelly costume resting in the corner. Then she walked over to the machine, pressing down against the red button, causing it to come to a stop.

It did so really slowly, but she waited. And after its last spin, she threw her costume inside, letting it mix with the rest of the clothes. Then she copied the same actions Dick did, minus the blue liquid part, ending it by holding down the start button.

And the machine roared to life again.

“ ... And on today’s news, another sighting of the masked vigilante has been confirmed by the NYPD’s commissioner, even as the mayor continues to deny their existence. Last night, a seven-year-old girl was separated from her mother after being kidnapped by the father; however, she was later dropped off in front of a police station by the unknown vigilante… Here’s what the girl has to say herself… ”

Cassandra sat crisscrossed in front of the television on the carpeted floor, unlike Dick who was sitting lazy on the couch. She listened closely, even if she didn’t understand more than half of the words, smiling once the little girl’s face came on the screen. 

“ ... Is this on TV? For everyone to see… ”

The little girl asked innocently, looking away from the camera briefly before looking directly into the lenses. She was also still clinging onto the same teddy bear from last night with her right arm, and her left hand was clutching onto a woman’s hand. Presumably her mother’s.

“ ... Thank you, Miss Batsy! ” 

The little girl said into the microphone with a wide smile, showing her broken front tooth as well. 

Cassandra kept the uncontrollable smile on her face, unbeknownst to Dick. 

“ ... Is there a particular reason you’re calling her that? ”

The interviewer asked into the same microphone.

“ ... Because she was a Bat! Obviously! ”

She did an all-knowing nod at the girl’s words.

Then the sound of a wheelchair caught her attention, looking up and turning her head to see Barbara rolling into the living room. She waved her hand at Cassandra, and the girl did a little wave of her own in response. The girl also noticed there was a strange array of items sitting on her lap.

“Hey Cassandra! Take a look at this.” Barbara called her over, and put the things on the low table behind Cassandra.

She turned her whole body around and scooched around until she sat close to the low table, her legs still crisscrossed. Cassandra looked excitedly at the strange brown leather-looking object and the folded-up piece of paper. And not the index card with more words than she could count on it. She really hoped it was going to be something other than a new word to learn.

“This is what’s called a wallet. And you keep things inside of it, like this.” Barbara opened the wallet and slid a green paper bill into it. “That’ll be a week’s allowance, a whole fifty. Keep it in here where it's safe until you find a need for it.” 

Cassandra’s smile widened and her head shook up and down enthusiastically, both her hands were resting on the very edge of the table, and her eyes were practically glowing like fireflies.

“And this is a… Introduction card. It includes our address, your name, age, mine and Dick’s numbers, and everything else in between. If you run into trouble, they’ll have no problem understanding you after you give them this.” She explained, holding the index card up and pointing at a doodle that resembled the little girl. 

“Ca… Caaaarrrr… Caaaarrrrrrtttt…” The girl tried her best to replicate the sound, searching in her head to find an example that Barbara had said a moment ago.

“Car-d. C-a-r-d.” She said, “We’ll practice tomorrow.” Barbara smirked as those last words exited her mouth.

Cassandra frowned, but already accepted her faith, even if it wasn’t fun, its importance was clear. And at least she knew what she was going to be learning tomorrow. 

“Oh! Almost forgot, this is a map. The entire city! Along with every public transportation line.” Barbara said before unfolding the square piece of paper.

And it was big, like, almost the size of the dinner table’s box TV screen. There were five colored areas, each labeled with a word she didn’t recognize, except for two. A Manhattan, the center of where everything was. And Brooklyn, the one she lived in.

It was a bit overwhelming, so many symbols, lines, dots, and different colors. Then Casandra turned her attention to the wallet, running her hand over to feel its leather texture. It was exciting to receive another ‘gift’ from Barbara. 

“Now, you can use the map to travel around the city instead of just this neighborhood!” She said excitedly. 

Cassandra merely kept on smiling, too captivated by the pattern and the little details of her new possessions. Not that she’d have understood anyway.

Barbara had a smug smile on, like a mother who’d just given their child candy for the first time. Dick was watching from the side, a sly smile arching on his face once he realized an oversight in Barbara’s plan.

“Shouldn’t you have gotten her a Metro card too?” Dick said with an eyebrow raised.

They made eye contact for a full five seconds, a staring contest, which Barbara ended by turning her head in the opposite direction to adjust her glasses. He could almost laugh at her. 

“That’s for next time, no need to overwhelm the poor girl,” Barbara replied nonchalantly. 

All while Cassandra was still playing around with the wallet, opening and closing it repeatedly. 

She will get it done by tomorrow. 

The station reeked of god knows what. Cassandra hadn’t smelled anything like it since her own time wandering god knows where. But as the girl exited the station and breathed in the fresh air, she felt a spurt of energy that rushed through her whole body, and Cassandra looked at the lively street in front of her. 

This place was… Different. Weird symbols that weren’t the alphabet. Shoppers and vendors alike flooded the street; there was very little space to try to pass somebody, so she had to just go with the crowd. 

According to the map, this area of Brooklyn was called Flush… Ing… Like the toilet flush..? And ing as in… Cassandra didn’t want to think about it as her head began hurting, voice language was just so much more complicated than it needed to be, unlike the language of the body. But Barbara and Dick practically made her go there first.

It was in a different colored area than the one she lived in, some place called Queens.

Cassandra kept on following the crowd, specifically the person in front of her. This went on for a good while, the person even began walking faster and took four right turns, very strange. Then the person entered a strange and big-looking building. Like huge! Almost like those warehouses she used to take shelter in, or the apartment complex she was currently residing in. But even bigger!

And while she was distracted, the person she’d been following ran to the opposite side of the building and through that exit.

She walked inside cautiously, stopping to see that a sign had ‘New World Mall’ on it. 

If only she could read.

There were surprisingly fewer people inside here than outside, yet still a good amount walking around with shopping bags.

The girl walked without stalking- Following anyone, taking the strange moving stairs up, which she didn’t want to know how they worked. There were a lot of… Rooms, some big, some small. And very different in variety, too. Some food, some clothes, and one was practically just a supermarket. 

Cassandra walked a full three circles around the entire floor, exploring and taking in everything there was. Everyone seemed to be… In a different style as to say, as were the people, seeing very little resemblance between them and the people in her neighborhood, down to the face. Then she took the magical moving stairs up to another floor, seeing even more stores and merchandise displayed behind massive glass panes. 

The girl was sucked into it, smiling with her hands in her jean’s pockets. Everything was just so intriguing, so-

A blonde girl, dressed really nicely, bumped into her shoulder as she speed walked in the opposite direction, only to seemingly slip on thin air. As she began falling on her back, Cassandra dashed over in one swift motion, adjusting both her arms so her back would fall perfectly into them softly.

And so that happened, Cassandra ended up carrying the girl who clutched onto her purse like her life depended on it. It was like that one movie that Dick played, the one where the man sweeped the princess up. The way she carried the blonde was strikingly similar.

Cassandra was mesmerized, staring at her face, more specifically her diamond blue eyes.

“H-Hi?” 

The girl sounded more confused about what had happened more than anything. One moment falling and another being carried by a stranger. Probably still processing what happened.

“Hi.”

Cassandra said back, snapping out of it. She internally scolded herself. 

“So, ugh- Thanks?” 

Cassandra nodded, slowly placing her back on her feet. 

“Um, Well- I guess I should introduce myself. Stephanie Brown. And uh, sorry for bumping into you, that was pretty rude.” The blonde girl while avoiding eye contact and twirling her hair. Cassandra could read that she felt guilty and had a sense of shame.

Cassandra responded by pulling out her wallet, and pulling her introduction card out of it before offering it to Stephanie. The blonde accepted without a second thought, bringing it right up to her face as she began reading.

“Hey Cassandra… Oh, you’re a year older than me, and… Dyslexia… Don’t know English… Or…” Steph blinked twice to see if she was hallucinating or not, and her conclusion left her with more questions than when she first read the index card. But hey, there was a cute little doodle of her.

Then the girl pointed to herself and said, “Cassandra.” 

“Yeah, I think I get that.”

There was a brief moment of awkward silence before the blonde took it upon herself to break it, handing the introduction card back to its owner.

“Mind if I just call you Cass? Cassandra is a bit too formal for my tastes. Oh, and you can call me Steph, too! Everyone else I know does.” Steph offered joyfully with a smile.

Cassandra tilted her head and stared intently at Steph.

“C… Cass…”

The word went out perfectly as she moved her lips. Short, easy, and it didn’t sound like three words in one. The girl’s face went neutral as she thought about it harder. 

“Do you not like that-”

“S… Steph…”

She came to the conclusion that aberrations were, in fact, a lot easier. 

“Yeah, you get it! Shortening names is just so much easier.” Steph stated proudly, waving her arm across the air.

Cass nodded, not at what Steph had said, but at the… New name she acquired. 

“So, what’cha doing out here in Queens, stranger from Brooklyn?” She asked in a playful tone, slightly shifting her body closer.

“Ahh… Ahh…” Cass didn’t know how to respond, only making an incoherent sound with her mouth.

This raised some concern in the blonde.

“Are you lost?”

Cass shook her head. A clear indicator of no. She looked for the right sound- words in her head, slowly piecing them in order and…

“Exp… Loring…”

“Oh, I see… Then I suppose you have free time?”

Cass nodded her head. A clear indication of yes, this time.

“Well, you don’t mind listening to me, right? Or, um- As much as you could understand.” 

Steph really wanted her to say yes.

“Yes.”

“Right now, I’m supposed to be watching a movie with my boyfriend, who’s nowhere to be seen and hasn’t texted me in days. We were also supposed to have eaten at the food court before the movie. I even dressed up all nicely, thinking he would- Ugh, that’s kinda on me. My mom always yells how bad my taste in boys are, and I guess that’s true, but she doesn’t have to be all pissy about it!” Steph screamed into the air as onlookers stopped to look before continuing on their merry way like nothing happened.

Cass just stood there quietly, trying to take it all in, the words that came out of her mouth. The emotions and feelings expressed through her body movements. It was quite interesting.

“And he’s always so jealous! And angry! He never wants me to hang around my friends at lunch or even sit next to them in class. Our English teacher even has to tell him he can’t just swap with the guy next to me because he wants to. I just… Don’t think I can with him anymore.” Steph said, lightly slapping her hand into her own forehead. 

“Bad…” That was all Cass could say based on Steph’s frustrated face alone.

She slowly grabbed Steph’s hand that was on her forehead, taking it into the middle between them and giving it a gentle fist bump into her palm. This caused Steph to smile sheepishly, looking at the awkward gesture their hands were making. 

Usually, people just did fist bumps around here.

“Yes. He’s very bad. And… I think I should break up with him already. Ugh, but that’d make four. Four before sophomore year starts isn’t good at all…” Steph muttered to herself.

Cass found it confusing. Relationships between males and females. Boy and girl. Man and Woman. The only other example she had was Dick and Barbara, but she wasn’t sure what they were to each other at all, besides the fact they were roommates since they both slept in the same room.

“So, um, sorry to dump all that on you and whatnot. But what I’m getting at is, you wanna be my plus one? See WALL-E with me, stranger I met ten minutes ago? Free of charge, courtesy of yours truly.” Steph let go and grabbed onto the sleeve of the girl’s green sweater.

The black haired girl nodded her head and walked with her. Steph let a smirk rise onto her face, turning her head back.

“You seem pretty cool for someone new around here.”

Chapter Text

The ringing alarm was annoying, and it was genuinely starting to hurt her ears. A bank being robbed was nothing new; she’d seen it in movies and the news before, but this one was something else. Because she had to stop it at the moment… Somehow. The bank itself was rather interesting - unique, in that it wasn’t anything like the movies, with all white, super clear, and flat surfaces. No, this one was old, a classy feel.

Her fingers danced around the gargoyle’s eyes as she was perched on it, biding her time. Even while dressed all black in a brightly lit room, no one noticed her or even bothered to look up, not even a rat. 

There were four gunmen, two guarding hostages, and two currently hauling the manager to open the vault. Police hadn’t arrived yet, or even been alerted, but they still acted as if they were under a time constraint. They were like professional robbers from the movie Dick had watched four days ago.

While they were armed with automatic guns and Kevlar vests, but she wasn’t, the girl dared to continue. The Bat leaned forward, diving off the stone gargoyle, and towards the smaller gunmen with a beard. 

She was perfect.

Not good.

Not better than expected.

Perfect. 

Absolutely perfect at fighting. 

She was made for it. 

The force of the fall was transferred into the man’s forehead with a knee kick, only slightly slowed down with her cape extended, making her look like an actual giant bat. The man fell down immediately, but before the sound of his downfall could echo across the room, she was already at the second man’s face, slamming her elbow into his cheek, also knocking him out.

The hit was hard, but it was enough to knock him out in one go, and not enough to break anything permanently. 

“AHHH!” A shriek was heard, and the Bat turned around to see that it was from a little girl, her mother now covering the little girl’s mouth, also seeing the rest of the confused and horrified looks of the hostages. 

Then she turned to the knocked-out man. He looked like just anyone else while taking a nap in the afternoon. Did she have to be more gentle?

The Bat noted it for next time, tucking her arms back into her cape and using it like a coat, now completely covered in darkness. She ran off towards the restricted inner area of the bank, not that anyone would mind, and ran straight past the authorized personnel only sign. She saw the manager trying to turn the combination lock open, struggling as she was panicking with the gun right next to her head. 

“Come on, we don’t have all day here!” The man who had his gun’s barrel pressed against her head shouted. It didn’t help, only making the woman perform another mistake in inputting the code and restarting. 

She thought about it for a moment, considering how to ensure everybody got out alive and the most enjoyable way to take them down. The Bat stood at the doorway, slowly raising her fist, and knocked on the wall twice.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, even the gun was lowered… And then pointed at the Bat instead.

“Kill that damn freak already!” One of the men shouted, holding down the trigger and letting out an instant burst of automatic rifle fire. 

The Bat charged, zigzagging around and dodging the bullets before getting right up close and personal, enough to perform a scissor kick, her legs between his head as he lost balance and hit the floor, head first.

The second gunman didn’t meet a much different fate, receiving an uppercut that sent him flying and to the land where dreams occur. His lying body was still on the cold marble floor. And she stood over it, thinking- the sudden loss of consciousness and its consequences- most likely confusion, dizziness, and minor memory loss. 

The manager fell backwards in fear, snapping the Bat’s attention back to the hostage. 

“P-Please!” 

The Bat walked over to her as the manager shielded her head with her arms. 

“Here… Help…” 

The Bat extended her hand, intending to assist the woman to her feet. And the manager took it, the Bat could feel her trembling hand, the result of her near-death experience. One finger away from passing on. It was rather frightening. 

She led the manager back to the lobby with the other hostages, holding her hand tightly all the way through. The other hostages had mixed reactions- some turned away, others looked on with fear, some with curiosity, and some with admiration. One of them- a young boy who was sitting on the floor spoke up.

“W-Who are you?” 

She let the cape fall to her shoulders, revealing her belt and yellow outlined symbol, and pointed at it with her finger.

“Bat.”

She mouthed. To which the boy nodded in response. They stared at one other without blinking, even if her mask covered her eyes, making them look empty- like a void. 

The sound of a small explosion and hinges flying off of the lobby doors sent the Bat running in the opposite direction- she was booking it, as Dick would put it. She remembered there was a back exit that led to the parking lot, which she followed, and bolted straight out. There she kept on running, away from the probably nice and very not evil police officers in SWAT gear chasing her with guns. 

The Bat disappearing into the dark alleyway, like a rat disappearing into a hole in the wall, it was like she was consumed by the night itself. And so the cops chasing her stopped, catching their breaths at the entrance as they stared into it. But little did they know, she was there, staring back at them, watching- observing. Like a man staring into the void, and the creature residing in it stares back. 

“Well…” The man ripped his balaclava mask down and took a big breath, also revealing a beautiful mustache. “At least we know what the mayor’s saying is complete and utter s-”

“In and out, in and out, in and out. If you keep this pattern up, it’ll eventually make itself.” 

Dick’s hands moved gracefully with the knitting needles, gracefully interweaving the threads of yarn into a soft blue patch of cloth. Loop after loop, it grew like a house cat would after overfeeding. The needles clicked rhythmically as water droplets hit the living room’s window, almost like a melody when combined with Dick’s humming. And the ball of yarn slowly unraveled itself, shrinking as he continued to work it.

Cass did what she knew best and mimicked, every movement down to the last, perfectly. They were so in sync that someone could have walked in and assumed they were siblings- on the same wavelength. Two people, sitting on the couch with the TV on in the background, all on a rainy day. This craft was nice. It didn’t require natural talent, months of training, or overly expensive special tools. Just yarn, knitting needles, and patience. 

“Huh, you’re pretty good at this,” Dick remarked, looking at how her socks were coming along, yet still knitting his own without looking. 

The girl smiled, feeling the pride she got from the compliment course through her chest, and continued knitting away indifferently. As casual as a bee. This really was a nice change of pace, learning to do something more physical and fun than just words and writing.

“Have you done this before? It’s like you were made for this.” He asked, now attempting to make eye contact, which she reciprocated. This was a pretty bad idea, sharp needles moving without supervision- it was basically asking for something to happen.

Cass was also now knitting without looking- being careful. Children tend to copy adult figures in their lives, almost like sponges, soaking up all their habits and information. But she still remained cool, yet soaked up the compliment inside, smiling as she always did. 

“Haha, never the one for- Ah!” Dick yelped in shock and the minor pain, biting his lower lip. He couldn’t swear in front of the kid, especially influential teenagers. 

She stopped, gently putting down the knitted cloth and pair of knitting needles on her lap, then the girl grabbed his hand. Cass pressed the tip of his finger, which was bleeding, with two of her own fingers like she was sandwiching it. Dick realized what she was doing as he felt his finger go ever so slightly numb, the blood flow to his finger had stopped.

“Huh, you have a few tricks of your own, it seems. I guess you know more than we give you credit for.” He said, drawing a tissue from a nearby box to wipe the negligible amount of blood from his finger and then Cass’s. 

She didn’t resist, letting her hand be grabbed as Dick wiped it. A fair deal, it would seem.

“Sometimes, I really wonder what’s going on inside your head. You just act like such a mystery all the time.” Dick continued, smiling with a good amount of hopelessness due to how it seemed he couldn’t get a word or conversation going with her, he knew a certain someone else could be doing better. 

And almost as if on queue, Barbara rolled into the living room with a box sitting on her lap, dressed in what could be considered lazy clothing- an oversized hoodie borrowed from Dick and sweatpants.

“Not interrupting any of your bonding time, I hope.” She commented happily, revealing her upbeat mood, mostly attributed to the fact that today was a Saturday- a day which they were off with nothing to do- no responsibility to fulfill.

“Not at all, Babs.” 

“Check this out, Cassandra,” Barbara said with approval, as Cass’s brown eyes started glowing in anticipation as she figured out what her adoptive mother was about to do. 

But then she remembered.

“Cass.” The girl corrected while thinking back to her encounter last week.

“Huh?” 

“Fri… End… Gave me…” The girl mouthed slowly, smiling softly as she reminisced- her blonde quirky friend, who was almost as weird as her. 

“Oh, a nickname? Wait, you made a friend!?” Barbara shouted, eyes widening as she realized that Cass actually socialized with someone without her or Dick’s help. The simulated possibilities ran in her head. Who, what, when, where, why, and how questions threatened to escape the redhead’s mouth like a rapid-firing Nerf gun.

Cass’s smile glowed up as she used her legs to scooch over to Barbara, whilst still sitting criss-cross applesauce on the couch.

And Dick sighed, Cass and Barbara’s relationship seemed to evolve swimmingly- naturally, yet his and Cass’s were almost identical since day one. Hell, she’s even making friends now.

“I’m guessing you don’t have a way to keep in contact?” Barbara asked after a little realization, imagining how confused her friend- the girl- or boy, must’ve been when asking for a phone number.

The girl shook her head twice, indicating a clear no, to nobody’s surprise. 

“Yeah, I figured.” Barbara reached into the box on her lap and pulled something out. “But you’re in luck, guess what I found while I was digging through my old stuff.” 

It still had some dusk on it, a nice violet purple color too. She flipped it, revealing a screen and number pad, and a dozen other buttons. It was then that Cass revealed what it was- a flip phone that looked like what people in the movies used, not like Dick’s and Barbara’s, which were touchscreen with only a single digit of buttons.

“This thing’s a little old, but it’ll last you.” Then she reached into the box and pulled something bigger out. “Along with this bad boy too.” 

The grey object was different- shaped like a rugged box with a perfectly round lens, and probably chrome plated based on the silver color. It even came with a sling attached. 

“I thought you threw that relic out?” Dick muttered as she blew the dust off of the camera. 

“Sorry, but I actually cherish my middle school memories- most of them,” Barbara said as Dick cringed at her.

Cass merely stared on in intrigue, moving her head closer and silently tilting it, as if she didn’t have 20/20 vision. 

“You can use it like this.” Barbara pointed the camera’s lens at Dick, which he responded to with a picture-perfect smile. And with one click, a flash and snap sound occurred, then the camera ejected a small, colored picture. “And then tape the picture in this handbook, even ask for their number and name.”

“Magic.”

“Not magic, just some light and printing- science stuff.” 

She pulled out what seemed to be a notebook, but a lot smaller, and held together by a metal spring. Along with that, a pen and a small plastic tape dispenser. Barbara opened the first page, tapinging the picture of Dick onto it, before scripting something else underneath. Then she showed Cass.

The pages were exactly like her notebook with those lines, but in yellow instead of red. And underneath Dick’s colored photo was his name and a series of numbers- presumably his phone number based on the ‘three-three-four’ digits- which all phone numbers had. She knew what they were, but they were just too hard to remember, so Cass didn’t bother trying when she was already busy learning words. 

“It could be like your own personal phone book, with pictures of everyone- no words needed,” Barbara explained proudly, handing it over to the girl, who handled it carefully.

“Cool…” The girl murmured.

Cass’s hands grazed over the cover and pages, then the photo itself- feeling all the textures and memorizing them. Whatever the photo paper was- it was interesting, its texture was more unique compared to the others, its surface was… Glossy. 

“A great idea I came up with- neat, huh?” Babs gloated with pride, praising herself deep down.

“Neat…” Cass repeated. 

Barbara rubbed the girl’s hair, taking it as a win. Then she remembered Cass mentioned a friend and decided to take the initiative without much thinking. 

“You should invite your friend over for dinner when you can.” She commented.

“Are they a boy or a girl?” Dick asked suddenly, as soon as Barbara finished.

Barbara turned and looked at Dick, giving him a look that shouted she’d throw him out the window. It was too early for Cass to even have a single thought about romance, let alone a boy or a girl.

“What? You told me these things were important.” 

Ignoring him, Barbara turned back to Cass.

“Here, try to take a photo of me now.”

Cass was back in Flushing, Queens, again. It’d been a week since she’d been there, found a friend, and watched WALL-E. But in the end, they had to go their separate ways with a shaky promise of meeting together again next week at the same mall to hang out. Steph saw her address, but they lived rather far from each other, and without any way to contact each other. 

So there she was, standing at the entrance of the mall, standing out in the crowd as people walked around her. They were usually together with friends or family. But Cass was by herself, just with a camera slung around her neck this time. Should she go to the movie theater? The spot where they first met? Or just stay here at the entrance? But then again, there were three different entrances…

She thought about it, just standing there with a hand on her chin as she continued to stare at the marble floor, juggling the thoughts in her head. And all that thinking caused her stomach to growl like a bear coming out of hibernation.

“Oh…” The girl brought her hand down from her chin to her stomach, gently rubbing it.

Yeah, it wanted food.

Cass looked up- to the third floor, to be exact. She remembered there was a place with a lot of stores that sold food and drinks, all clustered together in one area… It was called the cafeteria, if she remembered correctly. 

And so that was her destination. Two escalator trips later, she was walking on the third floor, towards the cafeteria, as the scent of all kinds of foods entered her nose. But then she stopped. Right as she was about to make a right turn into the cafeteria area filled with all kinds of food stores. 

It was just a small, sweet, rich aroma coming from the shop she just walked past. So she did a 180 and walked before stopping again, and looked at the store sign. 

Brenda’s cafe.

That was its name. And cafes sold food, right?

Cass went inside and noticed a few things immediately. First was how rather quiet it was, compared to the outside- the rest of the mall- and the fact that there were no pictures of food anywhere. Just a display of bakery goods and a chalkboard with words and numbers hanging on the ceiling above the counter. 

Then she saw there was a line, so she got into it. It was small, with only two people in front of her. The woman at the front left after receiving a drink and a sandwich that was half wrapped in paper. As the next customer ordered, she noticed that the menu was simply a chalkboard with names, prices, and small drawings. It was rather cute. The man pointed and his finger levitated just above a small drawing of a teacup, then said some words that she didn’t bother to follow. 

And after two minutes, it was finally her turn. The girl moved up and looked down at the menu, then at the worker.

“What would you like?” The cashier asked. They had red hair, almost like Barbara’s, but slightly less red, and their hair was a lot shorter. Even smaller than Dick’s. But like Barbara, she also wore glasses. Along with a few piercings. 

She then lowered her head and made the same gesture as the previous customer, pointing at the drawing of a cup with something inside. 

“Anything else?” They asked. 

“No… Thanks…” Cass replied politely. 

“Yeah, Assam’s the signature. It’s the first thing most newcomers order, but it's not for everyone.” The worker spoke as she left the register and grabbed a paper cup along the way. 

“Assss… Ssaaahhm?” The girl tried her best to repeat the sound, yet failed like a fish trying to fly.

“Assam, you know, the tea you ordered?” The worker held the paper cup under the machine before pressing the switch, causing the dispenser to start spewing out the tea.

“Oh… Okay…” She said quietly.

The cup was filled to the top, and the worker placed a lid with a small opening to drink from, pressing down to make sure it was shut tight. Then the worker stepped back towards the cash register and placed the drink in front of her on the counter.

“Here you go, honey. It’ll be 4.27. Cash or car?” She said, 

Cass did as she always did, pulling out her wallet and taking all the money she had out, and placed it on the counter. It’s what she’d been doing since Dick started giving her a weekly allowance. And it worked, most of the time, the people took the cash needed and slid the rest back to her. Sometimes she even got a bit of the money back in a different form!

But this time… It was different. 

“Hey, um, not to be that type of guy, but this is two quarters and a dime short.” The worker said after counting the few bills and a pile of coins.

The girl tilted her head, not knowing more than half the words that exited her mouth. This was unexpected, but based on her body reading- she was concerned about something. But what? And better yet, what could she say?

“Do you-”

“Hey Brenda, I’ll cover it! This is a friend of mine.” 

Cass heard a strangely familiar voice from behind her. One that was unforgettable. And then an arm slung around her right shoulder, turning to see, it was someone with a purple jacket on- slender arm too, must be a woman- girl. And then she realized. 

“Steph!” She shouted as she turned her head left to see Steph’s face. Then her friend reached for her wallet, pulling out a dollar and dropping it onto the counter. 

“Put the rest in the tip jar for me.” She said with a smile on her face. 

“Sure, didn’t know this was your friend. But have a nice day, you two.” Brenda wished off, hitting the buttons on the register, threw in the bills, and then put a few coins into the tip jar.

Cass took that as the sign she could take her drink, and she did so. It was warm, not piping hot like coffee she sometimes ordered from other places, but it could be a different story inside. She brought the cup up to her lips and sipped, tasting the strong flavor with hints of chocolate and astringent. 

“See ya, Brenda.” Steph waved goodbye as she practically dragged Cass out of the cafe with an arm around her shoulder again. The poor girl almost spilled her newly bought tea because of it.

The two friends exited the cafe and headed in the direction of the cafeteria. 

“You know, I thought someone like you would’ve been standing at one of the entrances, or at least the first floor,” Steph said with a massive grin directed at her as they entered the food court. 

“Tired,” Cass said and pointed at her belly. Probably wasn’t the right word, but close enough. 

“And that tea’s supposed to make it better?” Steph raised an eyebrow, questioning her friend. Then she slid her hand from Cass’s shoulder down to her hand, holding it tightly.

Cass shrugged in response to the question, but looked down to see her hand being held. It made something tingle. But Steph herself showed no difference at all. Like it was something normal to do between friends. So the girl concluded it must’ve been. 

“Come on, it’ll be my treat- seeing how you don’t have anything else right now.” Steph began dragging her along.

“Wait.” Cass held back, planting her feet. Then she pulled back her hand that Steph was holding, and held the camera with both hands, aiming it at her. She tried her best to line it up, like the way Barbara showed her. 

Steph understood the assignment, pulling her eyelids down to show off the bright red blepharitis with her left hand, opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, then she threw up a peace sign with her right hand. It was… Almost what Dick did when Barbara took a photo of him. A pose. She held the button down, and a snapping sound happened. Then, after a few seconds, the picture came rolling out. 

“Wow, this looks pretty good, considering this thing’s basically ancient. Your grandpa gift it to you or something?” Steph joked, looking at the picture that Cass was holding in her hand as she magically appeared next to her.

Cass paid it no attention, digging into her right pocket to pull out a tape dispenser, her phone book, and a pen. That earned a really weird look from Steph. 

“You carry a tape dispenser in your pocket?” She raised her eyebrow even higher this time.

The girl flipped to the second page, then cut out four pieces of tape, one for each of her fingers, excluding her thumb. Then she perfectly aligned the photo on the page and applied the tape to secure it. 

“Number.” Cass held her hands out, offering both the book and her pen. 

“Oh, my number already? Daring now, are we?” Steph said with an exaggerated royal tone. “Nah, just kidding, gimme that.” 

She turned the book to face her, then wrote her number down. Three-three-four. Just the number of digits that Cass expected. But then Steph did something else- she drew something on the photo of herself. It somewhat resembles words, yet different. 

And she got her book and pen back.

“And there, a signed autograph and my phone number from yours truly. Just give me a call later and I’ll save the number.” She said whilst flicking her hair, then made a telephone gesture and shook it next to her ear.

Cass smiled, clutching onto her phone book and pen, because today was going to be a good day.

This place was quiet, very quiet- considering the number of people in here. Reading on tables, reading on computers, and reading on the floor itself… There was a lot of reading going on here. This place called a ‘library.’ Which lends out books for free, funded by the city.

Cass was here together with Barbara because she said she had to return books she’d borrowed for a few weeks, and then probably borrow some more. So while Barbara was handling that, Cass was exploring, wandering around, having her own little discovery adventure. 

She passed by the aisles one by one, seeing all kinds of book covers, and all different sizes. Some were colorful and thin, others were mute and as thick as a brick, but they all had one thing in common- that being words. The girl was about to make a turn into the next aisle when something hit her head from behind- rather, not something, but someone. 

It was basically happening in slow motion to her. Cass’s hand flicked out in an instant and grabbed onto the girl’s arm, preventing her from falling. Then she noticed her features. Blonde hair- a lot like Steph’s but shorter, a pair of blue eyes- also like Steph’s, a salmon colored headband, nerdy glasses, and a lot more casual clothing compared to Steph- at least compared to the few times that Cass’s seen her.

“Sorry!” The girl with glasses yelped, then adjusted her glasses.

Cass pulled, helping her back up to her feet, much to the girl with glasses’s relief- expressed with a sigh of relief. 

“My bad. I wasn’t looking forward. Haha.” The girl with glasses laughed awkwardly, still clinging to the books around her arm tightly. 

Cass just kept on her trademark smile as she always did. 

“I’ve never seen you here before. Are you new around Queens?” The girl with glasses asked as she composed herself.

“Brooklyn.” She replied, then pointed with her finger at Barbara, who was in a line at the checkout desk. 

The girl with glasses looked at the redhead, then at Cass, then back at the redhead. 

“With.”

“Oh, so you’re running an errand with… Your guardian?” She asked again with a bit of caution. 

Cass nodded happily. Nothing strange at all.

Then the girl’s phone began to ring. In the library. She quickly reached for it in her back pocket and declined the phone call, but then she also noticed the time.

“Ah, I gotta go! Uh, where are my manners? My name’s Gwen- Gwen Stacy.” Gwen introduced herself, offering a handshake that Cass accepted.

Then her eyes darted down to view the stack of three books pressed against her chest.

“Book.”

“Oh, if you want a recommendation…” Her eyes went all over the place, looking for something. “This one’s pretty good, it’s about a boy who has to hide that he’s a third child because having more than three children is illegal in the future!” 

Gwen reached out to the shelf, sliding the book out and handing it to the girl. 

“Thank… You.” Cass said as her hand felt the book’s hardcover.

“No problem. If you become a regular here, I can give you recommendations the next time we bump into each other.” Gwen said excitedly. 

But then her phone began to ring again, and she frowned, showing her disappointment before a sense of urgency rose. 

“Darn, I really have to go now, see you.” The blonde girl said in a hushed tone. 

As the blonde girl turned and left, Cass did her small wave as she faced the girl’s back before deciding it was probably a good idea to end her adventure here and go back to Barbara. 

And with that in mind, she quickly spotted the unmistakable redhead who was now at the front of the line, talking to the woman on the opposite side of the desk. Cass went up to her adoptive mother, speed walking as quietly as a mouse, and showed her the book.

“I’m sure Dick can read it as a bedtime story,” Barbara said with a smirk, taking the book and reading its title. 

Then she handed the book over to the librarian behind the counter.

Another book to borrow. 

Board Games were fun. Perfect family games that were designed for people of all ages, with casual and strategic elements in their DNA, and for competition. Especially Monopoly, a game with seemingly no end, other than bankrupting opponents, which almost never happens due to taking too long, so most of the time, the winning condition was decided by the players themselves. And in this case, the one with the most money after an hour.

The dice rolled, and Cass moved the duck, her game representation, accordingly. 

Five steps.

It landed on something blue. And blue always meant good.

“Buy.”

“Park Lane. Sold for three-fifty.” Barbara placed a green house on the tile, then dedicated the money from Cass’s stack of Monopoly money, fulfilling her role as the banker.

“Argh, Park Lane and Mayfair? You’re just too lucky.” Dick commented whilst scratching his head. 

“Or maybe she’s just a better capitalist than you,” Barbara replied with a teasing smirk, then rolled the dice as it was her turn now.

Three steps. 

Her horse token landed on a property with a red house.

“Pay up rent.” Dick said with a grin and did a ‘give me’ gesture with his hand.

“Now that was luck.”

“Or skill. Maybe a bit of karma in the mix.” 

Then Dick rolled the dice.

One step.

His car token landed on the community chest. And so his hand reached for a red deck of cards, taking a single one off the top. Then he read it.

“Get out of jail free.” 

He showed it off to the two of them.

Barbara sighed with disbelief while Cass pouted. The girl remembered all the times she had to pay fifty to get out of jail. 

“Oh, yeah, Cass.” Barbara was overcome with a brief realization, then turned her head to face Cass.

Cass responded in kind, turning to face her adoptive mother.

“How do you feel about going to school?” Barbara asked suddenly. Truly a question from nowhere. 

She thought about it for a moment, like the main character from the book Dick read to her for bedtime- a story about a boy who had to survive while hidden under a staircase by his family. Only able to hear of stories of the outside world from them- including something called school. 

A place for learning. 

A place for making friends.

And most importantly, a place for discovery. 

“Sounds… Fun…” 

Being all dressed up for school early in the morning and catching the bus. Just like in a TV show. Cass smiled at that idea. Her- living her perfectly normal life. 

“Then I’ll sign you up.”