This short series focuses on the mentor/mentee relationship between the original team and the new team. There will be five chapters, each one focusing on a different pairing and a different skill to learn. Everything has already been written, so I will hopefully be updating daily. Also, there are no spoilers for after True Colors.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
Growth by Degrees
Dick, Cassie; stealth
takes place after the events of Beneath
It doesn't surprise Dick that it takes Cassie almost ten minutes to realize he's standing in the doorway. But when she does notice, she's so surprised that she spins too quickly, tripping over her own feet with blonde hair splayed out haphazardly against the training mats.
"Oh, hey boss," she says brightly, quick to pull herself up to a standing position.
"Hey Miss Cassie," he smiles, still leaning against the doorframe. "Since Wonder Woman's off world, I thought maybe I'd train you."
Cassie looks like she might actually bubble over from excitement as he pushes away from the doorframe to step closer to where she's standing.
"Great!" Cassie exclaims, excitedly adjusting the metal cuffs on her wrists. "I've been training with a lot of people since she's left."
"So I've heard," he nods. She looks a bit wary at his comment, like she knows what people have said.
Most of the senior members of the team have taken the time to work with her, but each have come back after a few sessions. M'gann put it the most tactfully, saying that Cassie has more energy than she had expected. It's no secret that Cassie's still new to the superhero gig. M'gann, Barbara, and Karen came back from their latest mission at Bialya with the same general notes: very talented and dedicated, but brash, raw, and, to quote Karen, "Wonder Girl, not Stealther Girl."
"You're making progress," Dick assures her, brushing aside her insecurities.
"Really?" she asks, hope coloring her thin voice.
Dick nods, mouth quirked in a smile. When they first met her, her hits had been sloppy and her determination aimless. But since joining the team, she's been training diligently.
Reassured and confident once more, Cassie continues on blithely.
"So what do you want to work on, boss?" She repositions herself to a fighting stance, fists held out and arm muscles taut with purpose. "Hand to hand combat?"
Dick shakes his head. "That's more Black Canary's area. I actually thought we'd work on stealth."
"Great!"
Cassie immediately flies herself over to the wall, nearly pressing herself flat against the concrete and looking around as though keeping lookout. She moves silently against the wall, her flight allowing her to hover a few inches above the ground. She glances over at Dick to make sure he's watching.
"I don't make any sound when I'm moving!" she tells him proudly. She gesticulates to her sneakers, feet jiggling madly. "See, no footsteps!
In her excitement, she swings her arms around and one hand smacks hard against the wall. She snatches it back, but not before leaving a small dent in the wall. Lowering herself back to the ground, she watches a few chips of fallen concrete bounce against the floor.
Immediately, she looks back at Dick, embarrassment clear on her pale features.
Undaunted, Dick smiles and walks towards her. "Okay, first thing first. What went wrong here?"
"I made noise," she sighs, rubbing her injured hand absentmindedly. Her tone sounds textbook ready, a repeat of what she's told her other trainers.
"And you left a mark," he informs her. He rubs a gloved thumb over the crack she had left behind. A few more grains of concrete fall from his touch. "This might not be very noticeable, but you could knock over something, make a mess. Something that would tip off someone looking for intruders."
"Oh!" she exclaims with an enthusiastic nod. "That makes sense."
Dick stares at her for a moment, eyes calculating through his domino mask to judge if she meant it or if she was just eager to say that she understood. Finally, he takes her at her word and walks back through the doorway to retrieve a box he'd brought over from the kitchen.
He heads to the small table where her water bottle sits and, removing it, covers the table with glasses, candlestick holders, bowls, and various utensils he managed to sneak away from M'gann. In the center of the table, he puts a quarter at the bottom of a small candy dish.
He meets her confused expression with simple instructions.
"Get the quarter."
She blinks once, twice, before her expression clouds with determination. Her eyebrows narrow and she juts her awkward jaw into a look of concentration. Without a single sound, she raises herself into the air until she is high above the table. Feet angled towards the ceiling, she descends as though from a crane until her hand can reach the dish and her fingers can snatch up the quarter.
Beaming, she flies back to Dick, quarter outstretched like a prize.
"Great," he exalts. Before the grin can leave her face, he places the quarter back in the dish with ease. "Now do it without flying."
The grin melts away as she looks back at the table, bottom lip caught between her teeth. Dick can practically see her mind whir as she eyes the many glasses and other obstacles blocking her arm's path.
But she moves forward, hand weaving through the dishes and she nearly reaches the candy dish before a misplaced elbow knocks over a tall drinking glass. It rolls loudly over a fork and spoon and lands on the training mat with a muted hit.
Cassie looks back at him as though expecting a reprimand, but he only smiles at her. He moves to her side to place the fallen glass back on the table before gripping her hand in is.
"Think compact," he informs her. He pulls her arm away from her body, his other hand settled on her shoulder to keep her body from moving. Once her arm is fully extended, he pulls his hand from hers in a way that leaves her fingers outstretched towards his. "Every part of your body is an extension of you, so you have complete control over everything."
She nods at his words, a dawning look of comprehension coloring her face in a more sincere way than when she had listened to him a few minutes prior. She moves slowly at first, curling her fingers in towards her palm before bringing her fist back to her chest with her elbow close at her side. Turning back towards the table, she walks around it to find an easier path.
Once she's nearly opposite Dick on the other side of the table, he can see her expression light up as she sees a new path. Her arm moves very slowly, too slowly to be effective in a mission, but training takes time. Deftly, she picks up the quarter, careful not to let the ridged sides brush against the glass. As she pulls away, her cocked wrist hits a knife resting inside a champagne glass and the sound of metal on glass resounds in the otherwise silent training room.
Despondently, Cassie tosses the quarter back into the candy dish with a plinking noise.
"I'm not very good at this," she admits, arms crossed and eyes looking away from Dick.
"That's why you're training," he reminds her. "Now c'mon. Let's try again."
She gives a tiny sigh, blowing her bangs away from her eyes, but she does not fight him. Instead she looks back at the table, an opponent she isn't willing to give in to.
"You know what my favorite thing about you is?" he says suddenly, jerking her attention away from the myriad of glasses. She looks up at him curiously, hands still held up by her sides. He smiles warmly before continuing, "Your enthusiasm. People can be so serious sometimes, so focused on training or on the job."
"Isn't that a good thing?" she questions, arms lowering as she looks at him with her head cocked to the side.
"Of course," he nods, "but sometimes I think people forget how cool it is to be a superhero. But you? You never forget that."
"I think it's the best thing in the world."
The sincerity in her voice does not surprise him, but the absolute strength in her resolve makes him grin even wider. He nods encouragingly at the table and watches with no small amount of pride as she maneuvers herself around the table with renewed enthusiasm.
This time as her hand guides through the glasses, nothing is touched by an elbow or a wrist. She manages to extract her hand with careful precision, quarter secure in her grip.
With her new success, Cassie shrieks with happiness before her eyes widen and she slaps a hand over her mouth.
Two steps forward, one step back, Dick thinks with a chuckle as he rearranges the glasses into a new challenge.
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