"You're suspended. You are no longer Batgirl, pack your things and evict the cave." Batman said. The words rang through her ears, like a brick slamming into her, compressing the air from her chest. Her name was Cassandra Cain. And she was Batgirl. Until Batman pulled this little stunt of throwing her off.
"No." Her voice cracked. Cass would've listened to Bruce under any circumstance, that was a given. But she was damn sure going to fight this one.
"Excuse me?" The dark knight asked. She met his gaze. The bat-glare didn't affect her, not even a slight hesitation in her body.
"I said, no." The girl was testing her luck at this point, but she kept roaring, throwing her own glare back at him, "You have messed up many times before this. Nightwing left, you fired Stephanie, Oracle is in a wheelchair, Robin and you have had how many ups and downs over the years? These are all your faults and you and I both know it, whether you choose to admit it or not."
Batman grinded his teeth in a menacing way, but it didn't faze her, "I know I have messed up, but you have errors in your life too. I let you in because I saw potential. I saw the difference in you. You could walk away from that life, that life of corruption. I thought you could obey the set rules and help salvage this city from the hell it's in, but you denied direct orders. You let the criminal get away, and got yourself in the line of fire."
Very rarely did she argue, but Bruce was simply baiting her at this point, "The criminal? You say that phrase too leisurely. Have you forgotten that the 'criminal' was Jason Todd? He was your son. You have simply turned your back on him. He isn't just a criminal Batman,"
"Yes he is Cassandra. He is a merciless killer. He seeks vengeance and that's it." Bruce's words hung coldly in the air.
She turned away from him. She couldn't stand to look at him, but if she could, he would've seen the hurt that reflected widely in her chocolate brown eyes. They shined glassily, her thoughts catching up to her.
"Perhaps, but you claim him as merciless. If this were true then why didn't he even attempt to kill me? Red Hood let me live, yet he doesn't know me. He only saw my face when my mask was blown off in the explosion. Even then, he protected me from the blast," She said, her eyes shooting daggers at him, "That isn't exactly merciless."
Bruce looked to the display case that had Jason's Robin costume in it, "He lured you into a trap. That building was rigged to go off. He's merely trying to keep your attention. That's what killers do. That's why he saved you. You'll be another pawn in his game. Or maybe it was basic interest. Either way you cut it, he is a criminal. Nothing more."
Cass stood leaning on the computer table. She still had her suit on, but her cowl was sitting on the table next to her. Her short black hair was framing her face in an almost… dark manner. He anger seemed as if it was seething off of her. She picked up her cowl, tinkering with it, tracing over the stitches of the mouth piece with her index finger.
"No. You're wrong. He's not just a criminal. He's just broken, left alone in his own personal crucible. And you offered a hand to help him out of the water but he couldn't reach it. So, what, you gave up? You just drew your hand back because it got too hard to help him?" She barked at him, "Jason Todd saved my life. Now I'm going to save his. So change the locks, it wouldn't be the first time you've done that. I don't work for you anymore. As Batgirl or not, I'll bring him back from his crucible." And with that, she threw her mask onto the table, turning out of the cave.