Even Angels Fall

"I'll remember you," she says. "I remember everyone who leaves."

Except she can never remember the most important ones. When she thinks back to the years before her retirement, the images are fuzzy. Sparkling cerulean eyes, pink lips stretched into a large smile accented by deep dimples, rosy cheeks, and bouncing blonde hair that framed the face she'll never be able to put a name to. The guilt of her folly will never quite fade from her mind but, she's found ways to push it down.

Until now.

Cassandra Cain is beautiful. She is kindness. She is strength. She is the second chance that Barbara will never get back. The second chance Barbara's had to get Batgirl taken seriously, the second chance Barbara's had to be a mentor to someone younger than her, and now, the second chance Barbara will have to put her perfect memory to use and try remember the forgotten.

Looking into those warm, brown eyes makes Barbara want to tear up. Cassandra seems to have quietly resigned to her fate. Then again, she was never much for words. Barbara thinks of the nights that they worked together, the evenings they sat and ate, the mornings they overslept…

Those peaceful silences now seem wasteful as she stands weighing words on her tongue that she'll never have enough time to speak.

"I wish I could stay." She knows that she can't. She can already feel that aura pulling her forward, drawing her into a newer version of their world. A twisted, uglier version where the bonds she's spent so long forging will no longer exist.

Gone will be her sisters in arms. Gone like the forgotten partner who once swung with her through the sky.

Her organization has crumpled, her operatives scattered, and her legacy ruined.

In their place, she will be given back her legs.

It doesn't seem like a fair trade.

She swears once more that she will remember.

When she opens her eyes, she is in her bedroom. She kicks off her covers and rises.

She has already forgotten.