This is a story that's been bumping around my head for a couple years and I finally put pen to paper.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by DC.
She can't sleep. Years of conditioning at her father's hands coupled with her travels from his reach kept her awake and alert. The unease she felt of being on a mission also played a part. She and Batman had come to Tarakstan in search of Dr. Death, the maniacal scientist who had slipped through their fingers in Gotham. Cassandra could still feel the guilt hanging heavy for her part in his escape. Batman had called her unfocused. He'd called her unreliable.
Cassandra opened her eyes and listened to the sounds and movements of the camp. She and Batman had set up their tents farther towards the river, near the outskirts of the camp. They held a natural distrust of the rebel faction but the need for rest was too great. She hadn't fully recovered from the jetlag and staying on edge was a recipe for exhaustion. Cassandra pulled up and tucked her legs to her chest, the days events continuing to run through her head. The kidnapping, the rescue, the strategy meeting with Dr. Vidorja and the Sakuri Lions.
She closed her eyes and tried to meditate and soon huffed in frustration. She couldn't focus on bringing her mind into itself and the tent began to feel suffocating. With resolve, she gathered her legs underneath herself and began to exit the tent. She paused at the mouth of the tent and cast a wary eye to Batman's tent. She heard and saw no movement and chided herself for fearing to upset him. She needed space and to be alone and grew agitated at the thought of his interference. She stole through the tall grasses and the laughable "security" of the rebels and found her way to the river's edge. The gentle lap of the water and the calming lull of the wind through the grass was more welcoming than the sounds of the camp. Cassandra lowered herself and assumed the lotus position. She fell into her rhythmic breathing and slowed her thoughts. She tried to focus on the feelings of confusion and angst she had been feeling lately but they were too many. Her "feelings" or "attractions" or whatever was going on in her head, towards Superboy were confusing enough without having to add in The Black WInd.
Her mind floated to the face of Tai'Darshan. She could not place what she thought or felt about him. She had first seen him that night, casually leaning against the van that had carried his comrades who were easily scattered across the ground. He was totally at ease and not the least bit fearful of her despite her display of capability. The way he had looked at her, was it respect, attraction, admiration, lust? She couldn't get a read on him and it showed. He practically saw her every move coming. He'd called her magnificent. He'd called her beautiful.
It was at that moment that the soft sway of the grass fell silent that Cassandra felt him. She had to stop the small smile that threatened to play on her lips. She refused to acknowledge his arrival; he was the one who intruded on her after all. She heard him step closer to the riverbank, his presence a sort of pressure in the air. She chanced a peak at him. Tai'Darshan was crouched near her, not too close, looking out across the river. He was still dressed in his uniform, black jacket and pants blending into the night sky seamlessly despite the light of the brilliant moon. He continued his focus on the land in front of him, also refusing to acknowledge Cassandra. She began to feel awkward, unsure of what to do.
"This is where I was born, in a house beside the Al'Avi River."
Cassandra opened her eyes and turned her head to face him. Tai'Darshan hadn't moved and continued his vigil of the landscape.
"It was different then...There were olive groves, and fields of wheat, houses...and people".
Cassandra could hear the heaviness in his voice. She followed his gaze as she looked across the river. She saw no groves of trees, or evidence of people. She could see oil pump jacks scattered across the land, some working, others not. The land didn't seem hospitable at all.
"What happened?"
Tai'Darshan pulls at some of the grass in front of him before standing up and releasing the tuft of grass into the air. The grass danced away in a small whirlwind, no doubt by his hand.
"When I was thirteen, I began to change. I found I could harness the power of the wind. I could summon it down from the mountains, draw it around my like a cloak, use its strength, and it's speed. One day, strangers came to our village and took me away. They said they were taking me to a special school in Russia. They said I would be a hero of the people".
"I spent 7 years at the Moscow Metahuman Research Facility. They did tests, experiments...made me stronger and faster. I became Tai'Darshan, The Black Wind. Then when the Soviet Union fell, I was sent back home."
Cassandra watches as his proud shoulders seem to sag and his head dips, as if in shame.
"This is what I found. My village was gone. My family was dead."
She can see the pain and guilt he carries. He no longer held the confident composure she had come to associate with him. "How?", she asks.
"Soldiers came and killed everyone. Vilom Namali had paid the government to clear the valley...so he could drill for oil".
Cassandra can see his jaw clench ever so slightly, the tenseness return to his shoulders, the ever so slight clenching of his fists. She wants to reach out to him, feels like she should soothe him, but stays quiet.
"To men like Namali, oil is wealth and power. But to my people, oil is Tarshiva. Dark Secrets".
Tai'Darshan turns to Cassandra, regards her seated position, her quiet demeanor.
"A secret is like poison. Left in a man's heart, it will grow dark and heavy, spreading through his body and mind, corrupting his soul. So when one of our people has a secret he cannot tell, he plants it in the earth. We Sakuri have always known not to disturb the secrets that lie beneath the soil. They bring nothing but sorrow and grief".
She can see it. The secret he carried with him. She could see it in the way her looked at her, the way he moved, the way he hesitated ever so slightly to fight her when she'd arrived to rescue her mentor. She could see it and it scared her because he held none of it back, made no attempt to hide it.
"What about you, Little Bat? Where are your secrets buried? I don't even know your real name...", he trails off.
Cassandra glances to Tai'Darshan to see him looking at her. He seems eager to hear from her, they haven't been alone like this since the attack on the cruise ship. He's looking at her the same way he had when he'd first seen her face. He'd easily picked her out from the crowd, all the while leaning against a pillar, she remembered the audacity of it. She remembered feeling exposed, vulnerable. She turns her gaze back to the far side of the bank, eyes cast down.
She can feel his disappointment through the tangible tenseness between them. The silence becomes too much for him, as she hears him begin to turn back towards the camp.
"Cain."
She hears him stop, hears him turn back towards her.
"Cassandra Cain. My name."
He returns to his original spot at the riverbank, but she won't look at him. She's nervous but she wants to share with him, and any resolve to do so would disappear if she were to look at him.
Her knees are hugged tightly to her chest as she begins to recount her life. Because she wants him to know, wants to share how she is who she is.
"I don't know where I was born. Me and my father moved around so much, never let us stay in one spot too long. He never taught me to speak. He wanted me to learn the movements, language of the body. He wanted to use me as a weapon, but I couldn't. So I ran."
There's more silence and she feels she's said too much, let him in too much.
"What about your mother?"
The question is asked so lightly. Cassandra shrugs. "I don't know who my mother is." She answers plainly, as it's the truth. She brings her head up to look over the landscape again. The stars shine brightly, unencumbered by the drear of city lights and smog of city life. She takes a deep breath, a kind of calm drapes over her. She looks to her side at Tai'Darshan. He meets her gaze with pity, compassion, understanding? She isn't sure, but it's comforting to her. He stands, a proud statue against the inky black sky, and reaches out his hand to her. She accepts and feels as if she floats up to meet him.
"Sleep well, Little Bat", he says, before turning away back towards the camp. She watches his retreating figure and begins to feel the loss of his company. Soon she follows after, once again evading the camps sentries in her return to her tent. She casts a side glance at Batman's tent, almost certain he's known of her absence since she'd left but she's unbothered by the thought. She lays back down and closes her eyes, and soon she's drifted to sleep, lulled by the soothing rush of wind through the grass.