A/N: My chocfic prompt was "Cassandra Cain/Roy Harper: locked into a room--twice."
When Cass returned to consciousness, she took a moment to breathe and assess her surroundings before opening her eyes. Nothing moving...but Roy was on the floor next to her, apparently still unconscious. A finger to his pulse...yes, he was alive. Weaponless, of course, and this time they'd even removed his boots. Apparently these criminals were getting smarter.
Still kneeling next to him, she pivoted slowly, practiced eyes searching the room. One door, steel, bolted with very strong bolts, no windows, no seams, nothing to break or jimmy or crawl through.
Finding what she expected, she sat back down on the floor and closed her eyes, meditating to clear her headache.
It was ten minutes before Roy stirred, but he jumped up. "Damn it, not again," he said, scowling at her.
"Drugged," Cass said.
"Being caught twice...it just makes us look bad." He started pacing around the room, checking the walls, the door, the ceiling...
"Makes you look bad." She closed her eyes again.
Roy chuckled softly. "Okay, you're right. I was in charge of this particular mission. And a fine mess I've made of it, too." He was quiet, but she could feel him moving. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Headache." She breathed in and out. "Sit down please. There's no way out."
"Did you look?" He was on tiptoes somewhere behind her.
Her head throbbed and she tried to focus, but his constant movement kept her on alert. "If there was a way out, they wouldn't have put us here. Not after last time."
There was a moment of silence and he stopped moving. "There's that."
Finally he sat and she was able to focus. The headache receded a bit and she breathed deeply. Which immediately brought the headache back.
Roy shifted and she opened her eyes, catching him watching her. He looked away immediately, but Cass thought there was something...something she should be seeing about the way he was angled to face both her and the door. But every time she turned her head too quickly, little sparks went off behind her eyes.
She closed her eyes again, knowing she had to be ready for whatever might happen. Chances were good that if they were still alive, whatever was coming wouldn't be fun. She couldn't afford distractions.
Distractions like Roy moving again. Right in front of her.
"Batgirl?" he asked softly.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, kneeling in front of her, eyes narrowed in concern. In fact, the hunch in his shoulders showed concern as well. And the combination of the close distance, the hand half outstretched, and the way his pupils were dilated...
She felt her own eyes widen in automatic reaction and Roy sat back abruptly, face reddening. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't...I mean, I didn't..." Trailing off, he shook his head. "Never mind. We'll deal with that later. I was about to say that you don't look fine to me."
Cass' ringing head was filled with the unmistakable truth of Roy's feelings for her. How long had she missed them? "I..."
His embarrassment faded and he was in her face again. "Focus," he said, tilting her chin to look into her eyes.
"I--"
"Focus."
His posture and tone changed to that of a leader, and she reacted instinctively, allowing him to examine her.
"Symptoms?"
"Dizzy. Sparkles. Weak."
"Were you hit on the head?"
"No."
Scowling, he considered this. "You don't seem confused. A bad drug reaction worries me more than a concussion."
She started to shrug, but it set off the sparkles again, and she stilled.
"Lie down." When she looked at him, he sighed. "I'm not going to molest you. I just think that falling over and hitting your head is going to make things worse."
Unable to meet his eyes, she lay down slowly on the floor. It did seem to help when she wasn't using half her strength to stay upright and she closed her eyes, knowing he would sit beside her and protect her.
It was a strange feeling to allow someone to do that for her, she thought. Of course, she worked with other heroes frequently, but she was used to being an equal, even with the metas.
Her eyes flicked open when his hand gently caressed her forehead. Snatching the hand back, he turned bright red. "Sorry," he said. "Automatic parenting reaction."
"I remind you of your daughter?"
His jaw dropped.
"Joke." It was an effort, but she smiled up at him before closing her eyes.
"Ha ha, very funny," he said.
She could feel the warmth of his body as he sat on the floor next to her, and he was close enough that whenever he shifted in place, she could tell.
"It's an urban legend," he said as she started to relax, "that people with possible concussions shouldn't sleep. But this might not be the best place for you to take a nap."
"Not napping," she snapped.
"Joke," he said in exactly the same tone she'd used.
"Ha ha, very funny."
"We'll be out of here soon," Roy said, voice pitched to not aggravate her headache. "And after I deal with the inevitable teasing over being caught twice..." He sighed. "Well, then I guess we need to talk."
"Love you too," she said softly.
For just a moment, his hand ghosted over her forehead and Cass wondered why it made her head feel better.
--end--