An Anon on Tumblr requested a Damian/Cassandra fic, and so I tried. XD
It was his first date with her. Damian had wanted this ever since he realized how amazing she is – err rather ever since he began noticing her in more sexual light rather than sisterly. He blamed puberty, but it was not a bad thing. These were feelings that were so new to him, and he wanted the experience.
His mind was swarmed with the thought of her, as he knelt down to tie his shoes.
Cassandra was the only woman, other than his mother and Selena, that he truly respected.
Not only was this his first date with her, but it was his first date with anyone. He had read books on dating, and did some internet research to gain as much knowledge as he could about the subject before venturing out into the unknown territory.
Damian also asked Dick and Jason a few questions. Not that Jason had much experience on dating girls, but he tried to help Dick explain a few things to Damian. The one piece of advise that stuck out to him the most was, well, it was not really advise. It was more of a goal. That if she smiles at the end of the night, then that means the entire date had more than likely been a success.
That was his goal.
Damian wanted Cassandra to smile for him.
Throughout the entire day while he was preparing for the night, Damian never felt more afraid or more nervous. The anticipation made his heart gallop. He found it difficult to concentrate on anything, because his mind was elsewhere.
Once his shoes were tied he sat on his bed, holding a bouquet of dark colored flowers in his hands. Dick had took him to the flower shop that morning to buy them for Cassandra. The flowers were a mixture of dark red dahlias with a few black velvet petunias and black lilies sprinkled around. At the shop, Damian was really unsure with what kind to get, all he knew was that he wanted flowers that reminded him of Cassandra. Beautiful.
Damian glanced at the clock on his desk, and he noticed it was about time that he made his way to her. On shaky legs, Damian walked from his room to Cassandra's. He knocked a few times, and when she opened the door and saw her, he forgot how to breathe.
He knew that she was stunning, but he had no idea how much more gorgeous she could be with a dash of make up and in a fitted black dress.
With trembling fingers he held the bouquet of flowers out, "I got these." his voice quivered slightly, he cursed himself in his mind because the words came out wrong.
Cassandra took the delicate flowers into her hands, and eyed them, "These are for me?"
"Yes." Damian confirmed.
"Thank you." Cassandra smiled, shifting her gaze to him.
Her bright brown eyes and smile made Damian anxious, "You look...um. Really pretty." he tried not to stumble on the words. Never before had anyone made him feel so vulnerable, the feeling was new. Very new. Only Cassandra could make him feel like a normal sixteen year old boy who has never been through half the shit he had.
"Barbara helped me," she admitted, and turned her head to gaze down the hallway. "Come. We should go."
"Yes." Damian looked down at Cassandra's hand, "Can I -"
"No." Cassandra already knew what he was going to ask, he wanted to hold her hand. "Barbara said that you have to earn it."
Knowing that he had received most of his advise from Dick, and Cassandra got her's from Barbara. The night was going to be a disaster.
"Of course," Damian half bowed, and the pair walked down the hall.
Alfred was their chauffeur. At first Damian had wanted to drive Cassandra around, but Bruce had insisted. Damian was not sure if Bruce was using the butler to keep an eye on him, or he just did not want Damian to be driving.
They were going to a restaurant, it was a nice place that Bruce and Dick had both suggested. It was on a quiet, older side of the city. The entire building was made out of wood, which gave it a warm, homely feeling.
Damian did not want to go to a restaurant on his first date, but they had insisted it would be a good way for them to get to know each other. That was what Damian was a tad fearful of, because Cassandra always made him trip on his words.
There is nothing worse than going on a date and there be silence.
After they had ordered their food, Damian tried to start a conversation. "How was it – um, you're day? Did you have fun with Barbara?"
Cassandra let out a soft laugh, "I think you need some...lessons in speaking English too." she teased.
Damian blushed fiercely, which led to Cassandra laughing even more. He realized that he loved the sound of her laugh, and even though he had embarrassed himself it was worth it.
"It is nice, seeing you act like this." she admitted, tilting her he head to the side, a few strands of hair pulled themselves loose from her ponytail and fell to her shoulder. "Acting so...um," she searched for the word. "Being so flustered at everything. Do I really make you this nervous?"
"It's not a bad thing." Damian told her. "I'm nervous because, just nervous um...because you make me happy and that excitement is – has been making me not think straight."
Cassandra smiled, her eyes watching him carefully, reading him.
"Do I make you feel the same way?" Damian asked, almost feeling like he needed to vomit.
"Maybe." Cassandra answered, vaguely. She was so good had hiding her emotions, he could not anticipate anything about her. This scared him, but not being able to tell what she was thinking by her actions made him want to get to know her more.
The loud sound of metal hitting the floor echoed from the kitchen, along with the yelps of people. The pair turned and saw a large fire had suddenly started from that end of the restaurant. There was chefs still stuck in the kitchen, and a few of the customers had caught on fire.
"I'll go in the kitchen," Damian ordered. "Can you help get everyone out?"
"Yes."
Knowing that Cassandra can take care of herself, Damian rushed into the blaze without any hesitation. Immediately the air scorched his lungs, and the temperature was unbearable.
"Is there anyone left back here?" Damian called out, listening over the fire for any response.
"Over here!"
He turned and saw that there was a group of two men and one woman. The woman was a waitress, and the men were chefs. However, the pair cocooned by the flames. A part of the ceiling and came down, and they were trapped. The flames were to high for them to walk over, but not strong to where they could not be moved.
Maybe he could move enough of it to the side, and make an opening the would be able to get out.
"Stay there!" he demanded, as he reached for the first beam of wood. It burned him, he felt the heat singe at his nerves as he gripped the wood but he quickly let go. The fire had snapped at his face and instinct caused him to pull back.
Suddenly he heard a crash from behind him, another beam had fallen and this one had landed in front of the exit that led from the kitchen to the restaurant. There had to be another way out, or else he would be trapped there with the employees.
Maybe there was a fire extinguisher somewhere.
He did not want to move too far, he could already feel the air in his lungs diminishing. Standing where he was, he scanned what he could, and eventually found one. It was on the other side, and it would be too dangerous for him to go over there.
Dread suddenly began to seep in, he was trapped. The smoke made it hard for him to think, and his arms were throbbing. He peeked over his shoulder, he knew there was people still trapped back there, and the flames were growing. If he did not do something now, the employees and him would either die of burns or smoke inhalation.
Damian took off his shirt and tied it around his head, hoping that it would not catch on fire. He needed to protect his face. He grabbed a dirty apron that was sitting on the floor. One hand tried to pat the flames down, while the other tried to move the beam. As he worked he called out again, "As soon as the flames get low I need all of you to jump through!"
After about a minute, Damian made a gap in between the flames and the three trapped employees jumped through. Damian followed the group as the older of the two men cautiously made there way to the fire exit. There was only a small group of flames surround the door halfway between where they were trapped and where the fire extinguisher was.
As they stepped outside, Damian pulled the shirt off his face and noticed Cassandra was on the other end of the alley. The group of employees walked the other way, where there was firefighters gathering near the front of the restaurant.
Damian took a few steps toward her when his knees locked under him. He began coughing, and desperately trying to breathe in the night air. Cassandra rushed to him, "You're hurt!" she noticed the red blisters and red skin on his arms and chest. "Alfred is parked on the other side of the alley, can you...?" "I can – I can walk." he half lied as he forced himself up and took a few more stumbling steps.
"No." Cassandra scooped him carefully into her arms before he could fall over again and dashed to where Alfred was.
Damian did not protest to Cassandra holding him for many reasons. He was not exhausted, but the lack of oxygen had made him a little light headed.
The pain that was burning up his hands and arms distracted him from the Cassandra's scent. She smelled like a forest, or a waterfall...she smelled like nature. Damian wanted nothing more than to rest against her, but he was hurting too much to love the moment.
It was good that he was hurting, because that means most of his burns were either first or second degree. Third degree level burns destroy the nerves.
In the car, Alfred gave Damian some ibuprofen, which dulled most of the pain. While Alfred was driving home, Damian could not help but notice that Cassandra a few burns on her fingers, "You're hurt."
"I will be fine." she wrapped an arm around his back, and allowed him to rest his head against her shoulder "You are the one who needs more attention than I do."
Cassandra's scent overwhelmed him, now that he was not having to think to much about his burn. Suddenly his eyes felt heavy, and all it took was the comforting caress of her hand stroking his cheek to cause him to give in.
Damian woke up about an hour later. He was on a gurney in the Cave and Alfred was applying some aloe type cream on the burns and bandaging them up. Damian looked over to his side, and saw that Cassandra was by his side. There was a worried expression on her face that relaxed once she noticed that he was awake.
His throat felt raw, and he coughed a few times in his shoulder before asking, "Pennyworth, does my father know?"
"I have yet to inform him." the butler answered.
"Good." Damian nodded, he did not want Bruce to know what had happened. He felt a little embarrassed and was not sure why. His blue eyes then met with Cassandra's, "Can I walk you to your room?" he requested.
"Of course."
Alfred allowed Damian to go take Cassandra to her room, but he would have to return back to the Cave. There was still a few other burns that had not been treated.
Holding the flowers he had bought her, she stood at her door and smiled at him – and he had never felt more happy. She was smiling because of him, and that was what he had wanted to accomplish the entire night. To see her happy, because of him.
"You are a good boy." Cassandra ran her fingers through Damian's hair, he was about her height. "And I want to go on a second date with you."
Despite being called a boy, he was absolutely elated that he had impressed her enough that she would be willing to go on a second date with him. He wanted to touch her, but he knew that was just his hormones and he ignored it. Instead, he placed a kiss on her cheek. His lips barely touched her skin, because he was to afraid leave a deeper impression.
By the time he had pulled away, his legs were trembling and he knew she could see it but he did not care. A soft blush rolled across her face, and seeing that made Damian's heart flutter in his head. It was like butterflies were fluttering in his circulatory system, but it felt great.
Cassandra was feeling the same way, "Good night, Damian. I enjoy spending time with you."
"Kay – an, yeah. I enjoy being with you too." Damian admitted.
She giggled at his nervousness, and with a wave goodbye she stepped into her room.
Bruce was in the cave once Damian had returned, "Alfred told me what happened, are you okay?"
Damian had completely forgotten about his injuries, and he did not want to think about them, "Yes, I'm fine." he walked toward Bruce and put his arms around his shoulders in a hug, "I just had the best night ever."