It was a dark night, darker than normal in Gotham which was strange, even though it was winter and the snow seemed to reflect some light, it was still dark. The red masked vigilante sat bored and alone on the rooftop of his apartment building, police comms popping up to talk every so often; he loved the mask, being a portable computer and analyser at once, he hacked the police communication towers years ago, before anyone knew he was there and it has been one of the biggest helps for him throughout his stay. Jason let the visor click and pop up to take a break as he had a drink of his coffee a pumpkin spice latte with four brown sugars, at least that way the sugar mixed perfectly. He dreaded to think how disappointed little Damian might be if he ever found out but he enjoyed the taste. A black shadow arrived on the rooftop behind Jason, it hadn't been there long but long enough to recognise that sweet smell of the pumpkin.
Cassandra grinned and took the coffee from his hand before taking a swig, careful not to spill any of the sweet caffeine. She let out a sigh and plopped herself down next to Jason, her legs swinging in the open air, she looked out at the dark city, the gentle trickle of snow raining down from the sky, she enjoyed her time with Jason, having been taught American from him partly. He was an outcast, like her, she never truly belonged and she felt that tug towards Jason because of it. They weren't together but she did like him and he liked her, they were just close.
It had been an hour of silence, the two never really spoke, just sat, enjoying each other's company. They seemed to have conversations through the silence. Jason had taken his mask off completely in this time but now the police comms were sparking up, "emergency- gang fight in progress- penguin- all units- park row" Jason looked to Cass who nodded and he stood, retrieving the helmet, "come on, we can get more coffee after, deal?" Cass smiled, blushing gently... She preferred just the eye mask she wore now but definitely missed her full mask at times, this was one of those times.
The mask clicked and clipped into place as Jason placed it on, the visor slid down, locking into place neatly. His twin automatic pistols sitting on his thighs, magnetically secured in place. Cass hated the fact that Jason killed but she dealt with it for the time being. The two prepared themselves, knowing they weren't far from Park Row. The two nodded as they stood on the edge and dropped over the edge in unison. The free fall was fun, almost liberating, then the grapples were fired, the deadly duo swung sharply up to the next rooftop,tucking into rolls breaking into equal sprints.
They were a team, understanding how each other worked and used that to bounce their skills off of each other, Cass abandoned her katana since coming to Gotham as she adopted Bruce's moral code although when the two were on the rooftop above the gang fight she wished secretly that she had it. Jason crouched and let the mask highlight pivotal points, Penguin lit up in orange as he was spotted causing a sneer to creep across Jason's lips. The little fat, balding man repulsed Jason, especially since he was so manipulative and shipped drugs and humans among other things. The mask highlighted another person though... on the other side... The other gangs leader - Two-Face. This was bad, Jason knew this, he relayed the info to Cass quickly and she searched for possibilities before replying in a soft tone, "I've got Penguin, go for Two-Face."
Jason loved that about Cass... No bullshit about her, she was to the point, he nodded and jumped from the rooftop, he landed into a roll as he had been taught from a young age. The landing was slightly off though which was rare for him and jarred his arm momentarily. He ducked behind cover gritting his teeth, slowly working his arm back into action. When he was ready he moved out of cover fighting his way through a small faction of Penguin's men. They'd decided to take on a few of Two-Face's men. Jason decided to leave his pistols for now and jumped in the middle of the two gangs, they changed their minds though immediately and went for him, beneath the mask a grin emerged. Fists were blocked as they flew at him, Jason returned a few punches of his own in the flurry using his opponents against him. As a Two-Face thug went for him he grabbed the grunt and twisted his body, throwing the poor unsuspecting victim into two Penguin goons knocking them to the ground effortlessly. Red Hood spun on the spot and gasped as he felt a knife slice across his arm, he brought his fist up and backhanded the goon away, the pain was nothing to him, he had to finish this quickly, three guys from either side left... Piece of cake to him! Jason ran forward and jumped, spinning in the air, he slammed two thug's heads together, knocking them out cold, landing cleanly as they slumped. He noticed that two of the final four thugs had knives. "Is that it...? I expected more, but why don't you look at my knife." He growled, producing the wavy knife given to him by Talia Al Ghul, daughter of the madman that brought him back to life. The knife was special to him because of Talia, she'd helped him through a lot since his revival. The blade glinted in the faint street lights and before long it was slicing through the two knife wielders, he took them on at the same time, he cut one thugs arms neatly with the first slash but took a neat slash parallel to where he was first cut. He retaliated by spinning, blade extended, slicing the thugs throat clean open. Seeing their gang member and rival gang members jugular being shredded caused fear to strike them all as they turned tail and fled, not wanting to mess with the red masked devil.
Cassandra on the other hand took a much stealthier approach to taking down Penguin. She stalked along the rooftops pulling her midnight black hood up to join her to the shadows, no one realised she was there, just how she liked it. Penguin stood on top of a van... For a man his height she thought it must be hard for him to get up there but she soon realised that his bodyguard was almost the height of the van, with muscles to match that height. Cassandra studied for an opening before grinning. She grappled down the building and threw a single batarang, luring the man mountain away, he was nothing like Bane but he was still a threat. No one was near penguin and she suspected he had a gun handy just in case so taking out the big guy should be done quickly and precisely. This was not the case... Cass lured the creature into an alley where she leaped onto his back, stabbing a batarang into his neck, nothing seemed to happen except for a slight trickle of blood then she realised her dainty wrist had been gripped in his bear paw. Cass felt a snap as she was used as a club to beat up a wall. Her thoughts were jumbled momentarily before she snapped out of it, she curled her body in and twisted, her arm pinged free of the grip as she perched on the man's arm, a small taser attachment she kept hidden in her belt clicked out and she slotted her fingers into the grip pulling it free. The taser flared into blue electrical life as she slammed the knuckle duster into the thugs face. Sparks ripped across his cheeks and fried his skin slightly. Cass knew it was dangerous but she also knew that she would've been crushed within seconds had she not done that. A sharp leap saved Cass from being crushed under the monster of a man as he toppled at last, Cass enjoyed drawn out fights and was sad she couldn't waste time taking him down but knew it was for the best. With the smoking pile of human meat lying still but breathing Cass disappeared into the shadows once more, replacing the knuckle duster, then setting her sights on Penguin at last.
Jason replaced his dagger slowly, warily, watching for any more signs of danger... When none were highlighted by his mask he continued on, soon spotting Two-Face, two guards were close to him but Jason was quickly getting bored so drew his pistols, with his deadly aim he clicked the triggers once each, shooting them both in the head. "... So, you this time huh? Can't we be civil?" Two-Face begun, a flip of the coin and read the answer, "... Apparently not..." He replied in his rough, violent voice, his pistol was drawn in an instant and firing a hail of bullets onto Jason who tried his best to avoid them, two grazed his side, slicing through the vest's weak sides and partly Jason's skin, he grimaced and called back, "Never had much time for politics but I would never give you my vote!" Jason stood returning a few shots, catching Two-Face in the leg, Jason ran forward as best he could, tackling into Two-Face, pinning him neatly on the ground, his gun resting on Two-Face's forehead.
The shadow pounced, breaking free to show the black bat. She landed on Penguin, sneering, "Aw bloody 'ell, ya bloody idiot, I'm in the middle of a fight, d'you mind?" He groaned, spit spraying down his chin, Black Bat looked disgusted replying smoothly, "I've had a bad night because of you... Do not test me. You will wait for the police though." Oswald saw the look on Black Bat's slightly masked face and it shook him, his normal comebacks failing him now. Black Bat gave up caring now and slammed her fist into his face, maybe a bit too hard though as she heard a crack and groan as he passed out. She tied Penguin up and dangled the wretch from a lamp post thinking that would definitely be best for him... But now to find Jason.
Jason was grinning under the mask, his blood lust starting to take over, it wasn't until he felt a sharp pain in his thigh he realised Two-Face has regained his pistol and had shot him point blank in the leg from his angle. He could feel the bone wasn't broken which was a relief but he'd need to dig that bullet out later... Jason gripped the pistol and threw it away, only becoming angrier through the attempt. He cocked his own pistol, ready to fire. "Hood!" Jason's eyes snapped up, it was Cass... Of course, it had to be her, "He's Batman's to kill if anything, you know this. Same as the others." Jason sneered, even his private code shared this fact, all kills were Bruce's unless there was some kind of permission, "... Fuck... BB... Fine." And with that, the pouty child disappeared and the gun hilt cracked onto Two-Face's forehead... Neat and tidy knockout. Jason stood and gasped falling back, the bullet was deep. Cass saw this and his pain then quickly rushed to help him stand, Jason was heavy even with him trying to help stay upright!
Jason's apartment was nearby but it was still a struggle... The police were arriving at the scene now but the two shadows in the night had slunk back, out of danger, to lick their wounds. It took an hour but eventually they got back, Jason was placed on his bed and his trousers were pulled off, he felt like he should say something but knew Cass was only helping and it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before. "Second drawer... First aid kit..." He muttered, it wasn't the first time Jason had been shot but it always hurt like a bitch. Cass jumped up, taking a step to the drawer and almost tearing it apart finding the first aid kit. She plopped it next to Jason's leg and quickly said, "...Gonna hurt." Then she started, using two sets of tweezers to extract the bullet.
Hell surely froze over for Jason, the pain was blinding and he almost passed out. Jason fought to stay conscious as the bullet was slowly withdrawn from his thigh, there was a slight squelch then pop as the bullet pulled free, Jason's pain subsiding slightly. Cass threw the bullet away then set to work on Jason's other wounds, she bandaged everything up quickly, including stitches in the serious wounds then set about checking for any other injuries just in case. He was silent, letting Cass work.
Finally finished exhaustion began to set in for Cass and she laid on her side to fall into a brief sleep, Jason on the other hand, being the man he is didn't, instead he stood changing quickly into a pair of jogging bottoms and a black vest top, well as quickly as he could then turned to the black haired lady on his bed, she hadn't even changed... Jason sighed and decided to at least help her slightly, he removed all of the excess clothes; gauntlets, cape, hood, boots. All that was left was her suit, he didn't want to take that off without her permission and it seemed she'd taken some damage too, Jason tentatively tested her skin, there was a few cracked ribs from what he could tell but nothing broken, he would see to that when she could change. He moved Cass' slender body into the bed properly then grabbed the superman jumper he used to wear, the present from Dick when the two lived together briefly in the manor. He draped it over Cass as she snored gently, smiling slightly then walked into the main room with the kitchen conjoined, he prepared his oriental tea set and placed a few new tea leaves in with the mix pouring water into the pot, slowly, making sure the water was poured onto every single bit of leaf before filling the pot. The sweet smell was almost instant as he placed the pot on the newly lit stove. The wait wasn't long as it began to reach the right temperature. Jason laid out two kneeling mats at his table, his apartment was very orientally inspired, from his times in Asia after being revived in the Lazarus pit. This included flowery artwork and furniture, his most prized possession in the apartment being his tea set of which he treasured.
As he placed everything down correctly he looked to the bedroom to see Cass smiling, leaning against the doorframe, her hair in a short, messy ponytail. She'd changed out of her suit and was wearing a pair of his shorts, they reached his knees but on her they easily covered hers and the superman jumper that was draped over her now being worn and covering her hands she smiled shakily and took her place at the table, kneeling politely, Jason poured out two cups then went to grab the medical kit from his room, he sat behind Cass for the moment, pulling the Jumper up, Cass didn't complain, enjoying his surprisingly gentle touch. Jason grabbed the roll of bandage and felt along her ribs, no breakages luckily… he wrapped the bandage around her chest slowly, making sure it was tight against her body to help her heal easier. It took him a while but eventually her cracked ribs were covered and the knot was tied. Jason moved around to his side of the table, sitting on his map instead of kneeling because of his wounds, "Thank you." Jason said quietly, Cassandra blushed slightly, "Not a problem... Not good stitch work, just did my best. Thank you too..." The tea was slowly sipped at until the pot was drained. Jason could feel his eyes begin to droop as he stood and tidied up with some slight help from Cassandra, "Sleep would be good... Yeah?" He asked, placing the tea set on the edge of the sink to be cleaned properly but for now he turned to the raven haired girl and grinned, running his fingers through his own black hair, smoothing his gray locke of hair out of the way. Cass smiled and took Jason's hand, leading him into the bedroom. This was a common occurrence for the two, normally falling asleep after long nights on patrol. Jason wandered into the room, following his leader for the time being. He flopped onto the bed and felt the small body of Cass climb over him, although small she was incredibly warm and he had to admit, she was cute. He pulled the covers up over them both and felt her smaller body snuggle in close to him, he smiled to himself as his arm covered her gently. Soon the two were snoring lightly to each other and enjoying their cuddle.
Sadly for Jason it was another one of those nights… The same nightmare… The darkness. His death being played over and over again and not being able to do anything. That fear. it suffocated him. He couldn't describe the real feelings he had other than fear… He only ever wanted to be Robin, he was a happy kid and that was robbed. Jason jolted upright sweating, his stitches tore under the bandage and he grunted. Cass bolted up and knelt up hugging him, "It's ok… Breathe Jason!" She ordered and on her word he breathed slowly and shakily. he shivered violently and sat back, the blood was soaking his bandages and his vest already. His breathing was starting to hitch and he gripped Cass' arm, she didn't have to hear him speak as she tore his vest off. She jumped from the bed, not caring for her injuries and raced to grab the medical kit again. She spent longer this time, cutting the bandage away and cleaning up the mess of blood. Cass removed the rest of the stitches and redid them, putting in twice as many on either cut just to be sure they wouldn't tear, then applied a few layers of bandage to protect it. "No vest. Need to keep a closer eye on it. Sleep." Cass said, soft but sternly. Jason nodded and laid down comfortably on his side, Cass sat with her back against the wall, combing her fingers through Jason's hair gently to soothe him. Cass didn't sleep for the rest of the night… It was two hours of much needed sleep but she needed to make sure Jason would be ok.