They quickly made their way into the living room and sat down.
"You named him Ace?" Dick peeked around Tim's head.
"He looks like a Ace," Cass explained, scratching the massive dog on top of it's head. The dog, again, seemed to smile and rubbed against Cassandra's leg."We keep him?"
She looked at Dick with pleading eyes. Dick, however, was immune. "We can't keep him Cass. Look at what he did to the apartment!" For emphasis, Dick motioned to the surrounding area.
"He was playing," said Cassandra.
"Playing!"
"Dick, calm down. Now, will someone tell me how 'Ace' got up here in the first place?"
Dick shrugged. "I woke up this morning with this thing on my bed and I got out of there as quick as possible to get some help."
"And you chose me? Dick, how would I know anything about dogs?"
"Cause your the brains, Cass is the brawn, and I'm the good looking one." Dick got a punch in the shoulder from both Batgirl and Robin. "Ouch! Stop that!"
Tim ignored his complaint. "So, how did 'Ace' get in?"
"I let Ace in." Cassandra said, looking very pleased with herself. Upon hearing his name, Ace climbed up onto the couch.
"No! Down! Off the furniture!" Dick went to push the dog off, but backed off when he saw some very large teeth. "On second thought, the couch is already torn to pieces. There's not much more you could do to it." Ace nodded his head and curled up next to Cassandra; his head across her lap.
"Cass, why would you let a dog in here? Where did he even come from?"
Cassandra shrugged. "Ace followed me home. Decided I keep him. Make him part of family." She smiled down at the dog who looked back up at her in a sort of grin. "Ace the Bat Dog!" Ace barked when she announced his title.
"Uh huh. Tim, I think she's lost it," Dick whispered to his brother. The dog began to growl again.
"It might be wise of you not to mention Cass in any negative context while the dog is around," Tim whispered back. Tim cleared his throat while trying to come up with something to say. "Cass, you can't keep the dog. What if he already has an owner?"
"No tag and I put up fliers. No one call for days, so no owner. So I keep. Ace belongs to Cassandra." Ace began licking her face and she squealed with laughter.
"Wait, he's been here for days?" Dick questioned.
"Oh, you don't see because Ace is good dog. Ace stays in my room. Feed him scraps and leftovers."
"So that's where those baby back ribs went." Dick mused quietly, but shook off the tangent. "Cass, you can't keep him." He could see his words broke her high spirits.
"Why not?"
"Because...because...Tim you tell her." Tim shot daggers at Dick, but turned back to Cassandra. What he wasn't expecting was the look she was giving him. She looked so heart broken.
"Because you can't keep a dog in such a confined space, Cass. Dog's need wide open spaces to run and jump and whatever other things they do. This apartment is too small for a dog this size."
Cassandra took in Tim's words carefully. "So, Ace needs big house with big backyard to play in?"
"Exactly!" Tim was relieved she understood.
"So...Timothy takes Ace back to Wayne Mansion!"
"Precisely," Tim nodded, but his face soon fell. "Wait, what!"
End of Chapter 2. R&R please!
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