Day Seven: Free Day

Cassandra wasn't sure what the purpose of Halloween was. Barbara had tried to explain it to her last year when she was first introduced to the holiday but Cass had still been learning English and had only half understood. But it had been nice to see all those kids running around door to door and projecting joy and excitement with their bodies so Cass decided she liked the holiday.

She hadn't been able to fully enjoy it last year. She'd been covering her usual patrol route and Robin's as he had been helping Batman to try and track down Scarecrow. This year she had been included in tracking down Scarecrow and stopping him but since they had gotten a head start Scarecrow had been sent back to Arkham on the 30th. No other major crimes had been planned by anyone for the holiday itself as the whole city braced itself for attempting to celebrate and fight off a fear gas attack at the same time so it was looking to be a quiet Halloween. Batman had given both Batgirl and Robin the night off to celebrate while he covered patrol.

This meant Cass needed a costume. She and Barbara were in a costume shop for show last minute shopping. Barbara had made her own witch costume a couple weeks ago but Cass had turned down her offer of making a costume because she thought she'd be chasing Scarecrow across Gotham.

"Honestly," Barbara sighed as she flicked through the costumes on the rack. "Sexy nurse, sexy witch, oh look there's a sexy Batgirl. That's terrible, I hate it. You'd think they'd have at least a few normal costumes. This is why I make my own."

Cass was examining a package that had a picture of a man wearing a hockey mask and holding a chainsaw. She didn't understand how the hockey was scary. The chainsaw, yes, but that could be scary even if you weren't wearing a mask and it didn't seem to come with the costume.

"Could I help you, young lady?" A sales assistant entered the aisle they were in and paused when she saw Barbara having been unable to see her in her chair own the racks. "Er- ladies? Are you finding everything you're looking for?"

Barbara glanced over at Cass, an invitation to speak up if she has anything to say, but she kept quiet. "Well, it would be nice if you had some costumes for teenage girls that are a bit more…covering. Do have some elsewhere in the store?"

"No. This is our complete collection. If you don't mind me saying aren't you cutting it a bit close?"

"We had some plans change."

Cass ignored the conversation going on behind her as she continued going through the costumes on the discount table in front of her. Then suddenly she stopped. Yes, this one. She grabbed it and brought it over to Barbara.

"What is it Cass- oh. Do you like it?" Cass nodded empathetically. "Alright, I guess we've found what we're looking for. I'll need to make a few quick adjustments so it will fit you better but it looks like it's your size." Barbara turned back to the sales assistant. "I believe we've found what we're looking for."

The sales assistant gave a forced smile as her body language showed awkwardness and- Judgey-ness? Was that a word? She'd ask later. It could be hard to remember all the words in spoken language sometimes. Something about Cass's costume choice sparked a reaction in her though.

"Sweetie, that's a boy's costume. As I was telling your friend here we still have a fairly decent collection of girl's costumes…"

Cass frowned. "But I like this one."

"And it's a good costume." Barbara's posture had started to go stiff. She didn't like this woman. She started to wheel her way past the sales assistant to the front of the store. "Come on. Let's go pay."

The sales assistant sighed. "I'm just not sure why you'd want a Batman costume when we have perfectly good Batgirl ones."

"Those Batgirl costumes," Barbara growled. "Are ridiculous."