A/N: I'm back! so I had a nice long speel up here about how I missed you guys and how I did get a few chapters written ahead but not as many as I had hoped to cause I had recently quit my job to work for myself. A whole huge update. And then I looked this morning to see that it didn't save. So That's my bad. Anyway!
I am so happy to be back and I can't wait to share my new ideas on this story with you guys!
ENJOY!
My Robin Reversal AU:
Dick-12 Cass-16
Chapter Twenty-something: Spin
When she came to, she didn't even need to open her eyes to know just how badly she messed up. Blackbat forced herself to keep perfectly still as she evaluated her situation. Her head was still ringing from having been caught in an explosion and kicked in the temple right after. She could feel that her left arm was trapped within some metal bonds, not rope or cuffs, it felt more like a bit of metal encasing her hand from wrist to elbow, similar restraints had been placed on her legs. Strangely, her other arm was perfectly free. It didn't sound like whoever put her here was still working at it, so it was intentional that she had a free arm.
"You weren't quite so still when you were unconscious. Sloppy work giving yourself away." Cass froze. She knew that voice.
Slowly raising her head, realizing in the process that she wasn't not wearing her mask, she opened her eyes to see her own father, David Cain. Cassandra tried to keep her eyes from widening at the sight of him, to lie with her body as best she could. He wasn't her mother, he wasn't as good at reading someone's body as Shiva or Cassandra. But he was good, and he knew her.
"Last time we met, you fought me," Cain reminisced as he leaned back in his chair. There was a small, empty card table between the two of them that he drummed his fingers on as if he was 'nervous'. It was a false tell. The rest of him was too relaxed, much too calm for it to really mean anything. He was mocking her.
"At that time," Cain continued, "You said your first word." He looked up at her. "Or at least, your first word to me."
Cass only looked at him, refusing to say anything. He had that look in his eyes still, the one that settled there after hearing her speak for the first time. Cass hated it because she had no idea what it was. It wasn't hatred, it wasn't anger, wasn't even the opposite. There was no love or indifference. It wasn't curiosity. There was something in David Cain's eye that set there whenever his eyes landed on her and she didn't know what it was.
"You chose your side, little girl," Cain spoke up after a moment, "it's time to see where that decision had taken you."
Cain pulled out a revolver. Cass felt her eyes narrow at the sight of the gun, remembering all the 'games' her father liked to play with her that involved guns, . . . and shooting her with them. Cain made a show of pulling five of the six bullets out, letting her see it before he pulled it back up to an angle where he could spin the chamber and flick it in place quickly so that neither of them knew where that last bullet was. Cass knew what this game was. They've played it before, but not the proper way, Cain would never risk his or Cass' lives needlessly like that. He would have her aim at her shoulder then. Something told her those weren't the rules they would be playing with tonight.
"You're 'new father' will be here shortly. I didn't bother hiding any traces of where we are," Cain said as he used his other hand to pull out a remote with a switch on it. "If he or any of his other 'children' show up before we've finished our game, the bombs lining this room will go off, and I can assure you there will be no 'winner's then."
After that Cain set the revolver down in the middle of the table, handle facing Cass. She was to go first. Her heart was pounding. Why was he doing this? Her eyes went to his face to try and find any clues, the slightest tell. What was he wanting? If he wanted her dead, he could have just shot her while she was unconscious. Why force her to shoot herself in a way that risks his own death too?
Cassandra kept her face still as she slowly reached for the gun. Whatever the outcome of this 'game' she cannot give him a reason to kill any of her family. It wouldn't just be Batman looking for her. Robin was with him tonight. Spoiler and Batgirl were pretty close nearby as well. Shadowbat and Nightling had even been complaining about a slow night on their end. Not to mention, she had just taken a bit of time to check in with RedHood. If he had followed her to continue their conversation- no one could handle losing Tim again. There was no telling who would come for her, but there was no doubt that someone already was.
Putting the barrel to her shoulder in a small hope, Cain shook his head and tapped a finger to his temple. Cass let out a frustrated sigh as she moved the gun to place. Suddenly she found it a lot harder to justify to herself what she was doing.
There was one bullet in this gun, if it happened to be the first chamber, then she was dead the moment she pulled the trigger. She felt her heart slamming in her chest, her breathing became harsher, she was starting to shake. Cain raised the switch to her view. Gulping around the lump in her throat, Cass pulled the trigger.
**click**
Her arm hit the table as it dropped, she was already gasping for air, her hand was shaking, and she couldn't believe that she was still alive. Cain reached across the table and pried the gun from her hand. He locked eyes with her as he leaned back, placed the barrel to his head, and pulled the trigger as if it was just another hit.
**click**
Just as calmly as he picked it up, Cain sat it back down. It was her turn again. Only four slots left, the bullet could be in any one of them. Why was he so calm about this? Did he know where the bullet was? Was he cheating? Was the game rigged?
Cass looked back to her father and looked deep in his eyes. That look was still there. What was it? Did it have something to do with this?
Dropping all facade, Cass didn't care if he knew how scared she was now. She wanted to go home, to cry in Steph's shoulders the way she had when she first joined the family. She wanted to help Babara train. She wanted to laugh with Jason and Dick, to have a soothing cup of tea with Damian and Alfred, to pet Tim on the top of his head and coax out a smile. She wanted to see her dad. Her 'new' dad, her real dad.
Her eyes landed on the switch in his hand, and then shakingly grabbed the gun again with hers. Is she going to survive this? Did she have any regrets? How is this going to end?
Cass brought the gun back up to her temple. The odds were quickly falling out of her favor. This could be the pull that takes her from those she loves. Cass looked into Cain's eyes again. She took an unsteady breath as tears fell from her eyes.
**click**
Cass sobbed in relief. She gasped for air pulling the gun from her temple and locking eyes with Cain again. He was unmoved. The gun was still in her hands. There were three slots left. The bullet was in one of them. Cass stared deep into his eyes, and the look that had settled there. Cass felt her breath catch as she realized what the look was. Cain wasn't afraid to die, and he was punishing her because Cassandra was. She didn't use to be, but now she had something, or someone, a lot of someones, to live for. She was terrified to die now and he wanted to see if she was even still able to push past it.
She's proven twice now she could, but the game wasn't over. Unless Cain shot himself with the next pull, Cass still had one more turn afterward. What was the likelihood that the bullet was in the last chamber? Cass didn't like her odds.
Cass was afraid to die. Cain wasn't. There was only one way Cass could make sure to see her family again.
She didn't have any time to think it over. The moment the idea came to her mind, Cass' body moved on its own, and she aimed the gun, . . . at her father's head.
**click**
**click**
**click**
Cass froze. Cain smirked. There had been no bullets in the gun the whole time.
"You really are getting sloppy, Little Girl," Cain shook his head as he pulled all six bullets from his pocket. He had slipped the last one out before he spun the chamber and put it with the others using sleight of hand. He never intended to have her kill herself. "But you did well."
That was all he said before he stood from the table, leaving the switch on the table where she could see it. She was a mess, unable to breathe, tears flooding her eyesight, shaking all over, empty gun still in hand. She had tried to kill him. She was completely convinced there was a bullet in the chamber, and she had tried to shoot him with it.
She didn't know how long it took for Batman and Robin to find her. It could have been hours, or it could have only been minutes, she couldn't tell. She tried to apologize to Bruce for what she tried to do, blubbering and sobbing in a way that was completely unlike her usual cool and collected demeanor. This caused Bruce to pull his cowl back so she could see his face, knowing that unspoken words meant so much more to her than anything he could say. He wrapped a protective arm around her as Robin had to pull out a pocket blow-torch to get her arms and legs free from their restraints.
"Home. I. Want. Home," Cass bawled out. She had long since learned to properly connect the words, but just like the younger two of her four brothers, Cass tended to forgo her lessons in times of duress.
"Yes, Cassandra, we'll take you straight home," Bruce assured her. He replaced his cowl, handing her mask back to her, and the three made their way back to the manor.
This was her something to live for, her something to fight for, and now thanks to David Cain, she know knew it was her something to kill for. And she was not thankful for that lesson.
A/N: I got this idea from a video on Youtube by Lanasolas way back in 2010 titled Cassandra Cain/Batgirl - Russian Roulette. Pretty much they took the song 'Russian Roulette' by Rhianna and put it wonderfully to pictures of Cass that fit with the lyrics beautifully. I suggest going to see it, (keeping in mind it is also like, 10yrs old).
I looked into David Cain's background a bit and I realized some pretty awesome stuff about him. I mean, he himself is not awesome, but I found some fun stuff to put in this. Pretty much, the look in his eyes that Cass didn't understand was that when he looked at her, he saw his reason to live. She learned what it meant to love and be loved in turn when she joined the batfamily, but David Cain held a different kind of love for his daughter, a rueful accidental kind. She's not sure what it is because it's not what she's used to. Anyway, I should stop explaining things to you guys and let you make your own assumptions, shouldn't I? I gotta learn to trust in my audience...
R&R if you liked. (Need a default response? Just say 'Welcome Back!'. I'll take it.)