A/N: Happy Update Day!

ENJOY!

My Robin Reversal AU:

Dick - 11 Cass - 14 Jason - 15 Steph - 18 Damian - 23


Chapter Twenty-five: What She Sees

There were six of them standing in the cave as they went over the patrol routes for the night. In some ways, it was 'all six', but from what she could see written on everyone but Dick's face, 'Tim' not being there meant they weren't 'all' there. She agreed a bit with Dick. The one time she ever saw 'Tim' was shortly after she joined the family, which was still less than a year ago. His every mannerism screamed 'does not belong', and 'have to get away'. He very obviously favored Jason, but even then Cass could see it was in the same way a nervous child held a kitten; like he was scared he was going to hurt Jason at any second if he didn't put more distance between them.

Speaking of Jason, Tim wasn't the only family member Cass was having trouble connecting with. Dick seemed ready to connect with everybody, his entire demeanor was ready and open to let her get to know him as much as possible. Damian was wary at first but was impressed with Cass's willingness to turn her back on the league of assassins and learn about justice from their sworn enemy; 'the Batman'. Stephanie was excited to have a little sister, despite being the least qualified to be called 'family', what with hers still very much in her life. But Jason?

Jason did not like her. He hid it as much as he could. He was never mean to her, never said anything about it, and actually went out of his way to do nice things for her to try and help her feel like she belonged. He was trying to force himself, trying to keep her and everyone else from even suspecting how he truly felt. However, she could read it in the small moments between, when he'd forget his act and look at her with distrust and fear. It had nothing to do with her past. When he and Dick were first learning about her from Bruce, Jason seemed all the more ready to be her 'big brother'. Excited, even. But then they were told how Cass was first taught to communicate. At first, Jason seemed to think they meant sign-language when they said 'body-language'. Cass saw it when he finally understood, and that was the problem.

No matter what Jason would say, how he acted, how he held himself, there was always the underlying tones of a boy who felt out of place. Every time he looked at the fancy decore, was pulled to a gala, stuffed into a suit and tie, Cass could see the little street-rat he used to be as if he was always in a constant state of 'acting'. Jason was proud of his 'facade', of getting people to think he was 'tough' and 'cool'. He didn't like Cass, cause he knew she could see just how scared he really was.

So it did not surprise her in the least when his shoulders tensed up in a brief flash of disgust when Bruce paired the two of them to head over to the North End. He quickly covered and flashed a big, warm smile at her. She couldn't reciprocate, his warm smile wasn't real. Behind his eyes she could see the nervousness, the fear. She nodded at him, a sign that she was ready to go. He frowned and then turned to walk to his bike. She followed. A wordless interaction.

The two rode off to the North End, out of the corner of her eye she saw them get passed by Spoiler on her way to the Narrows just beyond them. Steph and Damian were the only two aside from Bruce himself that were allowed to be out on their own, a rule that was created after what had happened to Tim. Nightling and Batgirl then stopped in a designated alleyway where they stashed the bikes, hiding them amongst garbage and refuse to prevent a repeat of Jason's introduction to the family. From there, the two made their way to the roof-tops and started on their rounds.

As they traveled via roof-top, Batgirl swore she could see Nightling glance at her from the corner of his masked eyes. He was wary, as if she was the one he had to worry about attacking him. She still wasn't quite sure how she could change his mind about her, but she was determined to figure it out. Batgirl contemplated this until they heard a man cry out in pain. The two rushed to where they heard the sound and watched as a gang of thugs took turns beating a man who, from his similar attire, was one of their own. Batgirl could read it in their stance and sneers. Revenge, betrayal, anger, satisfaction, and the man on the ground was an understandable mix of pain and regret. He was a traitor, he had been caught, and he was now being punished.

She didn't have time to convey any of this to Nightling, however, as the pre-teen was already on his way down to save the man. She could almost forgive his impetuousness, if not for the fact Nightling's body language spoke of a need to prove himself and less of a need to protect. As he rushed in, it was immediately five on one. Batgirl considered her choice between hanging back and waiting for an opening or jumping down now to prevent any unnecessary harm to either her partner or the traitorous gangster. Deciding on the latter, Batgirl jumped down on top of the goon that was trying to be the first to get a hit in on the boy hero. When she glanced at Nightling, she saw irritation, at her. He didn't want her involved.

Since Cass was trying to show Jason that she was on his side and someone he could trust, she decided to honor his foolish wish, if only halfway. With the five now down to four, they took two each and fought on opposite sides of the alleyway. Batgirl had her two down quickly and efficiently. Nightling was still struggling with his. Batgirl frowned beneath her full face mask. She knew Nightling was much more capable than this, but she could also see a stiffness to his movements that was causing a hindrance to his fighting and evasion. Jason was taking on twice as many hits as he typically would in this situation, and it was entirely due to him over thinking about his moves. He wasn't trusting himself now.

The more Batgirl watched, the more irritated Nightling got; he was not appreciative of her just standing there while he fought. She knew full well that he'd be equally as ungrateful if she stepped in. Furrowing her brow and trying to think about what he could possibly want from her, Batgirl watched one of the goons get a lucky slash in with a knife on Nightling's thigh while he was in mid-kick. That's when Cass decided if he was going to be upset with her, then he can try justifying being upset at her saving him.

It wasn't until she was already launching her attack to get the two that she saw the sense of accomplishment cross Jason's face as he had the two lined up for a double knock out. She got to it first. He went from 'proud' to 'horrified' in a millisecond, and Cass felt dread hit her stomach. She could read it all over him; anger, hurt, betrayal, disgust, defeat. He finally felt like he had proven himself in this fight and she unintentionally stole it from him. Worse yet, she could tell that he believed she did it on purpose.

Cass froze. She didn't know what words to use to explain why she attacked when she did. She didn't know how she could justify her doubt, or how she didn't really doubt him except for tonight. Trying to come up with something to say to try and mollify her new adoptive brother, Cass was left just standing in the alleyway as Jason marched right passed her with a 'good job'. She just stood there, hurt.

Knowing he was heading back for the bikes, Batgirl took the initiative to zip-tie and round up the gang members. She made sure to put the traitor goon separate from the others with no ties. While she could see that he was a guilty party like the others, she had no proof or reason, and so he was more or less 'free to go'. She got back to the bikes where Nightling informed her that he went ahead and called it in. With that, Nightling revved up his bike and took off. Batgirl followed but was instantly confused when she noticed that Nightling was heading back to the cave. It was still early yet, and it wasn't like they needed to take anything back for investigation.

Things cleared up for her a bit when they arrived and Alfred was already there, worried. Jason exited his bike and took off his mask before he began to limp over to the med-bay. Cass frowned. Jason had a cut on his leg, yes, but she had known the members of this family to keep fighting through much worse than something that might need, maybe four stitches, five if Alfred decided to be liberal with the thread. Alfred, on the other hand, seemed both relieved and proud, handling the small wound quickly and carefully as well as letting Cass know that she may go join Steph over by the Narrows for the rest of the night if she wasn't ready yet to retire for the evening.

One last look over to where Jason was refusing to look at her, Cass nodded and turned to leave. Before she so much as took a step, she suddenly had an idea. There was one thing she had never done, something she never considered trying before, but she felt it might be her last option at getting through to Jason. Taking her crazy idea and rolling with it before she could think twice about it, Cass turned back around and launched herself on top of Jason, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Jason stiffened all over, but then started to relax in her hold. Cass buried her face into the crook of his neck as she felt one of his arms come up and hug her back.

"I sorry," she muttered. She was apologizing for taking his win earlier and doubting him, but she figured it might be best not to get too specific about what she was apologizing for.

"No, I'm sorry," he responded. Cass truly had no idea what he was apologizing for. Other than being uncomfortable around her, which is something someone can't really help, Jason had been completely nice and accommodating to her. Still, she could feel it in his body all around her, for once he meant what he said, and she smiled.

Pulling away, Cass shared that smile where he could see it, and she watched as a small, sad smile tugged at the corner of his mouth in response. He still wasn't completely okay around her, but this was better. He now knew she was on his side. Nodding in satisfaction, Cass then went back on her way to her bike before heading off to join Spoiler.

At the end of the night, when everyone had made their way back - sans Steph who mostly escorted Cass back to the East Side before splitting off and going straight home - Cass watched Bruce walk over to where Jason was still laying on the cot in the med bay, back propped up. Jason was a play of startling emotions, the gist of what she read from them was that Jason was scared that Bruce would be disappointed in him. Bruce, on the other hand, held himself like a proud father, speaking quietly to Jason as they went over why Jason pulled himself out early. When Jason looked confused about Bruce's affirmation that he was proud, Cass could hear Bruce speaking even clearer than before, making certain Jason heard him.

"Jason, you were able to admit that you got hurt because you were distracted and stuck in your own head. Doing that kept you safe and allowed everyone around you to focus on their tasks without having to split their attention worrying about you. Who knows what could have gone wrong if you didn't have that foresight. What you did showed an incredible amount of maturity and that will be an invaluable asset in the future." Bruce put a hand to Jason's shoulder. "I hope whatever it was that threw you off your game tonight is something you'll be able to get past by tomorrow, but now I know I can trust your judgment on that."

With that, Bruce gave Jason's shoulder a quick squeeze before he went on his way to the showers. Dick ran up to give Jason a quick half-hug around his shoulders, wishing him well, before running after Bruce to also get washed up for bed. Cass made her way to his bedside along with Alfred.

"Master Bruce is right, you know. I much prefer just four stitches and quiet self-reflection to your father and elder brothers' affinity for bringing themselves home in pieces only to go out and do it all again." Alfred smiled at Jason and gave him a wink before he made his way upstairs for the night. Cass just reached over and took his hand.

"Good?" She asked. Jason looked her carefully, up and down, before he sighed and held her hand back.

"I'm, okay." He had paused in thought between the two words as he answered her truthfully. She appreciated it a lot more than if he had just tried lying for the sake of her feelings again. As long as he was willing to be truthful, they had a chance to grow closer. Cass smiled, gave his hand a small squeeze like she watched Bruce do earlier, let his hand go, and went to go get cleaned up and head to bed.

She watched as Jason stood up, stretched out, and made for the stairs. He'll be okay, both physically and emotionally. They both would be.


A/N: I had a thought about how uncomfortable someone like Jason had to be around someone who could easily read people for who they were. He's always trying to play up a character, even when he's not meaning to. We'll see more sibling dynamics between these two now. Unfortunately, I have my doubts that Cass will ever get to really see Tim as 'family' either. But, I may end up accidentally writing a chapter that proves myself wrong.

R&R if you liked. (Need a default response? Just say 'I see you!'. I'll take it.)