I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.

Frailty

Cassius watched as the gang ran away from the jewelry store. They weren't a particularly skilled gang. They smashed the front window with a crow bar and set off the alarm, and now they were running down the street with their arms loaded with shiny gold and silver necklaces, one guy had a string of pearls around his neck, and one had a sack filled with jewelry over his shoulder like Santa's toy sack.

"Void, Ravager, Orphan, they're yours," Batman's voice said from Cassius's earpiece.

"Understood," Void said. "Orphan, you're up first. Ravager and I will drop once you have their attention."

Orphan nodded from her place on the roof opposite Cassius, then dropped, using her grappling gun to swing down behind the one with the sack, who was trailing behind, then retracted the cable and clipped the gun to the back of her waist again before firing a cable net at the gang member, making him drop his pistol and the sack and attaching him to the wall of a building. The rest all spun, the apparent leader swearing as Cassandra pulled her captive's nun mask off.

"Fuck no!" the leader said. "No rats allowed!"

His arm snapped up, his TEC-Nine buzzing to life toward the man, who shrieked in fear, only for Orphan to step into the way, several bullets slamming into her back. Then, the bullets stopped as Cassius crashed down on the leader, shattering both of his legs and dropping him before a goo arm burst out of his back for each of the others, grabbing them and smashing them into the wall, knocking out all four via a cracked skull, before streaking over to Orphan. He had seen where she was shot. She needed a hospital immediately.

"Cave, now!" Batman's voice ordered.

"She needs a hospital!" Cassius snarled, forming wings.

"CAVE! ! !" Batman ordered.

Cassius grit his teeth before exploding into the air, flying away from the city and toward the hidden entrance to the cave. As soon as he arrived, Alfred took her from him, sprinting up the stairs with her. Cassius followed immediately after him, shifting his armor into a pair of jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a leather jacket as he ran. Finally, they reached a room where Alfred locked him out, saying he had to remove the bullets, but not to worry because he had medical training and had been treating the Bat Clan for years. That did nothing to alleviate Cassius's worry, so instead of walking through the door, he simply turned into goo and went under it. As he reformed, Alfred had already gotten Cassandra's armor and shirt off her upper body and had her lying on her stomach while he removed the bullets. within a second, Cassius was at her other side, beginning to remove the other bullets, able to tell which he had by whether or not the hole was still stretched open.

"I told you to wait outside," Alfred said, not slowing his treatment at all.

"And I ignored you," Cassius said, removing the last bullet and pressing a bandage to it. "I can help. I was taught to treat all forms of wounds, including bullet wounds."

"Very well," Alfred said. "We'll need to be quick."

Cassius nodded and they both fell silent, working quickly and efficiently to treat her. Finally, after much longer than Cassius would have liked, including Cassius shapeshifting into Cassandra in order to give her a blood transfusion that was essentially her own blood thanks to the way his shapeshifting worked, they were finished. Alfred gently pulled the sheet up over her to her shoulders for modesty and sat back, letting out a long, slow breath.

"What happened?" Alfred finally asked.

"She caught one of the thieves we were stopping, so the leader tried to kill him," Cassius said. "She shielded him."

Alfred nodded. "By the bullets and the placement, I'd guess he used a TEC-Nine. We're lucky. That's a very inaccurate weapon. If he'd had a proper gun, she might be dead."

"Agreed," Cassius nodded. "Still, it was close."

"Indeed," Alfred nodded. "I'm impressed by your skill treating injuries."

"I could say the same," Cassius said. "I thought you were just a very loyal butler who happened to work for a vigilante. Turns out you're practically a doctor too."

Alfred smiled. "There's a reason Bruce Wayne doesn't get shot every third night."

Cassius nodded, dropping his eyes to Cassandra, whose face was contorted with pain. He reached out gently, brushing her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I treated her bullet wounds every time her father shot her, giving her the scars. Not just guns, of course. Guns, knives, swords. Her training was almost as bad as mine, and they decapitated me several times during my training."

"You were decapitated?" Alfred asked.

Cassius smiled and reached up to his hair, a line of his neck turning to goo before he lifted his head off of his shoulders, smirking at Alfred's grimace. "Freaky, huh? This is partially why I say I'm not even human anymore." He reconnected his head. "I'm living goo that takes on a human form. I can heal from anything, as long as it's not a fire or something of comparable or greater heat, or ultrasonic frequencies."

Alfred nodded. "That must be hard."

Cassius sighed. "I've gotten used to the idea that I'm not human anymore. I don't care about that. The only thing I care about now is protecting her and Rose."

"You care about them deeply," Alfred said.

Cassius sighed. "It's not anything romantic."

"I didn't say it was," Alfred said. "I merely said you care about them. You're the one who jumped to romantic feelings."

"No," Cassius said. "Captain Marvel did. Now I just naturally assume that everyone else thinks the same thing he does. But it's not like that. It's...I've done a lot wrong in my life. Too much to atone for, but..."

"You believe that protecting these two, and helping them to live a better life than you did will make things at least partially right," Alfred supplied.

"I...I don't know," Cassius sighed. "I guess? It's...complicated."

Alfred nodded. "Well, for what it's worth, I believe you are doing the right thing. I can't think of anyone who would be better to look after them than you."

Cassius smiled. "Thank you."

Alfred nodded and turned, walking out of the room. After a couple more minutes, Rose ran in, still wearing her armor, and dropped into the seat he'd just left, her face filled with worry.

"She's okay now," Cassius said. "She'll recover within a few weeks."

Rose nodded, wiping her eyes. "Thank God. I was so worried."

Cassius nodded. "So was I. You two are all I have. You've both got to stop worrying me some day."

Rose laughed. "You're one to talk. You've worried us a many times as we've worried you."

Cassius chuckled. "I suppose so."

Cassandra winced before her eyes slowly opened. "Cassius?"

"I'm here," Cassius said. "Don't try to move. You were hurt pretty bad."

"Okay?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes," Cassius said. "You're going to be okay, and the thief you protected wasn't hurt at all."

Cassandra nodded, smiling in relief.

"You did well," Cassius smiled, gently brushing a hand over her hair. "You scared the shit out of me again, but you did a good job."

Cassandra smiled. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "I'm proud of you. I wish you'd be more selfish so I wouldn't have to worry, but I'm proud of you."

"Rose?" Cassandra asked.

"I'm here," Rose said, Cassandra turning her head to smile over at her. "I'm glad you're okay."

Cassandra winced as she held an arm our to either side. Both of them took her hands and smiled, remaining there together for hours before both fell asleep in their chairs.

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