I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Christmas
Cassius stirred and yawned, tightening his arms around Cassandra. She'd had another nightmare after they got back from stopping Parasite, so Cassius had stayed with her. Now, it was Christmas morning. Not a pleasant time for the three of them in their old lives, but thanks to Cassius regaining his memories, he remembered what it was supposed to feel like, and he knew the others would help. So, He'd also already gotten them both a gift.
Cassius looked down at Cassandra, who was still asleep, curled into his chest. He smiled, reaching up to her shoulder and shaking her gently. "Cassandra. Time to wake up. It's Christmas."
"No," Cassandra said, tucking her face tighter into his chest. "Please."
Cassius squeezed her lightly. "Hey, come on, Cassy. You know I'm not going to do that to you. We're going to do Christmas right. No torture, no shooting, nothing your father used to do."
Cassandra again curled tighter into him.
"Cassandra, do you trust me?" Cassius asked.
She hesitated before nodding against him. He smiled and sat up, pulling her to her feet with him, only for her to tighten her hold. He sighed, pulling her arms out from behind him and sat down, resting his hands on her shoulders, only for her to drop her gaze to the floor, fear lingering behind her eyes. He lifted her chin, making her look at him.
"Cassandra Cain, I swear to you I will not let anyone hurt you," Cassius promised. "And I will never, ever hurt you myself. I'm going to show you what Christmas is supposed to be. We didn't get to do anything special for Christmas Eve, like you're supposed to, but I got everything set up for today. Christmas is supposed to be happy, and I want to show you that. If you'll let me. If you don't want to, we can do what you want for the day. I can ask the others not to do anything special, or we can just stay in bed all day."
Cassandra watched him for a moment before shaking her head. "Yes."
Cassius nodded, and Cassandra stepped forward, hugging him. He smiled, squeezing her lightly.
After a moment, Cassandra pulled back and signed, "Please don't leave me alone today."
"I won't," Cassius said. "But we'll have Rose with us too."
"Yes," Cassandra nodded.
He smiled, giving her a quick hug before standing and stepping past her toward the door, forming himself a pair of slippers in the process. "Come on. Let's go make sure Rose wakes up."
"Just let me grab my towel and clean clothes," Cassandra signed.
"No need," Cassius smiled. "No one gets dressed on Christmas."
Cassandra's eyes widened before she nodded. They headed out into the hallway and Cassandra slipped her hand into his as they walked toward Rose's room. Cassius smiled, giving her hand a light squeeze and she smiled. After a few minutes, they reached Rose's room and Cassius knocked. After a moment, the door opened to reveal Rose, still wearing her orange and black jack-o-lantern pajamas and the white cloth she covered her eye with at night, her hair still a mess.
Rose sighed heavily when she saw it was them. "Alright. What's on the agenda for today?"
"Christmas," Cassius said. "Your first real one."
"Wait, no training?" Rose asked.
"Nope," Cassius said. "Just a full day of celebrating Christmas."
Rose cheered and hugged him before grabbing a pair of orange slippers and putting them on. Then, they headed out to the living room and kitchen where the others were beginning to gather, and where a second Cassius was cooking. He smiled as Cassius walked in with the girls and walked over, Cassius reabsorbing him, then releasing Cassandra's hand to walk into the kitchen. Off to one side, beside the TV, which was already playing old Christmas Classics, was a huge evergreen tree decorated with lights, garland, and glass bulbs, there were presents piled under it, and as the others all sat on the couches, Cassius brought out a mug of hot chocolate for each of them, including both Cassandra and Rose, warning everyone that they were still hot. Then, he returned to the kitchen as the stove began to buzz. Only Wally wasn't present, currently being spending Christmas with his own family.
"What is this, Cassius?" Robin asked. "We didn't have time to set any of this."
"No we did not," Cassius agreed. "Or, at least, you didn't. I, on the other hand, had a clone setting this all up all night."
"With some help from me," Zatanna smirked. "I couldn't let him do something this sweet alone."
"Hey, I can still take that hot chocolate away," Cassius warned jokingly, Zatanna turning her upper body away, sticking her tongue out at him.
Finally, he walked out with two plates piled high with mini cinnamon buns, all bearing a thin layer of icing that coated every inch and guaranteed everyone sticky fingers. He also brought Rose and Cassandra each a smaller plate with a dozen each for them to keep to themselves. Everyone, besides the two former assassins-in-training, Kaldur, and Connor, cheered as soon as they saw the sweets and swarmed them, Cassius returning to the kitchen one last time to grab his own personal plate.
"These are amazing!" Megan cheered.
"I hope so," Cassius said. "It took Zatanna damn-near all night to teach my clone to make them right."
The others laughed and Cassius looked to Cassandra, who had a wide smile on her face and her eyes closed as she ate her sweets, her hot chocolate carefully held with her fingers looped through the handle to also hold the plate. Cassius gave everyone a few minutes to enjoy the sweets before walking over to sit by the tree.
"Everyone ready for presents?" Cassius asked.
Everyone cheered, besides Cassandra and Rose, both of whose gazes fell to the floor, expecting nothing. Cassius smiled, growing a goo hand for each person out of his back and stretched them over to the Christmas stockings Zatanna had prepared for everyone, giving them to them. Everyone, again excluding the same four, cheered as they began to sort through the candy filling the stockings. As they did, Cassius grabbed the three hidden stockings, giving them to Zatanna, Cassandra, and Rose. Cassandra and Rose's faces lit up with surprise, then joy as they saw the candy, and Zatanna smiled appreciatively, until she pulled out the first lump of coal, then scowled at him.
"Very funny," Zatanna said.
"I though you'd enjoy the irony of that joke," Cassius said.
Zatanna frowned before Cassius mimed biting it. She raised an eyebrow and took a bite, only to squeal in surprise and joy. "Chocolate Coal! That's great!"
"Ooo, nice touch!" Robin grinned. "I should have thought of that."
"Hey, why aren't you at home right now?" Cassius asked.
"He's not real big on celebrations," Robin said. "Though, I have to head home tonight, and I'm supposed to bring you all too. And Batman wants to see you three before dinner."
Cassius nodded and turned ate another sweet. "Okay. Now, for the real presents."
He noticed Rose and Cassandra didn't look quite as hopeless this time, and smiled to himself as he passed out the first set of presents.
"Hey, wait, where'd you find that?" Robin asked, staring at the present Megan was holding. "I thought I lost it. Actually, I lost all of the...Zatanna."
"I used magic to bring the wrapped presents everyone got for someone else on the team here," Zatanna smiled.
Everyone began to open their presents, including Cassandra and Rose. As each present was opened, more were passed out until they were all gone. Most of what Cassandra and Rose had gotten was candy, though Rose had gotten a new set of throwing knives that she was particularly excited about, and Rose had gotten several easier books for her to practice reading, once she was a bit better. Everyone gathered around on the couch to eat their candy and watch Christmas movies, except Cassius, Cassandra, and Rose, who headed for Cassius's room so he could get the presents he'd gotten them and had specifically had Zatanna leave in his room, and Robin who went to get a gift he'd neglected to wrap, accidentally making it immune to Zatanna's transportation spell.
Cassius walked into his room, Rose closing it behind them, and sat on his bed, reaching under his pillow, then returning with a pair of small, rectangular, black boxes. Both of their eyes widened as they accepted the one he handed to them, Cassius checking both to make sure they went to the right one. Rose pulled out a black rope necklace bearing a dime-sized gold rose on the front, then a leaf reaching up along the cord with a loop on the underside so that the necklace was attached at three points rather than just the back of the rose itself. Cassandra, on the other hand, pulled out a gold locket about the size of a quarter with her initials engraved in the front in flowing cursive script, and when she opened it, she saw a picture of her father on one side. She looked up at him in confusion.
"I know he wasn't the best father, but he was your father, and despite everything, you love him," Cassius said. "I figured you'd want something to remember him by."
She began to cry instantly and he smiled, pulling her into a hug, Rose joining them a moment later, her necklace hanging around her neck already. He smiled, wrapping an arm around her too, and they stayed like that for a long while before the girls pulled back. When they headed out into the living room again, Zatanna, now wearing a golden locket of her own, though decorated by a magician's hat and a stereo-typical wand with white tips, was in the process of starting to cook a ham, along with Megan and Artemis.
All three girls instantly noticed Cassandra and Rose's necklaces, partially because Cassandra was staring at the picture of her father, and complimented them, both girls smiling brightly before joining the boys on the couch to eat candy and watch movies while Cassius joined the girls in the kitchen, knowing exactly what he was in for.
"We're linked, girls," Megan reported, in both of the other girls' minds, as well as Cassius's.
"What happened to making them change their minds?" Zatanna asked.
"They've never had a Christmas that didn't involve being tortured by their fathers, among others," Cassius said. "I wanted them to see what it was supposed to be like."
"Does that 'supposed to' involve mistletoe?" Artemis asked, grinning.
"It better not," Cassius almost growled before catching himself. "I'm not going anywhere near any mistletoe."
"Good catch," Zatanna smirked. "If you don't want them under mistletoe with anyone else, maybe you should just be under it with them instead."
Cassius rolled his eyes, glancing at the girls and seeing Cassandra look over at him with a small frown. Cassius flashed her a smile and finished glazing the ham in cinnamon and maple syrup, then left the other girls to their work to go and join Cassandra and Rose on the couch.
"We'll let you know once the mistletoe's in place," Zatanna teased, only for all three girls to receive a mental image of his hand holding up a middle finger.
All three laughed as Cassius felt his end of the connection fade. He settled on the couch between the girls and both instantly leaned on his shoulders, Rose actually pulling his arm around her. Cassius rolled his eyes, smiling and wrapping his other arm around Cassandra as well.
"You three are cute," Robin teased, Cassius stretching a goo arm over to flick his ear, making him and the girls laugh.
They all spent most of the day chatting and watching Christmas movies together, snacking on candy and with those who'd had normal lives telling stories of past Christmases and their families' particular traditions. After a while, they had the ham for lunch, along with more candy and hot chocolate, then a little while later, Wally arrived, taking the time to open his presents for everyone, then passed out the ones he'd gotten everyone. Then, he spent a while sharing his own stories before Robin stood, announcing that he was heading home. Cassius and the girls took their hint and headed to the Zeta tube as well to "go see what Batman wants" before promising to be back in time for Boxing Day cleanup, which he explained to Cassandra and Rose was just the day after Christmas and was mostly just a day to clean up the boxes and wrapping paper and stuff left over from Christmas now.
"Good, you're all changed," Batman said as the three of them walked into the lounge area where he and Robin were waiting before they headed to the Wayne Family's annual Christmas Ball.
Cassius had gone with a basic tuxedo, though when he saw the much fancier one Dick was wearing, he shifted it into a matching one. Cassandra had on a simple black dress falling to her knees with her locket sitting proudly outside of it, as Rose had her own necklace on the outside of her own white dress, which fell to mid-calf on her right side, her knees on the left, and which he knew full well she'd hidden a pair of knives under, despite him telling her to leave them. She had also swapped her plain black eye patch for a white cloth that covered the upper right side of her face.
"You both look really good," Robin smiled.
Both girls smiled at him and Batman glanced at the door.
"Starting now, the two of you will be using our actual names," Batman said. "To be clear, that means that for tonight, and for tonight only, you'll call me Bruce, and him Richard, or Dick."
Rose grinned instantly.
"Secondly, we'll need a cover story for the three of you," Bruce said. "Which leads me to the main reason I brought you here. Rose, Cassandra, would the two of you be willing to join the Wayne family?"
Both girls' eyes widened instantly.
"What?" Rose asked. "Join the family like...you'd adopt us?"
"That's right," Bruce nodded.
"Wouldn't that tell the entirety of the League of Shadows who you are, and make you a target?" Cassius asked.
"The entirety of the League of Shadows already knows who I am," Batman said. "They simply choose not to attack this house in order to avoid provoking a war against the Justice League."
Cassius nodded. "I suppose that makes sense."
Rose thought for a moment before nodding. "Can I keep my name?"
Bruce blinked before nodding. "If you want to."
"Good," Rose said. "Because I'm not getting rid of my name until I've stopped my father."
"Cassius?" Cassandra asked.
"No," Bruce said. "He'll be a child I've taken under my wing, but the offer is for the two of you specifically."
Cassandra glanced up at Cassius worriedly.
He smiled and shook his head. "This choice is yours. Whatever you choose, I'll always be here."
Cassandra smiled and nodded, then nodded to Bruce as well.
"Alright," Bruce said. "Then let's go and announce Cassandra Wayne to the public."
"No," Cassandra frowned, then signed, "I want to keep my father's name."
"How about both names," Cassius said, grabbing a blank piece of paper and writing "Cassandra Cain-Wayne" on it. "Like this."
Cassandra cocked her head for a moment before nodding and smiling. "Yes."
"Alright," Bruce nodded. "Then Cassandra Cain-Wayne it is."
He turned, walking toward the door and Dick smiled, holding his arms out.
"Hug for your new brother?" Dick asked.
Cassandra smiled and gave him a hug, Rose doing the same a moment later. Then, they all followed Bruce to the ball room, all of them taking the long way to the ball room so they could come out at the top of the ball room's staircase. As they did, a murmur quickly ran through the guests at the presence of three new faces, one of which happened to be wearing a cloth to cover one eye.
"Thank you all for coming," Bruce said. "Welcome to yet another excuse for the Wayne Family to throw a party."
The crowd laughed, mostly politely.
"As you may have noticed, we have some new faces," Bruce said. "Allow me to introduce Cassius, who will be staying with us for the foreseeable future, and my two new daughters, Rose Wilson, and Cassandra Cain-Wayne."
Cheers rang out through the room both girls faces darkening slightly at the attention, and Cassandra took a half-step back and to the side to partially hide behind Cassius, who smiled and took her hand to calm her. They headed down to join the ball after a few minutes and After a few minutes, Cassius began to dance with Cassandra, who picked it up quickly, while Dick began to dance with Rose. After a couple songs, Rose cleared her throat as Cassius and Cassandra were passing her.
"Cassius, get me away from this dick," Rose said, grinning as Dick rolled his eyes.
"Alright," Cassius smiled. "Dick, time to switch."
Dick smiled and when they began to pass again, then spun around each other seamlessly, swapping partners and beginning to twirl away from each other again.
"Better?" Cassius asked.
"Much," Rose smiled happily before it softened into a more sincere, meaningful smile. "Thank you so much for making today special. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas."
Cassius smiled, squeezing her with the arm around her waist for a moment before refocusing on their dance. Eventually, he swapped back with Dick, Cassandra smiling gratefully. Then, a few songs later, the four of them retreated to a small sitting room off to the side, separated from the ball room by a curtain, when Cassandra and Rose finally got tired of the flashing cameras. As they reached the room, Cassius sat on a couch and Cassandra sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around him as he wrapped his arms around her too. Rose sat beside them, beginning to pester Dick about what it was like to live in the Wayne family.
"So, Cassandra," Cassius said. "Did you like your first real Christmas?"
Cassandra smiled widely and nodded, then signed, "Did you know Bruce wanted to adopt me?"
"No," Cassius smiled, shaking his head. "That was as much a surprise for me as it was for you. He just had to one-up me."
Cassandra shook her head, signing, "I liked this morning better. Besides, I wouldn't have accepted if you weren't going to stay too."
Cassius smiled, squeezing her gently, then sighed. "I'll always be here for you."
Cassandra smiled, Rose leaning on his shoulder as well. Cassius wrapped an arm around her, and when Dick grinned knowingly at him, he flipped him off with the arm around Rose. Dick's grin simply grew, so Rose kicked him for Cassius. A little while later, they rejoined the party for a while before all leaving and heading back to their rooms for the night, except Cassius, who Cassandra pulled to her own, Cassius agreeing to stay with her so that she wouldn't have any nightmares.
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