AN: One day late but I wanted to make sure it is good. We get a lot of Cass and a lot of the boys in this one so it should be fun. I think there is only one chapter left after this one which is incredible.

Summer314: I'm so happy it wasn't confusing. This was the most complicated thing I have ever written from a perspective-standpoint. So, thank you for the reassurance! Nightwing should feel a bit better now. We'll see in this chapter.

It's still very bittersweet though. We'll also get slivers of how Bruce is feeling in this one. They both went through a heavy loss.

17. Decisions

People had been different around Cassandra lately in a way that she needed time to understand. She hadn't been forced to train nor kill. Instead, the Birds of Prey had left Cassandra a lot of freedom. Letting her decide what to do at her own pace.

Cassandra had been confused by this team at first. She didn't understand their purpose.

Stephanie had explained it quickly, signing to her: 'We save people and do good.'

This explanation was vague, but Cassandra could work with it. She filled the gaps by following the Birds when they were on patrol. Stephanie hadn't lied. The Birds stopped muggings, murders and all kinds of other crimes. Cassandra was amazed by how well they worked together. As if they could read each other's movements. Cassandra wondered what it would be like to be so close to others. She couldn't even imagine. She could only watch.

The rest of the time – when Cassandra was not using the Birds' training room – she spent at the Manor with Bruce Wayne. The man was teaching her how to sign. He seemed very eager to teach Cassandra, always lighting up when he saw her. Bruce was a very sad man, but he was less sad when Cassandra was around. She didn't understand why. No one had ever been happy about seeing her. Still, Cassandra liked it and she kept coming back to Wayne Manor. She was there so often that Alfred – the very nice butler – had a plate of cookies ready for her every time she came.

Sometimes, Stephanie joined. She didn't seem to like Bruce very much as her body tensed when Bruce was around. But she avoided talking badly about him towards Cassandra.

Cassandra had never been as happy as she had been with the Birds and Bruce. Another big plus was the Birds' training room where you could fight any simulated foe. Cassandra used it religiously and fought all foes on their highest difficulty.

Sometimes, the Birds trained with her. Cassandra liked to spar the most with Black Canary. Dinah was one of the best fighters Cassandra had ever met. She could hold her own against Cassandra for a while.

Cassandra spared with Stephanie, too. The other girl was not as quick or skilled as Canary but she was tenacious. She always got up again even after the most ruthless takedown. It puzzled Cassandra. Why did Stephanie fight when she couldn't win? Still, Cassandra had learned to value it. Stephanie was impressive in her stubbornness.

Both girls were sparring again today. Stephanie groaned, when she went to the floor for the fifth time today.

'I'm getting better though', she signed with a big smile on her face.

'A bit', Cassandra smirked.

Sparring with Stephanie was fun.

'We have to play v-i-d-e-o-g-a-m-e-s one day. I'll beat you there.'

Cassandra frowned. She didn't know what videogames were.

'I'll show you one day', Stephanie held her hand out to Cassandra.

Cassandra had not understood this gesture the first time Stephanie had done it. No one had ever helped her up. But now it felt like second nature to her to grip Stephanie's hand and to pull her up.

'But now I have a surprise for you', Stephanie's signing was stiff.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. Stephanie had practiced this sentence before. She was planning something. Cassandra froze for a moment. Wondering if this was a trap. But nothing in Stephanie's body language suggested that she had bad intentions. There was a twitch in her cheeks where she couldn't hold back a smile. She was standing slightly on the balms of her feet. Ready to jump into action. Stephanie was excited for an unknown reason.

'Come on', Stephanie signed, 'The others are waiting.'

Cassandra followed. Stephanie could be trusted.

They stepped into the main room of the Clocktower where Oracle's computers where located. Oracle, Catwoman and Black Canary were waiting. Their demeanors were similar to Stephanie's though more muted. There was a permanent sadness that clung to the older Birds.

Stephanie was often sad, too, though it became less prominent when she focused on sparring and being with Cassandra. Cassandra could always see this melancholy though. She looked at the photo on Oracle's desk and at the woman with the crossbow. Huntress – Stephanie had called her. The Birds had lost a member.

Oracle wheeled herself forward. Cassandra had quickly learned that the woman was a threat despite her limited mobility. Her eyes were everywhere, and her body language screamed that she knew. Stephanie had also told her that Oracle had a photographic memory. She didn't forget anything once she saw it.

Cassandra was glad that Oracle wasn't a threat to her and that she focused on pursuing other murderers. Because Cassandra would always be a murderer. She had two lives on her conscience. The man her father had sent her to kill. And the assassin Cheshire had tricked her into killing.

Oracle signed. Her signing was similarly stiff as Stephanie's. Recently practiced, too.

'The Birds and I have been talking. We would like you to join our team', Oracle smiled, 'You are an incredibly fighter and I think you want to do good.'

'I'm a murderer', Cassandra signed back.

Oracle didn't seem surprised by Cassandra's objection: 'It's true. You murdered someone but you understood that it was wrong to take a life and chose to flee. That takes a lot of courage, Cassandra. It's impressive. And you spared Damian's life which shows that you have the right heart for the team.'

Cassandra didn't know how to reply. All the signs seemed to have slipped from her mind at once. The Birds believed in her. Nobody had ever believed in her before. Cain had always made sure that his daughter excelled. Nothing had been left to chance. The Birds were different. They trusted that Cassandra could do right by herself.

'Huntress?', Cassandra asked.

Sadness washed over Oracle's frame. She held eye contact with Cassandra though: 'She gave her life for all of us. For you, too. You aren't a replacement but a new part of the team. No one can replace Helena and I think she would have liked this, too.'

'Would you like to join?', Stephanie moved on the balms of her feet.

She was eager. And strangely, Cassandra was eager, too. Cassandra smiled and there was a rush in her body. A deep joy that she had never felt before. She hurried to Stephanie and hugged her. Stephanie laughed and Cassandra frowned when she heard a laugh come from her mouth, too. It was strange but not unwelcome.

Cassandra broke off the embrace with Stephanie and turned to the rest of the team. She nodded.

Catwoman smiled. She turned around and pulled something out behind her. A white cake with brown writing on top of it. Cassandra couldn't read it.

Stephanie signed: 'It says Welcome to the Birds, Cassandra.'

Canary smiled as well. She patted Cassandra's shoulder. Cassandra could read appreciation and respect in her demeanor. It made her feel warm to receive such a gesture from a hero like Canary.

Stephanie put on some music and Catwoman cut the cake. She gave everyone a piece.

Cassandra had never had cake before and she was amazed by the sweetness on her tongue. It reminded her of Alfred's cookies.

Stephanie pulled Catwoman into the middle of the room once they had eaten their slices. They danced together in an array of wild movements.

Oracle wheeled herself next to Cassandra. She signed: 'I'm happy that you joined. I think we'll learn a lot from each other.'

Cassandra nodded. She wondered what Oracle would teach her.

'It's important that you learn speak and read and have a social life outside of being a hero', Oracle glanced at Stephanie with a smile, 'Stephanie will take care of the second part and I of the first one.'

'You'll teach me how to speak?'

Oracle nodded: 'I'm a l-i-b-r-a-r-i-a-n. I have a lot of books I can give to you.'

Cassandra didn't know what a librarian was but apparently it had to do with books. She would find out sooner or later. Cassandra felt mildly apprehensive. Books had always been like secret rooms that Cassandra lacked the key for. She had never understood them.

'Don't worry. We'll start slow', Oracle signed, 'Enjoy the party for now.'

Cassandra was still a bit worried. But Barbara believed in her – so Cassandra would believe in her, too.

"So, what is the plan?", Dick said.

Jason's feet were on the coffee table, a book on his lap. Meanwhile, Damian was training with his katana.

They had hung out in Jason's safehouse for far too long now. Dick was going stir-crazy and Nightwing, too. The vigilante was eager to put their arrangement into reality.

"Plan?", Jason put the book down.

Damian continued practicing, not letting any trivial conversations hold him back.

"We can't stay here forever – obviously", Dick said.

"Is that you or Nightwing speaking?", Jason seemed amused.

"Both."

Damian put his katana down. He seemed thoughtful.

"Gotham has become risky. A lot of people are after us – but mostly after Grayson to be honest."

Dick took a pillow and threw it at Damian: "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You have a lot of enemies, Grayson", Damian crossed his arms, "Apparently, your character has a way of riling them up."

Dick was about to defend his honor when Jason chimed in: "No offense, but you are kind of a troublemaker, Mr. Clean. And I think the trained vigilante in your head isn't helping."

"They are ganging up on us", Dick said.

'Unbelievable', Nightwing sounded exasperated, "No respect for age - and beauty for that matter."

Dick chuckled.

Jason and Damian exchanged a look. They still weren't used to Dick and Nightwing talking to each other. It was amusing.

'Very amusing', Nightwing added, 'We should think of some pranks to freak them out. If we're mind-melted forever now, we can at least have some fun with it.'

"I never said it was a bad idea to leave Gotham", Jason put the book down, "There is nothing keeping me here."

"Me neither", Damian raised his nose, "Gotham is a pathetic city full of terrible people."

Jason threw another pillow at Damian: "That's my hometown you are insulting here. Only Gothamites are allowed to talk shit about Gotham."

Damian dodged: "Your aim is terrible, Todd."

"Where would we go then?", Dick ignored his brothers' antics.

"Somewhere warm with a beach", Jason pulled Damian into a headlock.

The kid struggled, viciously kicking Jason. And those two said Dick was the troublemaker?

'Hypocrites', Nightwing agreed.

"I'm not sure. We are city-people. We need to keep busy", Dick said.

Damian bit Jason into the hand. Jason screamed and let go. Damian smirked triumphantly.

The youngest turned to Dick: "I wish to go somewhere where I can start a vigilante career. I shall put my talents to good use."

That was unexpected. Dick found himself tensing. Just the idea of Damian on these streets alone fighting crime was unbearable. Dick had sacrificed so much to protect Damian. He wouldn't allow anything to happen to him.

Dick tensed: "No way, Dami. You are far too young to become a vigilante and I'm not going to recklessly endanger a child."

"Your counterpart became a vigilante with eight", Damian interjected, "I am far older than he was."

'He has a point', Nightwing added cautiously.

"No way. I don't care if you are eight or thirteen. Under my roof, you aren't becoming a vigilante."

"You are such a Dad, Dickhead", Jason chimed in.

Dick ignored him. He crossed his arms and glared at Damian. Damian glared back.

"I did a lot of bad in my life and I wish to atone for it", Damian said, "You have to give me this chance, Grayson."

Dick didn't crack – until Damian pulled out the puppy dog eyes.

"Please, Dick", Damian looked up at him.

Dick felt himself melt. He crouched in front of Damian and put a gentle hand on his shoulder: "You are a child, Damian. You don't have to atone for anything. You are safe now and you can focus on building your future away from killing."

"I don't want to kill people. I want to help people", Damian said, "Like you and the Birds helped me. I am trained. I am not some stupid child."

"I never said that, Damian."

"Then, show me that you trust me by letting me put my skills to good use."

"He is trained already", Jason said.

"Are you on his side, Jason?"

"The League endangered him the moment they started teaching him. He can't suppress something he has learned for his whole life. That would be harmful. He should redirect it to something good."

Dick bit his lip. Jason and Damian weren't making the worst arguments. Still, this was Damian they were talking about. A thirteen year old child who had already seen far too much.

'He is capable', Nightwing said, 'He was my Robin.'

Dick turned away from Damian and Jason to talk to Nightwing: "You think you can protect him?"

'I know I can.'

Dick bit his lip. He wasn't sure about this at all.

'I know Damian. You can't keep him from doing anything if he sets his mind to it. Bruce tried. I tried. Even Talia. The only thing you can do is protect him on the way. We are talking about a kid who ran away from home by himself only led by his morals."

Dick closed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"You'll protect him with our life?"

'If I have to, I will without hesitation.'

"Good", Dick said, "I trust you."

Dick turned around to his brothers.

"Fine", he said, "But you only go out with Nightwing. He will protect you and you do everything he tells you. Do you promise me, Damian?"

"I do", Damian hugged Dick's legs, "I won't let you down, Grayson."

"So, we're playing vigilantes now?", Jason said.

"We?", Dick asked.

"Well, you aren't going to leave me out of the fun, are you?"

"I can't believe this", Dick shook his head.

"Don't pretend, Mr. Clean. You're excited, too. I saw you flipping over these roofs like a madman."

Dick smiled: "Maybe a bit."

'I knew it', Nightwing sing-songed in his head, 'There isn't any world where I wouldn't love doing this.'

Dick didn't grace him with an answer. Maybe they were all troublemakers. And his brothers were probably right in that Dick was less responsible than he liked to think of himself.

'You mean less boring.'

Nightwing was far more chipper since they had agreed to share the body. Dick was glad he was feeling better but - man - the guy was a talker.

"It's settled now. We need to leave the city", Jason said.

Damian looked at him questioningly.

"Well, Gotham is obviously the territory of the Birds. And I don't think they need our help", Jason explained it as if it was obvious.

"Nope", Dick said, "They got this covered."

"So, where do we go?", Damian seemed impatient.

'I know just the right city for us. It has its… peculiarities but it's awesome.'

That didn't seem very reassuring. But Dick would let Nightwing finish.

'Blüdhaven', Nightwing sounded excited about the prospect.

"Are you serious? Everyone is talking about how shitty it is – even shittier than Gotham."

'The perfect city for three and a half vigilantes to spread their wings.'

"That's one way to put it", Dick pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What are you talking about?", Jason said, "I sometimes feel like a third wheel with you two."

"Get used to it", Dick turned towards his brothers, "Nightwing wants to go to Blüdhaven."

"Blüdhaven?", Jason frowned, "The city that even Gothamites call Dirthaven? No way I'm living in that shithole."

"I can't believe I'm living in this shithole now", Jason shook his head.

The three (and a half) of them stood on the roof of an empty warehouse. There were a lot of empty warehouses at the port. Blüdhaven's port was gigantic as the city used to be a whaling town. However, whaling didn't do it anymore in the 21st century. Instead, the colorful billboards of the casinos single-handedly kept the city afloat nowadays.

The color tinted Damian's face into a pink hue. All three of them were wearing non-descript black costumes for now. Nightwing was working on putting his own costume together while Jason was still trying to think of a name. Damian had been unusually quiet about the secret identity-question.

"It's a shithole but it's my shithole", Nightwing made a flip, "I'm home."

Dick had let him take the reigns for now. The vigilante-stuff was going to be Nightwing's thing and Dick would just be along for the (fun) ride. That was their agreement.

Jason and Damian exchanged a glance. Dick knew that they would have never moved to Blüdhaven if it wasn't for Nightwing. They were doing him a favor. After the man had lost his whole universe, he could at least get his city back.

"I know you guys would have never moved here if it wasn't for me", Nightwing twirled an escrima stick he had gotten from the internet, "That was very sweet of you. I appreciate it. I'm sure you'll learn to love the city, too. It's special under all that grime."

"We don't know what you are talking about", Jason crossed his arms – refusing to admit to any act of kindness.

Damian huffed: "I doubt I can learn to love this pathetic city."

"I thought Gotham was the pathetic city", Jason used the opportunity.

"Well, congrats Todd. Your hometown isn't the most pathetic anymore."

Damian was adorable. Nightwing seemed to think so, too, as he ruffled Damian's hair.

"Let's try out if this works", Nightwing held up a grapple gun he had gotten from some guy in a back alley.

Dick hadn't wanted to ask. He didn't get a warning before Nightwing – the maniac – threw himself headfirst from that building. They fell for a few seconds before Nightwing shot out the grapple gun. It embedded itself on a ledge at the opposite building.

This was fine. Dick could do this. He was rusty, but he was still an acrobat. It was fine – until the damn line broke.

Nightwing didn't seem fazed. He slowed down their moment with another flip and caught himself on a streetlamp. Dick could feel their arms ache. But well. At least they still had arms that could ache.

Nightwing perched on the lamp, examining the grapple gun.

"Kevin's equipment used to be more reliable in my universe", Nightwing examined the broken line, "At least, we were the ones to try it out first."

Yeah. Luckily.

Jason and Damian hurried towards them. They stopped under the streetlamp.

"What the hell was that?", Jason screamed, "That was fucking insane."

Nightwing shrugged apologetically. He threw the faulty grapple line towards Jason: "I'll need to organize better equipment."

Jason shook his head. He looked like he just had a heart attack. Dick strongly suspected that they would need to get used to this with Nightwing.

Jason huffed and crossed his arms: "Well, don't ever do that again, idiot."

"You sound like the Jason from my timeline", Nightwing sounded melancholic while he climbed down the streetlamp.

Damian seemed to have noticed Nightwing's melancholy. He stepped forward.

"I have a request to make, Nightwing", Damian straightened his back.

A tell-tale sign that he was unsure.

"Sure, Little D."

"I know I cannot replace the Damian from your timeline, but I wish to honor him by becoming Robin. I took his place in the universe and it is only fair that I shall remember him."

Nightwing melancholy faded slightly, making space for joy. He crouched in front of Damian.

"I'm sure my Damian would be honored as well. He would like you even if he would show it in his own way."

"Are you sure, Nightwing?", Damian asked.

"100%", Nightwing smiled at Damian, "I lost him and you aren't a replacement. You are someone new – someone great – who becomes Robin and you honor those who came before you."

Damian nodded in agreement: "I shall honor all of them by keeping Robin alive. You as well, Nightwing. I know it was your mantle first."

"Thank you, Robin", Nightwing said.

Nightwing hesitated before he hugged Damian. Their youngest brother seemed surprised. He tensed at first, but he allowed Nightwing to hug him.

"See, kid?", Jason said, "You got your legacy after all."

"And this time, it shall be a legacy I chose for myself", Damian said.

Dick couldn't help but feel proud. This was his kid making all these mature decisions. Wait? His kid? Jason was right. Dick was turning into a Dad. He couldn't find it in himself to complain though.

AN: I had a commenter who wanted the boys to move to some tropical paradise. So, I sent them to Blüdhaven. Almost the same, isn't it? ;)