Pre-Dami. I wanted to do another Cass Fic, and frankly I've asked the same question a few times. If anyone can recommend a Cass and someone else fic idea, please do! This kinda leads into a future fic I'm planning on but... oh well. This is before Cass and Tim are perpetually in the same class.

Cass - 9

Lonely Child

"Dad?"

"Hm?" Bruce Wayne looked over to his daughter reading on the couch in the study. He was working on a few reports while she worked through Huckleberry Finn. She was doing pretty well and liked the classics.

Cass looked up at him, slightly unsure. "Am I scary?"

He looked at the girl, blinking in surprise. Why would she be asking that? "Come again?"

"Am I scary?" From the look on her face, it was clear she'd been wondering this for a while. Why he didn't understand.

"I wouldn't think so... But then again, I was Batman." The CEO set aside his work and looked her over again. "Why are you asking?"

The small girl shifted in her seat, looking away. "No reason."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Cassandra..."

Biting her lip, she said nothing. But the troubled look on her face made him wary. Concerned, Bruce left his desk and walked over to his daughter's side. "Cass, you know I can't help you if you don't say anything. I'm not that good at reading people like you are."

She still said nothing, worry in her eyes. There was a familiar look there as well, like when she didn't know the right words to say. Though she was getting much better compared to where she was when they first met, and read books high schoolers were assigned, she still had trouble communicating clearly. He sighed. "Did something happen at school?"

She shook her head, stopped, then shrugged. Mentally the man ran through recent events. Last time she got in trouble there was because of a perverted teacher (broke his arm in three places in retaliation). Her classmates didn't bully her strictly because she was quiet and dangerous. Then again... "Are you enjoying school?"

Again she bit her lip and looked away, shrugging slightly. Again he mentally reviewed what information he had about her class and what occurred in her life. After a minute or so he stopped. She wasn't being bullied, but that didn't mean she had friends. "Cass, do you think people are scared of you at school?"

Cass looked up at him again, sadness in her eyes, then slowly nodded. Bruce sighed, beginning to understand the question. "Are you making threats? Or glaring at people?"

She shook her head. He considered her again, wondering if her eyes were tilted in such a way that she looked like she was glaring when she was expressionless. No, her blank face screamed bored, not 'go away'. Jason's had a natural glare and Timmy's often looked sad without his knowledge. It was rather frustrating for them. "I see... Do you try playing with the other children?"

She nodded, then looked away. Thinking over her reaction, he guessed she tried and was often rejected by the other kids. Maybe because they thought she was scary. Now everything was coming together. "Can you tell me who your friends are at school then?"

For a moment she bit her lips together, then finally started to speak in a small voice. "No friends. I... have no friends. Only brothers and Barbara. They... are not scared. It is... lonely."

Seeing the pain on her face, her father scooped her up in his arms and gave her the comfort she needed. Cass clung to the man, forgetting her book and letting the rare tears come out. Though she was one of the strongest people he'd ever know, she was still a little girl who wanted more than anything to be loved by someone. Her only friends were her hodgepodge family and the girl who found her when she ran away from her biological father. Even after learning how to speak, she wouldn't talk about what she had gone through since birth. It took a while for her to let her new family in too.

All she had for friends were the people who saved her from the monster she shared genes with.

Rocking his daughter slowly, he let her cry away her loneliness and tried to find words of comfort. To him and those whom he associated with, Cassandra was far from scary. There was a slight stony look to her, a defensive mechanism she developed during her first six years of life, but that could only be counted as intimidating. Those who knew her though could look past it. Very little kids did often, and Timmy was the first to break through her barriers after Barbara Gordon (who was so much like her father, never fearing the dark knight). Jason was a kindred spirit to her and slipped in next. Dick was the last to connect with her, and it still was a hard to understand relationship. And Bruce? Cass just opened up to him on her own, along with Alfred.

But they were different people than those in her class. Majority of them were male or older. All had seen the darkness and accepted that bad things happened, and they'd just have to deal with it. Her class, her school even, was filled with innocent, pampered children of privilege. They didn't know the darkness they saw, what Cass had endured and lived in for so long.

"Maybe to most people, we are scary," Bruce admitted, including himself. "Intimidating. We've looked into the abyss and seen things they never have. We've build up barriers to protect ourselves from it and all the evils of man. But... if we're patient and keep trying, one day we'll all find that special friend who'll see past our walls and accept us as we are."

He looked down on his little girl, giving her an encouraging smile as their eyes connected. "Dick did that for me, and then Uncle Clark. I didn't find a real friend until I became an adult. It's lonely, but in the end a real friend is worth waiting for."

Blinking at him for a moment, she pouted. "Dick has friends. Lots."

"Yes, but he's overly friendly too." A smirk came to his face. "Ask him who his best friend is some day. Jason has a handful of pals and allies, but he's never brought any of them home. Timmy has playmates at school, but again, no one he brings home. Have I made it clear yet?"

Slowly the girl nodded. Her father smiled, running a hand over her hair. "Good. One day you'll find a very good friend and you'll bring her home to meet us all. May even have a slumber party and be the one keeping us up late at night. I'll even volunteer one of your brothers to practice makeup on."

Cass gave him an amused confused look before giggling. That would be a sight indeed.

A/N: so I figured out how to put Steph into the story, and frankly I can't see her not being part of it in the future now. Cass needs a BFF, and though she's very cool adn solitary, every girl out there needs a friend, a real friend. She'll be like Barbara in there though, a minor character, adn not for some time.

I've talked to people a lot asking why I don't have a boyfriend or why I don't have a lot of friends. Conclusion: I have a natural glare and a creepy laugh. I also scare people with the sheer amount of knowledge I spew out without thinking. In short, I'm intimidating (which is weird because I'm also 5'2" and wear second hand clothes) without meaning to be. It's really lonely. So I relate well to Cass here. really need to develop her more.

Anywho, when it comes to suggestions, just a little note: be specific. I keep getting "Jason/Dami bonding" or "Dick/Dami bonding" fic requests, but no scenarios. Those don't grow on trees you know. How am I supposed to get them to bond if I don't have some kind of event? Also, I'm not planning on going any further back than when the League formed, so stop asking for how they all came together. If I ever do a DNB origin bit, it'll be separate from these stories. Same for when I bring in Terry and Matt (DNB Beyond will be a time jump way in the future, after I've caught up with DCU). Thinking of doing a Bruce Wayne growing up story eventually as a baseline for how he became batman too, but that's neither here nor there. So, back to the note: be specific and don't ask for origins I've hinted at. Keep reading anyway. ;]