A persistent knocking woke Cass from her morning slumber. Grumbling to herself she looked out the window, grimacing when she saw that the sun wasn't even thinking about peeking over the horizon. Who was even conscious at this time of day?! She peeked groggily out the peephole, disgruntled and rather surprised to see Tim there. Again? Come on, it was one thing to come over bearing pizza and helpful reading incentives at a decent time. It was quite another to appear uninvited, at a horrendous hour of the morning, apparently empty handed. She seriously considered ignoring him and going back to bed, but then she sighed, knowing that Tim had been nice and helped her and maybe it was something important.

That thought stopped her cold. Had something happened? To Batman? Nightwing? Babs? Was someone hurt or...she refused to finish the thought but couldn't quite keep from wrenching the door open in a rather panicky way. Tim looked surprised. Cass couldn't know that she looked terrifying, her hair all messy, wearing a loose black tank top and black sweatpants, with a rather wild look in her eyes. Tim actually took an involuntary step back.

"What?! What...grr..." high stress made always made her words disappear. "Did...something... happen? ... Batman?" she finally managed to grind out. He seemed confused for a moment, then his eyes widened and, to her astonishment, a faint blush stole over his cheeks.

"Um...no. Nothing's happened to anyone." His eyes flicked briefly behind her and his detective-honed powers of observation noted the darkened room and, in the pale light from the hall, the unmade bed. "I didn't mean to wake you up, I thought..." he trailed off, apparently deciding not to share with her what it was, exactly, he had thought. She frowned at him; now that she was no longer worried the irritation was returning.

"What do you want?" if it came out sounding rude...well, good. It was supposed to. She had been sleeping. Didn't he understand what that meant? She wanted to go back to sleep, too, and he was standing in the hall saying nothing, like a...like a...well she didn't know what it was like, but whatever stood in people's halls and stuttered out half sentences that made no sense, that is what he was like.

"Gee, Cass, I said I was sorry." Great, now he was irritated too. Except... her mind was finally beginning to come fully awake and the part that read body language was reexamining the last few minutes. There was a reason she had leapt to the conclusion that something horrible had happened... his whole demeanor had been blaring out a message of tension, worry, and anger. She studied him now, noting little things that she hadn't before, such as the suspiciously hand-shaped bruise on his neck, the recently scabbed cut on his forehead, and the pain lurking behind his eyes. Not physical pain, not caused by the bruises or the scars or any of the injuries he must have sustained last night as Robin. No, this was a pain of the soul, a haunted look that reminded her all too well of the pain she had seen many times staring back at her in the mirror. She backed up and motioned him inside.

The room was dark, and she turned on a lamp, but decided the overhead lights were too bright for this time of the morning. Besides, having recently suffered from a head injury herself, she knew that bright lights were not welcome when one has a headache. He came in, stood uncertainly in the middle of the room for a minute, the sat down on the couch, still tense. He slung his backpack, which she hadn't noticed, down onto the floor with a heavy thump, indicating that it was stuffed full... of what she didn't know. She considered for a moment, then, deciding that Alfred's remedies were always the best, not to mention the fact that she was hungry, she moved to the kitchen and took out some of the prepared foods. One thing she did know how to cook was water, and so she heated some for tea while chicken-cordon-bleu heated in the microwave. If Tim thought her choice of breakfast a little odd, he wisely refrained from comment, possibly because he knew her unorthodox upbringing may not have included "breakfast" foods versus "dinner" foods.

"Here." She handed him a plate and he was surprised to feel his stomach growl in response. He smiled weakly at her and she started to eat, apparently content not knowing why he was there. He shrugged mentally and dug in as well. Unlike the silence a few nights ago, this one was tense and pregnant with unspoken troubles. Finally, though the food had helped him relax a bit, Tim couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Ummm..." he stopped, cleared his throat, and tried to start again. "First off, I'm sorry I woke you up. I forgot you haven't been out at night this week and thought it was early enough you might still be up." Cass shrugged indifferently. "Right. So... anyways I came over here because, well...the other day..." his pauses were getting on her nerves...she obviously wasn't a morning person, though, considering her occupation, he really should have thought of that before.

"Tim," she tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but didn't think she was succeeding too well. "What is it you want?" he flushed again; though he was used to criticism and irritation from the Titans, especially Kon, Batman, his Dad, and so on, he was surprised to find that Cass's frustration could fluster him.

"I...I just needed to crash somewhere, ok?" it came out in a rush and Cass raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Uh...I mean..." he sighed. "I had a big fight with my dad. I had thought... after the gang wars he was so... I just didn't realize I would have to keep fighting him on the whole Robin issue."

"He wants you to quit again?" Tim shrugged miserably. Cass considered his injuries and took a not-so-wild guess. "Did anything...specific... cause it?" He gave her a little half-smile, though his heart wasn't really in it.

"I guess you could say that. I had a...an unfortunate incident with a couple of Jok...er, I mean some thugs and probably wasn't quiet enough when I got home. Or maybe he just had some kind of ESP, I don't know. But only about a minute after I got in, before I could cover up..." he waved vaguely at his neck and face, "he walked in, saw my injuries and flipped out again! I don't know, Cass, I really don't. It's like he can't make up his mind in a reasonable fashion."

Though he would never admit it out loud, Tim wasn't even completely sure his dad was reasonable. There had been numerous instances where he acted strangely, such as when he had lost all the family's money, or when he first found out about Robin. Sometimes Tim had to wonder if the injuries that had left his dad in a coma, and then crippled for a while, hadn't also somehow messed with his sanity. But, as mentioned, Tim would never voice these opinions aloud.

"So you came...here?" the disbelief, though it was "polite disbelief", was palpable. He shrugged.

"Well, we seemed to kinda, I don't know, connect the other day?" His voice was hopeful, his body saying "can't that be a good reason?" But she didn't seem convinced and his shoulders sagged.

"Wellllll..." he drew the word out, "y'see I kind of, maybe, got mad at my dad and said some things I shouldn't have." Yeah, he thought sourly, things like, "if you're so concerned about me, where were you back when I became Robin in the first place...became Robin because you were off jet-setting with mom and leaving me alone!?"

"O-kay..." two could play at the long-word game. He rolled his eyes.

"My dad made me mad and I just lost it, OK? He yelled and I yelled, and then I grabbed some clothes and stuff and left. If he goes looking for me...well, I'm not really sure I want him to find me...at least not yet. So I couldn't go to the Manor, Blüdhaven is a little further than I can go as Tim Drake without transportation...my 'cycle being just for Robin and I didn't really feel like suiting back up... and Babs is...well, she's just Babs." He grimaced. "She'd probably want to interfere anyway, try to get me to talk to him or something." Cass nodded sagely. In this she had much experience. Babs was a very good meddler.

Yet for all his talk of fighting with a parent, something she understood very well, all his anger... it seemed so...so...not Tim. It was unusual and she had a feeling there was more to it than just a fight with his dad. But she didn't read body language for nothing, and his was begging her to accept his explanation. She changed the subject.

"So... you want to stay here?" he suddenly looked uncomfortable again, not having thought about any implications of his staying with Cass ahead of time. He hadn't imagined there being any problems... they were colleagues, possibly friends, but he hadn't realized what staying at her apartment would entail. He swallowed with a little difficulty.

"Um... not...not necessarily." She cocked her head like a bird in confusion. "Maybe just for the rest of tonight," he clarified, "I was hoping I could crash on your couch and then find a hotel or something for a few days." He looked down guiltily, remembering his own advice against just such actions taken by Stephanie when she had had a fight with her mom. Cass considered. He was obviously upset. She had caught the reference to the Joker's henchmen, though he had tried to cover the slip. She knew Batman went nuts whenever the Joker was involved, and that the madman was still on the loose. She hadn't known, though, that Robin was now involved. It stung her pride that he was called in while she still sat on the sidelines.

But that wasn't Tim's fault. She knew, too, what it was like to...disagree with one's father. Though to call her relationship with Cain a "disagreement" was an understatement of gargantuan proportions. Coming to a decision, she stood.

"You can stay." He looked up, relief evident. "And..." she hesitated now. Batman had supposedly closed "her" cave when she had been fired and moved to the apartment. But she knew he would have left it in at least minimal operational status. He was, after all, always prepared. But if he joined the search for Tim... if he decided it was better that father and son speak whether Tim wanted to or not... would he think to look in the abandoned cave? She knew even if Tim came up with an alias at a hotel he'd be too easy to find. And, though she didn't for a millisecond entertain the idea that Tim would cease his nighttime activities...that was, after all, the whole point of the fight...she suspected Batman wouldn't try to compel a meeting during "working" hours. Maybe Tim could stay in the cave awhile without Batman following him back to force the issue.

"What?" His query made her realize she had been lost in thought too long. She shook herself slightly, bringing her musings to an end, and then smiled.

"You can stay tonight... and tomorrow I can show you a place to stay for however long you need." For the first time all day Tim's smile reached his eyes.


Sunlight streamed down into the dark recess, blinding the primitive inhabitants and startling them into far retreats. The light dimmed briefly as one...two figures maneuvered down into the damp tunnel, then flared again just before it was exterminated by the clang of a manhole cover being closed. Smaller beams of light now penetrated the darkness, flashlights sweeping the area for bearing, then moving away with muffled footsteps. Beady eyes caught in the beams reflected the light back before disappearing in fright, the owners unable to understand the working of the human mind.

"Here." One figure aimed its beam of light at a nondescript box, nearly identical to the hundreds of maintenance boxes that were located at regular intervals along the sewer line. The difference could only be seen by a trained eye...or in this case, an eye that knew in advance to bring along special goggles made especially for interpreting differences in wavelengths of light. This box was gray, like all the others, but had a special reflective coat that could only be seen with the special goggles. When the light from the flashlight hit the box, the figures wearing the unique eyewear would see a greenish tint, made brighter in one particular spot. That the "spot" happened to be shaped like a bat was surely coincidence...or not.

"Now what?" Tim Drake studied the box, grateful for the goggles that allowed him to identify the entrance to Cass' "place to stay", though he didn't rely on them as his only means of finding it again. His training as a detective was so ingrained it was nearly instinctual and he took note of little things. He noticed the fact that three bricks to the right and two rows up from the top of the box was a broken brick with half of one side chipped away, that there were four pipes overhead, the ground held a slight depression, and the wall on the other side of the water-way had a rat-hole near the floor and very vulgar graffiti slathered across its surface.

"Press..." she demonstrated, putting her hand flush against the surface of the box and applying pressure. An almost sub-sonic hiss was heard, then part of the wall slid aside noiselessly allowing them entrance to Cassandra's own Batcave. Cass watched him surreptitiously, trying to gauge his reaction. She hadn't been here since she had moved to the apartment, using the main cave to work out instead, but it didn't look any different. She had lived here for months, not caring, or even wanting, that she was cut off from life outside of Batgirl.

Of course now that she was once again used to living above ground she could see how dismal it might seem to someone else. She bit her lip, wondering if maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to offer the cave's use to Tim. He was silent, but she could tell he was initially put off by the cave's interior. Actually, he had been rather reluctant to even come down in the first place. He wasn't quite so angry anymore...maybe he was reconsidering running away from home. His body language changed into something she didn't quite recognize and he turned to her, a strained look on his face.

"You lived here for how long?" she blinked. She didn't know...she hadn't really paid attention to dates when she had first moved in, nor, to tell the truth, in the months following.

"I...I don't know. Some months...maybe at least a year I think?" she looked away, hating the uncertainty... another reason for her to learn to read, so she could keep track of things like that. She thought she would see disgust or at least aversion in his eyes; he obviously didn't like the cave, but when she met his gaze he surprised her. Was that... admiration? Respect? But those had always, well almost always, been there. But they were stronger, and she had to admit it made her feel all funny inside. Kind of warm and fuzzy... like a teddy bear she had seen. It made her want to grin. She settled for a small half-smile.

"I guess if you could stay down here for months I can manage for a few days." He did grin, and she could tell he had decided to make it a contest, of sorts, for himself. To challenge his own abilities and push himself outside his comfort levels. She walked through the cavernous room, pointing out the bed, the TV, the refrigerator, and other necessities. Finally she said goodbye and left... making her way back through the sewer to the manhole they had used as an entrance.

The sunlight hurt her eyes, as it always did after a prolonged stay underground, and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. It was a sunny day and she meandered slowly through the streets, making a game out of trying to read the signs on the storefront. By the time she reached her apartment it was late afternoon and she unlocked the door, eager for the evening to begin. She could eat dinner and warm up with a few exercises, then suit up and....

Oh. Yeah. Traveling to the cave had been like a trip back in time. She had forgotten that she still had another night left before she could go out as Batgirl. She kicked the couch lightly, not really putting any force into it, knowing she would damage it if she did. Well then. What could she do? The light was fading, but not gone, and she supposed she could visit Babs. As long as she hurried she could maybe avoid any crimes and, by extension, the temptation to intervene. She grabbed her coat and rushed out.


To be continued...