DC Infinity Presents

Batgirl # 19

Streets of Fear Unseen

Part 3

Gotham

Cassandra Cain held a katana in each hand, one pointed at her guardian Tatsu, and the other in her left hand in a reverse grip. Tatsu stood across from her, katana in one hand, short sword in the other, her expression a sea of calm.

"I will hurt you if you don't surrender."

Cassandra then darted forward, and swept her sword towards Tatsu's neck. The older woman blocked with her katana, and stabbed her short sword towards Cassandra's mid-section. Cassandra stopped that with her second katana, but Tatsu smooth flattened the blade and smacked the pummel into a nerve bundle, and for a moment Cassandra seized, muscles tightening.

Tatsu didn't waste a second, and brought her katana slashing downward. Cassandra reacted on instinct, and spun both swords in her hands and sent them slicing towards Tatsu's skull.

A split second later, Tatsu stood with her katana only a hair's breathe from Cassandra's jugular, while Cassandra held one katana at the side of Tatsu's neck, and the second one just under her chin.

Tatsu smiled.

"You're learning."

"Only two moves," Cassandra beamed as she lowered her swords.

"Actually, I was referring to the fact that you used the correct tense before attacking," Tatsu corrected with a wry smile, "but yes, your swordsmanship is getting better. Almost flawless, as a matter of fact."

Tatsu hadn't been living with Cassandra long before she'd come to the conclusion that it would be almost impossible to make the young woman do anything she didn't want to, and most of what she wanted to do was physical. Tatsu also knew that if she was going to act as guardian of a vigilante, it would be unwise to allow herself to become rusty. After all, no matter how careful or skilled the crime-fighter, there would always be some villain who by luck, skill or some other happenstance, managed to uncover their secret identity. Ras Al Ghul, Hush and Bane were certainly proof of that.

On top of all that, Cassandra was reluctant to practice her language skills outside of class, still embarrassed about her shortcomings. So Tatsu thought that combining a few morning exercises with speech practice was the perfect way to address all three problems at once without running into the stone wall that was Cassandra's (somewhat fragile) ego and defensive attitude.

"Now, say that same sentence in past tense," Tatsu stated as she assumed a careful defensive stance. The score was even now, and Tatsu wasn't so old that she didn't have a competitive streak.

"I have…I've… hurt you, now surrender," Cassandra said.

"Good, now…"

Tatsu was interrupted as a blue light began flashing overhead.

"Already?" Tatsu sighed, and stood down "sorry, Ritoru Batafurai, we'll have to pick this up later. Go get ready for school, I'll put away the weapons."

Cassandra pouted, and then set the swords down and made her way upstairs, not even bothering to hide her disappoint about not being able to finish the match, for school of all things. Cassandra stomped upstairs, certain that she was the only teenage hero in the world who had to schedule their training and crime-fighting around a school day.

oooOOooo

Thomas Wayne High School

"You're not cheating on me, are you?"

Cassandra looked up from her cell-phone, and towards her friend Zoe Hampton. It took Cass a moment to realize what Zoe was referring to exactly, and that she was in fact being sarcastic.

"Uhh, I…," Between that, and unable to explain that she was waiting for a coded text indicating that Nightwing had made some progress with their investigation, Cass scrambled to explain, "…Tatsu was…going to text if we were going out…to dinner…or not tonight."

"Whatever," Zoe shrugged. Cassandra saw that Zoe didn't believe the lie, but also didn't care, and breathed an inward sigh of relief, "just be thankful the teachers didn't notice you doing that in class. If there's one pet peeve all teachers have, its cell phones."

"Teachers don't…notice me," Cassandra observed neutrally.

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Zoe asked, "I mean like honestly, they like you, it wouldn't kill you to speak up more in class. Half the time I forget you're even there!"

"Being unnoticed…works," Cassandra replied, half heartily though in truth the idea of being the center of attention in class sent a chill down her spine. Part of her wondered if it was just a natural part of her nature, or something she picked up after years of sleeping in stoops and alleyways.

Yet she couldn't help but think of how as Batgirl, she commanded respect and attention without hesitation. But as Cassandra Cain, people rarely noticed her even when she walked through the front door.

Living on the fringes, unnoticed, unseen lest Cain find her, or the center of attention, the focus of fear, loathing and apprehension, Cassandra realized her life was that of two extremes. Still adjusting to 'civilian' life, Cassandra was still uncertain of who she was…where she wanted to be in public, when she wasn't Batgirl.

"Cass?" Zoe gave her an odd look, "you okay? You look like you're a thousand miles away."

"Sorry," Cassandra dismissed the thought for now, "just…anxious."

"Well, just don't let the teachers catch you staring at your cell phone," Zoe said, "I don't think you'd want to explain to them why you were looking at it, and not them."

Cassandra winced, and realized she couldn't exactly explain to the teachers that she was waiting on a predetermined signal about an operative that she'd personally convinced to go undercover. She didn't know what would be worse, if the teacher believed her, or didn't.

Are things ever this complicated for Batman? Cassandra groused.

"Oh look, its Teacher's pet and the Joke."

Cassandra didn't blink at Jackie Tapscott's comment. She'd seen the other girl coming down the hall, and knew that Tapscott had seen her too. The young girl had a lust for attention and malicious streak disturbingly similar to some of Gotham rogues.

"'Cuse me," Jackie said as she and her little group of friends marched by, 'accidently' elbowing Zoe and knocking her off balance. Seeing that her friend was in danger of falling over, Cassandra moved with the speed of an arrow, grabbing Zoe by the elbow and steadying her, while her left foot flew in front of Jackie's for just a moment, causing the other girl to trip and stumble.

"Careful," Cassandra's voice was filled with mocking concern, "watch your step, or else… you might get…hurt."

Cassandra watched as Jackie went from confident and smug to infuriated, within the blink of an eye. Jackie simply could not believe that someone like Cassandra, a new transfer with few friends, raw meat as far as the more popular girl was concerned, would smugly defy her, and she struggled to form a response.

But while Jackie didn't know what to make of her, Cassandra knew exactly how to deal with Jackie. Cassandra saw how Jackie stood taller when people acknowledged her, how her lip would curl into a smile when she saw the hurt that she'd inflicted on others play out in front of a crowd.

And she knew how to take that all away.

"You try that again, see what happens," Jackie snarled. A small group was gathering around them now. A potential cat fight drew teenager's attention like blood to a shark. Cass was mindful of Zoe behind her, while Jackie's little click flanked her like a team of bodyguards.

"I know what will happen," Cassandra deadpanned, "nothing. You…can't touch me."

"Oh yeah Ms. Stutter?" Jackie's smile was too close in style to The Joker for Cassandra's comfort. So she decided to deflate it, by attacking the source.

Cassandra looked at one of Jackie's 'friends'.

"She only keeps you around to look down on," Cassandra turned her head to another girl, "Jackie wants your boyfriend," Cassandra turned to a third, "Jackie only keeps you…because your home life…makes her feel better about herself."

Jackie fought the instinct to look at her friends, to reassure them that Cassandra was wrong even though she couldn't have been more right.

"Whatever, bitch," Unable to think of anything clever, Jackie just turned her head and walked away dismissively. Cassandra saw that for some that was enough, but took heart in how some listened and even admired her for standing up to the girl.

But when Cassandra turned to Zoe, she saw that her friend wasn't one of those people. As a matter of fact, she was both baffled and frightened by Cassandra's sudden display of ruthlessness.

"What?" Cassandra asked defensively.

"Sorry, just surprising to see you go from zero to jugular in two point three seconds," Zoe explained, "That was kinda harsh, don't you think?"

"Not going to be…a victim, because she wants one," Cassandra replied.

ooOOooo

An alley in Gotham

Bill Silver took a deep gulp from his whiskey bottle as he meandered through Gotham's more seedier sections, his eye constantly searching for anything that might seem out of the ordinary. This being Gotham though, he saw and heard about a dozen things before he finally decided to stop counting. Looking for something odd in Gotham was like counting sand at the beach.

Billy looked at his drink, and wondered why exactly he'd agreed to dress in dirty old clothes and wander Gotham, waiting to be kidnapped.

"Because I'm an idiot," he muttered to himself, though that wasn't the truth.

In reality, Bill Silver was tired of looking at the scum of Gotham every day at his gym, and not being able to do a damn thing to make his hometown better. That the people who trained at his gym during the day were the same people who broke legs for bookkeepers at night was a constant source of shame to the aged boxer. He tried to rationalize it that, because he was pushing fifty, he had to take money where he could get it, but the truth was he knew exactly how futile it would be to refuse them.

If he kicked the thugs and malcontents out of his gym, they'd go somewhere else, he'd be out on the street and nothing would ever change. And that was the best case scenario.

But now, helping Batgirl, now he could make a difference. Something about how that girl looked at him with unquestioned confidence about his ability to be useful, about his ability to redeem both himself and his city, in some small way.

Bill cherished that thought, as he realized that he was about to be successful in his attempts to find out who'd been kidnapping homeless men across Gotham. A former boxer and small time celebrity, he developed a knack for knowing when he was being watched 'professionally'. This little sixth sense, combined with the fact that a white van with a magnetized advertisement for Benny's Iranian Pizza! (that particular pizzeria had gone out of business months ago. Bill still missed it) told him he was likely to be in line to be victim of some sort of crime.

"I just hope it's the right one," Bill mumbled, the mere sentence depressing him more than what he expected to happen next.

oooOOooo

Later

For some reason, the incident with Zoe hung in Cassandra's mind long after the school day ended. She just didn't know how to sort how differently her friend looked at her after the incident with Gina.

So rather than think about it, Cassandra decided to focus on work instead, and maybe create a little mischief. So after Cassandra finished her homework and had a quick dinner, she made a beeline towards Nightwing and Oracle's home.

Cassandra entered with casual disregard for the alarms, but made no special effort to disguise her entrance as she approached Oracle and her bank of computers.

"Hey Cassandra," Barbara didn't turn away from her computer screen, but Cass could still see how the older heroine still gave her her full attention, "what's up?"

Cassandra waited a moment until Oracle was sipping her tea, "I really need Dick."

Oracle coughed, nearly choking on her drink, and spun around, "Excuse me?"

"Nightwing, working a case…together," Cassandra said innocently, with a perfectly straight face. She knew how others saw her, to a degree, and saw potential here and there to remind people that she wasn't that innocent. Plus, messing with Oracle was just plain fun, "what?"

Oracle scrutinized Cassandra's face very carefully for a moment, and then said "He's breaking up a chop shop about six blocks away. Give him fifteen minutes."

"Okay. Going to work out while…I wait," Cassandra turned around, and finally let smile that she'd been suppressing creep across her face. The expression on Oracle's face was something Cassandra would always cherish.

When she was certain Cassandra was out of the room, Oracle activated Nightwing's communicator.

"-hahahahahaha!" Oracle scowled, "was that Batgirl? Hahahaha!...because that was freakin' great!"

Across town in a smelly, oily little shop, Nightwing drop kicked a thug while laughing hysterically. It wasn't exactly easy, his balance was terrible, his eyes watering from laughter, but he was Nightwing. He didn't need brooding or an aura of intimidation to do his best work.

"That wasn't funny," Oracle huffed.

"Oh lighten up," Oracle could feel her husband's smirk through their comms., "I'll get her back, if it makes you feel better. But in the meantime, I need you to do something for me…"

oooOOooo

Cassandra was in the middle of her two hundredth sit-up when she was struck with a water balloon of freezing cold water. The temperature shock was so startling that Cassandra was on her feet in the blink of an eye.

"Sorry Cass, we need to hit the street ASAP," Nightwing's face was neutral, but his body language was tight and controlled.

"Why the…balloons?" Cassandra demanded, her self-respect stung at how easily she was caught unaware.

"Can't patrol when you smell like sweat," Nightwing explained, as Cassandra could see him struggling to keep from laughing, "Batman did the same to me. It's a time saver, trust me."

Cassandra caught the towel Nightwing tossed her, and began drying off.

"We have leads on disappearances?" Cassandra asked.

"We do," Nightwing replied, "and that's why we need to hurry."

oooOOooo

Bill Silver rubbed the back of his head, where he felt an ugly bruise already beginning to form.

As his wits returned, he saw that he was cell, though Bill was positive that he wasn't at a Police Station (he'd been tossed in the drunk tank enough to recognize them by smell alone). He went to the bars, and saw that he was far from alone. There were at least a dozen other makeshift cells, all occupied, and from the looks of things, they were in an abandoned factory.

"Only in Gotham," Bill sighed, "Hey, what's the idea here, huh? Let me outta this thing!"

Bill had hoped to provoke some reaction from his fellow prisoners. But instead, they remained slumped in their cells, apathetic to the world.

"You hear me?" Bill shouted.

"They hear you. So confident, so sure, so lacking…in fear. Me and my partner will cure that, won't we?"

"Of course, Professor. And these pathetic zombies should thank us for it."

Bill took a step back, and without realizing it, held his breath as the two speakers stepped in front of his cage.

The Scarecrow needed no introduction, and Mr. Zsasz, with his hundreds of tally scars all over his bare chest, was terrifying without any introduction at all.

"All we ask in return," Scarecrow leaned towards the bars as Bill stepped back, "is that you try not to die too quickly."

Next issue: Nightwing and Batgirl rush to Bill's rescue, but can they reach him before he's thrown in the ring? In a word, no.

Author's note: Sorry about the long wait between issues, real life's been busy, and I've been experimenting with other series (like my Predators fic), but don't worry, this series isn't forgotten!

Also, this series has some 51 people listing it as a favorite and 41 have it on alert. So, if ya wanna see the next issue quicker, a review would certainly help in that regard. Don't trust someone else to do it either!