Chapter 2

Two months had gone by with a quiet Gotham – as quiet as Gotham could possibly get. Cass was still going on patrols for robbers, muggers, and petty drug dealers, but wearing the cowl was her life. She wasn't willing to risk anything to get it taken from her again, even if that meant she wasn't allowed to work with Bruce on the more high risk crimes.

But then again, Cass couldn't help but think about him, the Red Hood. He was invading even her dreams and sometimes she'd catch herself dreaming while on patrol. And she knew he would want to see her again. He wanted someone to listen, and he had her attention. Her eyes even betrayed her thoughts sometimes, because they would immediately bounce towards the color red when she got a glimpse of it.

She sat on a gargoyle on a church near the docks, watching a warehouse with the lens in her mask. She was starting to think that she would never see him – or anything important really. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, no illegal activity, until she caught the sight of the red metallic hood snaking out of the corner of the warehouse. Bullets fled by piercing and denting the sheet-metal walls, but her eyes were focused on him. He held his side, and his back was slightly hunched over as he pulled the trigger on his gun.

Instantly, she fired a line and swung down. He slipped out the hand gun towards her face but she slipped her arm underneath his shoulder and pulled him away on another line before he could react. The gun returned to its holster. He was badly hurt. Blood was seeping through his jacket and running down his arms to his fingertips. "Well, well – the Baby Bat again?" She looked down at his side, then back up at his hooded face. His mask was cracked and he was losing a lot of blood. She could hear his breathing being forced out of his gritted teeth when she set him down against the back of a vent on top of the old building they landed on. Her hands quickly pulled out bandages, and she wrapped his shoulder and his waist. "Why – why help me?"

Cass kept silent as she tied the end of the bandage and lifted his weight back onto her shoulder. Her head was unclear about his question, and making sure that he was stable was more important. "Hold on." She knew she had to act fast to get to the medical kits she had at her apartment. It wasn't far, but Jason's grip was loose, and he was losing consciousness. She swung their body weight on the line carefully onto the fire escape of her apartment, and she lowered him through the window.

"Where - are we?" Cass turned on the light and kicked over a pair of tennis shoes off to the side as she led him to the bedroom to set him down. Jason held his side - his breathing uneasy and choppy.

"My place." She pulled back her cowl and took off her gloves, disappearing into the bathroom for a minute to thoroughly wash her hands and grab the medical kit. When he realized she had returned, his head was back and his vision was blurry, but it was focused on the needle in her hands.

…

Jason woke up with his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room, and his body on fire. He was thirsty, and quickly looked around him, finding a large glass of water on the nightstand next to him. He drained it within seconds then set it down feeling the ache in his body subside by the trickle of the cool water in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then looked down, noticing a hand wrapped around a white cloth.

He could barely see the scars in her knuckles, but they were visible, even without the light pointing them out. His eyes trailed down her arm and towards her face. She was still in her uniform, short of her mask and gloves. I remember now. He took the damp cloth out of her hand, but her eyes snapped open and she sat up looking directly at him. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." He tried to sit straighter against the pillows, but a sharp pain filled his entire torso, and a sound came from his throat. She moved, holding his arms carefully as he settled in. "I never thought – that you'd help me." He adjusted his breathing and tilted his head off to the side to look at her. Her smile was soft as she stood up with the empty glass in her hand – almost knocking over his domino mask onto the floor.

Jason watched her silhouette move around the corner, and out of sight. He touched his face where the mask used to be, but his eyes became foggy with exhaustion again, so he leaned back falling asleep.

Cass returned, seeing that he had once again fallen asleep, and realized that her uniform was caked in blood, so she decided to shower. She watched the faded red crawl into the drain, then she looked down at her hands. The flash of the memory of the man's face on the day that she had first taken a life made goosebumps form on her skin. She closed her eyes and shook her head in the warmth of the shower, wondering how criminals could do it so easily. Jason is a criminal. She bit her lip, getting rid of that thought. No. Jason needs second chance.

After she had finished showering, Cass went into her bedroom to check-up on Jason. His breathing was slowed, but normal and his eyes moved back and forth underneath his lids. She couldn't help but wonder what he was dreaming about. She scanned his jacket and his boots she had strung on a chair in the living area earlier, but stopped at his handguns in his holsters. Sleek, black and silver metal reflected her shadow when she pulled it out to look at it.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen one before, but this time, she really looked at it and understood why Jason chose a gun as his weapon. The way the contours moved in the handle and down the barrel was like his body language. Mysterious, destructive, lethal, but smooth, just like the way he fought. She set it down carefully as if it was diseased. "I haven't unloaded them."

Cass turned around, eyes wide, then she sighed. "Sorry, I was loud."

"No, I got restless." He reached over to the side and drank half of the water on the nightstand.

"The pain?" She asked as she carefully sat down on the edge of the bed.

"It's not bad." Cass reached over and pulled down the blanket to check his wounds but he grabbed her wrist softly. "Why did you help me?"

"Because you wanted it. I was there. And I wanted to help." With one hand still with a steady grasp on her wrist, the other reached up and gently brushed her cheek. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

"You bats always want to help. Why is this time so different?" She shook her head and smiled softly.

"You asked." His fingertips touched her cheek softly as he leaned his head in and pressed his lips against hers. She tasted sweet, like rain dusted with microscopic sugar grains. Heat rose on her chest and cheeks but she let her arms wrap around his neck.

They moved their heads back to breathe, and Jason looked at the chocolate brown in her irises. She could see the shift from happiness to guilt in his eyes. "I shouldn't be doing this." He pushed her arms away, guiding his legs to swing to the side of the bed.

"No." Her hand pressed against his good shoulder, while the other gripped softly onto his knee.

"They'll hate you if they find out you let me go." He grabbed the hand that was on his knee and squeezed.

"Happened before. Don't care."

"I do." Their breathing stopped short and Cass's smile slowly appeared again.

"They will forgive." She looked down at her fingers as they traced the seams in his pants on his knee. Electricity bounced through his body, so he tightened his grip on her hand.

"You - but not me, Cass." With her head turned off to the side she shook her head as if trying to convince herself that what he was saying wasn't really true. Jason could tell she was biting the inside of her cheek, trying to find the right words. His thumb rubbed the back of her hand. Something is wrong with me. I'm letting her get too close.

"Do you love me?" She finally said. Jason's stomach churned seeing her eyes misty, and her teeth curled over her bottom lip. It was almost as if he was watching the timer countdown again. He blinked hard, and swallowed. I don't care if she is.

"Yes." He said almost as a whisper. She leaned in and planted her lips on his. Cass felt their warmth spread from that point into her entire body. His lips were dry, but gentle as they enticed hers.

She pulled back placing the hand that was on his shoulder on his cheek. "Then stay. Let me help you." Her hands were already pulling his legs back under the covers. "You stay." She was demanding like she was ordering a dog, but he complied with deep breaths.

She started to move like she was getting up but he held onto her hand, "Cass." Her movements halted, and she sat back down. "You stay, too." A small smiled parted her lips and she shifted herself next to him. At first, Jason felt the pain spike through his torso, but it left as soon as she settled and their body heat encased them.

Cass knew that she would be lectured by everyone at the cave, but right now she didn't care. She could feel Jason fall into a deep sleep, when his chest started to slowly rise and fall at a slow pace. Her heartbeat matched the sound of his breathing in a perfect encircling rhythm as it lulled her to sleep.