So, because of the fact that I was late to post this week, you get an extra long chapter. This one's 6,587 words when my chapters are usually about 3,000.
Warning: Briefly mentions attempted suicide (like it's one sentence) and there are mentions of torture. There are warnings for the torture scene where to skip if you need to. If I need to change/remove/warn for that one sentence for anyone let me know.
The moment the Dynamic Duo reached the Batjet, they were setting bandaging and stitching all they could. Bruce wanted to give her some painkillers, but he had no idea what drugs they had been pumping her with during her time there. He wasn't willing to risk making anything worse by giving her more drugs. No matter how much he wanted to. The long flight back to the cave was tense. Both the detective and his partner were worried about the girl currently strapped in the back. When they were flying over America again, Bruce commed Alfred with a request for Leslie to be at the cave as soon as possible. The older man was most likely confused since Bruce hadn't told him the topic of his most recent search. But Alfred had only raised a quizzical eyebrow, affirmed that Leslie would be present, asked if the pair were alright, and suggested that he make some coffee and cookies. An hour later Leslie was wheeling Cass's gurney off the jet and towards medical. She firmly denied Bruce of Alfred any entry to the infirmary despite Bruce's numerous protests. He didn't dare go against Leslie's orders. It was another forty-five minutes of tense waiting and lots of coffee before Leslie came back out.
"I had to do some stitches and reset a bone or two but no surgery was needed. She should make a full recovery in a week or so." Bruce - with his cowl now down – gave Leslie a thankful nod.
"I very much doubt that it's going to be a whole week." Dick piped up from his place in the large Batcomputer chair. Leslie gave Dick a questioning look but didn't prompt the matter any further.
"I can't say the same about her emotional health." She said to Bruce.
"What do you mean?" Leslie gave a long sigh.
"There are several scars that worry me. This young lady has tried to take her own life before, Bruce. At least twice. There are other scars of torture as well." That worried Bruce. The fact that Cass had tried to take her own life several times before hand did not bode well for her mental status.
"Thank you for coming, Leslie."
"No problem. I'll see myself out, Alfred." Her heals clicked across the cave as she stepped into the elevator. The butler turned towards Robin.
"Master Dick, might I suggest that you head to bed. You do have school and a test tomorrow." Both Bruce and Dick knew that it wasn't really a request and if Dick ever wanted any cookies again, he had better listen. He slid out of the giant chair made his way towards the locker rooms in order to change into his civies. Alfred turned to Bruce.
"I suppose it would be too much to hope that you would do the same Master Bruce."
"I'm not going to sleep tonight, Alfred. I'm hoping to be present when Cass wakes up." The man gave a deep sigh.
"As you wish Master Bruce. I shall warm up the coffee pot." Bruce gave him a small smile.
"Thank you, Alfred." The man gave a small nod and left the cave. Bruce turned around and pulled the cowl back up, he had a long night ahead of him.
~~LineBreak~~
When Cass woke up she kept absolutely still. Her memory of the past few hours (or was it days) was a little fuzzy. She wanted to be sure that everything was safe. The lack of restraints was a noticeable and nice change. This put her more on edge.
"You can stop pretending." The gruff voice spoke out. Cass instantly snapped to alertness. She knew that voice. He sat in a seat at the end of the bed. Once she realized who he was Cass instantly backpedaled as far as she could go in the bed. Pain stabbed through her body and she winced. Her eyes darted between the cowl covered Batman and the only door she could see.
"Relax; I'm not going to hurt you." His voice had seemed to take on a softer tone. Cass wasn't fooled. There was only one reason for her to be in this place with The Batman sitting across from her. He knew she was Ghost.
"What do you want?" She was proud that her voice hadn't come out with a stutter or a break. In fact, she sounded like her normal self with the exception of its slight roughness from lack of use.
"I don't want anything. What do you remember about the past couple of days?" Her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she thought about it.
"I remember all of it. Well, most of it. My memories from Japan are a little blurry."
"You remember the explosion?"
"Yes." A hand reached up to fiddle with her hair. She half expected to see the dyed red but was pleasantly surprised to see her hair was once again its normal white. She stared at it for several seconds as if trying to make sense of it.
The dye must have worn out sometime in the past couple of days. Hair dye had a tendency to wear out quickly with her hair. It was useful if she wanted to change her persona, but not so useful when she was trying to color it long term.
"Master Batman I saw from the surveillance feed that the young lady had awakened. I thought she might be in need of some comfort food."
Cass's head had snapped towards the new person. Her body automatically angled itself so that she was in optimal position if either man attacked. The new man was wearing a simple silver mask and held a plate of cookies in his hand. He took several steps forwards and placed the cookies on the small table next to Cass. Her slight flinch as he approached was either unnoticed or unacknowledged. Given the fact that this man worked (and quite possibly lived) with Batman, she had very little doubt that he hadn't seen it. She kept herself from attacking and most likely killing the man. He hadn't done anything yet. As the door slid shut behind him Cass returned her full attention to Batman. Neither said anything for several moments as Batman seemed to study her. She squirmed under the stare and rubbed some warmth back into her shoulders and arms. That was when she noticed that all she wore was a tank top and sweatpants. The fact that someone had changed her was a little disturbing, but she was more worried about the fact that she was showing more skin then she did even when asleep. She glanced around for something to cover herself. The blanket was bunched up at the end of the bed. It was far too close to the Bat for her to want to get it. She did anyways. In an instant her hand had darted out and pulled the blanket around her shoulders. The dark figure had tensed at her sudden movement but made no move to stop her. The tension left once he saw what she was doing. The blanket around her would limit her movement but she would be less likely to accidently damage some equipment or kill someone.
"You should eat a cookie." The fact that Batman had spoken had caught her slightly by surprise. The words he spoke did more than that. She gave his a look questioning his sanity.
"You want me to eat a cookie?"
"They're good. Agent A makes the best I've ever eaten." She glanced at them. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a good, homemade cookie. On the other hand, they could be drugged. Reading her wary look the Dark Knight spoke again.
"They aren't drugged."
"How do I know you aren't lying?"
"Because any drugs given to you now could kill you. We still aren't sure what you were given in Japan or if any of it is still in your system. It's better to be safe than sorry. There's no chance of us drugging you for the next twenty-four hours." A small smirk accompanied this statement.
"Was that a joke? Did The Batman just make a joke?" She made a show of looking around the room.
"Where's my phone I need to record that!" Never the less, Cass hesitantly reached out for a cookie. Once one was safely snagged in her hand she quickly pulled her arm back to the safety of the blanket. She took a small nibble and continued to watch Batman out of the corner of her eye.
"Wow. Okay this is good." She gave him a sly look.
"You know what would be better though? Coffee," she answered her own question.
"No coffee." The answer was quick and without hesitation. Cass's shoulders slumped and she gave a sigh.
"Fine." There was another long, awkward pause.
"Don't you have questions for me?" She asked while nibbling more on the cookie.
"Yes, but they can wait until you feel better." Cass stared at him for a long minute.
"Can I at least have some clothes that cover more?" Batman stood to leave.
"I'll see what I can dig up. For now, know that we aren't trying to hurt you but we will if you leave this room. I have business I need to take care of. We can continue this conversation tonight." He left with a swish of his cape a moment later.
"What conversation?" Cass asked the empty room. She settled back into the bed. As much as she would love to move to a better protected spot, say under the bed, it hurt far too much to move. She glanced at the plate of cookies again.
I really shouldn't.
"Ah, to H*** with it!" Cass grabbed another cookie off the plate. After all, she would need the energy if she wanted to heal herself.
~~LineBreak~~
The moment Robin entered the cave; Artemis had latched onto his elbow and pulled him into the soundproof therapy room. The calming waterfall must not have been helping Artemis because she looked absolutely livid.
"What is going on?" Her question was full of force and anger.
"What's going on with what?" Robin couldn't resist the chance to push her buttons.
"I mean, what's going on with Cass? Have you found anything yet?" He was going to say some sarcastic remark back to her, but the desperation in Artemis's voice stopped him.
"Relax Artemis." He unhooked her hand from his elbow. "We found Cass, she's recovering. The moment Bats gives the go ahead you will be allowed to see her." Artemis's eyes narrowed behind her mask.
"I didn't ask for your help just for you to throw her in prison Bird Brain." Robin rolled his eyes even though the angry archer couldn't see it.
"Again, relax. As far as I know Bats has no plans of throwing her in prison. He's just going to give her some options for her future." Tension seemed to dissipate off of Artemis in waves.
"I'm just worried." Robin gave a smirk.
"I know. Hey, are you going to the Halloween party tomorrow?" The pair headed out door and back towards the main area. Kaldur gave them a strange look when he passed them.
"Yeah I plan to."
"Asterous. You'll have to tell me all about Wally's horrible dance moves." This gained a laugh from Artemis.
"I'll do you one better. I'll video it." Robin let out a cackle and high fived the girl.
~~LineBreak~~
Halfway across the country, Cass was getting bored. She was currently patching herself up the best she could. She used her Meta abilities to gently start to mend her broken ribs, but healing herself (or anyone) took a long time, lots of concentration, and no small amount of energy. It had been two hours since the Bat left and an hour since she started and she had only managed to fix one rib with a small break. She was startled out of her task when the door slid open again. In walked the butler from earlier. Agent A, if she recalled correctly. He carried something under his arm, though Cass had trouble determining what is was. She pulled the blanket back up around her as he moved closer.
"Pardon me, Miss but I thought you might be bored. Would you be interested in a game or two of chess?" Her mood brightened a little.
"A game of chess sounds good." He cleared the table and pulled the chair to sit on the other side. A board was unfolded and a bag full of pieces slid over to her. She chuckled a little at the irony of her getting the black pieces while Agent A got the white. They set the pieces up and the battle began. She found herself intrigued by the competition though she wasn't much competition for Agent. He managed to checkmate her within two minutes. The man gave her a mischievous look.
"Shall we try again, Miss?" Cass, full of competitive spirit agreed. That was how Bruce found them hours later though they had long ago moved from Chess to Backgammon to Go Fish and finally to Uno. He watched from the doorway as Cass gave a smirk and slapped down a plus four.
"Green." She called out. The Dark Knight could see that she was still timid and more than a little wary – her voiced hadn't gotten much louder and she still kept the blanket around her shoulders despite the comfortable and competitive atmosphere – but she was also much more relaxed then he had ever seen her. Even more relaxed than she had seemed as Ghost.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Alfred turned his head, though he showed no surprise. He had probably known that he was there from the moment he reached the cave. Cass however, showed great surprise and Batman found himself wondering how the girl had ever become an assassin. She was, after all, facing the door. She had jumped only slightly, but it was more than any good assassin would normally do.
"Not at all Master Batman, I believe you have just saved me from a rather unfortunate demise at the Miss's hands. She may not be that great at chess, but she is very good with a deck of cards." Cass gave a light blush and avoided his gaze. Sheepishly she pulled several cards from under the mattress and put them on the table. Alfred gave his nod of approval before scooping up the piles and retreated out the room.
"I'll leave you two to talk." The door slid shut with a quiet whoosh.
"How did he know?" The question was likely more to herself than himself but he answered anyways.
"Because he's Agent A."
"You say that as if it explains everything."
"Doesn't it?" She gave a small snort and rolled her eyes.
"No, not really."
"Huh. I thought it did."
"Was that another joke?"
"You don't seem to have much of a sense of humor."
"I have a sense of humor… It's just weird that you have one." He gave her another smirk.
"You members of the Batfamily sure do smirk a lot."
"It's a necessary factor if you want to be a member." Cass didn't reply. Batman sat down on the recently vacated chair.
"We need to talk." Cass glanced away.
"Is this the part where you ask a lot of questions about my past in order to try and find my motives?"
"Close, but no. We need to talk about the possible options for your future."
"Oh. This should be fun." He ignored the comment.
"You currently have two options: Belle Rev or community service."
"What lovely choices I have." She glared at the bed she sat upon. The Bat just sat a waited for an answer.
"What type of community service? You don't expect me to scrape graffiti off of walls to make up for murder, do you?"
"There's a covert operations team made up of the various partners of the Justice League. You would join them."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want me to join your little group of heroes as a form of community service? Are you nuts?"
"Is that a no?" Cass hesitated.
"You really don't want me on that team. How would you even make sure that I wouldn't run or accidentally kill someone or purposefully kill someone?"
"If you weren't wanted on the team, the offer wouldn't have been extended to you. We have several ways of preventing you from killing anyone, accidently or not. To prevent you from running you would live with a member of the League."
"Some League member is going to trust me with their secret ID? Right." She rolled her eyes. "How long would this last?"
"Until we feel that you're reformed." Cass rubbed her shoulders. This had been what she had been thinking about for the past couple of days, now she had a clear excuse to get out of the contract killer business.
But what about Travis? A little voice in her head questioned. She couldn't just leave him behind.
"What about Tr – Circuit?"
"You and Travis would be allowed video calls. They would, of course, have to be monitored. At least at the beginning." Cass didn't bother questioning how he knew that Circuit was Travis. She gave a sigh.
"Okay, community service it is. When do I start? And who am I living with?"
"Tomorrow, and me." He stood up and pulled the cowl back; revealing the famous face behind it. Cass was effectively shocked speechless.
"Y-y-you're Batman?" This time the Bat – Bruce – gave a genuine smile.
"Your detective skills are getting better."
"Shut up." The girl grouched out the sentence. Bruce had moved towards the door again but paused just outside it.
"Are you coming?" She faltered for a minute before trailing after him, blanket and all. She looked in slight awe at the large cave they were in. It was somewhat warm for a cave in the late fall. A giant computer made up of several monitors rested in the center and around the cave were various weapons racks, training equipment, and two mannequins for suits.
"Stay here." He gestured to her before heading off into a side room. When he came back out, Bruce walked over to the empty mannequin and proceeded to attach his suit to it. This time he was in civilian clothes which were fairly casual. He wore a simple knit sweater and jeans. Bruce again gestured for her to follow him. They made their way up an elevator and stepped out in a modern office. Cass took note of the clock the elevator was hidden behind.
"So, am I correct in assuming that this is Wayne Manor?"
"That would be correct." Cass noticed that his voice seemed less gruff then it was while he was Batman. It would make sense to change it to be more intimidating and to stave off possible recognition. The pair moved towards the kitchen where they came across Agent A without his mask.
"Ah. I see the young lady accepted your proposal Master Bruce." He held out a hand for Cass to shake.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Alfred Pennyworth, Master Bruce's butler and dare I say friend." She took a moment before shaking the man's hand. The only reason she had done so was because he was wearing gloves.
"Cassandra." She offered no last name and Alfred didn't push.
"It's nice to meet you Miss. Cassandra."
"Just Cass."
"Miss. Cass."
"No just Cass…" She trailed off at the look Alfred was giving her. Bruce gave a chuckle.
"I'd give it up, once Alfred's set on something his mind can't be changed." Alfred gave Bruce a wry stare but choose to ignore the comment.
"Miss. Cass when was the last time you ate anything?"
"Um… The cookies from earlier." Alfred gave a long sigh.
"Let me rephrase; when was the last time you had a full meal?"
"A full meal? Just as I reached Japan, I don't know how long ago that was." Alfred looked at Bruce as if he could give the numbers.
"That would have been close to four days ago." Bruce was giving her a concerned look.
"You could have said something earlier," he admonished. Alfred had stiffened at this admission.
"Yes you could have. Come I'll make you something to eat. I must insist that you leave the blanket here though, Miss. Cass." Her eyes widened slightly and darted around briefly as if looking for an escape. Bruce's firm hand at her back pushed her a step forwards after Alfred. Hungry and not wanting to offend the Alfred, she slowly pulled off the blanket. Warm air hit her bare shoulders. Bruce took the blanket from her and tossed it onto a couch not far away. She pushed through the kitchen door and took a seat at the breakfast nook. Cass felt terrified. Not at the people in the room but more because of what she could do to them if she slipped up. She wanted to wrap her arms around her shoulders to minimize bare skin, but it wouldn't do any good. So, Cass sat in the wooden chair ramrod straight and completely tense.
"Relax," Bruce said. She gave him a look that clearly asked how she should do that while subtly shifting into an optimal position. Alfred busied around the kitchen chopping vegetables and boiling water in pots. Bruce was pretty sure his heart broke a little when Cass had finally settled in the chair. Besides the obvious tension, the teenager's eyes were darting around and tracking any and all movement. And despite how subtly she had shifted in order to see himself, Alfred, and the door – Bruce had noticed. It wasn't hard to tell that she was completely uncomfortable with the amount of skin showing (Bruce suspected that it had nothing to do with the amount of brutal scars showing). The tank top the girl was wearing wasn't even spaghetti straps. He mentally cursed himself for not bringing other clothes for the girl to wear. Brue wanted to throttle whoever had made Cass like this; even Dick hadn't been this jumpy or wary when he first came to live with him. The pair continued to sit in silence as Alfred cooked. Bruce had a feeling that trying to start a conversation right now would be futile. Finally the man came back over with two steaming plates of what looked like orange chicken, rice, and peas.
"Thank you Alfred." The man nodded before retrieving his own plate. (It had become a custom long ago that despite any misgivings that Alfred may have, he had to eat with the family.) Once all three people were seated and eating did Alfred try for a conversation.
"Miss. Cass after everyone is finished I can take you to your room. I assume you would like to change?" A very small amount of tension left the girl's shoulders as she nodded.
"That would be great. Thanks Mr. Pennyworth." Alfred almost looked scandalized for a moment.
"Miss. Cass, my name is Alfred not Mr. Pennyworth." He said it firmly but kindly, leaving no doubt in Cass's mind about his preference.
"Okay then Alfred."
"Much better Miss. Cass, thank you." She nodded.
"We're going to leave Artemis in the dark until we take you to join the team. I can't have her here and she doesn't know my secret identity." Cass frowned but said nothing. If it was what Bruce wanted, she would listen. The rest of the meal was spent with Alfred trying to have a conversation with Cass and her only giving one word answers and vague information. She never actually gave anything that would tell them more about her character and history. Eventually, Alfred was satisfied that Cass had eaten enough to take her to her room. Bruce took the opportunity to pick up Dick from school. As Alfred directed her to her room Cass was spending half of her brain power trying to comprehend what had happened the past couple of days. She had gotten blown up and awakened with a years worth of memories missing, had run away from Artemis and Travis, had gotten captured and tortured by the Triad in Japan, and was now being led to her room by Batman's butler, and Batman had revealed to her that he was Bruce Wayne. She rubbed her forehead gently. What was she going to tell Roy?
Roy! What was she going to tell Roy? Last she had checked the guy knew nothing about her! She had also dropped him on the roof at the mall! Cass gave an audible groan.
This just keeps getting better and better. Well, you wanted to break up with him. Except that she had wanted to break up with him mainly because she was scared that he would hate her when he found out she was an assassin for hire. Would it be so bad if he found out she was playing hero?
"Miss. Cass, are you alright?" Alfred's question broke her out of her internal musings. She hadn't realized that they had stopped in front of a door.
"Yeah, just thinking about the past couple of days." Alfred gave an understanding nod and gestured at the room they stood in front of.
"This is your room; you're free to decorate it how you wish. I just ask that if you leave the house you take someone with you. You're clothes have already been brought as have most of your things. Dinner will be in four hours I expect you to be in the dinning room then."
"Of course, thank you Alfred." After a slight nod, the butler turned and left muttering about dusting the chandelier as he passed. Cass pushed open the door. Inside were several boxes containing what Cass guessed were her things. The room was spacious and airy. The floors were a dark hardwood and the walls a standard white. Against a corner sat a queen sized bed and next to it was an antique end table. The rest of the room was a blank slate. There were two doors on one wall Cass assumed they were her bathroom and closet. Opening the first door, she was correct to see a spacious bathroom. It looked just like any bathroom except it was more modern than most. The dark wood floors had continued, but the walls were a pale, sunny yellow with orange backsplash over the sink and in the shower. The counters were a beautiful white stone with minimal patterns. Cass ducked back out and moved on to the closet. She instantly felt much better. There, lined up with precise accuracy on each side, were all of her clothes from both Gotham and New York.
Artemis or Travis must have grabbed them from the apartment in New York.
The rows of dresses, shirts and shoes formed a comfortable atmosphere that Cass was all too used to. She opened one of the three drawers at the end and was pleased to find that it contained her pants. Another contained her undergarments. The last one was a type of jewelry box. The drawer contained several layers that could be pulled out, each layer already held all her jewelry. She reminded herself to thank Bruce and Alfred for thinking to bring her things here. Deciding that she needed to get out of the tank top and sweats, Cass grabbed an outfit and headed back to the bathroom. She placed the clothes in a pile on the counter and carefully stripped of her clothes. She had been able to ignore the pain in her body so far, but it was gradually getting worse. Cass made a mental note to heal more of her ribs. She slipped into the glass shower and began to get the grime from the past couple of days off her. After so much stress, she was finally starting to relax. That was when the flashback hit.
(Mentions of torture, might want to skip if it's triggering.)
She was nine and Uncle Remy was teaching her how to resist questioning.
"We'll start off easy," he said. He gently pushed her towards the bathtub that was already filled with water.
"Get in." She looked back at him.
"But I don't want to take a bath!" She pouted.
"You're not going to take a bath…" Uncle Remy took a deep breath and knelt to her level.
"Look Cassie, people are going to want to use you. They're going to want to make you tell them things. They'll use certain methods to do that. You can't tell them anything. All I'm going to do is show you how to beat these tactics. Okay?" She gave a little nod and climbed in the bathtub.
"Alright, I'm going to show you what they'll do once, then I'll teach you how to beat it." Without any warning he pushed her head down under the water and held it there for ten seconds. When she came back up she was gasping for air and her eyes were wide.
"Alright you did good, kid. Are you okay?" Cass gave a small nod.
"Okay now, when they go to push you under you take a deep breath. Then when you're under you struggle for a couple seconds, like five then go limp. You stay limp and you continue to hold your breath until they pull you back up, okay? 'Cause they will pull you back up and you have to be ready to repeat the process. You got that?"
"Y-yeah."
"Good. We're gonna practice, you ready?"
(This is a good place to pick up.)
Cass snapped herself out of the memory before it could get worse. She fumbled for the shower lever to turn it off. The moment it was, she picked herself up off the shower floor, stepped onto the bathroom floor, grabbed a towel, and curled up in a corner. After she felt like she could breathe again, Cass pushed the memory to the back of her mind and moved to get dressed. Dwelling on the past would do no good. Her new outfit consisted of black skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue, knee length cardigan. She felt much better coved and wrapped up in wool. Back in her bedroom, Cass glanced around for something to do. She had just started to unpack some of the boxes when there was a light knock on her door.
"Come in," she called fully expecting it to be either Alfred or Bruce. She should have expected the messy haired teen that came in though. The boy, who had to be Robin/Dick Grayson, was in casual clothes.
"Heh, does Artemis know that the annoying freshman that's been bugging her at school is actually Robin?" Dick gave a little blush.
"No not really." There was an awkward silence as Dick stood by the door and Cass sat next to one of the various boxes.
"Well, don't just stand there. Make yourself useful." She waved a hand at her current project. Dick quickly moved forwards to help unpack.
"So, you're joining the team?" He questioned while pulling out various books and placing them on the floor. Cass gave him a little smile.
"I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or Belle Rev."
"You could have broken out of Belle Rev." Dick said it with such certainty that she wondered what exactly he knew about her abilities and accomplishments.
"Maybe, maybe not. But community service seemed okay."
"Is that what he called it? Community service?" Dick seemed incredulous and Cass couldn't help the chuckle that came out.
"Yeah. He's not the best with words, is he?"
"Oh no, he's very good with words. Just not when he has to come up with them." Cass snorted.
"And yet Bruce is a business man."
"People write his speeches for him."
"They do not." The denial came from the doorway were Bruce was leaning against the frame. It was Dicks turn to snort.
"Da Nile isn't just a river in Egypt, Bruce." Said man raised an eyebrow at his son's jab.
"Whatever you say Dick. Alfred says that dinner's almost ready, you might want to come down before he drags you." Bruce turned away. Both Cass and Dick got up and followed him into the dinning room. Dick was trying to explain his words to Cass, though he wasn't having much luck.
"…So whelmed is kinda in between overwhelmed and underwhelmed."
"But if you are whelmed then you would not likely be whelmed because you are, in fact, whelmed." Dick's face broke into a grin.
"Now you're getting it!" Bruce bit back a groan. The last thing they needed was another person who spoke in riddles. Alfred brought out the meal, a simple cordon bleu with asparagus. They all thanked the man and tucked in.
"So… Um… I sorta have a boyfriend; do you have any idea what he's been told the past couple of days?" She looked up at Bruce quizzically.
"I suppose you'd find out soon enough. Roy Harper knows the basics. He only knows that though because he has the clearance." Bruce didn't meet her narrowed gaze.
"Okay, first off, what do you consider basics and what do you mean clearance?" Dick slouched in his chair slightly and watched with wide eyes.
"Roy is Red Arrow, formally Speedy."
"I'm sorry what?"
"Do I really need to repeat myself?" Cass's mouth opened and closed several times.
"Roy, is Red Arrow?"
"Yup, can we change the topic now?" Dick burst in. Cass didn't bother to hide her displeasure at the situation but she grated Dick his request. She was already starting to think of him like a younger brother. They started talking about small things; Bruce mentioned some business venture, Dick talked about school, Alfred asked about crime in Gotham, Cass simply ate while half listening to what was actually going on. She realized that Bruce had never told her how much Roy knew exactly. The moment her plate was clear she excused herself and took the plate out to the kitchen. Absentmindedly she started to wash it.
"We do have a washing machine for that you know." Bruce stood at the kitchen island and Cass glanced down at the plate she was holding.
"It's a habit." She continued to wash the plate even though it was probably clean. It gave her something to distract her so she didn't try to kill Bruce. Although she wasn't quite sure why she was mad at him. All she could figure was that Bruce's announcement had not only been the straw that broke the camels back – but it had provided her with a target as well. A hand reached out and stopped her frantic washing. She froze at the contact. Bruce's hand was laying over hers, and she wasn't wearing gloves.
I could kill him. Right now, no question no hesitation. I'm sure someone wants him dead. The thoughts were all too tempting. She jerked her hand away before she could act on them.
"Is there a reason you're here?" Bruce gave a sigh.
"Yes. We need to talk."
"Again with the talks. All you want to do is talk."
"Put the plate down and meet me in my study." He turned to retreat.
"I could just not show up." She called to his back.
"You could." Cass growled and dried the plate off. She debated for a moment about retiring to her room and ignoring the Bat or asking Dick for directions. A little huff escaped through her nose as she tossed the towel back onto the table and set the plate next to it. Dick was in the living room working on homework. He glanced up when she came in.
"Up the stairs, right hallway, third door on the left." She paused with her mouth still open. Seeing her questioning look, Dick explained.
"I know that look. I've gotten plenty of serious talks from Bruce in his office."
"Thanks." Dick gave her a wave and she moved towards the office. She knocked lightly on the door she soon stood in front of.
"Come in." Bruce was sitting in the chair behind the desk doing paperwork. She took a seat across the table from him. He folded his hands and gave her a soothing look, completely destroying any imposing image he could have had at the moment.
"To answer your earlier question, Roy knows that you're Ghost. He knows that you're a Meta. That's all I know for sure that Roy knows. He had spent the day with Artemis and Travis so he might know something else I don't because of that. If you want to find out what he knows or what he thinks then you'll have to talk to him directly." Cass slumped. Not only did Roy know she was an assassin and a Meta but he might know more. Bruce looked down at his hands.
"I know that's not what you wanted to hear." A brief pause.
"Cass, I want to know more about you." He looked at her again.
"What do you want to know?"
"I want to know about your uncle." She stiffens but relents. Cass knows she owes Bruce some answers, that doesn't mean she'll just hand them over to him.
"Be more specific."
"Was it him who got you involved in what you do?" Cass shrugged.
"In a way. He already had me involved in several illegal activities, but when my Meta abilities kicked in he took it to a whole new ballpark. I had already killed; he just took that and refined on it."
"You had already killed?" This time Cass wouldn't meet his eyes.
"I was twelve when my abilities first manifested. I had my first kiss and my abilities made themselves known at that very moment."
"He died." Bruce stated it simply and without emotion. Cass did look up at him; she needed Bruce to see what she really was.
"No. I killed him." Suddenly Bruce was moving from behind his desk and kneeling in front of her.
"Look and listen to me. You did not kill that boy. What happened was an accident; you should not blame yourself for it." Cass blinked. What Bruce was telling her now was the complete opposite of what she had believed since she was twelve. It was the complete opposite of what she'd been told. Sure Artemis and Travis had told her that it wasn't her fault, but she didn't believe them. Not like she did believe Bruce now.
"How can you say that? It was my gift that killed him."
"It may have been your gift, but it wasn't you." She shook her head slightly. Bruce sighed. He knew that getting Cass to believe what he said would take time. But he was willing to give her that time. Bruce wanted to wipe away the tears that were slowly leaking out, but knew that touching Cass now would not be appreciated.
"Were there any other questions for me?" Her voice was wobbly and Bruce decided that she had had enough.
"No." Just as she was out the door Bruce called out.
"Cass." She turned to face him halfway.
"Thank you for telling me." Her hand tightened around the door handle.
"Goodnight Bruce." Cass turned and fled to her room before Bruce could say anything else.
~~LineBreak~~
And that wraps up chapter 9! We;re finally getting to the Batfamily portion of this fic!
Special shout out to FrostyAngelWings for reviewing almost every chapter!
I know I don't reply very much (because I'm so overwhelmed by every review that I can never think of words to say), but I love every review, favorite, and follow each person give me.
NerdySkittlez: I'm glad you like it! I will try to find some time to look into the large text blocks, and fix that my main problem is trying to find a good place to do so.
Preview for next chapter:
Bruce suddenly rounded on the girl.
"What did you do?" He yelled and started towards her. Cass seemed to be trying to force herself further into the corner, but her face had become blank.