Previously:
"So… Can I drive?" G questioned. The Bat gave a little smirk.
"Not on your life."
Her shoulders slumped as she climbed in the backseat next to Robin. Her back felt empty without her usual katanas there. Batman had not given them back with her uniform; thankfully her knives and extra weapons were all still hidden in her uniform and in her utility belt. She leaned forwards.
"How exactly do you expect me to do anything without my main weapon?" Robin pulled out a metal bo staff from seemingly nowhere and handed it to her.
"You can use this." Robin gestured to the center and started explaining some of the controls.
"It senses your hand movements. If you slide your hand along the center in an upwards motion then tasers come out. If you slide you hand in a downwards motion then they retract. Once the tasers are retracted if you take both hands and pull them together then the staff collapses in on its self." Robin reached over and demonstrated the collapsing.
"If you do the opposite then it opens again." Ghost nodded.
"Impressive, not my katanas but it will work. Am I correct in assuming that all throws with my knives are to be nonlethal?"
"What do you think?" Batman glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She ignored the question. G had known that would be the case all along. The Bat continued to lay out the game plan for the night.
"I'll patrol the south sector and work my way counterclockwise, you and Robin can patrol the north and work your way clockwise around the city. I want contact every hour via comms. Got it?"
"Sir yes sir!" Robin gave the Bat a mock salute before reaching into his belt for something. He pulled out a small, simple, black case that opened with a click. He pulled out the skin colored object and handed to Ghost.
"Here's your comm, you know how these work right?" Ghost gave him a glare.
"Yes, Robin I know of a comm works. I did have a partner before all this you know." She guessed that the Bird was rolling his eyes behind the domino mask. Ghost shoved the comm in her ear and turned back to the window. It was minutes later when the Batmobile pulled up at the edge of the city. Batman parked it in a deserted alleyway and the trio climbed out. The Bats quickly grappled onto the roof of the building next to them while G was stuck climbing up the fire escape.
"I thought you had some form of flight." The Bat said.
"Well you thought wrong."
"You mean you've been doing you jobs on foot?" Robin jumped in.
"Yes. I'm pretty good at parkour and my boots have special soles, though it made tailing you a pain." She directed the last part of that sentence towards Batman. The Dark Knight pulled an extra grappling gun from his belt and tossed it to her.
"Try not to fall." Before Ghost could make some sarcastic reply the Bat had disappeared into the night. She turned to Robin and jerked a thumb in the Bats general direction.
"Does he always do that?"
"What disappear into the shadows with a very cryptic be careful in Bat lingo?" G gave him a flat stare and Robin shrugged.
"Yeah, he always does that. You ready to go?" G shook her head and pulled out the grapple gun the Bat had just tossed her. She gave it a quick once over and tested its weight in her hand before nodding.
"Let's do this. Just remember you promised me candy Boy Wonder." Robin cackled as he shot off.
"Of course!" Ghost shot off after him.
LineBreak
They were just reaching the police station roof three hours later. In those three hours they had stopped fourteen muggings, an attempted rape, and one kidnapping. True to their word, the pair checked in with the big, bad Bat every hour; although G's check-ins were less then pleasant and she still hadn't gotten her candy.
"Please tell me there's candy involved this time." Robin grinned at her.
"Relax G! We've got plenty of time to get your sugar fix taken care of."
"My coffee fix taken care of would be nice too."
"Well I can do that." Commissioner Gordon had just come up onto the roof. The Commissioner turned towards his companion.
"Go back to the break room and grab a cup of coffee for the lady here, Phil. How do you want it?"
"Black."
"Figures," the man muttered. "A black coffee then Phil." The man scurried off to complete the task while the Commissioner turned back towards them.
"What can we do for you Commish? It's been a pretty slow night." Ghost gave Robin a disbelieving look.
"This is a slow night?" Robin's smirk was answer enough and G groaned. Commissioner Gordon gave the girl a curious look and held out a hand.
"I don't believe we met. I'm Commissioner Gordon."
"No offence Commissioner, but I don't do physical contact unless I'm beating people up." Robin smiled and jumped in.
"Don't mind her she's still a little rough around the edges. Commissioner I'd like you to meet Ghost! She's pulling community service by becoming the newest member of the Batfamily!" The man's eyebrows rose.
"Community service?" G threw her hands in the air.
"Why is that the first question everyone asks?" Phil burst back onto the roof seconds after her outburst. In his hands he held a steaming cup of coffee.
Glorious, glorious coffee.
Ghost reached out and took the cup from him with a sigh. It was the worst cup of coffee she had ever had, but coffee was coffee and beggars couldn't be choosers. She saw Robin watching her cautiously and she gave him a reassuring look. She wasn't stupid enough to leave her DNA with the police. Seeming to understand her look, Robin turned back to the Commissioner.
"Seriously though, is there anything we could do?"
"No not really." He held several folded pieces of paper out to Robin.
"Give these to Batman for me though, it's the autopsy report he wanted." Robin took the papers and stashed them in his utility belt.
"Will do! We had better go Commish, there's more patrolling we need to get done." Robin didn't bother with Batman's disappearing act. The man wasn't there and that wasn't Robin's thing. So he and G just turned towards the edge of the roof and Ghost guzzled off the rest of her coffee.
"I can take that if you want." Gordon suggested. G looked back at him with a smirk.
"And hand you my DNA? Sorry Commissioner, I prefer to remain a Ghost." She crushed the cup and stuck it in her utility belt. She would dump it in a trash can when they were far enough away. Ghost pulled out her grappling gun and jumped off the building and into the night with Robin.
LineBreak
It was three in the morning when the Bats finally met back at the Batmobile. Ghost was happily eating the pixie sticks she had gotten. Robin had finally caved and they stopped at a local grocery store to buy a whole pack after the fourth hour of patrol. He ate all the purple ones, G ate all the orange ones, and the blue ones were split between the two. They filled Batman in on their night and he seemed very pleased at how uneventful it was. He sped the pair home and Cass stripped of her gear as soon as she was in the locker room. She changed into her PJs, though this time she wore a T-shirt rather than a tank top. It wouldn't cover everything, but it'd be enough to give Dick and Bruce a safe place to touch her if they needed to wake her up. She yawned out her goodnights to Dick, Bruce, and Alfred before practically collapsing in bed. That night, Cass slept without any nightmares or dreams of any kind.
LineBreak
It was the bouncing on her bed that woke her in the morning.
"Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Cass just groaned in response and buried her head further into the pillow while trying to make sense of who was in her room. Bruce and Alfred were immediately eliminated, which left Dick. But this didn't sound like Dick. She could feel them moving around slightly. Suddenly the voice was in her ear.
"Come on Cass! Get up!" It sounded like… Oh. Cass was instantly awake as she realized just who was in her room. She snapped her head towards him.
"Roy?"
"Rise and shine sleeping beauty, we have a big day today!"
"Roy what are you doing in my room?"
"Waking you up! It's already eleven o'clock Cass and I have plans!" She rolled her eyes and shoved her head back into the pillow.
"What plans?" Her words came out muffled by the pillow but clear enough that Roy could still understand them.
"My surprise plans for our surprise date." Cass lifted her head just enough to glare at him.
"I'm busy."
"Doing what?"
"Sleeping." This time it was Roy who rolled his eyes.
"I figured that you're normally a grouchy person in the mornings, that's why I brought you this." He pulled a cup off of the nightstand. Her nose twitched as the smell registered in her brain. Cass eagerly reached out a hand to grab the precious drink from him but he pulled it away last second.
"Ah, ah, ah!" He tsked. "You have to get up and standing before I give you this." Cass growled but stood up none the less. She muttered several unflattering things about Roy and his mother under her breath while doing so and only continued to do this as she saw his smile. As promised he handed her the coffee and she pulled it close to her chest. He did a quick once over of the girl.
"You should go get changed. Something warm would be preferred." Cass continued her grumbling but headed to her closet – still clutching the coffee like a lifeline. Roy gave a laugh once she had disappeared completely. He was very glad that he had thought to bring coffee. Five minutes late Cass emerged from her closet with an empty cup and looking much better. Without a word she handed Roy the cup and brushed past him to get to her bathroom. It took another fifteen before she emerged. Roy took the moment to look at her. She wore simple gray skinny jeans with her usual combat boots, her top was a sweater that was gray as well, granted it was a darker shade. Roy wasn't entirely sure what she had done in the bathroom, but was disappointed to see the ice blue eyes that stared back at him. She pulled on her trusty leather jacket and a bright, eye-catching, red wool hat. She stuffed her leather gloves into her purse.
"Okay. Let's go do whatever you have planned for our mystery date." They stopped by the kitchen first so that she could grab a granola bar before they slipped down to the cave. Roy quickly entered a destination in the Zeta Tubes before grabbing her hand and pulling her through. They ended up in a city that was most defiantly not Gotham. The alley was much cleaner than any in Gotham and the buildings that surrounded them seemed in better repair. Roy held his hands up.
"Welcome to Star City!"
"What are we doing here?" Roy smiled and grabbed her hand again.
"You'll see!" He tugged her after him and she laughed.
"Roy! I don't like surprises!"
"Well too bad!" After several minutes of Roy pulling her along and him apologizing to the people they bumped into they finally stopped… at a street corner.
"Roy I really hope there's more to this." The grin that Roy had been wearing the whole time got bigger.
"You think I would really have a date with you on a street corner? Of course there's more! I just don't want you figuring out what it is until we're there." He pulled out a blindfold from his pocket. Cass suddenly felt a little nauseous and held her hands up.
"No." He gave her a confused look.
"Why not?" She swallowed.
"Roy, just please. I'll close my eyes if you want, but no blindfolds." She compromised. Frankly she didn't like the idea of her closing her eyes either, but she didn't want to spoil Roy's surprise and this way she could open her eyes if she needed to. Seeing that she was serious about this, Roy didn't push the blindfold issue and accepted her just closing her eyes.
"You better keep them closed." He warned in a playful tone. She gave him a nervous smile.
"I will, I promise." And she did. Cass kept her eyes closed the rest of the way to their mystery destination. She nearly opened them several times and her nerves where incredibly sensitive when they finally made it, but she realized that she needed to trust Roy and so she followed his lead blindly. He didn't let her open her eyes until they were inside where ever they were going. When she did, Cass was surprised to see an ice skating rink. Her mouth opened in shock and she glanced at Roy. Seeing his self satisfied smirk, she quickly smacked the back of her hand into his shoulder. He gave a mock wince and rubbed the spot.
"Ow, Cass! What was that for?"
"Because your little stunt practically shot my nerves." She paused a moment before continuing.
"But this is nice, thank you." Cass gave him a little peck on the lips much to Roy's pleasure.
"Okay! First, shoes. I heard that girls like those." Cass rolled her eyes.
"As it so happens, I do like shoes." She trailed after Roy as they headed to the kiosk and rented two pairs. They quickly laced their skates up, though Cass had quite a bit of trouble getting onto the ice. And more when she actually reached it. Roy looped her arm through his as he held her up. He taught her the basics as they skated close to the walls around the rink, laughing and catching her every time she almost fell. Cass stuck her tongue out at him and Roy just laughed harder. Soon they were both practically doubled over in laughter.
"Very mature." He commented.
"If you want mature then you're with the wrong girl. I still watch Disney movies and laugh at fart jokes." Roy suddenly switched from their looped arms to holding one above her head and twirling her. She gave a little yelp of surprise and slapped Roy with the back of her hand again.
"Ow! I feel like this is going to become a habit!" Cass huffed.
"Maybe it will if you keep doing stupid stuff like that!"
"Will the kisses become a part of the habit as well?" He winked.
"What is it with you and kisses?" Roy shrugged and they continued to loop around the rink.
"You're a good kisser." She gave him a deadpan look.
"We've only had three kisses and only one of them lasted longer than a second. Plus during that one kiss it took me a couple of seconds to kiss back and I pushed you away and vanished to have a panic attack in private! You cannot tell me that I'm a good kisser after all that." Rather than latch onto the humor in her voice like Cass thought he would, Roy latched onto the panic attack part.
"You had a panic attack after our kiss?" Cass's shoulders slumped and she refused to look at him.
"The first kiss I had was when my powers manifested; I gave the boy a heart attack. You startled me so much that I almost lost control and did the same to you." Roy squeezed her hand.
"I'm sorry." She smiled up at him.
"Don't be." Cass took the opportunity to change the subject.
"I'm thinking that I need a new name?" Roy looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"What's wrong with Cass?"
"No a new… other name."
"Ah." Roy lowered his voice a bit, even though the rink was loud enough that no one would hear them.
"You should stick with the bat or bird theme."
"You think?"
"Yeah. The question is just which one to pick."
"Bird. There aren't a whole lot of variations on bat." Roy chuckled.
"Okay, bird it is." He tugged her towards the rink entrance.
"Come on, let's go grab lunch and we can discuss this more then." They worked their way back outside into the snow and started walking down the street.
"So where are we eating?" She asked and Roy responded with a shrug.
"I have no clue. You have any ideas?"
"Hmm… There's IHOP."
"Breakfast for lunch?" It was Cass's turn to shrug.
"I slept through breakfast, so sue me."
"Okay, IHOP it is." The pair never made it to the local IHOP. Halfway there a black van screeched up beside them. Before either of them could react masked men were grabbing them and shoving rags over their faces. Cass held her breath and tried to struggle as they were pulled into the van, but she couldn't do anything that would give her identity away. Eventually she had to breathe and her world went dark.
Her head felt like it was full of cotton when she woke up. A quiet groan escaped her lips as she tried to take in the current situation. She could feel Duct Tape wrapped around her arms and legs, pinning them to the chair she was on. The chair was wooden so if she really wanted to, Cass was sure that she could get out. After all, wooden chairs broke easily. She could hear voices a distance away. They were loud and rowdy with laughter. Cass suspected that they were drunk.
"Cass?" The question was whispered from behind her. She decided that it was high time to open her eyes. She realized that she was currently in a cellar. While the room was dark, she could make out the beginnings of a domed ceiling, and bare shelves on the walls.
"Cass?" This time the question was a little louder and defiantly seemed more panicked. She felt her heart settle a bit when she placed the voice as Roy.
"I'm here. I'm awake." She could hear his relieved sigh from behind her.
"You can't try to get out."
"I know I'm not that stupid."
"Just figured I'd remind you." She scoffed.
"How long have we been here?"
"As far as I could guess at least an hour."
"Alfred should notice that we're gone soon." Roy was about to reply when the cellar door suddenly slammed open. Cass closed her eyes against the bright light that spilled down. The guy who came down was big, but it was more fat than muscle. Cass wished she could see the guy's face so she could ID him later, but he was wearing the same type of ski mask that the ones who grabbed the pair had been wearing. She wondered if that was a good thing. It meant there was every chance that the goons had no intention of killing the pair, but Cass was all too aware that there were worse things than death. Covering his face would bring an essence of psychological torture to the mix. She mentally shook those thoughts away. There was no reason for goon one here to torture. He had no idea who she and Roy were. In fact, Cass was willing to bet that the only reason she was there at all was because she was with Roy at the moment. He pulled out a camera and a laptop from somewhere. Goon one quickly set up the camera so that it had a clear view of both her and Roy. It was wired to the laptop and the guy typed something in. Suddenly the camera was recording and the man backed out while staying out of the camera's shot.
"What the h*** was that about?" Cass questioned.
"It was probably set up to send a live feed to another computer. Specifically Ollie's computer."
"Who's Ollie?"
"My guardian. It's probably a ransom demand, I am after all the ward of a genius, billionaire."
"Right…" Cass drew out the vowel and sighed.
"I'm sorry for getting you into this."
"Roy, I've been in much worse than kidnapped by amateurs that I could escape easily." A laugh was heard behind her.
"I guess you have. I'm still sorry that our date was ruined."
"Please, this is the most fun I've had on a date in years!" She could practically see the eyebrow Roy was raising at that moment.
"And how many dates have you been on?" His mischievous tone cut through the air and Cass gave a fake laugh.
"Ah, you're so funny. I think a better question would be how many dates you've been on in the past year alone. And yes, one night stands count." Roy coughed.
"I'm pretty sure if I answer that I'll be in big trouble."
"Mmhmm… You bet you will. Still, I meant what I said about the ice skating. It was all really nice and fun. So just to clarify – does Ollie pay the ransom or does he contact our friends?"
"A little of both actually. He goes to the drop-offs and then calls our friends."
"Slow, but effective."
"I guess you'll just have to sit here and bear with me."
"Whatever are we going to do in the mean time, Harper?"
"Ouch, I've been demoted to the last name! I thought you said the date was nice!" This time Cass laughed.
"You didn't answer my question."
"I usually sleep through these things."
"Sleep?!"
"Yeah, sleep. Think of it this way, you can make up for the sleep you lost this morning." Cass grumbled under her breath.
"I take it back, the date was horrible."
"What, a little sarcasm and you…" The cellar door slammed open again and Roy immediately shut up.
"They're both still here boss!" Goon one hollered back up the stairs. Cass could just barely make out a New Jersey accent. Cass called out as he turned to leave.
"What do you mean we're both still here? Where else would we be?" Goonie seemed hesitant to answer.
"Come on, what's going on that we would be gone?" Roy asked.
"All the kids eighteen an' under are missin'."
"Missing?!" Cass questioned with a little panic.
"Yup, gone without a trace. Your ransom's gonna take a little longer to get here. I doubt that Queen's gonna be rushing over with this world crisis." Before either of them could ask any more questions Goonie had disappeared back upstairs.
"Children gone?" Cass mumbled.
Why does this sound familiar? Was it related to a job I pulled?
"Dick."
"What?" Cass asked Roy.
"Dick's under eighteen. So is everyone on the team." She gasped.
"So Mis and Trav…" the sentence trailed off. Setting her mouth in a firm line Cass started rocking slightly side to side in her chair. Hearing the noise, Roy became concerned.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to find my friends." She rocked the chair harder.
"No, Cass you can't!"
"Why not?" Roy lowered his voice.
"Because that will raise suspicions! You have to stay here as a hostage, the League will find everyone and bring them back, trust me!" The rocking stopped.
"I don't play damsel in distress very well Roy." He groaned.
"I know, I know that's not you! But you have to convince people it is so that they don't make any connection between you and… other you!" Her shoulders slumped, but she knew that Roy was right. So for now she would play damsel in distress and trust the League to find her friends, but she stayed ready to break out if she felt that things had gotten worse. It seemed to be hours before she started hearing crashes and yelling upstairs. They startled her a bit, but Roy seemed perfectly calm about the whole thing.
"That'd be the Calvary." There were more crashes and some gunfire before it suddenly stopped. The door slammed open one last time as Green Arrow marched his way down the stairs.
"Hey, you guys okay?" Roy suddenly seemed to switch to aggressive mode.
"Perfect, thanks for taking so long." Robin Hood just gave a hands up shrug and went to untie her. Out of instinct she flinched slightly when his hands got a little too close to her skin. As if sensing her distress, Roy set about calming her.
"Relax Cass, he's wearing gloves. Just don't touch her skin, I won't be held responsible if she decides to stop your heart." He aimed the last part of his statement towards Green Arrow. She could see the man's confused look even with the domino mask. Cass took several deep breaths as he moved closer again. It had been another rough day. She dimly realized that she worried far too much, but Cass had always been a worrier; it had just gotten worse over the years. The moment Green Arrow had finished untying her she immediately moved away and grabbed her coat from the corner. She checked the pockets as Roy was being untied and was pleased to find her gloves. They were quickly worked onto her hands and her eyes snapped towards the entrance of the cellar when another person came down. She remained tense as Black Canary made her appearance.
"Good to see everyone's okay." Roy nodded and worked his way over to Cass. Seeing her tension he quietly took her hand in his. Instead of tensing more at the contact though, Cass seemed to relax into it. He noticed GA's and Canary's curious looks.
"Right, let's get you both back to the penthouse and we can talk more there." Canary seemed relatively calm about everything but GA still seemed a little shocked.
"Yeah, the penthouse sounds good. We'll meet you there." Roy pulled Cass behind him as they made a speedy departure and left GA and Canary to clean up.
"Why are we going to the penthouse?" Cass questioned him the moment they were out of the house and back on the street.
"Because Canary is… Canary and she will hunt us down. Plus she might have an idea about what's going on with the missing children." Cass nodded. Roy looked around and seemed to recognize what part of the city they were in. He continued to tug her in another direction.
"Come on, this way. The penthouse isn't far from here." Roy wasn't kidding when he said that the penthouse wasn't far. They had probably only walk for five minutes before ducking into a private elevator and making their way to the top floor.
"So, I get to meet the folks. This seems to be moving pretty quickly." Roy winced.
"We're only going to be here long enough for Dinah to realize that I'm fine. Then we're leaving." Cass nodded.
"Okay, not that I don't mind leaving quickly but I thought you would be a little more enthusiastic about introducing me. Granted, that was not the way I wanted to meet them." Roy winced again.
"Ollie and I aren't exactly on best terms right now." Cass gave him a glance before rolling her eyes.
"Okay, we're gonna talk about that later." The elevator dings and the doors opened.
"Why?" If Cass didn't know any better she would say that Roy was whining.
"Because I'm your nosy girlfriend who wants to see you happy."
"I am happy."
"You aren't now."
"Well no because we just got kidnapped from our date, our friends are missing, and now I have to spend an unspecified amount of time with my legal guardian and his girlfriend." Cass smiled as if Roy had just proved her point.
"Exactly, and I can only fix one of those things." Roy groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face.
"Great." The elevator dinged again and Green Arrow and Black Canary walked out, this time as Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance.
"Roy, I'm glad you came. I was worried that you would back out." Dinah walked forwards and gave the teen a hug before turning to Cass and holding out a hand.
"I'm Dinah Lance – you can just call me Dinah, it's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry you got kidnapped along with Roy. Thankfully Green Arrow and Black Canary were patrolling or I might not have met you." Cass raised an eyebrow.
"Um… Dinah, I already know who you and Mr. Queen are on the other side of the mask but it's nice to meet you." She hesitantly reached out and shook Dinah's hand, feeling like this was one time she couldn't turn a handshake down. Two shocked faces stared back at her and Roy cleared his throat.
"This is Cass, my girlfriend. She's also living with Dick and joining the team." Suddenly all confusion and shock was wiped away from Dinah's face.
"Of course! I was told that you would be joining!" Oliver stepped in then.
"Wait, wait, wait a minute! You're telling me that you're joining the team? How come I didn't know about this?" Dinah gave him an exasperated glance.
"I told you the team was getting a new member, Ollie."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Dinah turned back to Roy.
"You're both staying for dinner." Roy went to protest but Cass jumped in before he could.
"That sounds lovely. I would just have to call home." Cass paused as she considered her next question.
"You wouldn't happen to know what was going on with the missing kids would you?"
"The League handled it. I'm not entirely sure what it involved but everyone is back safe and sound." Cass sighed.
"That's a relief. Now, I really should call home before Alfred worries more."
"There's a landline right down the hallway and through the third door on your left." Roy gestured to the hallway.
"Thanks." Cass headed off without another word. Ollie rubbed the back of his neck as Cass left.
"She's uh interesting." Roy rolled his eyes.
"Yes she is. Why are we staying for dinner?" Dinah stepped forwards.
"Because we haven't had a good family dinner in ages and this will give us a chance to meet your new girlfriend who I'm also going to be training in the future." Roy's shoulders slumped at Dinah's words.
"So Dick's alright, Alfred was busy so he answered the phone." Cass walked back into the living room.
"Right." Ollie clapped his hands together. "Who's up for Chinese takeout?" Dinah smiled.
"That sounds good to me, I'll order." She pulled out a cell phone.
"Why can't I order?"
"Because the last time you ordered all the food was extremely spicy." Roy and Cass watched the two bicker like a tennis match.
"I thought you liked spice!" Dinah chuckled.
"Not to that degree. Cass do you have any idea what you'd like?"
"Just some orange chicken and chow mein please."
"Great." Dinah left to order the food. Oliver held out a hand with a strained smile.
"I don't think I've introduced myself yet. Oliver Queen, my friends just call me Ollie though." Cass gave a strained smile in return and gently shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you Oliver." The man raised an eyebrow.
"I thought I said that my friends call me Ollie, that extends to family partners you know."
"I don't think I know you well enough to consider you a friend Oliver."
"Fair enough." There was a brief silence as everyone took a seat on the various couches around the room.
"So… What do you like to do as a hobby Cass?" Oliver started.
"Art and mechanics."
"Mechanics? Any specific field of mechanics?" Cass gave him a smile that practically screamed secrets and Roy held back a chuckle.
"I dabble in all of it, but I have a particular love for cars."
"Cars are nice, I prefer to own them rather than work on them though."
"Oh, I own plenty of them trust me. I just work on them more than I drive them." Oliver seemed slightly surprised. He changed the subject completely out of nowhere.
"What do you think about chili?" Roy groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. Cass looked between the two men confused.
"Do you mean the country?"
"No, he means the food."
"I like chili, why?"
"Because I make the best chili you'll ever taste." Dinah walked back in and took a seat besides Oliver.
"Don't let him fool you," she said, "this guy makes chili so spicy that even the Flash won't eat it."
"Batman's the only person we've found who can eat more than a bite and he only eats a couple. It's even brought tears to Superman's eyes." Roy jumped in. Cass's eyes widened.
"Now I want to try it." Oliver laughed and gestured to her.
"I knew I liked this girl! Roy you sure picked a keeper; not only does she like cars but she's willing to try my chili!" Dinah and Roy shared a look and the woman decided to cut in before things could get out of hand.
"So Cass, are you looking forwards to joining the team?"
"Sort of, my joining was mandatory and I'm slightly nervous about the whole thing." Dinah nodded like she had expected this.
"Wait, why would your joining be mandatory?" Oliver seemed very confused as he questioned the girl.
"Community service." Both she and Roy answered the man at the same time.
"How is joining the team community service?" Cass bit her lip and said nothing. Thankfully she was saved from answering as the doorbell rang. Oliver jumped up.
"Oh, foods here!" He practically ran to the door. Dinah just rolled her eyes.
"I swear sometimes I think that Oliver could out eat the Flash." Roy full out laughed at that.
"Why do you think they're such good friends?" Oliver chose this moment to come back into the living room holding two bags between his hands. He tossed chopsticks to everyone and grabbed a carton.
"Dig in everyone!" Everyone quickly obliged. Cass was ravenous. She hadn't eaten anything since her granola bars that morning. She scooped up a carton of chow mein and nailed another of orange chicken. She efficiently broke her chopsticks apart and began eating. Dinner was mostly silent except for a few pieces of conversation between Dinah and Roy. Everyone was more focused on eating than they were on conversation. The cartons were quickly finished with Oliver eating the most. Roy was a close second, but had been beaten by half a carton. There were still plenty of leftovers which Dinah insisted that Roy take. She tried to get Cass to take some soon but the girl refused claiming that Alfred would kill her if she brought home leftover takeout. After some quick goodbyes Roy practically pushed her out of the penthouse and onto the elevator. She gave him a sleepy smile.
"Dinah's nice."
"Yeah, she is. She's the only reason that I'm still sane after living with Ollie for so long." Cass gave a chuckle.
"You should probably take me home now." Roy nodded.
"Yeah, Bruce will kill me if I keep you out any later."
"Don't be silly Bruce wouldn't kill you. He might seriously maim you for the rest of your life but he has this thing about no killing."
"This is true. In that case I think I'd rather die."
"I can arrange that." Roy scowled.
"No thanks. I think I'll avoid the premature death." Cass shrugged as they made their way to a Zeta Tube.
"Suit yourself." They slipped into a photo booth and teleported to the Batcave. The dark figure that loomed over the computer turned to face them as they arrived.
"You're late." Roy gulped at the intimidating Bat glare. It didn't seem to faze Cass though. The girl just shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"It was completely by accident, trust me. First we were on a date, then we got kidnapped, then Dinah insisted that we stay for dinner."
"Alfred isn't happy." This was enough to make Cass pale slightly.
"I called from the penthouse."
"Alfred wasn't the one who answered it." Cass threw her hands up and Roy backed away slowly.
"I can't control that!" Neither paid Roy any attention as he crept back towards the Zeta.
"I'm just going to go now." Alfred chose this moment to make his appearance.
"Miss Cass!" She winced and turned towards the angry voice.
"Alfred, I can explain."
"Please do Miss Cass!"
"See as I was just explain to Bruce I was on a date with Roy and then we got kidnapped for ransom and them Green Arrow and Black Canary came and 'rescued' us and Dinah made us stay for dinner which took longer than I thought it would but I called and Dick answered the phone I didn't know you would be mad!" The run on sentence was spoken almost at super speed with little breaths in between. Alfred had stood there in silence with an impassive look on his face before giving her a slight nod.
"I apologize Miss Cass. Though I do request that next time you get kidnapped you call until you get in touch with myself. Are you injured?" Cass gave a great sigh of relief.
"No just really tired."
"Might I suggest some sleep then?" Cass shook her head.
"Actually first I'd like to know what that who debacle was about with missing kids." She turned towards Bruce expectantly. (He had pulled the cowl down as she explained things to Alfred.)
"A sorcerer known as Klarion recruited several others and split Earth into two dimensions. One contained only people over eighteen and one contained only people under eighteen. The team and a few members of the League launched simultaneous attacks – eventually defeating Klarion and returning the dimensions together."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Most everyone, there was an incident involving Dr. Fate but nothing can be done about that now."
"Okay." She moved towards the cave entrance.
"Cass." Bruce's voice stopped her.
"You will be meeting the team in several days. Maybe sooner if a mission comes up before then." Cass nodded and continued to the entrance. She made her way through the manor and checked for Dick. She found him on his laptop in his room. Cass knocked lightly on the doorframe.
"Hacking the Pentagon?" Dick glanced up at her.
"You know it isn't even a challenge anymore." Her eyes widened and she moved to his side. From what little she knew about programming she could see that he was, in fact, hacking the Pentagon. She whistled.
"I have got to get you and Travis in a room together. You two would have a blast and most likely blow something up while delving into government secrets." Cass paused.
"Actually, I think I'll keep you and Trav far, far away from each other." Robin gave her a half smile. She decided not to push quite yet about what was bothering him and just watched him work.
"How'd your date with Roy go?"
"Heh, not as well as he hoped."
"Was the ice skating rink a bust?"
"Oh no, the ice skating was really nice. It was the kidnapping on our way to lunch that spoiled everything. At least in his eyes."
"You don't think it spoiled the date?" Cass smirked.
"Nah, it made everything more exciting. Plus I got to meet Oliver and Dinah because of it." Robin snorted.
"Of course you would think getting kidnapped on a date was exciting. How'd that meeting go?"
"Hmm… It went alright I suppose. Dinah was friendly right away and once I told Oliver that I like cars and wanted to try his chili he warmed up pretty quick." Robin gave her a wide eyed look.
"You told him you want to try his chili?! Are you suicidal?"
Well actually, I haven't been suicidal for close to two years. She didn't say this out loud though, instead she choose the lighter route.
"No, just very curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"So they tell me. I'm not dead yet though."
"Just promise me that I can be present when you try it. Or at the very least, video tape it for me."
"Done." She gave him a high five.
"So I heard you had an adventure of your own today." Dick gave her a flat look.
"Smooth." He joked. She nudged him with her elbow.
"I'm serious! Bruce said something about an incident with Dr. Fate; I want to know if that's what's bugging you."
"Y-yeah, it is." She waited silently.
"Zatanna put on the Helmet of Fate in order to defeat Klarion. Fate wouldn't release her afterwards. To save his daughter's life, Zatara made a deal with Fate. Fate would give up his daughter and take him instead. He took the deal and Zatanna lost a father today." Cass sighed.
"Why are you taking this so hard?" Dick blushed and looked back at his computer screen. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the teen before gasping.
"You like her!"
"W-what, no!"
"Yes, yes you do! Ah, you have your first crush!"
"It's not my first." Dick mumbled. Cass eyes glinted.
"Not your first, huh? Who was your first?" She poked him in the ribs. Dick jumped away.
"None of your business!" Cass poked him again and Dick jumped and pushed her hand away.
"Don't!" She suddenly realized what was going on. Dick was ticklish. Cass lunged forwards and started tickling him.
"Hey… Hahaha… Stop!" Between his laughter and wheezing for breathe Dick's sentence came out broken and only half the volume he meant it to be. Cass laughed with him and continued to tickle him mercilessly. She paused for a second to make sure that Dick could breathe. He took that moment to grab his pillow and whack her off of him. She gave a little screech as she tumbled off the bed. She popped her head back up and Dick slammed his pillow into in. Cass fell back coughing feathers out of her mouth.
"So that's how you want to play it Bird Brain? Fine!" She managed to grab another one of Dick's pillows from the bed and started whacking back at him. Feathers exploded everywhere and Cass was very glad that she still had her gloves on. With all the excitement and adrenalin she was feeling, she was sure that she might accidently speed Dick's heart up a little too much if contact was made now. A throat was cleared from the door way. Both Cass and Dick froze as they saw Alfred standing there covered in feathers. They moved to hide the pillows behind their backs and pointed at one another.
"He started it!"
"She started it!" They simultaneously yelled. Alfred raised an eyebrow and picked one of the many feathers on his shoulders off.
"I do not care who started it only that you clean up after you're done." He glanced around the room.
"Carry on." The butler turned and left without looking back. Cass and Dick shared a look. Dick took the opportunity to leap forwards and smack her with his pillow. She growled and retaliated. The pillow fight lasted for close to ten more minutes before the pillows were completely flat and empty of feathers. They called it a draw and started cleaning up the best they could at the late hour; which mainly consisted of them moving all the feathers into one giant pile. It took all of Dick's self-control not to jump into it. Cass mumbled her goodnights and Dick fetched an extra pillow from the hallway closet and they both retired to their rooms for the night.
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We're almost done with this story! Can you believe it? Actually, I think there's only one more chapter. O.o Wow!
Thank you everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed!
NerdySkittlez: Unfortunately I don't delve into Cass's background much more in this story. Mainly because I couldn't find a good time to add it and I liked the mystery. I do, however, have plans for a "prequel" of sorts to delve into that a little deeper. This chapter has a little more action I think, and afterwards things seem to move pretty quickly. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them!