"Do you have any idea the damage you have caused?" Fever was sitting on the couch in the common room of the mountain. Batman loomed over her and he was pissed. "I can only spend so much without people getting suspicious!"
"Sorry, I got angry." Fever wasn't looking at him. She didn't want him to see how much she already hated James.
"Well, don't next time."
Fever looked at him in disbelief. When she finally managed to form a response it was laced with scorn.
"Well, sorry I'm not the PERFECT Dark Knight himself. I am sorry I can't shut out all emotion like you can, "By this time she was yelling, and the whole mountain could hear her. "I made a mistake in the place I am supposed to make mistakes and now I will never do anything right again."
"That is not what I said."
"It might as well have been. I am going to Barbs tonight." With that, Fever stormed out.
Recognized, Fever B-109
"Batman?" Robin edged cautiously into the room. "Is everything alright?"
Batman looked at Robin, remembering how young he really was, and looked around the empty room before moving forward and hugging Robin.
"I don't know, buddy." Batman let the term of affection slip out without any thought. "I don't know."
Cassidy sat on Barbara's bed, eating a bag of chips.
"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you over unplanned?" Barbara tried to hide the smile but failed.
"I had a fight with Bruce. He is trying to make me like him again."
"I wish I had that problem. My dad will never let me become a police officer."
"I not a good thing Barb, I love Bruce but I am nothing like him. At least not in the ways he wants me to be."
"What started this?"
"Well, Bruce introduced me and Dick to this guy and he turned out to be a huge jerk. I got mad when he tried to apologize and I broke something expensive."
"That was it?" Barbara knew better than to laugh but she tried to supress a smile. He fights with her dad were ten times worse.
"Then he started on how I need to control my emotions like him. I can't do that Barb!"
Barbara deadpanned "I can tell,"
"Oh, shut up." Cassidy threw a pillow at Barbara's head, missing on purpose. Barbara laughed.
Suddenly Cassidy sat bolt up on the bed she had been lounging on. "Oh my gosh, what time is it?"
"Um, 5:34," Barbara pulled out her phone. "Why?"
"Crap! I have a date in half an hour!" Cassidy scrambled off the bed and dove for Barbara's closet.
"And you waited until NOW to tell me? You have been here since like noon!"
"I forgot! Help me Barbara!" Cassidy tore through Barb's closet. "Hey, isn't this mine?" The red dress Cassidy clutched in her hand had been missing for months.
"Yes, and good thing I had it because otherwise you wouldn't have had it for your date," Barbara smiled sweetly before running over to her dresser and pulling out her makeup for Cassidy.
"Forget police officer, you could be the next Catwoman."
"So how did you meet this guy?" The girls were sitting on the front stoop of the Gordon's townhouse. They were bundled up against the cold Gotham winter. Cassidy had texted Wally to let him know to get her from Barbara's instead of the Manor.
"He is a friend of Dick's." Cassidy laughed at the appalled look on Barbara's face. "He's 16 Barb. Don't worry. I am not a cougar."
"Phew, you had me worried. I thought I was going to have to talk to my dad about you." Cassidy laughed again.
"Try not to run out of laughs, I have a hilarious evening planned for us." Cassidy beamed as Wally came striding up. She could tell he was struggling not to walk too fast.
"Wally, this is Barbara."
Barbara stuck out her hand which Wally took and kissed. "Pleasure my dear lady"
Barb smiled widely, mouthed "he is funny" to Cassidy before shoving them down the street with a "Good luck!"
"So what's the plan?"
"Well, there is this new sci fi movie playing at the theatre and I thought we could go?"
"I am overdressed then," Cassidy shifted uncomfortably, thinking of the dress her long pea coat was hiding.
"Sorry, I should have warned you,"
"I am sorry too. The last guy I went out with was sort of a stuffy rich kid." Cassidy was embarrassed, as she was used to high society guys and now she was on a date with a normal guy and was messing it up.
"No, it's fine. I really don't care." They lapsed into silence. Finally they arrived at the theatre. Wally grabbed the tickets and snacks and they settled themselves at the back of the theatre. They watched in silence for a while until Cassidy noticed a glaring scientific error and struggled to hold back a giggle. She glanced at Wally who was red faced from holding back laughter. As soon as they made eye contact they burst out in huge, heaving laughs. Several people shushed them from the front row. They stifled the giggles for a few more minutes before they burst again. This time it was a theatre employee who came and told them to be quiet or they would have to leave but they couldn't hold back the giggles.
"I can't believe we were kicked out of a movie theatre." Cassidy was holding Wally's arm for support as they laughed.
"Can you blame us; even a person with a second grade understanding of science could see the impossibilities in the first 30 minutes."
"Let's go get some hot chocolate." Cassidy suggested before finding the nearest coffee shop. They talked about the movie before lapsing into silence again. Cassidy desperately looked around for something to talk about.
"What was that fight with Bruce about?" Cassidy grimaced. She really didn't want to get into it with Wally but he could understand better the Barb could because he knew the whole story.
"I disagree with his methods sometimes. I get that he wants to scare criminals but he doesn't have to be so….harsh….with Dick and I. Especially Dick, he is just a kid and I worry. I want to go away to University but Bruce wants me to stay and I worry if I leave h will start to push Dick away." Cassidy took a deep breath. Wally looked thoughtful.
"I don't know what to say, I am sorry…I don't have that problem with Uncle Barry so I don't know how you feel."
"It's okay, getting my fears out in the universe just helps me sometimes. Thanks for listening at least."
"No problem, I can be a good listener when I want to." Wally grinned and then downed the rest of his hot chocolate. "I should probably head home soon; my mom will kill me if I am out to late."
"Sure, do you mind dropping me at Barbs? I need my school stuff; I grabbed it so we could study. I can get Alfred to come get me from there."
"No, I can run you by and then take you home. I don't mind."
"Alright," They ducked down an alley so Wally could hoist Cassidy on his back and he started running. They at Barbs in seconds.
"I will run in real quick, okay?" Wally nodded and took a seat on the stairs.
"How was the date?" Cassidy had barely pushed open the door before Barb's questions started. She rushed up stairs, grabbed her bag, pulled on her jeans and sweater and rushed back down the stairs as she stuffed her dress in her bag.
"I will call you later, okay?" Barbara nodded and went back to her book.
"By the way," Cassidy head Barbara say as she was shutting the door. "I told Clare everything."
Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Okay, next stop, Wayne Manor."
Cassidy closed the door to the Manor and clicked the lock in place. Wally had just left and there parting was awkward to say the least. They hadn't kissed but had hugged.
"So are we….you knowing….official? Like your my girlfriend." Cassidy saw Wally wince at his own awkwardness.
"Yeah, we are," She smiled; they hugged again and parted ways. Now Cassidy moved up stairs and into her bedroom. In the privacy of her room she let the huge grin spread across her face. She then collapsed into bed and pulled out her phone, fingers already dialing Barbara's number.
A/N- Hey guy. I am so sorry about the huge length between updates. I had major writers block and my life just got in the way unfortunately. This is a total filler chapter and I apologize for that. I have strayed from my plan a bit and I realized I have messed up my time line horribly. chapters 9 and 10 take place in December and I am sorry for the screwed timeline. As of this chapter I will be better at keeping it constant. I am not goin to go back and fix the ealier chapters but from now on I will let you know in the Author's Note when the chapter is set if I can't work it into the chapter somewhere. I don't know when I will have another chapter up because I need to write some filler chapters to catch up to where I want to be and I haven't even touched on Cassidy and James' relationship properly yet. And don't worry about the Wally/Cassidy pairing. I will keep the couple canon eventually. Thanks
~Kasei