Disclaimer

I don't own anything. DC Comics, and anything that it publishes, is not in anyway owned by me. It is all owned by rich, talented people. I'm a nobody. Please don't sue me.

Certain Slant of Light

For the first time in her life Cassandra had skipped her morning routine. Ever since she could remember, she had done a lengthy training regimen created for her by her father, which had practiced everything that she had needed to be the perfect assassin. She had done it without fail, only skipping the parts that she had lacked the resources for, even when she had lived on the streets.

She had instead lain in bed for hours, staring out at nothing, her mind blank. She had eventually risen, throwing on the same clothing from the night before, and poured herself some of the cereal she had found in a cupboard for breakfast. She had barely eaten any of it, just pushing it around listlessly for nearly an hour before dumping it in the sink.

She had then sat on the couch in front of a television and stared out the window at Gotham for the rest of the day as the light of the sun slowly moved across the floor. She was numb. Empty.

She wanted to go to Barbara, to ask for help. To go to the woman who had been like a mother to her and let herself be weak for just a moment, to break down and just cry. To hope that somehow Barbara could give her life back to her.

But she couldn't. Barbara... Oracle had called her stupid. Barbara had once been Batgirl herself, and she prized her mind so highly. Cassandra wasn't sure that Oracle would want the heir to her mantle to be someone who couldn't even read.

The only other person that she was close to was Stephanie. She knew that her friend would listen to her, but... it wasn't the same. She didn't want a friend to tell about what had happened. She wanted someone who could help her fix what had gone wrong. The only two people she knew who could didn't want her anymore.

She also didn't want to get turned away by the only person in the world she had left. When Stephanie had been fired by Batman before, he had ordered Cassandra to have nothing to do with her only friend. Now that she had been fired, if Stephanie had been told to do the same...

Maybe Stephanie would let her in the same way that Cassandra had let her friend in. But she knew how much being Robin meant to Stephanie, and she wouldn't do anything to risk having that taken away. And, sitting on the couch as the room slowly turned dark as night fell, Cassandra also wasn't sure that her friend would care. She wasn't sure that she was worth caring about.

After the final rays of the setting sun departed her room, Cassandra wallowed deeper into her self-loathing. She was quite surprised when her reverie was suddenly broken by a knock at her window. Looking up listlessly, she was shocked to see Stephanie dressed as Spoiler crouching on the ledge. Shaking herself, Cassandra slowly crossed the room and opened the window, letting her friend in.

"Cass... hey, I've been looking for you..." Stephanie started, before trailing off as she really looked at her friend for the first time.

Cassandra was a mess. Her eyes were flat and dead, her posture slumped, her hair greasy and lank. She smelled faintly of smoke, and she had deep bags under her eyes. Stephanie had never seen her friend look so defeated.

"Cass... what happened?" Stephanie said as she pulled her mask off. Her eyes were red with tears. "I looked in your cave, but you weren't there. What's wrong?"

"Not Batgirl," Cassandra choked. "Not... enough."

She looked into Stephanie's eyes, and suddenly she was crying. She hadn't really cried since she was four, and her father had punished her for that weakness. She had learned to never, ever cry. But looking into her best friend's caring eyes...

Stephanie caught Cass as she collapsed weeping. Her face was screwed up in pain as great sobs wracked her body. Stephanie had never felt so helpless as she did that moment – not as a child locked in a closet when her father was angry, not as a pregnant teenager, not when she had been fired by Batman. Before her eyes the strongest person she knew completely fell apart at the seams, reduced to a sobbing wreck with nothing she could do to comfort her.

Stephanie held Cassandra close, rubbing her back in gentle circles for a long time until she had finally cried herself out. When she did Cass pulled back, her face burning with shame at having lost control of herself. Stephanie just smiled gently at her, every bit of her body language saying that she understood.

Cassandra cleared her throat and wiped her face. The silence between them wasn't awkward, but she was still determined to move past her breakdown as quickly as possible. "Why Spoiler? You're... Robin now."

Stephanie's face crumbled as she was reminded of her own problems. "Actually, that's why I came to see you... I'm not. Robin anymore, I mean. He... he fired me. Again. He said..."

"Fire too," Cass said, her voice wavering.

"How could he fire you?" Stephanie asked, outraged. "You're so... perfect. At everything. I mean, you beat Shiva. Even Batman never beat Shiva!"

Cassandra hesitated for a moment, before finally voicing her deepest shame and fear to the one person she still trusted. "Stupid. Can't... read. Can't do anything... but fight."

"You are not stupid!" Stephanie said, jumping to her feet, her entire body screaming her indignation. "If anyone says you're stupid, I'll show them who's stupid!"

"Oracle," Cass said quietly. "Oracle said stupid."

"Well she's stupid!" Stephanie shouted. "And Batman's stupid too! I wanted to... to show them what I can do. Show them all that I'm not just a screw up. But you know what? Screw them!"

"Screw them?" Cass asked.

"Yeah!" Stephanie said, pacing up and down the room angrily. "If they don't think you should be out there, then they're the stupid ones! And if they think you can't cut it, there's no way they'd ever think I can!

"So screw 'em," Stephanie continued forcefully. "We don't need them. When I first started I didn't go to the big bad Bat to show me what to do. I made my own costume, and I figured out a way to stop my dad all by myself! And I didn't know anything back then. And I didn't have a super ninja for a best friend."

"What can... we do?" Cassandra asked, her voice gaining some of its life back.

Stephanie stopped pacing right in front of her friend, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm Spoiler again. So we just need to get you a costume of your own. They won't be able to take that away from you! We can do it on our own."

"They catch," Cass said. "Make stop."

"Yeah," Stephanie said thoughtfully. "If we tried to do it, they'd catch us... if we were here."

"Huh?"

Stephanie grinned conspiratorially. "We can go anywhere. Somewhere where Batman isn't in charge, and then we can do our own thing. We can fight crime and help people without anyone trying to stop us, or tell us what to do! Two girls against the world!"

Cassandra hesitated for only a moment as the possibilities filled her head. She knew it would be difficult, trying to to fight without Oracle and Batman to provide resources and backup. The only time that she had lived on her own, she had been forced to live on the streets. But looking at her friend, seeing the hope and excitement in her eyes, she knew what her answer had to be.

"Okay."

"Yes!" Stephanie shouted, hugging her and jumping up and down excitedly.

Despite their intentions to leave Gotham as soon as possible, the two girls soon realized that they had quite a bit of preparations to do before they could safely do so. If they brought the credit card Batman had left with Cass with them to wherever they went, then they would be easily found. Since they wouldn't have much money once they left it, the best plan was to outfit themselves as best they could before leaving the city, all without tipping anyone off to their plans.

The latter part turned out to be depressingly easy. No one visited Cass during the entire week they spent in Gotham, and, after explaining what she could and leaving her mother, no one looked for Stephanie either. The two girls holed up in the apartment Batman had given Cass, and were able to work around the clock to get ready.

The first step had been creating a costume for Cassandra. Stephanie had more experience in that area, although Cass did know how to sew by hand. Stephanie bought an art pad with the credit card, and the two of them spent several hours laughing and enjoying themselves as they drew various outrageous costume designs.

They finally settled on something simple, which combined aspects of both the Spoiler costume as well as the Batgirl one. It took two days to make even with a new sewing machine, the process being slowed by the time that it took for them to track down tough, Kevlar-based bolts of cloth to use in its creation. The final result wasn't as armored or as advanced as something made by Batman, but was much better than the first Spoiler costume Stephanie had originally put together.

Putting it on for the first time, Cassandra took her time studying herself in the mirror. Like her old Batgirl costume, her new outfit was tight and covered her entire body. The body cloth was gray, which would blend into the shadows easily. The mask was similar to the Spoiler mask, being made of gray cloth which covered her entire face, with lighter spots for her eyes. Cassandra used a thick black string to add stitches across the mouth, making it appear to be sewn shut.

They also acquired knee high black boots and elbow length black gloves, as well as a black utility belt, which went around her waist as well as over one shoulder, just like Spoiler's did. Over this outfit she added a dark gray hooded cloak, with the bottom cut so as to appear to be roughly torn. The final result was impressive, making her look like the silent, creepy, gray ghostly version of Spoiler.

"I like it," Stephanie said, eying the outfit critically. "Now you just need a name... and a bunch of junk to fill the belt with."

Cass nodded thoughtfully, tilting her head as she looked at her reflection. She had loved her Batgirl costume, but something about having helped design and build it herself made the costume feel more... hers. Like she wasn't just a tool for Oracle and Batman.

"Hey!" Stephanie said excitedly after a minute. "I've got an idea! I'm Spoiler, and you look like me, but with the sewn up mouth and being quiet all the time and everything. So how's this sound? We can call you Silent!"

Cass turned to look at her, tilting her head questioningly.

"Yeah!" Stephanie said, bouncing with excitement. "When we do stuff you can avoid saying anything, and then you'll be even better at scaring the bad guys! Plus, we can make our own batarangs, but we can make them like Robin's, just shaped like 'S's. We can call them spoilerangs!"

Cassandra put her hands on her hips, using her body language to convey disdain for that idea.

"Fine, you can call yours silenterangs or something," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "Not that anyone would know that, since you won't say it. So they'll just think they're all called spoilerangs."

With the costume dealt with, Cassandra turned to their arsenal. While she could have bought off-the-shelf throwing blades or stars, she had to admit that Stephanie had had a good point about making custom throwing weapons. In addition to being distinctive and leaving no real paper trail, batarangs had the advantage of being customizable, with parts of them being dull and parts being sharp to allow a skilled user to employ them in a variety of manners.

Fortunately, in addition to using them, Cain had taught his daughter about making weapons and demolitions, and so manufacturing custom throwing weapons was easily within her capabilities. She purchased several expensive tools, including a high end metal grinder, as well as a significant amount of high grade steel. For days she carefully worked the metal into stylized 'S's, with one curved side razor sharp, and the other blunt. It took her several tries to get the balance right, but eventually she had a large supply of multipurpose throwing weapons.

While she was busy doing that, Stephanie turned her attention to other equipment that they would need. She visited electronics and specialty stores all over Gotham, eventually coming up with a nice selection of secure radios, bugs, cameras, lock picking equipment, medical and forensics kits, and small gas masks. While all of the equipment was larger and less flexible than the oldest gear Batman had, it was still sufficient for their work.

Stephanie was also glad that she had two of the grapple guns that Batman had given her originally, as they were one item that she didn't want to compromise on – she had enough difficulties roof hopping without risking using gear that would break on her. Having filled their utility belts with various useful, if commercially available, equipment, she then purchased a variety of other items, such as clothing, that she and Cass would need in the future. A selection of luggage completed her purchases, as they had acquired quite a bit of gear to take with them for their new life.

Cass, meanwhile, had moved on to using her knowledge of demolitions to build or acquire a selection of devices. She made thermite charges, flash bangs, and smoke grenades, and bought plastic explosives with detonators. Finally, she withdrew as much money in cash as she could before packing the luggage that Stephanie had bought.

Loaded down with their equipment, they headed to the train station, excitement bubbling inside them about the future. After purchasing two tickets to Hub City, chosen nearly at random as a major city without any famous costumed protector since the Question left it years before, the two girls stood at the train station looking out over Gotham together. Stephanie finally turned away with a sigh, leading Cassandra to their seats.

"Part of me can't believe I'm leaving... I thought I'd live my whole life in Gotham," Stephanie said as they sat down. "But after everything... I'm just looking forward to a new start."

"I thought... was done running," Cass said quietly. "But no... home. Not anymore."

"Yeah," Stephanie said. "You know what that means, right?"

"No."

"That means we're gonna have to make our own home. Together."

Cassandra slowly smiled, her expression matched by her friend. As the train left the station, neither girl looked back. Instead, they enjoyed the warm sun as it streamed through the window, and thought about the future that lay before them.

Barbara Gordon was feeling very guilty. She had intended to check on Cassandra immediately after she had lost her Batgirl mantle, but things had come up. It wasn't every day that she was possessed by Brainiac, after all.

She had finally recovered enough to visit her errant protege, stopping only to pick up a nice fruit basket on the way. She wasn't sure that Cass would actually want a fruit basket, but she usually ate anything within arms reach, and she wanted to give her something. At the very least, she hoped that arriving with a present would keep the door from being slammed in her face.

When she reached the door of the apartment, she took a long, steadying breath. She knew Cass would be angry, between thoughtlessly calling her stupid, and then her getting pulled from the field later that same night. Finally, using all of her Batgirl courage, Barbara knocked.

She almost laughed when no one answered. Barbara had spent so much time steeling herself, and Cassandra wasn't even home. She quickly dug out the spare key, and used it to let herself in.

Once she was inside, she knew immediately that something was wrong. Several large power tools sat on the floor, surrounded by scrap metal and pieces of cloth. Moving quickly around the apartment, she soon found that all of the toiletries and clothing were missing, and the credit card Bruce had given her was sitting next to the apartment keys on the kitchen table.

"Batman," Barbara said into her communicator.

"Yes?" Batman asked gruffly.

"Cass is missing," she said.

"Missing?"

"I just let myself into the apartment, and she isn't here anymore."

"I thought the point of this was to make sure that she got a personal life," he asked. "That usually involves going out."

"No!" she said sharply. "She's not out. She's gone. All of her clothes are gone. And her keys and credit card on sitting on the table."

He was silent for a long moment. "I'll be there shortly."

Ten minutes later Batman slipped in through a window, quickly taking everything in. "Oracle, report."

Barbara glanced up from her laptop, giving him her attention. "She made some significant purchases this week, along with a large withdrawal of cash. Most of the purchases are things like communicators, electronic bugs, some power tools, Kevlar..."

Batman nodded. "The metal here... she was making batarangs. There are no whole ones, but from the shape of the scrap, I would suspect they were 'S' shaped."

He walked behind her, reading the credit card information over her shoulder. He frowned angrily at something that he saw. "She bought something from gun runners – there's no other reason for her to withdraw that much cash in that part of town. And she's been making homemade demolitions. Thermite, smoke bombs, flash bangs."

Barbara leaned back in her wheelchair. "She's outfitted herself."

Batman stalked angrily towards the window. "Not just herself," he growled.

"What?"

"That's enough equipment for two people."

"Maybe she's just being prepared?" Barbara suggested.

"No. Not some of those items. And I suspect I know why she made her weapons 'S' shaped."

"Spoiler," Barbara realized.

Batman simply grunted and jumped out the window, his swing line in hand.

Author's Notes

Barbara was being possessed by Brainiac, causing seizures and the like, during this period of time in the Birds of Prey comic. She would have been too busy to have much time for Cassandra.