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.
The Wind Does Not Require the Grass
Joseph Mandragora was angry. The costumed vigilantes had first cost him his best man. If he was honest with himself, the Venom-addicted criminal had been his only truly competent underling, his ability to manipulate the man's temper and addiction allowing him to let someone who could be such a threat to him rise so high in his organization.
Then, he had assigned his next best to deal with the situation, but that had ended just as poorly. Not only had another one of his lieutenants been arrested, but the vigilantes had dared to break into his mansion and hold him hostage. It was unforgivable, and he had spent the last week upgrading his personal security to keep it from happening again.
While he had been doing that, he had also been searching for a proper way to resolve the entire situation. He smiled coldly as a knock came at his door. "Enter."
One of his soldiers came in nervously. "Um, Mr. Mandragora, sir? Your, um, guest is here."
"Good," Mandragora said. "Show him in."
The man that came through the door was tall and rail thin, the design of his costume highlighting those features. He moved with an eerie grace, his motions twitching and awkward, and Mandragora could see the fear in his soldier's eyes as the man moved past them. "Dr. Crane," Mandragora said, taking a long pull from his oxygen mask. "I'm glad that you could come."
"Mr. Mandragora," Scarecrow said. "After you went to all of the trouble to break me out of Arkham, the least that I could do was find out why."
Mandragora chuckled cynically. "I'm sure the money didn't hurt, either."
"I'm not one to be led around by something so simple as money," Scarecrow disagreed. "Now, tell me, why did you want me here so badly?"
"A pair of vigilantes with Gotham connections have shown up in Hub City, causing trouble for my organization," Mandragora said. "The best way to deal with a mask is with another mask. And what better one to bring in than someone from the same city?"
"Who has left the Batman behind?" Scarecrow asked. "Is it the little Robin? Or the Batgirl? I'd heard Nightwing was in Bludhaven."
"No, it's some girl called the Spoiler. She's got an accomplice called Silent, but I've found no record of her from before she started operating here."
"Hmm, Spoiler..." Scarecrow said thoughtfully. "I've never met her. I wonder, what has driven her to this life? What is she... afraid of."
"So you'll take the job?" Mandragora asked.
"I'll deal with them," Scarecrow said. "But I'm not interested in your money."
"Then what do you want?" Mandragora asked after taking a long pull from his oxygen tank.
"This building, it has quite a bit of security," Scarecrow said conversationally as he drifted closer. "You've spent more money on it than any bank I've ever seen. You must really value your safety."
"It's important," Mandragora ground out. "At my age, you can never be too careful."
"No, I don't think that's quite it," Scarecrow disagreed. "I've seen your people as well. You have good foot soldiers, doing the real work, but they seem... incompetent at the top. Worried about competition?"
Mandragora simply glared at him, and after a moment Scarecrow continued. "You see, Joe – I can call you Joe, can't I? After all we're about to get to know each other so well. Now, Joe, it seems to me that you are afraid of a great many things. Your hands, for example. Immaculately clean, yet I see hand sanitizer within arms reach. Afraid of your employees, of break-ins, of germs? How many things can one man be afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of you," Mandragora said coldly, although his pulse sped up more and more the longer Scarecrow talked.
"Ah, that is a mistake," Scarecrow said. "You fear so many things, and yet you do not fear the Master of Fear? I have so many things to teach you about the wonder of fear, Joe. So many things..."
"Stay away," Mandragora rasped, pulling out a gun, only for it to be knocked away by a wide kick from one of Scarecrow's long legs. "I broke you out of Arkham! Why are you doing this?"
"Because you are so deliciously afraid," Scarecrow said. "And yet, you try to hide it. Try to pretend to fear nothing while cowering behind an army. It's time for you to learn about the true nature of fear, Joe. And I'm going to teach you."
"Help! Guards! Help!" Mandragora screamed while Scarecrow removed the line from his oxygen tank and hooked it to a small tank he pulled from the back of his costume.
"They won't be of any help," Scarecrow crooned. "I left a little present in the hallway. They needed to learn about fear, as well. Oh, yes, you all need to learn much about fear."
Scarecrow pulled out a roll of duct tape, and used it to bind Mandragora's hands to his chair andthe oxygen mask to his face, before turning on the flow of his special gas. In moments Mandragora's eyes began to roll about in panic before he began to scream.
Scarecrow chuckled deep in his throat as he walked away. "I'm not a hitman, Joe. But I'm just getting started. It's time Hub City learned the true meaning of fear."
In the week since they had gone dancing, things had been even more uncomfortable in their apartment than they had been when the two young women had been fighting with each other. Cassandra had no idea what to do. Part of her wanted to apologize somehow, to make it all go away, even though it would mean denying what she really felt. She would have to get her friend back, except for one thing.
Stephanie felt the same thing for her. She was less aware of it, and more afraid of it, but they both had the same feelings for each other. Cassandra didn't know much about love, but she knew that feelings wouldn't be enough. She had seen enough families broken apart in Gotham to know that love by itself didn't mean anything. If Stephanie wasn't willing to try, it would mean nothing... and she had no idea how to go about trying, much less how to convince someone else to.
The only bright spot in her day was her new job. While she wasn't very fond of cleaning dishes, she liked it much better than her job as a maid. Still, she was surprised when, on Friday, Anna called her away from mopping the floor to help her in the kitchen.
"You ever bake anything 'fore?" Anna asked.
"No," Cassandra answered.
"Well, good time as any to start," Anna said. "You know how to cook at all?"
"No."
"I spent years learnin' my kids all my secret recipes, and not one of 'em cares to continue the family business," Anna said, shaking her head good-naturedly. "I suppose at this point it wouldn't hurt none to show you a few tricks."
Not being able to read well would have been a problem when working with written recipes, but Anna had them all memorized, and she was very patient in showing Cass the basics of how to bake. While they were interrupted regularly by customers or other necessary work, before long Cassandra had managed to prepared a tray of brownies and put them in the oven.
Anna got out a mixer, butter, and sugar, and began to show Cassandra how to make fresh frosting. While the mixer was running, Anna spoke. "So, you wanna tell me what's been botherin' you, sugar?"
"Bothering?" Cassandra asked, not looking up from the mixing bowl she was slowly adding powdered sugar to.
"I might not have known you for long, but I get the sense somethin's been playin' on your mind," Anna said. "I'm all ears. What's botherin' you?"
Cassandra swallowed hard. "I'm... in love?"
"Ah!" Anna said. "I thought it'd be somethin' like that. Romance seems like such a big business at your age. Still, what's wrong?"
"Never been... in love," Cassandra said quietly.
Anna nodded understandingly. "I see. So, what's your young man like? Watch the sugar, now! That's too much at once!"
Cassandra stopped adding the sugar, then began to add it more carefully. "Sorry."
Anna examined her shrewdly for a minute. "Now, I'm no spring chicken, but I'm not too old fashioned. Is this someone... not a guy?"
Cassandra swallowed, before nodding. "I... yes. She's not."
Anna nodded. "That must be confusin'. Did you know you felt that way 'bout girls before?"
"No."
"Well, it's nothin' to be ashamed of," Anna said. "Don't worry 'bout anyone that'd give you any lip. Still, bein' in love is always scary, even without bein' different besides."
"Didn't even know... at first," Cassandra said quietly. "Didn't expect. Just... best friend. Of course care. Then... I knew. Not just friend."
"Have you ever had a chance to talk 'bout this with anyone before?" Anna asked.
Cassandra shook her head, biting her lip as she watched the frosting come together in the mixing bowl.
"Well, I may be an old woman, but I'm willin' to lend an ear. I don't teach my best brownie recipe to just anyone, you know."
"We... almost kissed," Cass said quietly. "Then, got distracted. She left. Now... avoiding me."
"Does she not feel the same?" Anna asked gently. "You wouldn't be the first person to fall in love with someone that doesn't feel that way back. It's what half o' country music's 'bout."
Cassandra smiled slightly. "I think... she feels same. But scared."
"Well, love always is scary," Anna said. "And if she does feel the same, she might not have realized she feels that way 'bout girls, either. Findin' somethin' like that out 'bout yourself can be a shock, I'd wager. She's not the person she thought she was."
"Not any different," Cassandra said as she turned off the mixer.
"Didn't say she was," Anna agreed mildly as she checked the frosting. "If you woke up and found out you were suddenly left handed, you'd be pretty freaked out, but there's nothin' wrong with bein' a southpaw. Her findin' out she feels differently about somethin' so important as love than she ever thought? 'Course she freaked out."
"She's... dated guys," Cassandra said. "More than one."
"See," Anna said. "So no surprise it's a shock to her, then. You just gotta let her come 'round. You try to force anythin' you'd just scare her away."
"But... what if..." Cassandra started, trailing off when she couldn't figure out what to say.
"Now, now, no what ifs," Anna scolded. "They do you no good. No, what you gotta do, is butter her up a little, but not smother her neither."
"Butter?" Cassandra asked, looking at the sticks still sitting near the blender.
"I mean, you gotta woo her a bit, without backin' her into a corner," Anna explained. "Best way to do that is some brownies. I always say, the best way to anyone's heart is food. An' what girl don't love chocolate?"
That evening Cassandra headed home, carrying the tray of brownies that she had made herself. Most of the cooking that had happened around the apartment had involved the microwave, and the rest was little more complicated. Having made something so tasty with her own two hands gave her an incredible sense of accomplishment. As she walked, she suddenly didn't feel like an outsider. She wasn't a failure, unable to live like everyone else. She had a job. She had a home. She could cook her own food.
Part of Cassandra wanted to break into a dance right in the middle of the street. If, in that moment, a chorus of singers had appeared, and everyone had broken out into song like had happened in the strange movie Stephanie had shown her a few weeks ago, she would have happily joined in. She didn't know how to sing, but she felt her dancing would have been far more convincing than the mostly unfeeling motions of those in the musical had been. One of them had even been thinking about his taxes during the big finale.
When she entered the apartment, Cassandra smiled as she saw Stephanie, who was dressed nicer than she usually was at that time. Cass couldn't help smiling, as she remembered another reason that she was so happy. Even if the brownies didn't work, she now had Anna coaching her on how to win Stephanie over.
Stephanie looked up, her eyes wide and her body filled with apprehension. Cassandra smiled at her reassuringly, before holding out the tray full of frosted brownies. "Brownies," she said firmly.
Stephanie quirked a smile. "I love brownies. But don't you usually bring home, like, half trays and stuff?"
"Made it," Cassandra said proudly. "Anna showed me how. Want to share... with you."
Stephanie hesitated, swallowing hard. "I would, but I'm about to go out. I'm gonna be getting dinner out..."
Cassandra's brow creased with confusion. "But... patrol?"
"I'll be back before too late to change, and then I'll get right back out there," Stephanie said with a weak smile.
"Why?"
"I've, um, I've got a date," Stephanie explained quietly.
Cassandra hadn't felt so stunned since she had last been hit by Lady Shiva. She worked her mouth, trying to form words, but nothing came out. All she could feel was her stomach falling through the floor to the apartment below, dragging her happiness down with it.
Finally, after the silence had hung tense in the air for a long time, Cassandra managed to choke out a syllable. "Oh."
"So, I'll see you on patrol soonish," Stephanie said, unable to meet her eyes.
Cassandra could tell that this confrontation was making her friend miserable. Good, she thought viciously. It was good not to be the only one.
Stephanie walked to the door. "I'll be out there patrolling, um, soon. So... yeah. Bye."
Cassandra walked to the kitchen, and mechanically placed her brownies in the refrigerator. She then went to her room, and changed into her Silent costume, just like she did every night. Sneaking outside, she sat on a nearby roof, staring up at the stars.
She should patrol, she knew. Criminals could be out there, at any moment, causing endless problems. It was her mission. She really should...
Cassandra stood and started running. It took her longer than she had expected, but eventually she found her target. Disappearing into the shadows before she was spotted, she began to tail her target carefully, using every bit of her skill.
Unlike most of the time when she did this trick, she knew just how skilled Stephanie had become.
Part of her knew that stalking Stephanie wasn't something that she should do. She could hear a voice scolding her, one which sounded a lot like Barbara, even though it would be pretty hypocritical of Oracle to lecture her for spying on people she cared about. Despite that, she had to see who was taking Stephanie out on a date.
When she finally saw him, she decided immediately that she didn't like him. His body language was arrogant, like he looked down on everyone else on the street. He didn't even look at Stephanie as respectfully as he should. Cassandra's lip curled in a sneer of firm distaste.
The one thing that soothed Cassandra's temper was that Stephanie seemed to be having second thoughts about the date as well. Studying her carefully, Cass was further assuaged when she didn't see much in the way of real attraction for the boy. Studying him, Cassandra wasn't surprised – he looked fine enough in a studious, college boy kind of way, but he looked like he was trying a little too hard. His 'windswept' hair appeared to involve at least an hour in front of the mirror, and his clothing was a little too artfully rumpled to be natural.
Cassandra followed them to a small restaurant not too far from where Stephanie worked. While her diner wasn't anything fancy, it had a certain sense of reality to it that the overdone cafe the young man led Stephanie to lacked. It looked like the sort of place a tourist would pick out, not a local that knew what was really good in Hub City.
Cassandra waited until they went inside before circling around the block, heading to the back door of the cafe without being spotted. She quickly picked the lock, slipping inside and gliding through the kitchen. The place looked clean, she supposed, but from her low, crouching posture, she could see some dirt under the work counters. Sniffing disdainfully, she shook her head at the unprofessional job the workers did keeping their area clean.
The restaurant itself was fairly crowded, but the dining room was kept very dim, relying mostly on candlelight and numerous dividers to create an intimate atmosphere. It didn't take her long to find a hiding spot in a corner behind what she discovered was a dusty, artificial fern. From that spot she was able to observe Stephanie's table without being seen herself.
She watched, her heart in her throat, as Stephanie sat listening to her date talk. And talk. And talk. Cassandra could tell that the main subject of conversation the man had was himself. She finally began to calm as she noticed just how bored Stephanie was.
By the time dessert arrived, Stephanie had already decided to never date the boy again, and Cassandra could tell just how foolish her friend felt about having gone out with him in the first place. Stephanie was looking out the window, trying not to show just how bored she really was, when she suddenly stiffened. Stephanie then pasted on a tense smile and thanked her date, walking quickly away, leaving the suddenly upset young man behind.
Confused, Cassandra slipped back through the kitchen, moving undetected past the cooks, before making it outside into the alley behind the cafe. Pulling out her grapple, she quickly reached the rooftops, looking up into the sky in the direction that Stephanie had been staring. She froze in shock at what she saw.
Against the clouds in the sky, a spotlight projected a symbol across the heavens. Instead of the bat she had grown used to seeing in Gotham, the sky above Hub City was decorated with an enormous 'S'. Its shape was identical to the one they used for their spoilerangs.
Someone was calling for them.
