I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.

Reporting In

Cassius spun around Cassandra's punch and passing her on her left, but she instantly spun away from him, swinging a right windmill kick at him. A goo arm burst from his chest, catching her foot and swinging her into the air, only for her to flip, slamming a kick into his goo hand's thumb to free herself, then flipped to the ground. As she landed, she charged, rolling under his punch and standing grabbing him by the arm and bending him forward, holding her hand to his throat like a knife, only to stop as a third arm bearing goo claws pressed to her abdomen, hovering there.

"Well done," Cassius said. "You were close that time. You have a hard time reading my goo's movements don't you?"

"There's no body language to read," Cassandra signed.

"I suppose," Cassius nodded.

"You're still here?" Cain growled as he walked in. "Cassandra, it's time for virtual training."

Cassandra nodded and left the room. Cain glared at Cassius for a long moment.

"I intend to send her on a hit soon," Cain said. "And I'm sending you with her."

"With an escort, I assume," Cassius said.

"No," Cain said. "Just you two. Her first hit's not going to be anything too difficult. Just dirty work the Shadows don't feel inclined to do."

"Understood," Cassius said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and report in to Deathstroke about my mission."

Cain nodded and Cassius left, meeting Cassandra by the door. Before he could say anything, she glanced at the room Cain was in before giving him a quick hug, then slipping into the virtual simulator room before she could get in trouble. Cassius sighed, smiling, and left, forming himself wings and taking off. He wished he could just take her, but she wasn't ready to leave. Cain would never let her stay gone. He forced the thoughts out of his mind and flew until he reached Deathstroke's home, grimacing at the unpleasant memories there.

"Deathstroke, you here!?" Cassius called out.

"Be right down!" Deathstroke's voice called back.

Cassius walked into the house toward the living room, only to stop at the training room. Rose was kneeling on the ground, crying silently and struggling to stop. One of her eyes was already swollen shut and blood was running out of her nose and a split in her lip. Cassius walked over to her, ripping off a piece of a drape on the way, then knelt in front of her, only for her to instantly recoil and scramble away from him, eyes wide with fear.

"It's alright," Cassius said, holding his hands up to show he wasn't a threat. "I won't hurt you."

Rose hesitated before shifting forward. He reached up, gently cupping the non-bruised side of her face before wiping the blood off of her face carefully. More blood ran out of her nose, but after a moment, he managed to get most of it off her face before holding the balled up rag to her nose.

"Hold this here for about fifteen minutes or so and it should stop bleeding," he said.

She nodded, holding the rag and he gently felt her nose for any breaks. She winced, but didn't pull away.

"It's not broken, so it should be fine once it heals," he said.

"Thank you," Rose said softly, voice still wavering, but no longer crying.

He smiled, gingerly wiping the tears from her cheeks before hearing metal scrape behind him. "You're going to want to step back now."

She did as he said just before Deathstroke stepped around the corner, driving his sword down through Cade's heart. She shouted in surprise, eyes wide, only for them to widen further as Cade stood, pulling the sword further through him. Once the hilt hit his back, his torso turned into goo and opened and he pulled the sword out, then formed goo around his hand and wiped the blood off the blade, reclaiming it, before handing the sword to Deathstroke.

"I told you to stay away from my daughter," Deathstroke snarled.

"Wrong," Cassius said. "You told me I wasn't allowed to train your daughter."

Deathstroke narrowed his eye and opened his mouth to speak, only for Cassius to hold up a hand.

"Do you want my report, or not?" Cassius asked.

Deathstroke's glare intensified, but he waved his hand for Cassius to begin.

"We haven't gotten a real mission yet," Cassius said. "The Justice League and most of the team still don't trust me, and I'm still on probation, but I managed to secure both Aqualad and Miss Martian's trust. I left a clone to take my place on the team while I went to train Cassandra Cain and to come here."

"Have you taken any missions yet?" Deathstroke asked.

"Not yet," Cassius said. "They don't trust me enough to let me find out any important information, they trust the team only slightly more, and they haven't determined if the team's teamwork is actually ready for a mission. I agree with them on that. The team is still a team in name only. We did battle and defeat a robot similar to Red Tornado who was sent to defeat and reprogram him. When we defeated the robot, its chest opened to reveal it as a suit and an android made to seem human fell out. We destroyed it and the League took it to examine it and its programming, but I doubt they'll tell the team anything."

"Understood," Deathstroke nodded. "I'll inform the Light. They may wish to look into that as well. You may leave now. My daughter is not your concern."

Cassius watched him walk away before sighing and shaking his head. "I'll see you around, Rose." He turned to leave, only for her to catch his arm.

"Wait," Rose said. "Is it...does it...You've killed a lot of people, right? Does...Does it ever get easier? I mean...do the nightmares...do they ever go away?"

"I don't know," Cassius said. "At first, I didn't have any. I didn't care about taking life one way or the other. But recently, one job in particular has been haunting me.' He looked the way Deathstroke had come before kneeling and pulling Rose into a hug so he could whisper. "Do you want to leave the Shadows?"

Rose pulled away, eyes wide with surprise. "I...I don't...I mean..." she glance after Deathstroke as well. "He's my father. I can't just...But I..."

"You don't have to decide now," Cassius said. "I couldn't take you away right now anyway. I'll stop by every now and then. If you change your mind, let me know, and I'll do what I can."

Rose nodded, smiling for a moment. "Thank you."

He nodded and stood, messing up her hair and making her laugh for a moment before she scowled at him, fixing her hair. "Take care kid."

He walked outside again and formed himself a pair of wings before taking off again, heading back toward Mount Justice.

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