It does not make sense.

Tim is terrified. Every line of his body still shrieks with fear. His breathing shudders in and out of him, and every few moments, he audibly bites back a whimper into a partial moan. He is clearly and fully terrified.

But he should not be terrified. There is no reason.

Except…

Oh. Cass is not good with words. She knows this about herself. Maybe she did not get across in the right way that she is here to make things better, that he is here so she can make things better for him, maybe, maybe, maybe?

Words are hard. Actions are easier.

Cass adjusts the blankets over Tim, watching his posture critically to see what position is the most comfortable for him.

It doesn't seem to make a difference. No matter how Cass carefully tugs at the blankets or gently readjusts Tim's limbs between the cuffs and ties he is wrapped in so he doesn't run without thinking about it, Tim's body still calls out with terror. Cass can't seem to make him comfortable. If anything, it only seems to make him more uncomfortable.

Cass sits beside Tim and leans against him.

Tim gives a violent shiver, then he goes still.

Cass peeks over at him, hoping that stillness will be a sign Tim is finally relaxing, finally realizing he is being rescued.

Instead, Tim's body clenches in tension. That won't do.

Reaching over, showing each movement slowly before she makes it so that Tim won't think she's trying to hurt him like Batman has undoubtedly done many times, Cass strokes her hand along Tim's hair. She brushes a finger around the edge of his mask and down to the tip of nose, doing a gentle "boop" as Dick calls that. She pats and pets, trying to calm Tim down.

But Tim stays worked up. His breaths are whistling at this point, on the verge of… Whatever that thing is, where breathing isn't really breathing and it goes too fast, too shallow, too bad, making the panic worse. Hyperventilation, maybe? And that is even worse than before.

So Cass steps back for a moment. She scoots away from Tim, giving him room, and she thinks. Actions aren't doing it right now.

She's going to have to try words again.

"Robin," Cass says softly, searching for a reason he might still be upset. Maybe he doesn't believe that she believes he's being hurt? "I trust you. Batman is not good for you. It is not okay."

Tim gives a splintering half-sob.

"I trust you," Cass says again, feeling helpless. She hates feeling helpless. She hates watching Tim hurt, knowing he's hurting and not knowing how to stop it. "Do you trust me?"

Tim nods with great force in the movement, gasping out, "Yes!"

He means it. With every shuddering breath, he means it. He trusts her.

"I took you away from him to help you," Cass says slowly. "I want to help you. I want you to have help. Can you trust that?"

Tim half-sobs again, and again, he gasps, "Yes, I- I trust you, you, you want to help. You, you-"

"I love you," Cass says. That's a magic phrase, usually. It makes everyone more secure, more sweet, more calm, more comfortable.

Usually. Not now.

Now, it makes Tim tip all the way into the hyperventilation.

Cass scoots closer again, breathing loudly and slowly and purposefully. She uncuffs Tim's hands and pulls them to her chest so he can feel how she's breathing, encouraging him with her, "Breathe, breathe. You are safe. Breathe, breathe. I am here. Breathe, breathe."

It takes time. Tim breathes unevenly and tenses repeatedly with alarm even as she frees him from the rest of his restraints, because she's very sure they aren't helping and she's pretty sure at this point he isn't going to run.

"Breathe, breathe," Cass continues to coo, and as she repeats the words, she tries to fight her way through the confusion.

She took away the scary thing. She got Tim away from Bruce. Why is Tim only getting more and more scared? What would make him trust her but not relax into her, not rest in this moment, not get comfortable at last?

That's when Cass hits upon it.

He trusts her to help him, but he can't be comfortable.

Not when he's not the only one who needs help.

Of course he can't be comfortable. He's terrified! He's scared! He's worried about everyone else!

Tim isn't the only one Batman has been hurting, Cass realizes with dread. He's just the one who shows it the most.

After all, Dick has stormed away angry from the Cave on many occasions after time spent alone with Bruce. Jason had died but come back, and he'd come back because he knew he wasn't the only one who could die or be harmed in the mission, or by the wayside of the mission at Batman's hands. Damian is still getting used to a life away from the very-hurtful League of Assassins, he probably wouldn't complain about being hurt by his own father. Even Alfred wouldn't be able to stop an angry Bruce, and his suits cover him almost completely, so the signs wouldn't be obvious on his skin, while his stiff manners might keep the signs from being obvious in his body.

Bruce is hurting all of them. For some reason, he hasn't hurt Cass yet, but that doesn't mean this isn't her problem. It's the opposite. It's fully her problem. He's hurting them.

"It's them," Cass says, looking to Tim for confirmation. "That is right, right? It's them."

Tim stops breathing for a moment. Then he starts up again, breathing at the hyperventilation rate and rocking in place.

"Breathe, breathe," Cass encourages again, scooting even closer and rocking with him, slowing it down to a more soothing pace. "It's okay. It will be okay. We will go make it be okay."

And they will make it be okay.

Cass will make it be okay.

For Tim and for all of them.

As soon as Tim is mostly calm, back to close to his normal level of scared, Cass stands up. She holds a hand down and out to Tim. "Come. We go."

Tim stares at the hand.

Cass wiggles her hand for a moment, waiting. Then, as waiting becomes too much, she leans down and scoops his hand into hers. She pulls him to his feet and toward the broken window they'd entered through. Again, she says, "We go."

"We go," Tim repeats in a hushed voice, tone tilting up just a tiny bit, like he wants to ask a question but he doesn't know how.

So Cass clarifies. "We go to the Cave to make it be okay."

They are going to the Cave to make it be okay, because they're going to the Cave to rescue everyone and confront Batman.

AN: :D