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It was past midnight when Dick got home, groggy and struggling to keep his eyes open. He yawned loudly as he closed the front door and acknowledged the rustling sounds in the kitchen with a, "Go to sleep Tim."
"Huh?" he heard Tim say. Dick rubbed his eyes.
"You know we go by Gremlin rules," Dick said. "No late night--" It took several seconds for Dick to realize that Tim's voice had come from his room, not from the kitchen.
"Uh," Dick said, inching towards the kitchen. "That you Damian?"
The fridge door closed but there was still no response. Damian wasn't much of a late night snacker unless he was stealing something Tim had bought, and he rarely stayed up past midnight.
In the kitchen, sitting up on their counter and scoping lasagna into her mouth, was an unfamiliar teenage girl. Her legs were crossed and on the floor in front of her were a pair of boots, a coat, and a backpack. She looked up to acknowledge Dick edging into the room and then went back to eating.
"Uh, hi."
She offered him a small wave.
"Are you one of Tim's friends?" His uninvited guest took a swing from their orange juice before shaking her head. "Friend of Damian's?" He asked hopefully. Another no. "So you just broke in?" She nodded.
"Oh, cool. So you're actually a burglar." Dick dropped his bag with a huff. "That's...awesome."
The girl pouted but didn't say anything.
"Look, it's been a long day and I'm not really in the mood to arrest anybody so would you mind..." Dick trailed off as he got a look at the girl's arms. There were a frightening array of scars along them. "Shit."
She followed his gaze for a moment then went back to eating.
"You're still breaking and entering," Dick said. "Maybe just finish eating before you leave. And then don't break into people's apartments again. Crime is bad."
The girl held the juice container out to him.
"Thanks. I'm fine. Would you mind explaining why you're in my apartment in particular? I'm literal a cop so this wasn't the best place to break into." The girl shook her head. "No? You don't feel like talking about it?"
The girl swallowed and then grunted vaguely.
"Don't speak much English?" Dick guessed. The girl shook her head. "Deaf but really good at reading lips?" A thoughtful look and then another shake. "Mute?" She nodded.
Dick leaned against the kitchen table. "Well, I guess we're getting somewhere. Hold on." He reached into one of the kitchen drawers to pull out a notepad but the girl made a small noise.
"You can't write? Okay." Dick rubbed his forehead. "Problem solving mode Grayson, you got this. Let's see. Do you know sign language?"
The girl nodded eagerly and started to sign something before Dick said, "Crap, hold on. I only know like three words." She tilted her head. "Don't make that face at me, young lady. You're the one who broke into my place."
Sorry happened to be one of the three signs he knew. Though Dick was fluent in teenager and recognized a half-hearted apology, even a silent one.
"Do you live nearby?" The girl glanced upwards thoughtfully. "Or do you not have a home?"
She nodded.
Dick sighed. "Shit."
"Richard?" Fuck, he thought, at the sound of Damian's voice, "who are you talking to?"
Damian stepped into the kitchen. His eyes were barely open but he was carrying his katana. He wobbled unsteadily as he started to draw the weapon. "You have to warn me before Todd comes by so I can put plastic on the furniture." He bumped into Dick and then mumbled something incoherent.
"Jason's not here," Dick said carefully. "I'm actually not sure who our guest is."
Damian leaned to the side and blinked slowly at the girl. Then he jumped, coming to full alrtness and putting himself between Dick and their guest. "Richard, who the hell is that?!"
"Again, not sure. I just kinda found her here."
"Is that so?" Damian grinned. "Well then thief, I'm sorry to say you picked the wrong apartment to break into. Would you like to die here or could you be persuaded to go to the balcony so I can power wash the bloodstains out of the--hey!"
Dick had no idea how but the girl had gotten from the counter and into Damian's personal space before the sword was in her hand.
"Give that back!" Damian reached up but the girl only held the sword over her head, smiling just a little. With her other hand she took a bite out of an apple. After tossing the core into the trash she wiped her hand on her jeans and picked up the sheath. She turned the sword over a few times with a thoughtful hum.
"Hey, what's with all the--oh shit," Tim said, walking into the kitchen. He took in the scene, eyes wide. "Listen, whatever stupid thing Damian did he's defintely sorry and we'll pay the damages."
The girl shoved the sword back at Damian and backed away.
"She's not here to murder anyone as far as I can tell," Dick said. He took Damian's sword, ignoring his annoyed exclamation. He placed it out of reach on top of the refrigerator. "Right?"
A nod.
"See? No problem."
"Dick," Tim said slowly.
"Richard," Damian said in the same tone.
"No, vetoed and vetoed."
"Did she break in here?" Tim asked.
"Possibly."
"Dick."
"Richard."
"I know what you want to say so you might as well not say it. I don't wanna hear it." Dick waved them away. "Both of you just sit in the living room so I can figure this out."
Neither of them moved.
"You heard me. Shoo, shoo."
Both of them shuffled out of the room with some reluctance.
"Okay." He turned back to the girl.
Sorry, she signed again, with more sincerity.
"No, it's alright. They're just cranky. Can you give me a second? I'm gonna make a phone call."
She went straight back to eating.
Jason answered his phone on the last ring, mumbling sleeply. "Wow, miss me already?"
"Hey Jay, sorry to bug you so late but a mute girl broke into my apartment and she's currently sitting on my counter eating an entire stack of bread straight out of the bag. It's fascinating. I don't know sign language so I can't really figure out why she's here apart from the obvious food stealing situation. Could you help me out?"
There was a long pause. "Wait. Run that be me again."
"I need a translator for a teenage snack burglar. Try to keep up babe. You mentioned knowing ASL right?"
"I'd say that on my resume but I'm a little rusty. More importantly." There was a bang and a loud curse on the other end of the line as he assumed Jason tried to get dressed. "Someone broke into your place? Why are you calling me and not, oh I don't know, the police? The other not-you police!"
"She seems like an okay kid."
"God, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days.
Jason hung up as he got on his motorcycle and promised to be there in 15 minutes. Given how far away he lived Dick made him promise to be there in half an hour instead.
"Okay," Dick said, putting away his phone. "So my boyfriend'll be here in half an hour and then we can actually try to have a conversation."
The girl nodded firmly. She grabbed her coat and backpack and left the kitchen.
"Where do you think you're going?" Damian asked. He and Tim got to their feet and the three of them followed her. She walked into the restroom and closed the door behind her.
"Oh," Dick said. "She knows where our bathroom is. That's worrying."
The shower turned on. Tim turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"I know, shut up."
They went back to the living room. Damian sat clutching his baseball for about two minutes and then fell asleep. Dick got Tim coffee and some tea for himself before putting his feet up on the coffee table.
"The girl did just break into our home," Tim said. "At least pretend not to love this."
"Hm?" Dick realized that his expression was curving into a loose smile. He straightened it into his best cop frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh. So you weren't thinking about when Bruce first brought Damian home and he acted like a homicidal stray cat?"
"No," Dick lied.
"Good, because you're the only person who looks back on those times fondly. It wasn't nearly as much fun as you remember it being."
"Now, that's just not true." Beside him, Damian twitched in his sleep and Dick pulled the blanket up over him. He poked Damian on the nose and he snorted unhappily. "Even if it was, things still worked out, didn't they?"
Tim rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I guess we're alright."
There was a knock almost exactly half an hour after he called. Jason stood by the door, completely out of breath.
"Damn Jason, did you ride your bike here or did you just run?"
"You had...a break-in," Jason panted. "Why is your elevator still broken?"
"Is it broken? I didn't notice, I always take the stairs."
"You're cute but I...really hate you." Jason wiped his forehead. "So where is she?"
"After she ate all our food she went to use all our hot water." Tim gestured towards the bathroom. "She's been in there for like half an hour."
"You sure she's still there?" Jason asked, scratching his chin. "Coulda jumped out the window."
"I didn't actually consider that," Dick said. He headed over to the bathroom and knocked twice. "Hello? You still in there?"
The water shut off and a few seconds later the door swung open. A plume of steam wafted into the hallway.
"Hey," Dick said, squinting through the steam. "Sorry to interrupt by my boyfriend is here and oh Jesus she's naked." He turned around.
"Hm?" The girl stepped forward.
"Stop." Dick spread his arms. "Don't move. Please, I'll bring you something to wear so please just don't move."
Armed with a Gotham High shirt and a pair of Tim's sweatpants, the girl sprawled across their armchair. She'd already finished the bowl of instant mac n' cheese that Dick had given her a minute earlier.
Jason was sitting on the floor in front of Dick, having a conversation in half English and half stilted sign language from the looks of it. Damian was still asleep and had been scooted to the corner of the couch where he'd curled up and continued right on sleeping.
"Let's see if I've got this right," Jason said. "You've been living on the streets here in Bludhaven for a few months. Then your dad came here to find you but he got...caught? Arrested?"
Yes, she signed.
"Kay. I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask is the person who arrested him is a pretty cop with two sociopathic siblings?"
She looked over at Dick and signed yes again. Dick winced.
"Sorry?"
She shook her head. "Let's see," Jason said. "She says 'it's fine. He was a shit dad." He laughed. "Good for you."
It took a lot more mac n' cheese and even more gesturing and guessing before they'd roughly pieced together her story. She'd run away from home and her father ("who deserves to burn in hell," Jason added) had come to find her. He'd been closing in and she thought she'd have to go home before Dick arrested him. She'd been back on the street for a few days now ("apparently she always eats this much? It's not just a living on the streets thing. Wild.")
"David Cain, huh." Dick finished off his lukewarm tea. "I remember his file saying that he had a daughter. That'd be you then? Cassandra?"
The girl's face lit up. "Was that right?" She--Cassandra--nodded frantically.
"Good memory," Jason said, raising an eyebrow. "I tried asking her name but she has trouble spelling no matter the language. I didn't think we were gonna figure it out."
"I looked into you a bit after Cain was arrested. He mentioned having a daughter. I didn't think a B&E was going to be how I'd find her but alright."
Thank you, Cassandra signed. Her eyes were wet but she was still smiling. Dick smiled back. He elbowed Tim when he sighed quietly.
"Why'd you come to me, Cassandra?" Dick asked. "You don't exactly know me."
Cassandra looked away for a moment and then shrugged and signed her response.
Jason snorted. "She says you 'looked nice'."
"That's. Plenty of people look nice."
Cassandra looked over at Jason, frowning slightly. Jason shook his head. "Don't worry. I know what you mean."
"Yup," Tim said. "I get it."
*
"That makes sense," Dick said, with poorly suppressed disappointment. He was carrying Damian on his back. "There really isn't much room here anyway."
"Dick," Jason said.
"The apartment is already pretty tight and there's three of us. I get it. Probably for the best."
Jason tried not to smile. "Green isn't a good color on you."
"Every color is a good color on me."
"It's not a sleepover, Dick. I'm just letting her stay with me until we can find another place for her."
"I know."
"You're already mentally signing her adoption papers."
"Am not." Dick shifted his weight and looked away. "Technically she's an adult."
He turned to Cassandra. That won't stop him, he signed. Cassandra laughed.
"Huh?" Dick said.
"Don't worry about it. I'll give you a call tomorrow, okay?"
"Alright."
He leaned in to give Dick a kiss.
"I'll kill you," Damian mumbled.
Jason froze. Dick smiled fondly at his brother. "He's still asleep, he just does that sometimes."
“Uh.” He stood back and gave Dick a pat on the shoulder. "Sure."
Dick loaned him his car for the drive home and Cassandra followed behind him, looking calm and wide awake. She was eating a bag of pretzels.
"I feel like I should warn you that I live in an absolute shithole," Jason said at their first red light. "I haven't even had Dick over."
Cassandra blinked at him. So?
"So, nothing I guess. You don't seem like you get scared easily. But I did have to say it."
Cassandra lets out an unimpressed hum.
"Okay, okay. I'm sure you can handle yourself." He cast a quick glance in Cassandra's direction. "But also, 99.9% of the time following cops home is a terrible idea. Dick not being a corrupt, evil bastard is a complete fluke. I'm saying this as someone who works with cops. Avoid them."
Cassandra scoffed. I know. All...
"Cop?" Jason asked, demonstrating the sign.
Cassandra nodded and repeated the sign. Cops. Yes. All cops suck.
"They sure do. Where'd you grow up?"
She gestured at a freeway sign.
"Gotham?"
Yeah.
Jason made a disgruntled noise. "Thought so. Me too. Grew up right in Crime Alley."
Cassandra made a similar disgruntled noise, and Jason laughed.
They got to Jason's place around three, and Jason tried to remember how much of a mess he'd left the apartment in. Then he remembered how Dick’s place looked and decided he was probably fine.
Thanks, Cassandra signed, as they walked to the apartment building.
"Yeah, don't thank me till you've seen the place." Right on queue there was a gunshot nearby.
Cassandra didn't so much as twitch. Really. Thanks.
"You're welcome then. Try not to walk around at night though. This place is…is that my knife?” Cassandra tossed the knife up in the air again and caught it. He patted his jacket pocket. “How the fuck? Okay, damn. You’ve made your point.”
She tossed him his knife.
“I'm gonna be honest,” Jason said, “getting back on your feet in this city is messy. Especially if you're over 18. My place sucks but you can stay for however long you need to. Not like the city is gonna help you."
Cassandra nodded. You and, she looked upwards before tentatively signing penis. Are similar.
Jason ran his hands over his face, trying to stifle his laughter. "Come again?"
Your boyfriend's name.
"Right," Jason said, grinning. "That's what I thought you were saying. I know finger spelling is tough for you so we're gonna need a sign for him. If you call him that to his face I'm probably gonna piss myself."
Cassandra hummed. The two of you are the same.
"Sorry, what were you trying to say?"
You're both, Cassandra's face scrunched up a little as she thought. Both good.
"Oh," Jason said. He put his hands in his pockets. "I really don't know how people keep getting that impression. I'm not that good of an actor, am I?"
Cassandra grabbed his arm and spun him around. “Shit, you’re strong.”
Both good, she signed again.
"You met me a couple hours ago."
I know.
"You're that good at reading people, huh?"
Yes.
He pulled his arm out of Cassandra's grip. After she decided to loosen it. "Okay. Fine. But don't think buttering me up means I'll let you do to my fridge what you did to Dick's."