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Cassandra Cain was made for fighting.
Her whole reason for being was to fight. Instead of learning to speak and read words she learned to read the body like a language. From the tiniest movement, she was able to tell just what a person was about to do. She was trained to kill from birth, but once she took her first life she realized just what it meant to kill someone as she watched the life leave their eyes, and their body slumped downwards. That was the moment she ran away from her father and his teachings, but not from fighting. She eventually made her way to Gotham, she was there for what they had called No Man’s Land, and so was her father. Even to this day, she wasn’t sure if she had followed him, if he had followed her, or it was just coincidence that they had been in the city at the same time, but because of it, she had managed to prove herself to the Batman, who decided to make her Batgirl. That had been everything to her.
Then Bruce had died. And upon his prior instructions, she gave up being Batgirl giving up the costume and giving it to Stephanie Brown. That was meant to be temporary, when Bruce came back he wanted her to be Batgirl again, but Cass knew Steph needed to be Batgirl more than she did and instead insisted that she was no longer Batgirl.
Stephanie Brown. When she first met the blonde she didn’t think too much of her, but that was because she couldn’t think much of anyone. She had feelings, she later realized, and the ones she felt about Steph early on was that she was a liability, just as likely to bring harm to those around her as she was to help them. But since then she had really come a long way, especially when she took up the mantle of Batgirl, working with Oracle had really given her more tools and chances to prove herself, which she had done over and over again.
This moment was one where she was proving herself again, Cass had been investigating the source of a new drug that had made its way to the streets of Gotham, but she had been gone from Gotham for a while now, so Steph had been there to help out. So far they had tracked the source back towards the Bowery, where Cass believed that they would find that Penguin was the one who was bringing the new drugs into the city, Steph wasn’t so sure, it didn’t seem to make sense for him at this moment, it didn’t fit his MO.
Right now they were staking a spot where they learned of a deal going down. Finding a dealer could lead them right back to the source if they did direct business together. But most likely they were using pack mules to hide the drugs in a place where the dealers would take the drugs and place the money so there would be no direct contact, so they would have to get those locations and stake them out.
They watched as a guy and a girl walked into the alley they had been watching from one side and another male walking in from the other. “Here we go,” Steph said as she tensed up, ready to jump into action as soon as they saw the deal go down. Cass watched their bodies, she could tell that the two who were coming together wanted, no, needed something. They had already gotten an addiction to this drug. The third guy was more relaxed, but still cautious, though directed to his apparent customers, probably more concerned that they would try to not pay in full or jump him to take what he had on him.
The male of the couple reached into his pocket and held the money up to show the dealer that they had the money, to which the dealer held up a small bag of pills. This was the moment, the two vigilantes dropped down, landing between the druggies and the dealer. Startled, the druggies ran out of the alley with Steph calling after them, "take this as a sign to get help to get sober!" as Cass grabbed and slammed the dealer face first against the wall, pinning him there. Steph then turned to the dealer, "So how about you tell us who your supplier is before my silent companion here plays the neck bone is connected to the hip bone.”
Cass turned to Steph, confused, “I don’t know that game.” She said, almost more confused by the idea of them playing at this moment than the actual threat.
“Shh, I’m trying to frighten him into telling us what we want to know,” Steph said, giving Cass a look that told her that the blonde wanted her to just go with it.
“Ah, yes, if you do not tell us where you get the drugs then I will play that game with you,” Cass said, turning back to the dealer. She could hear Steph sigh behind her but kept her intense glare on the dealer, which even though the threats weren’t good, the intense look still struck fear into the dealer. As well as stories that he had heard of the conditions that some thugs have been left in after a run in with the local vigilantes.
“Alright, alright fine! I’ll talk!” The dealer said “I don’t know who the supplier is, all I know is I go to Aparo park where they stash the drugs and then I put the money I made there. The next drop is supposed to be there at 11. That’s it, that’s all I know, I swear!” He said as Steph fist-pumped the air.
“Yes, that’s how you do it!” The blonde Batgirl said with a grin. To be honest, Cass didn’t think that Steph didn’t help much to convince the man to talk, but she seemed so happy that Cass didn’t want to tell her. Cass did a swift strike to the carotid artery which knocked the dealer out. “Hey Oracle, tell the boys in blue that we have an unconscious drug dealer at our current location,” Steph said into a com in her helmet.
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The two then made their way towards the drop location at the park. They still had about 20 minutes until the drop was supposed to happen so Steph had stopped in a coffee shop to get them a pick me up. She got herself some extremely sweet drink that Cass didn’t know half the words in the name and had gotten Cass an Assam tea. She had also done it in costume which apparently made the night for the barista working there this late at night, especially when a large tip was given.
The two waited, sitting on top of a building across from the drop site, taking sips of their drinks. As they were waiting Cass was watching Steph as she was looking for anyone approaching. She wasn’t sure why, but the blonde female never seemed to stop being positive, or at least compared to her family was a big difference, it was always refreshing to work with her, her body language had something that she liked to watch. Steph turned to face the other female, which showed that the whipped cream that was on her drink had made a small mustache above her lips, and noticed that Cass had been watching her.
“What’s up?” The female crusader asked, scooting over to be closer to Cassandra, “You seem kinda distracted.”
Cass hadn’t realized that she had been staring and blushed a bit before stammering for a moment before taking a breath. “I was just thinking, and you have a whipped cream mustache.” she signed, keeping to herself that she had been thinking about Steph. She found ASL a lot easier than speaking with words, something that came from how she was raised. Thankfully her family and Steph have been very understanding and had learned some basic sign language so they could communicate better. Cass was still annoyed that she had trouble communicating with others, but she was happy that they understood that she was struggling and were accepting.
Steph didn’t look too convinced, but she knew that Cass would share when she was ready. She wiped away the creamstache before turning back to the park, watching for someone to arrive at the drop zone. “So how was Hong Kong?” she said, signing the message as she spoke.
Cass looked down at her drink before picking it up and taking a sip. She set the drink down and faced Steph again, “It was okay, kind of lonely.”
Steph scooted over even closer to Cass and reached around her, pulling her into a side hug, “Aww, well you aren’t alone anymore.” She said cheerfully. Cass could read from her body that Steph had missed her, but there was also something else there. She stayed there for a second but before Cass had a chance to understand what she read from the other girl’s body or say something in return Steph noticed a guy in a jacket and a baseball cap pulled suspiciously low holding a paper bag as he walked towards the park. “That’s our guy!” she said, releasing Cass from the hug. As Steph jumped down to follow the mule Cass hesitated a moment, she could feel blood rushing towards her cheeks as she realized how she missed the feeling of Steph hugging her even after just seconds of it happening. She shook off the feeling, she didn’t have time to become distracted tonight.
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Who knows how things ended up like this, the two heroines surrounded by half a dozen thugs, maybe they should have tied up the unconscious dealer in case he woke up and somehow sent a warning which allowed them to set a trap, maybe Steph should have been more careful with her drink and not knock it over the ledge of the rooftop letting the person who there to pick up the money know that someone was there causing him to run and call his backup. Either way Steph wasn’t going to tell Bruce and Cass wasn’t going to say anything.
“So, any chance you two recognize that you’re outclassed or are we going to have to send you to your orthodontist because you underestimated us. I mean you guys have to be better fighters than the super powered villains we’ve faced to have the guts to try us right?” Steph said, trying to convince even one of them that fighting them was a bad idea.
Cass could tell based on their body language that while they were afraid of the two vigilantes in front of them, they weren’t going to back off. They most likely had no other options if they wanted to keep under employment of whoever was in charge of this drug operation. Steph sighed, “Fine then, hope you guys have dental.” she said with a grin while Cass ran up to one of the thugs leaping into the air for a flying kick to the face. Steph quickly followed suit, punching another thug in the jaw.
It was a solid hit, her form was perfect and Cass couldn’t help but admire how much Steph had grown since they had last fought together. She should have kept a better eye on the fight but she had already knocked out 3 of the thugs, Steph was holding her own against 2 of the others, there was one more, she knew that, she should have known that. But it wasn’t until out of the corner of her eye she saw the form of the 6th thug throwing a punch towards her face.
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The dynamic duo made it back to Steph’s apartment, which Cass, since she returned from being abroad, had also been staying at. After they crawled in from the window Steph turned to the raven haired female, looking at where the big thug had landed a hit on her chin. It was definitely going to be bruised the next day, but it would have been worse if Cass hadn’t reacted as quickly as she did and moved her head to roll with the punch. “Let me get you some frozen peas for that, it has to hurt like hell.” the blonde said, sounding worried.
Truth be told it didn’t feel that bad, she had been taught to take worse and not let it slow her. Her body full of scars from knife and bullet wounds were an attestment to that. However she felt like denying the offer would only make Steph worry more than she already was, she got hit, Cass doesn’t get hit, not by the everyday thug.
“Okay, thank you.” The female signed as she started to take off her costume. She didn’t have much underneath besides her underwear and a bra which she covered with a pair of her sweatpants and one of Steph’s sweatshirts that they had lying around. The pair wasn’t exactly the cleanest with the state of their apartment, clothes were often left wherever they had taken them off when it got too hot, or if Cass was home alone and she didn’t feel like wearing anything.
Steph, who was still in costume besides her cowl which was pulled off, brought over a pack of frozen peas that she grabbed from their freezer, handing it over to Cass who pressed it against their jaw, slightly wincing as she did it. She looked back up at Steph who was still clearly worried as she watched Cass. The smaller female could read from the blonde’s body that there was something else there as well. It was the same thing as what she read from her from when they were on the roof earlier, but now it was more clear what it was, or maybe now she was allowing herself to believe that she was reading correctly.
Cass set down the peas and took a step closer to Steph and grabbed her hands with her own. Her brown eyes stared into Steph’s own blue eyes, “I’m okay.” she said out loud as reassuring as she could. She couldn’t always convey the emotions she wanted to with the amount of words she had, but she could talk with confidence when she did have them.
Steph looked down at their hands, “I know, it’s just, you were gone for so long… and I just… I missed you so much, and seeing you take that hit and go down, I thought about losing you, and I don’t know, I-.” She started, a couple of tears started falling down her cheeks.
Cassandra let go of the blonde’s hands and reached around her back, pulling the taller female into a hug, letting Steph let out the emotions that she had been holding onto this whole time. They stood there for several moments, holding each other in their arms. There were things that Cass wanted to say but she wasn't sure if it was a good time to say them. Words were already hard, and finding the right time to say them was even harder. Cass pulled back a bit to look Steph in the eyes again. They were red as a few more tears fell down her face.
“I… I love you too.” Cass said, hoping that she wasn’t reading things wrongly. She watched as Stephanie’s expression turned to shock, then something that Cass couldn’t quite read. Thinking that she messed up she tried to pull away, but as she did Steph pulled her back in, closing her eyes and pressing her lips against Cass’s.
Cass was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly returned the kiss. She could taste the salt from the tears on Steph’s lips. For what seemed like hours they stayed there, Cass’s arms moved so her hands were holding Steph’s waist while Steph’s wrapped around Cass’ neck.
Tears still in her eyes Steph pulled back, looking at Cass with what she read as joy, “You didn’t let me say I love you yet.” she choked out with a smile.
The dark haired female smiled back, “Yes you did.” she said.
The light haired female laughed, “Maybe I did, at least in a way you knew.”
Cassandra was made for fighting, but maybe Cassandra was also made to love as well.