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It's been a few weeks since our intrepid heroes took down the snipers who had made The Hill their shooting gallery. Luckily, all of the victims are well on their way to recovery, the Batgirl name is cleared, and things have calmed down in the neighborhood.
But while there's no shooters on the loose or maniacal hat enthusiasts playing with chemicals to worry about, that doesn't mean Steph and Cass are clear of drama. On the contrary, as there are personal matters to attend to that have been ignored for too long. Steph is looking to change that.
“Hey Cass, are you busy?” Stephanie asked.
“No.” Cassandra responds, without looking up from the book she's reading.
“Can we… can we talk?”
“We are talking.”
Steph moves to the couch and sits next to Cass. She slowly places her hand on Cassandra's book, lowering it to bring her attention to her.
“No, I mean can we talk? I feel like there's some things that we have been too busy to deal with and the neighborhood is finally quiet for the first time since we've got here and-”
Cassandra, an expert at reading facial expressions, can see this is important to her best friend, but there's also a hint of something she never sees when Steph looks at her. There's fear. But not fear she's used to. Not the fear of pain, of death, of loss, of facing unbearable horror you can't take your eyes away from. But fear, nonetheless.
“Yes. We can talk.” She says, placing her bookmark on the page and setting the book aside.
“Ok. So. I have been really struggling with how to say this. I've been going back and forth in my head for weeks. Months. Maybe… maybe in some small way since the day I met you. I'm just scared to say it because I don't want to freak you out.”
“You can't freak me out.”
“No, I know. Of course I can't. You're you . Cucumbers look at you and say, damn she's cool.”
Stephanie, on the other hand, is clearly losing her cool. There have been feelings building up under the surface. Slow boiling tension she's had so much trouble defining. Understanding. Putting into words. And now, here she was, about to let it all loose.
“You remember what I put in my letter to you?”
“The clue. Telling me where your father took you.”
“Yes, but… there was something else. I said… I love you. Because I didn't want to die leaving that unsaid.”
Steph reaches out and grabs Cassandra's hand. She holds it so softly. A tenderness Cass has sparsely known over her life. It's something that immediately gives her comfort.
“I love you more than just as a friend. I love you more than I thought was possible. There's no one in this world I trust more than you. There's no one I feel safer with. You're my partner. You're my other half. You're…”
“Soulmate.”
“Yeah…”
Stephanie's face turns red. No matter how hard she tried to give it another name, that was the only word that felt strong enough to describe how she felt about Cassandra.
“What about Kyle? I thought you liked him?”
“I do like him. As a friend. I realized that pretty quickly. It turns out, living with you stirred up a lot of feelings. Feelings I didn't really understand. So I saw a cute guy and thought, hey maybe I can redirect these feelings towards him. And I just… couldn't. I wanted to hold hands with you . Go on a date to the zoo with you . It was all I could think about. I think he picked up on it as we were taking it slow.”
Cassandra seems deep in thought when she gets up from the couch.
“Hold on.”
As she walks to the bedroom, Stephanie starts to sweat. Walking out right after a love confession can't be a good sign, right? Lucky for her, Cass isn't gone long, and she returns bearing a light purple envelope.
“You never read mine.”
“Are you sure you want me to read it?” Steph asks, an eyebrow cocked as she accepts the envelope.
“I wrote it for you.”
The envelope is opened, the letter unfolded.
Steph.
We have not had an easy life. But with you life feels easy. I will never let anyone hurt you for as long as I live. I love you.
A woman of few words, when Cass would say something, it carried a weight with Steph that was unrivaled. That's when the dam broke. All those feelings held back over years, flooding forth as Stephanie begins to sob. Cass, in an attempt to soothe Steph, sits back down and puts her hand in Steph's. If it calms her down, maybe it helps Stephanie, too.
At first, it does not. Stephanie begins to sob harder at Cassandra's touch.
“Every time I thought I was going to die, I just thought about you. I didn't want to leave you alone. I didn't want to let you down. Because… we're Batgirls. We're a package deal.”
She starts to laugh through her tears before regaining a little bit of composure.
“You're my number one reason to live, Cass. You make me want to keep moving forward and get better because every day I see you be amazing at everything. I find you so inspirational because I can only hope to improve myself on a fraction of the scale you do it.”
“You are… strong. Maybe the most mentally strong person I know. You have helped me more than you know. One of my motivations behind reading so much has been… a desire to communicate with you better. Few people make me want to talk. But you make it look fun.”
With that, a familiar crackle of audio hits their ears.
“You make each other better. That's what you want in a relationship.”
“Babs, are you serious?! How long have you been listening?” Steph shouts at F1D0, that traitorous dog.
“Oh, whole time. Yeah, slow day for you is a slow day for me, too. And Dick's off being a pirate with his ex or whatever anyways are you two gonna kiss finally?”
“Finally?” Cass asks.
“Are you kidding me? Don't forget I lived in that loft, too. You think I couldn't feel that tension radiating through the house? I had to get the Clock Tower back up and running quickly so I could give you two some space.”
“Ok, well you think you can give us some space now?”
“Fine, fine. I already installed F1D0 with a Do Not Disturb setting. Just press that DND button when you need some privacy and only emergency messages will go through. Have fun and be safe, you two. Mom out.”
Steph and Cass both blush profusely and Steph quickly presses the DND button.
“Kinda wish she hadn't said Mom out.”
“Yes.”
“Anyways, where were we?”
“Love.”
“Right. Duh. So. I love you. You love me. We love each other. More than friends.”
“Much more.”
“You're gonna make me cry again. Ok. Keep it together, Steph, you got this. Cass. Do you… want to be my girlfriend?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Cass puts her hand on Stephanie's cheek and gives her a soft kiss on the lips. With that, a new tear rolls down Steph's cheek. Cassandra wipes it away with her thumb. Steph smiles.
“So… girlfriend. What would you like to do as our first act as a couple?”
“Boba.”
“Oh my God, you read my mind.”
Later, as they sit at a table in Alysia's Cafe with their boba tea, Alysia looks on with a smile on her face. She pulls out her phone and sends Barbara a text.
Those crazy kids finally figured it out.