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Violence. A language in of itself, an addiction to some, a tool to others, and to weapons, a home. Their place of rest, where their purpose was fulfilled. But what if a weapon knew of its nature? What if a gun knew how easily it could take a life? What if a gun had a soul, and it made a choice? What if it spoke? If such were possible, its first words might very well be 'stop', and its name, Cassandra Cain. But Cassandra could still choose. She could still defy what she was raised to be. Even in death, her life would fall under no command but hers... but Stephanie was not so lucky. ‘Resurrection’ was in of itself a daunting thing, even if her death had been faked, but with the added factor of how she cheated death that day, returning as an undead, as a vampire, it was unbearable. The warm welcome she had so desperately wished for was squandered by the new fangs that just barely poked out from between her lips.
They feared her. They all did, on some level, even Cass. She could smell it, just as she could smell the sweet scent of their blood. Even her mother, as much as she loved Steph, as much as she would never abandon her, couldn’t help her heart’s raised pace when she caught a glimpse of her fangs, or walked in on her drinking from a blood bag, that is, when they lived together. Whatever. It hardly mattered, and why would it, while they’re in the field.
Cass was always so fast, too fast for most humans to keep up with, and yet, as she moved, each extension or retracting of her limbs flowing like a river, Steph found that she looked… slow. Everything was now, it all moved at a snail’s pace, and the rupturing blows that shattered bone seemed like lovetaps. The strongest blows Cass could muster only barely equaled the weakest the vampire could now let loose. And the thugs who were so sloppy by comparison had no hope to challenge her, she dodged with the ease which one would draw a breath, as a jab flew past her, and she grabbed the assailant’s arm, and tugged, her right knee meeting their flesh, before the leg extended out, striking like a whip, and the shatter of their jaw certainly made it sound that way. Oops. You really weren’t yourself when starved, and that went double for the vampire. That was the real challenge. To not sink her teeth into their neck, into Cass’s neck.
Cassandra was blissfully unaware of that hunger, but she was more than aware of Stephanie's brutality. She noticed the way she wound her fist back the slightest bit more, the way she broke a bone or two extra without even realizing, though not the way she paused after each evasion that brought their neck too close. Cass couldn't take her eyes off Stephanie for more than a moment, though she'd be lying if she said she wanted to. The body was always the most beautiful thing, though never in appearance, to Cassandra. Words told nothing of a person, it was the way they moved that defined them. The way they carried themselves. Few stood out to her, and none like the way Steph did now- she was loud. Overwhelmingly so, a symphony of power and grace held back by the ironclad wall known as her morals. But that wall seemed fractured tonight, the force behind it seeping through, as each blow Stephanie delivered shattered bone and tore muscle, those she struck were either losing consciousness after the first blow, or crying, and once the last of them had been delivered into the oblivion that was unconsciousness, Steph spoke.
"I think... I got more than you."
She said, her breathing labored, but Cass knew it was an act. Stephanie had been faking fatigue during their patrols. To appear more human, to make herself feel like less of a monster. Cass scoffed, and took aim with her grapnel gun, firing it at a nearby rooftop.
"Home."
She said plainly, before the line started to pull her, and she began to move across the rooftops. The vampire, still on the ground, tilted her head, an eyebrow raising beneath her mask. That was a bit cold, Cass had never had a problem with her teasing before, even less so after they began dating. It brought a taste of concern to Stephanie, her dead heart beating just a bit faster, the concern effecting her more than the battle, as the Batgirl began to follow... Batgirl. It didn't take long for her to catch up to Cass. If anything, it took longer than it should have, and Cassandra knew that. Stephanie was trying to give her a moment... or trying to give herself one, to figure out what to say.
"You're less chatty than usual."
She said simply, as they moved, and as her words struck Cass's ears, the smaller bat stopped. It made Stephanie only more confused, as she did the same. She paused for a moment, admiring Cass's frame, or more specifically, the slope of her neck, and thinking of how easily she could sink her teeth into her skin... how sweet her blood would be... no. She needs to worry about Cass herself, not her blood, regardless of the gnawing hunger, and the light growth of her fangs that indicated it.
"You oka-?"
She dared to try and ask, but Cass interrupted swiftly.
"You... hurt them."
She said first, before adding.
"More than you had to. Why?"
She questioned, her eyes narrowed behind her mask, as she awaited Stephanie's reply. Steph glanced away for a moment. Cass caught that. She also caught the hesitance as she began to reply... and the way her gaze drifted to her neck before her face.
"You are... hungry."
She said aloud, as the realization dawned upon her. That made Steph wince, as though the mere mention of the word made her gnawing hunger worse than it was prior.
"You cannot forget to drink. You will hurt someone, and yourself."
Cass scolded Steph, who only rolled her eyes at the lecture as her girlfriend removed the mask, and started to question.
"This is... serious."
She added, finding no amusement in Steph's lax attitude regarding the matter. She could kill someone if she wasn't careful, and Cassandra wasn't sure she'd be able to stay with her after that. Eventually, Steph replied, though.
"I didn't...forget. I... chose not to drink."
She confessed, after a moment of reluctance. Cass blinked twice, and opened her mouth to question Steph, but the vampire couldn't bare to hear the tone of confusion and concern in her voice, so she made sure to interrupt.
"I didn't ask to be a vampire, a parasite, and... I'm not sure I want to be one, and I don't know any other way to stop that aside from-"
Before Stephanie could finish the thought, Cass rose her right arm, pointing to her as she spoke.
"Stop."
She said simply, her first words coming back out her lips with not a hint of ease despite her years of practice.
"Do not say it. We will... talk... later."
She said, before reaching to her neck, and pulling the fabric which covered it down slightly. Her head tilted, and she saw as Steph's pupils dilated, and her breath hitched.
"Take."
Cass said simply, and the moment after she blinked, Steph's arms had already wrapped around her, one secured around her waist, and the other, at the back of her head. Cass's cheeks gained flush, as Stephanie's lips parted, and descended upon her neck, her teeth sinking slowly into the flesh, as she began to drink. Casssandra's arms wrapped around her in return, holding onto her as she felt her very lifeforce drain. Stephanie's teeth pulled back from her neck from a moment, her long, serpentine-like tongue snaking along the skin, licking the blood clean, before her fangs joined back with her flesh, and she continued to drain.
Cassandra's blood was as addictive as it was freeing, as sweet as she was beautiful, as savory as she was skilled, but misery and loathing were flavors that diminished all worth, and they sung louder and clearer than all others. How could she live with a still heart? How could she survive a living death? How could she be deserving of life, when she must rob it from others to carry on? How could she deserve Cassandra, when she was even less than the weapon she was raised to be?
While her mind toiled and turned, so too did Cassandra's. How could she love something that lived to take, and how could she dare say she loves herself, if she could not? Could she stay with Stephanie, if she crossed that line... or would she turn her back on her again? Would she betray her? She wanted nothing less than to stay by her side... but you can't trust a weapon to keep its word, nor a parasite to love its host.