Chapter Text
It was late at night and almost pitch dark, the only light there was a small fire slowly losing its flame. The trio all sat near it, trying to keep themselves warm and shaking off the cold. Cassandra heard a beep in her ear and static for a few seconds before she heard a familiar voice.
“Batgirl? You there?” Barbara asked after she had been repeating it several times without being heard.
Cassandra holds her earpiece and speaks quickly, “Oracle? Can you hear me?”
The sound of Oracle almost jumping out of her chair is heard through, “Yes! I can hear you; it seems you have a stable connection as of right now. Everything okay?”
A soft and relaxing smile grows on Cassandra’s lips, “Yeah, we’re just trying to keep warm and get some rest in a bit. We should be in Gotham by tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s great news…I made some space for your friends to stay over. Bruce is a little suspicious as always, but if you trust them, then so do I.” Barbara says while having dozens of tabs with any information she can find on them.
“Thank you, they’ll appreciate that a lot…How’s everyone doing?” Cassandra asks in a low, caring tone.
“Everyone has been–”
The signal cuts off, and Cassandra tries to get back in contact, but nothing happens. She frowns, staring down at the ground, and rubs her eyes with her hand in frustration. Tenji watches her worrily and thinks about reaching over his hand to comfort her, but then sees Jaya shake her head with a frown.
He gives her one more worried look before sighing, “I’m gonna go get some sleep, wake me up if you need anything.” Tenji knew doing this would help his sister ease down and have one less thing to worry about. Though deep down, he was still concerned. He stands up, grabs a handmade blanket and goes into one of the tents they made.
Now it’s just the two girls sitting near the fire as it’s crackling and bugs are chirping nearby to fill in the silence in the woods. A moment goes by before anyone says anything and Jaya is the first to speak. “You want to be the lookout tonight?” She offers neutrally, knowing that's what Cassandra feels most comfortable with.
“Yeah…You should get some rest soon.” She responded flatly, but there is a hidden gentleness to it.
Jaya keeps her eyes on the fire, “I’m not really sleepy,” her eyes move towards the distance of the woods, wrapping her arms around herself to stay warm, “This cold is keeping me up.”
There's a pause that lasts around a minute. Cassandra looks at Jaya, then back at the tents they had out. She knew Tenji would be just fine, he lived on a ranch for most of his life, this weather was normal for him. Though, she could tell Jaya wasn't handling it well. Her eyes wander back to her before she decides to take off her cape.
When it's off, that's when Jaya notices and her brow raises, “Didn’t know you could detach that.”
Cassandra looks at her cape for a second before slowly offering it to her friend, “Take it, it'll keep you warm.”
A pair of brown eyes look at her with hesitation and surprise. Jaya takes up the offer and holds the cape with both hands. “Thank you...” She awkwardly thinks of how to use it and decides to rest it on her lap. Cassandra looks at her oddly, but doesn't say a word. They sat without looking at each other again for a while, and there was a weird tension between them, hard to describe.
There was trust. Not the normal type of trust. Trust that was standard and nothing deep, but it did have the potential to be. Their relationship was something similar to an alliance, though, borderline friends. Jaya understood Cassandra with her powers, but could she without using them?
On the other hand, Cassandra barely knows much about Jaya, and the dynamic between them was somewhat one-sided. That being said, Jaya shows more interest in Cassandra, even if it was just with training and healing. Which is another factor. Their power dynamic could be problematic with Jaya being somewhat of a mix of a mentor and a therapist to Cass.
This was something Jaya had been wanting to change, but with everything going on, she couldn't squeeze that in, it just wasn't the right time. But, now it is. Cassandra seems to be mostly healed and out of the darkness. Especially with her being home in Gotham, there was a possibility of her opening up more and feeling comfortable.
Jaya had to make more progress in her mission of taking Cassandra’s heart and pretending to be cold was a step forward in it. She didn’t think it would work so well, and her plan was becoming successful. Now that she thought about it more, she was actually somewhat cold and having the cape on her lap wasn’t enough. She brought the cape up, wrapping it around her body. It covered her completely down to her thighs.
One inhale was all it took for Jaya to smell the scent of the other girl and it was quite intense. It was a mixture of nature and Cassandra’s body scent. She couldn't help but smell again. It wasn't like it was obvious what she was doing, it just looked like she was holding the cape close to herself. She senses Cassandra’s eyes on her, making her look back at her. This time, she wasn't looking at it oddly.
It was a look that Jaya hadn't seen Cassandra make and only lasted for a few seconds before it went away. A flutter kicked into Cassandra’s heart, so foreign and unknown. Usually, Cassandra could calm down her heart within a few seconds, but the way it was beating had her tricked up and it was like learning how to combat a new attack. She wasn't sure what caused it, but looking away from the girl in her cape helped.
Good thing she did because Jaya felt her cheeks warm up for a little too long. She forced herself to push it away and ignore it. This was just part of the mission and a very normal human reaction. Definitely only that. Nothing else. As the night goes by, Jaya’s eyes start to become heavy and hard to keep open every time they close. Cassandra notices and doesn't say anything for a moment.
She speaks in a low voice, not wanting to startle Jaya, “Go to sleep.” It didn’t sound harsh or like a command, it was soft and assertive.
Her eyes slowly open to look at Cassandra’s. She knew she hadn't slept in a week and tonight wasn't going to be the night she sleeps. Not wanting to put up a fight, Jaya agrees with a small nod, “Do you want your…” She takes the cape off herself.
“No, it's fine. I won't need it.” Cassandra says honestly.
It takes a bit for Jaya to register before wrapping the cape back around herself. She stands up and looks down at Batgirl, giving her a sleepy smile, “Thanks again…Goodnight Cassandra.”
Cassandra looks up to the girl standing, seeing her smiling “No problem…Goodnight.” She didn't smile back, but her face did soften.
Jaya walks off towards her tent and goes inside, closing it behind her. She lies down on the floor and keeps the cape close to her to keep her warm. But, she also had another thing in mind. Keeping it wrapped around her all night can maybe put some of her own scent onto the cape.
By the time Cassandra gets it back, more than likely she’ll notice Jaya’s smell on her cape, which could make Cassandra think about her more. With these small moves, she’ll eventually fall for Jaya, right?
As she thought about it, maybe deep inside she wanted it to happen other than for it being for the mission. Jaya quickly stopped herself from thinking further about the thought, rolling to her other side. Focus on the mission.
Cassandra scanned the woods, looking for anything at all and making sure there wasn’t anything out there planning on hurting them. She looks over at the tents, Jaya’s, then Tenji’s tent. A small tired smile grew on her lips, looking forward to tomorrow.