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It wasn't all that often that Duke stuck to night patrol, being the only daytime hero and needing to be awake for school. But it was summer vacation and Dick had taken Damian to San Francisco for a Titans gathering (Kon was bringing Jon which was why Duke thought Damian acquiesced as quickly as he did), while Tim was stuck in New York for extended WE business and conferences, so with less Bats to go around Duke was scheduled to prowl around at night for the foreseeable future. He didn't mind, in fact, he was having fun using the longer, darker nighttime shadows to his advantage.
The night had been like any other, Oracle in their ears directing them to any disturbances every once in a while, but most of the time quiet, idle chatter as they hopped and swung from roof to roof.
He and Orphan had partnered up, Red Hood was prowling his territory, Spoiler on another route with Batman overlapping.
Things had been fairly calm recently. If you considered multiple muggings, two bank robberies and a wannabe-Rogue attack (who was taken down by Penguin very quickly and the actual problem began when Penguin started ranting afterwards and decided to shoot some explosives at nearby buildings in annoyance, but only mild civilian injuries were sustained) calm, which Duke did.
When Oracle announced some suspicious activity around an abandoned building, he and Cass had been closest and swung off.
They landed on the roof of the building and carefully snuck inside to gauge the situation. Just their luck it turned out to be a weapons trafficking hub for another unknown wannabe-crime-lord. They dropped down and started taking out the goons, until there were three standing. One threw a glass vial that shattered on the concrete floor, then turned tail and ran away. A recognizable green mist started evaporating into the air.
Duke pulled his gas-mask out and secured it quickly, ducking under a punch and knocking out the goon who threw it. He glanced across the room and chased after the goon who'd released the fear toxin.
"Fear gas. Get antidote," he heard Cass call through the comms before she went after the last goon.
"On it. Spoiler, come to me. I've got a stash, you're closest."
"On my way."
Duke slipped into the shadows, letting all light pass through him, as he tried to find his goon.
Duke knew he'd be getting a patented Bat-frown later when the goon surprised him with such wild swings of a 2×4 and a loud shout that he slipped back into light, and into sight.
He was able to dodge one swing but he slipped on a patch of grease, falling backwards. He wasn't able to fully avoid the 2×4 this time and it sent his head slamming into a heavy crate. He heard a crack and felt a stabbing in his cheek that he elected to ignore and instead rolled away from the next swing.
"Signal, do you copy?"
He didn't have time to answer, scrambling back to get to his feet, head pounding.
"You Bats never know when to leave well enough alone!"
"That's kind of the point." Duke's head was pounding and his face hurt and he was probably going to have a bunch of bruises in the morning, so could this goon just please give up already!
He slipped into darkness and grinned at the shock on the goon's face but quickly dropped it when his cheek pulsed in pain. He snuck around the goon's flank, coming up from behind and kicked at the legs, grabbed a flailing arm and twisted it back.
He didn't notice the vial until too late. A squeeze of the hand and too fragile glass shattered. Green filled the air again. It was only then that Duke realized the pain in his cheek was from his broken mask. Too late, he'd inhaled the fear gas.
He didn't remember dropping the goon but his hands were suddenly free and pulling at his cracked mask. Duke's heart raced, his hands shook, and he blinked quickly, trying to get the spots out of his eyes.
A whimper.
He froze. As much as he could with a racing pulse. Tried to clear his eyes and see where the sound came from but he couldn't seem to see straight. There was someone here. A civilian. Someone hurt. He stumbled in a random direction, hoping for the best.
Pitiful crying. It grew louder as he surged forward, trying to find whoever was hurt, in danger, in need of help.
"Where're'y-?" Duke tried to shake his head to clear it, not sure why he was slurring, but the movement made him nauseous. "'m'ere, 'm'ere." Why couldn't he get the words right?
A scream scattered his thoughts and his heart jolted with another burst of tainted adrenaline.
"No! Don', no, 's ok, 'll fin' y', 's ok," he mumbled, stumbling.
An arm wrapped around his upper chest. Duke screamed. Something pinched his neck and he whimpered.
"Ok. You're ok. Breathe. Let's go home."
Duke passed out.
He woke up shaking, teeth chattering, and cocooned in warmth.
"You're ok," a soft voice said right by his ear.
Duke blinked his eyes open, slowly coming back to himself. He was wrapped like a burrito in a blanket, but also-
"Cass?" His voice cracked. He turned his head slightly to see her give him a small smile.
"Hi. I'll get water." She unwrapped her arms and leaned over to the bedside table to grab a water bottle, her legs staying hooked around him.
He thought about saying thanks but his dry throat decided to wait til after.
With his arms bound in fabric, Cass held up the bottle and he sipped carefully.
"How do you feel?" she asked after he'd swallowed a couple times.
"Ouch," he answered elegantly, blinking heavily.
Cass giggled. She made him drink a bit more before putting the bottle away and wrapping herself around him again like a koala. "Feel better later. Sleep now."
"Sounds good." He closed his eyes and it felt like no time passed at all before he fell asleep again.
Later he woke up, feeling rested and sore but much better than before. He tried to shift but quickly realized he was immobilized by a blanket and a Cass cocooning him. He resigned himself to his fate even as he was growing increasingly warm. He couldn't escape Cass's lesser-known koala cuddling just as he couldn't escape Dick's well-known octopus hugs. Not that he tried to, he was usually content to be bombarded with the physical affection from his weird found family.
Some amount of time passed before Duke saw Cass blink awake out of the corner of his eye.
"Feel better?" she asked
"Mmhmm." He nodded. "Can we get up?"
"Hmmm..." She pretended to think about it before unfurling herself from around him. She helped detangle him from the blanket and sit up against the headboard. She shuffled to sit facing him, almost backwards on the bed, cross-legged, her knee landing on his thigh.
"Thanks," he said.
She hummed in response as she grabbed the water bottle again. This time Duke felt steady enough to drink it himself.
"What happened?" he asked in between sips.
"Fear toxin," Cass scowled. "We had masks, took down two goons. I followed you, your goon had more fear toxin and you had a broken mask. Spoiler came with antidote for you. I took you back to cave, she chased down goon. Now you're awake. All ok."
"Thanks for staying with me."
"Always," she said, holding his gaze. "We're buddies." She smiled.
"Buddies," Duke echoed, smile curling at his lips.
"We fight crime, we hang out, we get confused at everyone's romantic chaos."
Duke snorted. "That's true."
"Hungry?"
"Alfred's cooking?"
Cass grinned and he grinned back.
"Let's go."