Work Text:
Cass watched as Tim went through kata after kata. He was intensely focused as always, but beneath his concentration ran a thread of sorrow and despair. It was hard to see, like a whisper, but for Tim a whisper was as good as a shout. He finished and slung a towel around his neck, crossing the mats to where she waited.
"You are...sad," she said, then frowned. No, that wasn't quite right. "You worry." That was closer.
He nodded, and she listened carefully to the things he said and didn't say. "Dick is...he doesn't want to be Batman." He *shouldn't* be Batman.
Cass nodded back. "He would hate it."
He gave her a small smile and silently told her he liked the fact that she could understand him without him having to say anything aloud.
He hadn't liked it at first. He'd been scared of her, of the secrets he might reveal. But things were different now, and she knew that Tim had a deep craving to be understood.
"Gotham needs a Batman, Cass," said Tim, his smile fading quickly. I can't do it, I'm not good enough, I'm not *enough*.
"We can be Batman," said Cass.
Tim blinked at her, confused, surprised, hopeful. "We?"
She took his hand and clasped it in both of hers. "We can be Batman *together*."
The tiny twitch of Tim's lips was as good as a grin on anyone else. "Together."