Chapter Text
“There is a young woman in the cave,” Alfred says.
Bruce looks up from the computer, surprised. It’s been over two hours.
“Her name is Cassandra. She’s my daughter.”
“I had gathered as much. Your multiverse equipment, you will find, has been confiscated. You may have it back when Dick is no longer afraid of you, and Tim is free to walk about the manor.”
Bruce has to admit this is a reasonable decision, given his recent rate of spontaneous child acquisition. He doesn’t have to be happy about it.
He stands and looks around the cave. Cassandra is asleep, sprawled in the remains of Dick’s blanket pile, his tinted glasses crooked on her nose. Considering what Bruce knows of the last few months, it’s probably the first time in a long time she’s really felt safe to sleep.
They’ve spent only a few hours together, and already she trusts him. It gives him the same warm feeling as his first meeting with Jason, who is currently standing a few steps behind Alfred.
Bruce smiles. “Hi, Jason. Have fun shopping?”
He nods slightly, stepping forward, and Bruce wraps an arm around his shoulders. He’s getting so tall—another two and a half inches since his initial, six inch growth spurt in Bruce’s custody.
“Let’s go upstairs, Jason. I’ll introduce you to your new sister later.”
-
Riddler, Joker, Killer Croc, and Poison Ivy break out of Arkham.
“Can you believe,” Bruce says, when he and Kate meet on a rooftop after rounding them up, “that this is one of the best worlds around?”
Kate takes the time to think this over, even though it’s obviously a rhetorical question. “Yeah,” she says after a moment, “yeah. I’ve got a serious girlfriend, you’ve got a ragtag band of orphans—what more could you want? Half of them even like you.”
“I don’t know; I think Jason might be coming around.”
“Jason?” Kate laughs. “You’re such a dork, Bruce. How are people afraid of you?”
“It’s the suit,” Bruce says.
“The suit is the dorkiest thing about you. You fight crime dressed like a bat. It’s ridiculous.”
“Hey! You fight crime dressed like a bat, too.”
“Yes, but mine is a pity bat theme. So you don’t have to be a dork on the streets of Gotham alone.”
-
Cassandra sits on the ground in front of Jason. She likes Jason—he is quiet inside and outside. Tim is loud all over the place, and Dick is quiet on the outside, but inside he is always screaming.
She still likes Dick and Tim too, though. Dick is a little scared of her, but not as much as he is of Bruce and Alfred and Jason. He’s really scared of Jason, but she hasn’t figured out why yet. Everything about Jason is Safe.
Tim is good, even though he’s loud. He understands her better than anyone here, maybe better than anyone she’s ever met. And he loves her—she could see it in every line of his body as soon as they met. It’s because she’s his sister in his old world; he explained it all to her. Dick was his brother, too, but he was very different, and having Dick here isn't the same as having her, Tim says. Dick is like a stranger, but Cass is still Cass, even if Tim’s a stranger to her.
She doesn’t mind that he’s a stranger, and she likes that he calls her Cass. No one’s ever used a nickname, except for Jade a couple times, and once Roy. (They were nice, but she doesn’t miss them. She and Cheshire were never close.)
Today, though, Cassandra is with Jason. They are sitting on the floor together. Bruce says Jason is sick, and Tim says Jason used to be a lot different. Sometimes, Cassandra can almost see more Jason inside of Jason, hiding. But she doesn’t know how to bring it out, and she isn't sure if she should, even though it upsets Tim how much of him is hiding. She thinks maybe he’s hiding for a reason, and he’ll come out when he’s ready.
Cassandra likes her brothers. She likes Bruce, and she likes Alfred. She isn't sure about the rest of it—she hasn’t seen much of this universe yet—but the people are nice.
Jason tilts his head, narrowing his eyes. Cassandra mirrors the movement. Speaking is not…bad, but she enjoys not having to do it. Jason never speaks, and mostly cuts off his hearing, so she is free to use her preferred method of communication.
Bruce enters the room, pulling off Jason’s Bat-ears to ruffle his hair. “Cassandra, I need you to figure out why Dick is upset. He won’t talk to me.”
“No.”
“No?” Bruce repeats. His face is confused.
“I am here to be your daughter. Not for—for translating?” She pauses. Yes, that was the right word. “Not translating. You said no using me. Be my dad.”
She watches Bruce’s body answer (surprise, embarrassment, regret) before his voice does. “I’m sorry. Would you like to come into the city with me tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Cassandra says. “Send Dick here. I will listen to him.”
“Thank you, Cassandra.”
Dick comes in a few minutes later, dragging his heavy blanket, and sits down at a safe distance. Cassandra watches them both. Jason is indifferent to Dick; he’s gone farther away again, looking at the wall behind her but not seeing it. Cassandra puts the Bat-ears back on his head.
“You have to be gentle with Jason,” Dick says quietly.
“I am gentle.”
Dick shakes his head. “You have to be gentle.”
That’s why he’s afraid of Jason. “Who told you to be gentle?”
“Bruce,” Dick says.
“Did he tell Jason to be gentle, too?”
He shakes his head, and Cassandra sighs. She thinks about it for a minute.
“If you tell Bruce to come talk to me now, I will keep you safe from Jason.”
-
Bruce listens to Cassandra’s explanation with growing confusion. Everything about his youngest child baffles him.
“Dick,” he says slowly, “do you think Jason is going to hurt you?”
Dick’s face scrunches up the way it always does just before a panicked meltdown when he doesn’t know the right answer to a question.
“Never mind,” Bruce says. “It doesn’t matter. Do you remember when I told you Jason was sick?”
“Yes, Bruce.”
“Good. That’s why you have to be careful with him. Because he isn't healthy enough to protect himself. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Bruce,” Dick says. Cassandra, standing behind him, shakes her head. Bruce gives up on the explanation tactic.
He tugs the cowl off of Jason’s head, and the boy turns to look at him, eyes struggling to focus. Bruce gives him a minute to do the best he can.
“Jason, I need you to be gentle with Dick. Okay?”
Jason blinks a few times. He’s still clearly not focused on Bruce or what he’s saying. And Dick isn't going to stop being afraid until he shows some sign of agreement.
Bruce cups Jason’s face carefully. “I need you to look at me, okay, Jason? I need you to listen to what I’m saying.”
It doesn’t take Cassandra’s special skill-set to see that Jason is trying, pulling his eyes to Bruce’s then drifting away again and again. Bruce is deeply uncomfortable with the reminder that Jason is not okay.
“Jason,” Bruce says again.
He makes a small sound that might almost be a word, if it was a little clearer, a little louder (it’s the most noise Bruce has ever heard from Jason, who, when having nightmares, both screams and cries silently) and his eyes lock on Bruce’s.
“Don’t hurt Dick.”
Jason nods, though he looks confused. He leans into Bruce’s side, and Bruce wraps an arm around him. He looks up at the others; Cassandra looks pleased, and Dick looks even more confused than Jason.
“Ask your question, Dick,” he prompts.
“Is Jason a Talon or an Owl?”
“Neither.”
“Then what is he?”
“He’s my son. Just like you.”
“But I’m a Talon. So he’s a Talon too?”
Bruce is very careful not to let his frustration show. He knows Cassandra can see it, but that doesn’t matter, just so long as Dick doesn’t think he’s in trouble. “You’re not a Talon anymore, Dick. You’re just a person, and so is Jason. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Bruce,” Dick says. It has never been more obvious that he does not understand.
“Dick, when I ask if you understand something, I need you to tell me the truth. If you tell me you don’t understand, I can find a better way to explain it to you. But if you lie to me, I won’t be able to help you. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, Bruce,” he says. Then he disappears completely under his weighted blanket. Bruce gives up.
Cassandra rises gracefully, patting Jason on the head and handing Bruce his discarded cowl before leaving the room. Bruce pulls Jason closer, speaking softly about nothing as long as the boy can hear him.