A Very Forward Request

by Jasontodd908

Summary:

Jason Todd wasn't really what could be called a team player. Sure, he was in the Bat Family, but still. Even so, he was willing to do anything and everything for them at any time. But when Cassandra Cain comes to him with a very forward request, he's left a bit at a loss. Of course in true Cassandra fashion, she left him with no way to retreat or deny her, giving him an ultimatum he can't refuse.

I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree after all.

Notes:

I know this might be a bit similar to Starfire's Sex Tape but I sort of wanted to explore another "Jason gets propositioned" story idea with a completely different character with completely different motivations. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 1

The Batcave

 

“Woah, woah, woah!”

Jason jumped out of the chair he’d been sitting in with explosive force, propelling himself to his feet with the greatest of ease, and turning quickly, bringing his hands up as if to fend off an attacker. 

 

“Woah! Woah…uhh…umm…woah”.

 

Of course he wasn’t under attack, or was he? He wasn’t sure. Couldn’t this all have been some elaborate trap? A trick? Possible. Was some unknown assailant waiting in the shadows, primed for the right moment?

He barely resisted the urge to turn around and cast his gaze around the cave, expecting to find some assassin, some shadowy figure indeed taking advantage of the distraction at worst, and either Dick or Tim with a camera, snickering as they captured his reaction.

 

When he gives a half turn of his head he sees nothing out of the ordinary.

There was the massive T-Rex that dominated the right side of the cave, the ‘museum’ portion as it was often called, though it was a museum that would never be open to the public. On the left? The batmobile sat on its raised platform, immobile and silent, but nonetheless terrifying in its promise for violence on behalf of justice.

 

There were, of course, the display cases with a mixture of suits belonging to all of them, some, like the tighty green traffic light uniform that he and Dick had once worn, from the past and some of a more modern make.

 

So there was nothing out of place there.

 

The only thing that was out of place was the woman who was standing before him, with a strangely firm, and yet near emotionless look upon her face. And technically? She wasn’t out of place either. 

 

It was only the words she spoke abruptly into his ear as she came up from behind him as he sat at the batcomputer that were out of place. And what made it worse? She didn’t even know that.

In fact she was looking at him as if HE was the one who was acting strangely, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly and raising one eyebrow, regarding the man with a critical eye. She always did that though. To anyone and everything, in any given situation. It was who she was, what she’d been trained to be from the moment she took her first breath.

She was Cassandra Cain, the closest thing to a living weapon that you could possibly get.

 

“Why are you acting strangely?”

“Strangely? Me?” he intones, bringing his hand to his chest which still bore the kevlar body armor over which the red winged symbol of the Red Hood had been painted. His helmet was sitting a few feet away atop the bat computer, having only been removed a few moments ago when he came in from patrol.

 

First one to do so tonight, followed rapidly by Cassie.

 

“I’m acting strange? Really?”

“Yes” she says without a hint of ability to understand the fact that he was being sarcastic. “You are acting strange”.

 

“Yeah well…I mean, duh…that…what the hell was that?”

“A question” she responds quickly, succinctly and without hesitation. “They are answered with one of two one syllable words. Yes or no”.

 

If you didn’t know Cassie you might assume that she was developmentally disabled, and perhaps, in a way? That was an apt description. But then again it also wasn’t as in no way, shape or form was her mind inhibited in any way. In fact when it came to tactics and strategy? There was nobody in this little family that could beat her.

Not even Bruce could match the raw, brutal battlefield calculus that Cassie could do in her mind in a matter of seconds, which she would then put into action without a second thought. That was another thing. Out of their whole group? She was the best fighter, bar none, no debate, hands down.

And she’d proved it.

There wasn’t a single one of them, again, Bruce included, that she hadn’t put down at one time or another. In Dick’s case? Multiple times. Nightwing wanted to prove himself apparently, and was constantly testing Cassie and every time he did? He wound up hitting the mat. Hard.

 

Jason was the first one to wise up and realize that no matter what, he couldn’t beat her. She was just too damn good, though if he had to toot his own horn? He would say that he’d lasted the longest after Bruce against her. 

 

‘Yeah. and got a broken arm and fractured jaw for it’ he thinks, a smile forming on his lips as he remembers the punch that had done it. The smile was wiped away quickly enough though as he remembered why he was here. Part of that?

Had to do with Cassie’s parents.

David Cain, and the one and only Sandra Wusan.

Also known as Lady Shiva.

 

Her father had raised her, and decided that instead of doing the right thing and maybe taking her to the circus or the movies, to the park, anything other than what he did, which was molding her into the perfect weapon. 

 

He didn’t even teach her how to speak, opting instead to teach her how to read movements and respond in a nanosecond to them. Body language? Ohh yeah, Cassie knew that through and through. Guns? Swords? How to read almost eighteen separate languages? He taught her that.

 

But everything else?

Not really, and Lady Shiva wasn’t much better. Only when she found herself in the Bat Family, latching onto Bruce as a father figure, was she taught how to be human. The irony wasn’t lost on Jason, nor many of the others he would assume. A group of emotionally stunted vigilantes who had issues, deep issues, had somehow helped Cassie work out some of her own.

They taught her how to speak and how to enjoy life…relatively speaking. 

 

Bruce would’ve never won any father of the year awards. He knew that. Putting the kids who trusted you in brightly colored uniforms and having them fight giant crocodile men and clowns with laughing gas didn’t exactly lead to the most balanced adults, but compared to Lady Shiva and David Cain? Bruce Wayne was a downright saint.

 

Cassie had come a long way though through the years she’d been with them, and it wasn’t only just mentally either.

Physically? She was a very beautiful woman with long, jet black hair that she wore down, so soft and silky, shining even in the darkness of the cave. She had chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes that were always taking in everything and forgetting nothing, constantly looking for attackers, preparing for it.

They were cold eyes…normally. But sometimes? Sometimes they felt warm. Like more was being given away than she was aware of. Usually when she looked at any one of them.

Her family.

 

It was very clear that even if she wasn’t capable of saying it, she felt it. ‘Maybe that’s why she and Bruce are so close?’ Jason thinks to himself before his eyes move lower, and takes in the other…physical changes.

 

She was tall, a little bit taller than Barbara, but a solid five or so inches shorter than Jason and Bruce. Her training throughout her entire life had been brutal, which led to her having a body that was peak female perfection.

 

A body that was usually put on full display by the tight, clinging fabric of her black batsuit. Her large on her frame C breasts were perfectly sculpted, the mountains over which the yellow bat signal had been sewn into the fabric. 

She wasn’t as busty as many other heroines were, the likes of Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Power Girl, but she had more than enough in that department. More than a handful. Maybe two or three handfuls, he didn’t know and he didn’t want to know! He’d never thought of her in that way…

 

But now? He couldn’t help but openly, at least in his mind, acknowledge a few already known facts.

 

‘She really could be a model if it wasn’t for all the scars…though I think the scars are hot…in a platonic way!’

 

Indeed her body, like most of them, was crisscrossed with knife wounds, bullet wounds, burns, everything you could imagine. For them? That wasn’t a turn off. You know…generally speaking. Hero community wise!

Jason didn’t think Cass’ scars were sexy. Not at all. Why would he think that?

 

It didn’t end there though. If it wasn’t necessary there was no body fat on her body, leading to her having a very trimmed figure. Her stomach? Well, it was all abs. You could almost grate cheese on it, though Jason knew he was no slouch in that area either.

Cass’ hips were wide too, and her ass? Definitely a nine out of ten, and possibly only because it was impossible to have a perfect ten. Or was it? It was full and pear shaped, thick, and no doubt always drew male eyes.

 

In other words?

Cassie was a beauty, a drop dead stunner who was oftentimes overlooked by the more outgoing female figures in the Batfamily. Barbara and Stephanie, very attractive women in their own rights, were much more…he didn’t really have the word for it, but noticeable? Perhaps that fit despite how awful it sounded.

 

In many ways Cass sort of blended into the background of the Bat Family at times. It wasn’t something done intentionally, but it was something that happened nonetheless. 

 

‘It’s really hard to tell what’s going on with her’ Jason muses to himself before relating that thought to the current situation. ‘Case in point’.

 

“Yeah, I know what a question is,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks back at the slightly younger woman. ‘Cool it down. She’s not being patronizing…at least you don’t think she is’.

 

“What I don’t know is why the hell you’d one, ask me that, and two expect me to answer it”.

Cassandra was unmoved, standing there before him like a statue. It was as if nothing at all bothered her in the entire world. “Because I want to experience it”.

 

“Duh! Everybody does”.

 

“Have you?”

He almost blushed at that, again reminding himself that it wasn’t an insult, but rather just her coarse and blunt manner. “Yeah, I have. Quite a few times”.

“Then that makes you a better candidate”.

“I’m not trying out for some sports team or doing a job interview here Cass” he blustered, feeling the situation spiral further and further out of control. He looks around once more, wanting to make sure that none of the others had returned, and sees that the cave was still, mercifully, empty.

The others hadn’t returned that.

“You’re asking me to have sex with you” he says, turning his gaze back onto the woman, but still speaking in a hushed voice so as to hide what was said as best as he could. She didn’t even flinch while responding. “Yes”.

 

That’s what started all of this.

 

Her, returning to the cave from her patrol, walking up behind the man, not bothering to hide her presence, and loudly asking him “if he’d like to have sex with her”. It was one of those moments in a life of completely out of this world moments that stood out. He’d come back from the dead, fought immortal assassins, tried to take over Gotham and turned back to the side of good but this?

Ohoho this would stand out in his mind until his dying breath. 

 

“Why?!”

“Because I want to experie-,”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve said that!” he cuts her off, causing Cass to fall silent, not speaking further as she senses that Jason had more to get out. “But here’s the thing, why. The hell. Are. You. Asking…me?”

He points at his own chest, as if the idea of him and her was shocking and completely unfeasible.

“Because I’m attracted to you”.

 

“That…okay, thanks, but that doesn’t answer the question” Jason responds, feeling as if he was getting nowhere despite the woman’s blunt nature. Far off he could hear the rustling of bats within the cave, and he latched onto it as a periphery noise, almost as if that would help him through this awkward situation. 

 

“It does. It’s human nature”.

 

“We’re not cavemen Cass, alright? We’re part of a crime fighting family. It-it-it would be like having sex with my own sister, okay? Do you understand that?” Cassandra narrows her eyes and half glares at him.

“We are not related. And we have barely interacted”.

 

“That only makes it weirder!”

He was trying to make her understand, trying to get her to see, but in the end social cues and what was or wasn’t awkward or normal wasn’t exactly something that fell in Cass’ skill category. In fact? It probably fell into her weakness slot. Right at the very top.

“I want an answer”.

‘Why did that seem like a threat?’

“Or what? You’re gonna kick my ass?”

He wasn’t mocking her with that statement. Not at all. He knew this woman could, and beat him halfway to Central City and back without even breaking a sweat. ‘With how awkward this is? I might prefer that’.

 

“No. I will find someone else”.

 

“Who?”

Without missing a beat Cassandra reaches down to her yellow utility belt which was slung around her middle, and opens one of the pouches, reaching inside quickly to pick up her phone. She slides her finger across it easily while Jason watches, wondering what she was getting at. 

“Stephanie told me about an application she used after her relationship with Tim ended”.

 

‘Ohh shit…’

 

She turns the phone and hands it off to him, allowing Jason to gingerly take it and look down at the screen to what she wanted to show him. ‘Fuck…it’s Tinder’. The app was open on Cass’ phone, something that was completely and utterly shocking in and of itself as Cass had not once ever struck him as a sexual being.

 

‘Guess we’re finding out the truth now, aren’t we?’ he sniffs to himself.

“Cass, seriously, you shouldn’t-holy shit! Two hundred matches?!”

 

“Many men want to do it with me”.

 

There wasn’t an ounce of pride in her voice. It remained flat, emotionless, as if it was just an observation about the weather and nothing more. “Yeah, I can see that…I…woah, there’s so many…”. He was, to be quite honest, disgusted by it. How many men were messaging Cass, desperate for a chance. 

 

The messages were all either too over the top, or hilariously misspelled.

 

It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t Cass!

Innocent…well…not really, she was a trained weapon. Naive…possibly, yes, but she was also incredibly intelligent and tactical...it was getting really hard to frame this as a sweet, innocent naive girl who didn’t know what she was doing.

I mean, sure that last part was true, but Cass? She was anything but a victim. 

 

“This…this definitely isn’t good Cass” Jason says, still trying to be something of a ‘mentor’, tell the woman what was, and was not socially acceptable. “Talking to all these guys. Not everyone is who they say they are on the internet. They could be lying. If you go and meet one of them you might be in troubl-,”

He trailed off, stopping there.

 

‘No…no she wouldn’t be’.

Cass just looked back at him with her eyes giving nothing away. She definitely wouldn’t be in trouble. Even if a whole crew of beefed up human traffickers was able to lure her anywhere, they’d quickly find that it is they who were in trouble, not her. 

 

‘Damn, it’s really hard to try and teach a woman about the dangers of meeting people over the internet when she’s the most dangerous person in Gotham…fuck…how do I do this?’ He felt completely and utterly out of his depth.

 

“They sent me many pictures on that”.

“I’m sure they do,” Jason says, clutching the corner of the phone between his thumb and pointer, handing it back to the woman as if it was dirty. “Trust me, I don’t want to-,”

She snatches the phone back and before he can say anything she has selected a conversation and opened it up, turning the screen back to face Jason…where he’s confronted with the image of a very large dick in a man’s hand.

 

“Ohh!”

He brings his hand up over his eyes to prevent himself from seeing the throbbing member that some would be suitor had sent Cassie, blushing a bright red while Cassie continues to be unmoved. ‘Sometimes I wish I was just a weapon from birth. Shit! How does she not realize any of this is weird’.

 

“He matched with me and seems to have a large penis”.

“Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Newsflash? I don’t want to see it”.

 

Cassie, mercifully, gets the memo and pulls the phone away, taking the dick pic out of Jason’s sight, which allows him to lower his hand once more. “You…you didn’t send him any pictures back, right?”

“No,” she says simply. “He has asked though. I decided tonight that if you didn’t say yes, I would tell him that I would meet him and have sex with him”. It was so…blase. On any other woman’s lips he would’ve called it slutty, but on Cass’? Well…it just sounded…boring. Like a discussion about a training session or a case they were investigating. 

 

“Woah, woah. So if I don’t say yes, you’re going to go out and have sex with some strange guy you met on Tinder? How do you even know that’s his dick? It could be a lie”.

“Would a man lie about having a penis like that?”

“Yeah! Duh!”

 

“So it is a good penis?”

“What? I…I wouldn’t fucking know! Jesus!” he says, embarrassed by that as he throws his hands up in the air and turns around, beginning to pace. “IS your penis like that? Or would you use a picture of someone else's?” She’d asked that question as innocently as was possible for her, indeed most likely just wishing to know, but for Jason? That was a challenge to his masculine pride.

He scowls at the woman, and points a finger, assuming a stance that showed her that even if he knew he’d get his ass kicked, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. “One? I don’t send dick pics, okay? It’s not what a gentleman does. So this guy? Definitely a no go for you. Two? I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of in the dick department. Okay?”

She nods.

“I am sure”.

It wasn’t a challenge of course. It was just a statement. Cassie was one hundred percent sure that Jason wasn’t at all stunted in that department. But Jason was having a hard time remembering who he was talking to at that moment, and took it as an affront to his masculine pride. He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered.

“I don’t”.

“I know”.

“Yeah, well…”

He falters, unsure of what else to say. What else COULD he say that wouldn’t make it seem like he secretly did have a problem…down there? Instead he pivots onto another subject, gesturing towards her phone which she still held in her hand. “You do know it’s not safe just to have sex with some guy, right? I mean, STDs, pregnancy. Didn’t…you know, your mom or something talk to you about that?”

He knew it was stupid as soon as he said it.

Lady Shiva, sitting Cassie down and having ‘the talk’ mother to daughter about sex and boys? Never in a million years would that have happened.

“No”.

Even still, Cassie humors him.

“But I am aware of STDs and pregnancy. Barbara and Stephanie told me. I would insist on him wearing a condom”.

 

“That’s not a hundred percent” Jason says, almost pleadingly, desperate for this woman to hear him, understand him for her own safety. “What if the guy’s a weirdo?” he asks. “He could put on a condom, sure, but he might sabotage it or take it off midway through. It’s a legit thing called stealthing, Cass”.

“I would notice”.

He slaps his hand against his face in frustration, feeling like the woman wasn’t understanding him in the slightest. “Are you even on the pill?”

“No. It would interfere with-,”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it!” he snaps, not angry at her but rather the whole situation. “So what? Those are your two options for getting laid?” he asks, trying to get to the root of this matter now. “Me or this random dude? Come on Cass. You’re a beautiful, talented, brave…amazing woman” he says, blushing again and rubbing the back of his head as he felt like he’d put it on a bit thick. But he wasn’t lying!

He was being one hundred percent honest.

Even with the woman’s aloofness and downright strangeness at times, she truly was an amazing person. Jason, despite their lack of closeness, was proud to fight by her side. Anytime. Anywhere. 

 

“I…thank you”.

There was a flicker of emotion across her eyes at that, though barely a flicker, and if you weren’t looking, you’d have missed it. She clearly appreciated what the man had said. “Yeah, well…you’re welcome. You shouldn’t have to settle for a one night stand, Cass. You’re worth more than that. A lot more”.

“And that is why I came to you”.

 

“Ugggh…why me?”

“Because Tim is homosexual. Damian is a child. Nightwing is engaged to Starfire, though Barbara doesn’t speak highly of his sexual prowess so I would not consider him. You…”

She pauses, as if she was sizing him up, looking up and down, taking him in and clearly admiring him.

It was both flattering and discomforting…like being a bug under a microscope, or a gazelle being sized up by a lion. “Are the only one I believe that I would be physically attracted to, or that would be sexually compatible with”.

 

“Wh-what even brought this on? Huh? I mean…come on, this couldn’t have just come out of nowhere, right?”

 

Cass looks at him dead on, not saying anything for the moment. After a few seconds it becomes clear that she was embarrassed…a first at least that Jason had ever witnessed in his life. That, in and of itself, was a bit disquieting. He waited for her to get what she wanted to say out, and oddly enough he was one of the few in the Bat Family who actually did that.

 

“Uggggh…what a week”.

Stephanie groaned as she threw her head back against the cushioned rear of the couch, her arms splayed out over the back of it, and a glass of wine that was already half drunk on the table before her. Her long blonde hair splayed out over the rear of the couch as she looked up at the ceiling, already a little tipsy.

 

“Tell me about it” came Barbara Gordon’s response from the other side of the couch, the wheelchair bound woman taking a sip from her own glass as she responded to Stephanie’s words.

 

Cassie remained silent, perched atop the recliner, seated perfectly, back straight, hands clutching the arm rests. She was, as ever, poised and ready to fight, her eyes constantly scanning the room for threats that she knew were unlikely to come.

Unlikely…but not impossible.

 

Even in a sweater with a kitten on it and lounge pants, she was a sword, waiting to be unsheathed. For the moment Babs and Stephanie had forgotten about her presence it seemed, turning to look at one another and laugh, commiserating over the week which had indeed been long.

Unlike them though Cassie wasn’t tired, yearning for rest. She wanted more. She NEEDED more.

She wanted Two Face or Scarecrow to attack so she could respond. Her entire body seemed to constantly hum with the desire to fight. Like…like it was in her bloodstream. In many ways it was.

Relaxing, gossiping with friends?

Not so much, but she forced herself to do it. For them. Because even if she couldn’t share it with them like she wanted to, she loved them. She loved each and every one of them more than she could ever explain. Even Damian. 

 

Stephanie, also known as Spoiler, was wearing a spaghetti strap top that showed off her sporty frame well enough, and lounging on the couch. The laughter dies down, and it goes quiet, only the sounds of the city from outside of Babs’ apartment reaching them. It was as if she was thinking of something.

Something funny clearly as she smirks.

 

“Heh”.

 

“What?”

Cassie instantly picked up on it, but it was Babs who spoke, her bookish nature already leading to her interrogating. A smile broke out over Barbara Gordon’s own lips, the woman wearing a green turtleneck and khaki pants, her hair tied behind her head in a bun while she regarded the blonde who’d once taken up her mantle with mirth in her bright blue eyes.

Stephanie pats the couch on either side of her and shakes her head.

“No, no. Hahaha. It’s too early and I’m not drunk enough at all to tell you guys”.

 

“Okay, now I have to hear it”.

Stephanie shakes her head again, both of her cheeks making impact on either side of the couch cushions. “No” she says childishly, clearly teasing Babs who, like a dog with a bone, wouldn’t be able to let it go. 

 

“Come on. We all promised, no matter what, girl’s nights? They never even happen” the redhead says. “Complete intelligence blackout. Nothing leaves this room”. Stephanie languidly turns her head towards Babs, continuing to look at her with that same smile on her face.

 

“You swear to God?”

Babs quickly crosses her finger over her heart. “And hope to die”.

 

Stephanie slowly turns her head to the other side towards Cass, including her friend in the conversation as best as she could. “And you…you promise not to say anything?”

“Pfft, her? Like a steel trap. You don’t even need to ask” Babs says, a slight hint of irritation in her voice that seemed to only be decipherable to Cassie. ‘She resents me’ Cassandra thinks to herself, feeling…sad about it, but also knowing that there were many good reasons for it.

Oracle?

She was in a wheelchair now, crippled, and for a woman who’d once been able to jump across rooftops and swing through the air with ease, that was almost a fate worse than death. To go from that…to this? It was unimaginable.

And then there was Cassie.

A woman to whom all the skills Babs had to work years to acquire simply came naturally, if you could call childhood indoctrination natural. She slips into a suit, and takes the name that had once been hers…yes, Cass understood why Babs would feel resentful of her.

There was always a little distance between them because of that. Something that wasn’t discernible to the naked eye, and that only Cass, with her perfect ability to read body language, could tell.

 

She kept it to herself as well. Not even Stephanie knew, and she shared everything with Stephanie. 

 

“Alright, alright”.

Stephanie’s smile widened, and she seemed to be brimming with enthusiasm, clearly wanting to share what had happened to her this week. “I…I did something really, really slutty”. Cass wasn’t at all surprised, knowing that since Stephanie’s relationship with Tim Drake had ended the blonde had lashed out a bit. But Babs? She seemed only more intrigued.

 

“Ohh?”

Stephanie nods.

“Mmmhhhmm. I mean…really, really slutty. Seriously, if this ever gets out? I’ll kill you both” the blonde warns, sitting up and pointing her finger, first at Barbara, and then at Cassie where she falters.

“Okay, well…maybe not you”.

 

“Spill. I want to know what it was” Babs says, taking another sip from her glass, allowing the crimson liquid to enter her mouth and cascade down her throat, into her stomach. “Alright well…there’s this guy that comes into the coffee shop I like” Stephanie begins, pausing to bite her lip and twirl her finger through her hair.

 

“And…you know…he’s been a regular for a while. He’s always been…flirty with me”.

“What does he look like?” Babs asks, getting into the story.

“He’s tall. White, blue eyes and blonde hair. Pretty built but kind nerdy too? He’s…he’s cute, let’s just say” Stephanie continues. “And he’s got this cologne…ohh my God, it drives me insane! It smells so good”.

“Uh huh…and how long has he been flirting with you?”

“Ohh for a while now. Maybe like…a year? Haha. But as of two months ago? I was dating Tim”. Even now when Stephanie said his name, there was a bit of an edge to it, which would’ve been surprising to anyone outside of this little girl’s group of course. Outwardly? Stephanie was happy for Tim, and supportive of course. She didn’t want to be the jealous, angry ex. 

 

“Pfft…still pissed about it”.

“Trust me, we know” Babs teases lightly, causing Stephanie to whirl on her. “Wouldn’t you be?” she asks. “Your boyfriend, the guy you loved, the one you gave your virginity to, the one you were planning to get married to, has been secretly struggling with his sexuality and stringing you along for like…a year? Texting guys behind your back?”

“Woah, woah, you didn’t tell us he was doing that” Babs says, while Cass sits up, already ready to rush out into the night and make Tim Drake realize the error of his ways.

“Relax, relax” Steph sighs, waving her hand. “It was just…I guess sexting? I don’t know, more heavy flirting. And it was only for like two weeks at the very end of us being together”.

“It’s still cheating”.

“Yeah, I know,” Steph says with a loud sigh, shaking her head before shrugging. “I’m hot right? Like I didn’t turn him gay or something?” Babs clicks in disapproval. “You can’t turn anyone gay or straight Stephanie”.

 

“Y-yeah I know, but it’s just…I don’t know. A real blow to my self esteem to have my boyfriend, the guy I thought was the love of my life, leave me for a guy. You know? Can I admit that? Or is it homophobic or something?”

She was definitely tipsy, and it was showing. Babs too as she threw her head back and laughed. 

 

Cassie didn’t drink though. She liked to be aware of her surroundings at all times.

 

“No. It is how you feel” Cass says to Stephanie, wanting to help in her own way, which draws a smile of appreciation from Stephanie. “Thanks. Don’t wanna have that leaked and have some Twitter mob after me”.

 

“Ohh yeah, all forty of your followers will be up in arms” Babs teases.

“Hey!”

 

“Seriously though” Babs says darkly as she looks at Stephanie. “You should’ve told us about that. We all would’ve had a very serious talk with him about it”. Stephanie tries to bat it away, appreciative of her friend’s concern, but unsure of what to say.

“He was dealing with enough shit coming out. Didn’t want to add to it”.

“Being gay doesn’t mean you get a pass for doing shitty things” Babs counters, which draws agreement from Stephanie and even Cass, the latter of which gives a light nod to show she concurred…not that Babs cared. “But…why don’t you tell us about what you said at the start of this conversation? What did you do Steph? With the cute guy in the coffee shop”.

“Hehe…well…he came in one day, right? And…I don’t know if he’d put on more cologne than usual that day but…I was just smelling him like crazy. He asked me out and, well, you know since I’m free to do what I want now I said yes”.

 

“Something’s telling me you didn’t go further than his apartment” Babs teases, taking another sip of her wine.

“That’s…a fair assessment” Stephanie says, laughing as she sits up a bit, cradling her head in her hand. “Ohh God…I can’t believe I did this. I can’t believe I’m telling you guys”.

“Spill Steph. Too much is already out”.

Even Cassie had to admit, she wanted to hear this. And she never participated in these conversations of a…physical nature. Mostly because she didn’t have to contribute. But Stephanie? She’d had much to contribute, especially since she’d been dumped by Tim.

 

‘What did she do that she was so embarrassed by?’

 

“Okay…so…we went up to his apartment and…you know, got to business” Stephanie says with a coy smirk and a shrug.

“He look as good out of clothes as he did in them?”

“Better”.

 

“Nice”.

 

“He’s fucking me on his bed” Stephanie says, causing Cassie to inwardly wince, finding that sort of language taboo. Crass, and exciting all at once. “I’ve got him on his back, and we’re making that thing rock as I’m on top of him, right?” the blonde says, really getting into the story now, all her precious trepidation melting away as she relives the events, her face flushed.

“Guys usually aren’t ready for it, you know? Our…heheh…jobs? It makes me a pretty dominant screw I guess”.

 

“Amen to that,” Babs says, taking another sip of her wine as Stephanie pauses her storytelling to do the same, only getting closer and closer to drunk. “How big was he?” the redhead asks suddenly, pausing the story as Stephanie tries to think and brings her hands up before her, extending her pointer fingers and spreading them out to try and give an approximation. 

 

“Maybe about…this? I’m not good at judging inches and stuff”.

“Nice”.

‘About six point three inches’ Cassie thinks quickly, being very good at judging inches. She keeps this to herself however, wanting Stephanie to continue with her story. There was something oddly…exciting about it, and the young asian woman shuffled on her chair.

 

‘I’m…warm’ she noted.

 

“But anyways, he was really good at using it. I mean…really fucking good” Stephanie continues, dropping her hands. “I was fighting to keep him down, and he was fighting to fuck me. Honestly? Really surprised we didn’t break the bed”.

“While all of this is definitely hot, it’s not exactly all that slutty. I mean, a one night stand is pretty run of the-,”

“Bitch, did I say I was finished?” Stephanie asks with a smile, causing Babs to jokingly relent, raising her hands in mock defeat. “Alright, alright. Continue”.

“Thanks because yeah, it does get hotter. We’re about five or so minutes in. I can feel him trembling inside me. He wants to blow his wad, and honestly? I wanna let him do it just so we can get to round two. But as I’m riding him, the door to the guy’s apartment opens up, and another guy walks in!”

 

At this Babs’ eyes go wide and a smile graced her lips.

“No…shit…that’s the worst”.

She was getting tipsy too now.

 

“Hehe, you’d think so right? Here I am, this guy’s dick buried up to his ballsack inside me, and this other guy walks in. I’m almost ready to cum, literally. It feels like a disaster. Guys standing there all shocked, hahaha. Turns out? It was his roommate. Thought he’d be gone all week, but he came back early”.

 

“Boner killer”.

“Yeah…for a second or so,” Stephanie says coyly. “After the guy explains it to me, dick still in me by the way, starting to get soft, I check the new guy out and…he’s just as cute as the hunk I’m already fucking”.

 

“Steph…you didn’t”.

 

“Hey! Hey! I was working on horny brain!” the blonde laughs. “He was cute, just like his friend soooo…I asked him if he…you know, wanted to join in. Hunk one, already inside me? Gets instantly hard again. I can feel it”.

Cass was listening with rapt attention, taking in every detail with a strange curiosity. She didn’t even notice that her thighs were clenched together now. Tightly.

Very tightly.

 

“How did the other guy react?”

“Hehe, he shared a look with his buddy. One of those ‘is this really happening and are you cool with it’ looks. I gotta say hunk one? Really earned my respect when he shrugged and started humping back up into me right then and there. Told his buddy he doesn’t mind”.

“How long did it take him to get over there?”

“Like three seconds. I swear, I think he might’ve been the Flash with how quickly he got naked and got over onto the bed, standing up on the other side and shoving his cock down my throat while I rode his friend”.

Steph seemed to be getting aroused simply at the memory as she leaned back against the couch again, and spread her legs subconsciously. “He was only a little smaller than his friend…fuck. It was all night Babs. When one needed a break? The other took over, and when they both wanted me? They both took me. It was soooo good. It ended with them both kneeling on opposite sides of me and having me jerk them off while they poked at my tits” she says, indeed looking down towards her breasts and lightly caressing them through her top.

 

“I don’t care if it makes me a slut I fucking loved watching them shoot ropes all over them. Holy shit. After so long being sexually neglected to have two studs work me over? It made me feel like a fucking goddess, holy shit”.

 

“Wow…I really didn’t expect to hear that tonight” Babs says before downing the rest of her wine. “I’ve gotta say Steph…yeah, that was slutty”.

 

“Thank you. Thank you” Stephanie teases, bowing as if she’d won an award.

“What happened after?”

“We all crashed on the bed,” Stephanie continues. “It was a little awkward when we all woke up, but honestly? Getting on my knees to blow and jerk them both off seemed to kinda lessen that. Afterwards? I left”.

“Think you’ll see the guy again?”

“Maybe at the coffee shop, sure, but honestly? That was a one time thing” Stephanie says, reaching out to pour herself even more wine. “Kinda hard to try and date a guy you had a three way with”.

Babs had been about to take another sip of her freshly poured glass when she heard that, and almost gagged, barely able to prevent herself from spitting out the drink, her hand remaining over her mouth for a moment as she coughs.

Stephanie and Cassandra watch closely, the former with a smile on her face as the redhead starts to recover.

“Ohh God…it almost came out of my nose”.

 

“Hahaha!”

“You were right,” Babs says, taking a deep breath to collect herself. “That was pretty slutty, but hey, no judgement here”.

“As always” Steph agrees, knowing that it was a two way street. Babs had, after all, shared many, many dirt little factoids about her own life. She wasn’t the perfect little police commissioner’s daughter that everyone thought she was.

 

“Ahhh…well…I don’t know if it counts as getting laid” she says, a slight tone of sadness in her voice, her posture in her wheelchair changing ever so slightly as she uses her upper body to shift herself. “But you weren’t the only one to handle a dick this week”.

 

“Ohh shit, you definitely gotta spill” Steph says, leaning forward and folding her hands under her chin. “Who says I’m not?” Babs teases. “Funny enough? I also met the guy at work, though he’s a little closer than someone who just comes in”.

“Woah, you fucked a coworker?”

“Umm, no, remember?” Babs says, pointing down at her motionless legs. “Nothing works down here”.

“Ohh, right…sorry”.

“It’s okay” Babs says simply, brushing past the subject as pity was most certainly not something she wanted to deal with tonight. “Besides, everything up here works just fine. But yeah, you know Jimmy?”

“The bookish, hehe, guy who handles tech support?” Stephanie asks, receiving a nod from Babs. “He’s kinda cute. Definitely not my type though. Too nerdy.”.

“Pfft, after years of dating Dick-head? Nerdy is EXACTLY my type”.

“Right”.

Nightwing and Oracle’s relationship had ended in disaster, and everyone in the Bat-Family knew it. Most? They wanted to stay out of it, remain on good terms with both other members of the family. But with Nightwing having effectively cheated on the human redhead with an alien redhead, that meant that most of them were in Babs’ camp. Even if it was secret.

 

“Anyways, spill, what happened?”

“Well…I got horny and honestly I was just really, really in the mood to suck a cock”.

A smirk passed over Babs’ face as she said that, and for some reason Cassie felt her legs tighten even further.

 

“You…enjoy doing that?”

Conversation stopped as soon as she spoke, and the woman was instantly doing rapid calculations within her mind to see if she’d made a mistake, committing yet another social faux paus that she was so apt to make as both Stephanie and Babs turned to look at her. They’d apparently forgotten she was there, and while Stephanie smiled a flash of irritation crossed Babs’ eyes at being interrupted.

“Eh, not really the sucking part of it so much” Stephanie says, warily dipping her toe into a conversation like this with her closest friend. “I like the faces they make, the control it gives me. It makes me…well..you know, wet. Hahaha”.

She was definitely drunk. No denying it now, but even still Cassie took note of her words.

 

‘Control….it can be a weapon’.

It would’ve been odd for any other woman to start pondering if oral sex should be added to their repertoire of battle skills, but Cassandra Cain was no ordinary woman. To her? Everything and anything might be a tool in a fight.

 

‘No. Impractical’.

She discards it quickly enough though, not seeing how it could be utilized in combat. But, even still, she was…intrigued.

 

“Me? I love it” Babs says, interjecting once more to try and seize back control of the conversation. “The taste, the smell, everything…as long as it’s clean and a nice size” Babs says. “Dick? Never was able to sate my oral fixation, but honestly I have to thank him for being such a willing guinea pig”. She was talking more to Stephanie than Cass at that moment, the asian woman sinking back into the background it seemed. 

 

“So you blew Jimmy huh?”

“Mhm…right in the library”.

“Babs! I…they’ve got cameras! What if you’re-hic-caught on one of them? You two could get fired”.

Stephanie was concerned, but Barbara just waved it away. “Relax. I know what I’m doing. I know all the blind spots the cameras have. Trust me. I took him right back into the stacks, and had him whip it out”.

“Unnnf…was he…you know?”

Babs nods, already knowing what Stephanie was asking. She mimics the blonde from before, raising her hands and spreading out her fingers, giving an acclimation of the size of Jimmy’s dick. “About seven inches”.

“Shit”.

 

“That is eight point two three inches” Cass chimes in, wanting to be included in the conversation, but unable to help herself as she points out the actual size of the imaginary length Babs was showing off for them. The response was instant, and let the woman know she’d said the wrong thing.

Babs rolled her eyes and dropped her hands.

“I wasn’t being precise, Cass”.

“You know she can’t help it Babs” Steph says, sticking up for Cass, something that didn’t go unappreciated by the woman in question. She turns and smiles at Cass, giving her a wink. “Let’s just say it’s a big one, huh? Nerds are packing apparently”.

 

“Yeah…sure”.

Babs gives Cass another glare, but quickly returns to the story, which Stephanie latches onto once more, not at all aware of the resentment that was simmering between the two of them. ‘Why does she hate me?’ It hurt to think that, and hurt? Well…it wasn’t an emotion that Cassandra was good at dealing with, and it made her feel powerless.

 

She remained quiet, listening to the rest of the story.

 

“How’d you get him to agree?”.

“Seriously, what guy is going to turn down a blowjob?” Babs asks with a smirk, drawing a shrug from Steph and a smile, the blonde agreeing. “True, true. I’m surprised you did that though. All those chances for your precious books to get…you know, splooged”.

“That’s the beauty of it” Babs teases, leaning back in her chair. “I swallowed every drop. Didn’t go anywhere but my throat. Clean, self contained”.

“Ohhhh you slut! Hahah!”

“I didn’t fuck two guys at once”.

“Yeah, but you blew a coworker in the library and swallowed his fucking jizz!”

 

“Hahaha, that’s fair”.

“Hahahah you bitch…urrgh…I’m kinda hungry, you guys up for ordering a pizza?”

“Sure, why not”.

The conversation trailed off into randomness, with Babs and Steph seemingly forgetting that she was there, but Cass? She was deep in thought.

 

‘I don’t have any stories of sexual conquest,’ she thinks, pondering if perhaps that was the reason that she often found it hard to connect with the other two former Batgirls, the ones whose respect she felt she needed to earn above all else.

 

And it’s not because she didn’t want to! She did. She did have those desires but she kept them bottled up because of her training. Her training had never prepared her for that, and even made her feel shame for feeling such things in the first place.

 

Even when she touched herself sometimes, after she’d finished she would feel a deep sense of disgust, as if she’d done something wrong.

 

“Call Mario’s”.

“Nah, Vesuvius’ Pizza is waaaaaay better”.

“Yeah, if you like half melted cheese”.

“Get some mozzarella sticks too then you bitch”.

The conversation went on around her and yet without involving her, leaving her behind it felt like. Just as it always did, but she was alone with her thoughts now. And her thoughts? They were percolating into an idea. ‘If I have a sexual experience, I’ll be able to share it, and then they’ll see I’m like them’.

The calculations were flawless, especially as the stories that Stephanie and Babs had shared tonight taught her that it was as simple as asking a man for sex to get it. Of course that’s where she was at something of a loss. She didn’t have friends outside of the Bat Family, nor did she have a social life outside of crime fighting.

She didn’t have a job, Bruce supporting her now as it was quickly realized after one day of her working at a clothing store that it wasn’t the best idea. It wasn’t her fault that the woman had snuck up on her and tapped her on the shoulder, nor that her wrist was so weak that it had broken.

 

But all of that led to her being isolated from male attention, and it almost felt like she was back to square one.

 

‘Stephanie uses Tinder’ she muses in her mind. ‘Maybe I should as well’. The thought wasn’t appealing to her. She didn’t know all of the ins and outs of this, but she would prefer not to have sex with a random man if she could help it.

Even still, it was a useful tool to have in her toolbelt. She’d download it tonight, and start trying to match, just in case.

 

‘Ask Jason’.

 

The thought came into her mind as if it had been planted there by someone outside of it, and yet she knew it was her own subconscious. She liked Jason. He was funny, though she never laughed at anything he said openly. Very handsome, with pale skin, blue eyes and dark hair. Very well built.

 

But aside from that? He was an outsider, like her, and yet it never seemed to bother him.

 

‘I’ll ask Jason’.

 

She settled on that instantly, fighting the little smile that came onto her lips as Barbara finally started calling the pizza place, Mario’s. Apparently she’d won out. 

 

“Cass? Want anything special?” Stephanie asks, reminding the formerly mute Batgirl that they cared…or at least Stephanie did. “An eggplant parmigiana wedge…please”. She adds that as an afterthought, not really liking eggplant parm all that much but wanting to stick out in some way. Define herself.

 

“Ohh, that’s a first for you-hic! We’re living it up tonight girls!”

 

“Hahahahahhaha!”

Jason blinked, having been paying rapt attention to the words that Cassie had been speaking, taking them, and their meaning all in. Only as she finished her dry, and succinct rendition of events, did he even begin to respond.

 

“You…you want to have sex…so that you can bond with Babs and Steph more?”

“Yes”.

 

“I…that…that isn’t how it works” he says, still a little shaken over just how many details had been shared with him, albeit only in obscure terms. ‘Damn…those two really do that kind of stuff?’ 

It was hard for him to imagine it, but if Cassie had said it, it had to be true.

Apparently Babs and Stephanie got up to some really kinky stuff when they were out on their own. ‘I always knew that women were just as horny as men’. He wanted to smile, feeling like he had a bit of confirmation now of his own theory. 

 

“Yes, it is,” Cass says, assured. “I need to have my own stories to share, or at least one”.

 

“Yeah, but-,”

“There isn’t time to decide”.

‘Woah, is she giving me an ultimatum?’

 

Cass held the phone in her hand, and hovered her thumb over the message bar, with one already written out, ready to send with one push of a button. When it came to pigheadedness Cass and Bruce were one and the same. “Either you agree, or I’ll message this man and invite him over tonight”.

“Woah! Woah! You-”

He was about to say that she wouldn’t do that, but he knew she would. Again, pigheaded, just like Bruce. She’d weighed all her options, strategized and come to her best possible plan. She wouldn’t be deterred from it, ever. That’s just how she was.

 

‘Pfft…guess she really is more Bruce’s daughter now than Shiva’s’ he muses to himself.

 

She held the phone like a detonator, and stepped back as Jason stepped forward as if to take it. “Dammit”. He knew he’d never be able to take her on, and he knew she wasn’t bluffing. He was caught now.

 

“Cass, really, you don’t underst-”

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The computer, a few feet away from them, begins to chirp, giving the signal that the Batwing was returning. Bruce would be home in about twenty seconds. Others were on their way in too, their bikes also having passed the sensors.

Dick, Tim, Steph.

They were all coming in.

And he could almost detect a smile on Cass’ face.

“Fine dammit! Fine!”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, shit just…dammit!”

 

The batwing roars into the cave and makes a sharp turn, heading towards the landing pad without issue whatsoever while Spoiler does a wheelie on her bike and turns, braking at the last moment as Nightwing and Tim come in on theirs, already hitting the handlebars.

“Beat you!”

 

Cassie quickly deletes the message and blocks the man who’d sent the picture of his penis, pocketing the phone once more. She’d gotten what she wanted, and Jason was flushed.

 

‘Ohh shit..what the hell did I do?’

 

The canopy of the Batwing opened and Batman jumped out, walking towards the main portion of the cave, the others behind him. “You just got lucky”.

“Awww, being a sore loser Nightwing?”

“Yeah, yeah”.

 

“Batgirl, Jason” the man says simply, making to walk past them, not noticing anything…at first. He turns to look at Jason, piercing him with that gaze through his mask. The younger man stiffens at this, and meets his mentor and adopted father’s gaze.

 

“H-hey”.

 

‘Dammit’.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing just…long night, hey you need anything more from me?” he asks, already starting to back away, feeling Cassie’s eyes fixed on him as he does. “Because I wanna hit the showers. Get some sleep”.

 

“Hmm…no”.

“Alright, great, great. Have a good night everyone” he says, turning and beginning to make his way up the stairs, though he trips on the first one, and is only able to catch himself at the last minute. ‘Dammit…dammit…dammit!’

 

He quickly course-corrects, and makes his way up the rest of the stairs, Batman and the others continuing to look after him, watching until he disappears at the top of the stairs heading into the manor. 

 

“Hmmm”.

 

“That was weird” Stephanie says, drawing nods of agreement from Dick and Tim while Bruce turns to Cassie, who was able to keep her poker face. “Did anything happen when you went on patrol?”

“Nothing of note” she explains simply.

“Did Jason experience anything odd?”

“Nothing that he told me about. I’m going to retire as well. Goodnight”.

And with that? Cassie moved ahead and started to climb the stairs where Jason had just disappeared through. Batman watched her as well, feeling that something was…off, but unable to make any sense of it. 

 

“Well, she’s weird too, which is usua-oooofff!”

 

Stephanie elbowed Nightwing in the stomach as soon as he said that, sending the man to his knees, gasping for breath. “She’s not weird. Don’t ever say that, especially not in front of her. You hear me?”

“L-loud and clear. Message received”.

Despite what was happening behind him, Bruce was still fixated on the stairs, his eyes narrowing as he removed the cowl, and tried to make sense of what he’d just experienced. Jason and Cassandra had been acting strange, though much more reserved in the latter. He knew her well enough to read the little emotions in her eyes.

She was excited about something.

 

‘They have a secret…but what?’

He had the pieces before him, though they shared little overlap. Jason and Cassandra? He didn’t know what they would have in common enough to have a secret to keep. ‘Are you too paranoid?’ he ponders, asking himself that question.

 

‘No. No you’re not,’ he answers quickly enough before turning to the computer and getting ready to log what he had experienced that night, which was very minor when it came to Gotham. Three muggings, a serial killer caught in the act and a grapple with Firefly. Child’s play. His mind was still preoccupied as he took his seat and began typing.

 

“Hmmmm”. 

Chapter 2

Wayne Manor, Second Floor 

 

    Never before had the second floor hallway been quite so terrifying to Jason Todd. Even when he was a child, freshly recruited and adopted as the second Robin by Bruce, the hallway hadn’t been scary. And it shouldn’t have been now either.

Even if he weren’t beyond childish fears of the dark, of goblins and ghosts waiting in every corner, he’d faced off against worse and come out on top, there was no reason to fear.

 

The hallway was well lit at practically every hour of the day from the early morning to late at night, either by the lamps that were positioned atop wooden tables every six or seven feet, or the large window at the far end which, during the day, usually had the curtains open.

 

It was closed right now which gave the man a bit of comfort, as if someone might be looking through it at that moment, watching him angrily.

 

‘Oh God…oh God, what the fuck am I doing?’

 

Instantly his mind conjured up images of just that. Superman or Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, hell even Hawkman or Hawkgirl floating there, arms crossed over their chests as they looked at him with disappointment in their eyes.

But that wouldn’t be the worst part.

If one of them was there then that would mean he was behind him. 

And no matter how many times he’d said it, or thought it, he knew it wasn’t true that he wasn’t afraid of the man. He was still petrified of him, of what he could do, and even more lurid images entered his mind about what would happen if he kept going.

 

‘He’s right behind me, waiting’ he thinks, pausing at the foot of the hallway, his eyes scanning over the multitude of doors that lead into separate bedrooms, one of which, at the far end, was his. 

Cassie’s was two up, with Stephanie wedged in between.

 

‘He’s right behind me’ he thinks again, beads of sweat breaking out over his forehead which, from a distance, might’ve been confused for lingering water droplets from the shower he’d just taken, his dark hair still wet from it, a towel thrown over his shoulder. ‘He’s right behind me, doing that quiet waiting thing he does’. His eyes flitted side to side, as if he’d be able to catch a peripheral glance at the man who’d trained him. 

 

That eluded him, though the portraits that hung on either side of the wall, one of Bruce’s grandfather Patrick Wayne and the other of his great, great…well, Jason didn’t know how far back grandfather, but great grandfather General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne on the other.

Both of them seemed to be glaring hatefully at him from across the centuries, the industrialist and the revolutionary war general in agreement on their disdain of the man standing between them, obstructing his view.

 

‘It…it’s like they know what’s going to happen’.

He felt his knees shake as he swallowed, taking a deep breath before stepping forward, wanting, no…needing to be away from the accusatory glances of the formerly benign portraits.

Creeeeeeaaaak!

The floorboard beneath him reacted as it was pressed inwards, giving out a groan as he stepped on it, causing Jason to pause and wince, clenching his eyes shut as if that would save him. ‘Here it comes. Here it comes’.

 

He readies himself for the blow…which didn’t come. Ten, fifteen, twenty seconds passed with nothing happening, and eventually Jason gathered up the bravery to open his eyes. Of course since he was facing forward he saw nothing but an empty hallway. Just as before.

There was no complimentary creak that would signify that Bruce had taken a step further to mimic him, but the well trained Red Hood knew that didn’t matter. ‘He stepped when I did! He can anticipate every move I make! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUUUUCK!’

 

He was silently raging against himself as he stood there, completely and utterly unsure of what to do, lost.

 

‘He’s waiting for the right moment’ the younger man thinks to himself, resisting the urge to nod in agreement with himself. As if that would make any difference. ‘Yeah, he’s waiting for the right moment…he’s gonna wait until I’m like a foot away from her door, then he’s gonna attack. He’ll even have the Justice League bust in to help him out’.

 

He takes another step forward, drawing another creak from the ancient wood beneath his feet, not at all muffled by the long green area rug which had been thrown over the top of it. He wanted to scream in frustration, rage, but he knew that wouldn’t help.

 

‘He knows that I know that he knows that I know he’s there’ he thinks to himself, barely able to keep his thoughts together as his eyes focus on Cassandra’s room, and with each slow, methodical step he takes towards it, bringing him closer and closer. 

 

‘It’s going to be like that movie with Nicolas Cage’ he thinks to himself, remembering the film that he’d watched with the others one night. ‘Mom and Dad or something? The stupid fucking meme thing!’.

He only remembered it because Tim had been obsessed with the joke after watching Nicolas Cage bring his hand up into the air and then down onto the side of the other actor’s face, slamming him into the floor.

 

He’d seen the literal dozens of different formats of the meme thanks to Tim and the family’s group chat. Watched some character or other in myriad different art styles have their head slammed as hard as possible into the floor.

Tim had sent different variations hundreds of times, from an animated version of the original to one modeled on that absolutely stupid show Rick and Morty.

 

‘What did he call it? The slap of God? Yeah…that was it’.

 

And that? That was about to happen to him, with Bruce straddling his back and bringing his hand as far back as possible before slamming it into his head, making him connect harshly with the carpet and wood.

He’d lose teeth, possibly break his nose, and that definitely wouldn’t be the end of it.

 

“S-she threatened me” Jason says, trying to hide his stutter as he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “She was going to do it with some random guy if I didn’t. I didn’t have a choice”. He whispers, knowing that the man was undoubtedly close enough to hear him. “I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry”.

He closes his eyes and feels the urge to begin praying, knowing that he was well and truly in for it now. There’d be no escape. Bruce could forgive trying to take over Gotham City and running a criminal ring to control it. He could forgive him killing a few criminals here and there.

Hell, he could even forgive all the punches that Jason had thrown directly into his face. The time he’d cracked his rib, or broken his nose. Hit him with a taxi cab…there was a lot he wasn’t proud of to be quite fair.

But Bruce?

He forgave all of it, from stealing the Batmobile’s tires to mass murder of an entire drug gang. He could let it slide, albeit grudgingly.

 

But fucking his adopted daughter? Even thinking about fucking his adopted daughter?

Jason just knew that there was absolutely no forgiveness left in Bruce with regards to that. No. Jason knew he was going to suffer for this. Sure, Bruce brought in a lot of strays, hell he was one of them. An adopted son, but Cass? It didn’t take a degree to find out that she was special. Out of all of them? Bruce considered her his successor, the one he wanted to take up the cowl after he was gone.

He spent the most time with her, beating out even Nightwing!

 

If that wasn’t a clear and decisive indicator of the esteem that he held Cassandra in, Jason didn’t know what was. 

 

And he was on his way to deflower her, at her request! But even still…

 

He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, continuing to believe that he was right behind him, simply waiting for the chance to strike. “Please, you have to believe me” he continued, as if explaining himself would save him. ‘I actually feel bad for the crooks of this city now’.

 

“She had Tinder, and-and some random guy she was going to go see if I didn’t agree. Bruce, please, you have to believe me”.

 

Thump! Thump! Thump!

 

The sound of footsteps reached his ear, coming from further back than he expected, but still, far too close for his liking. He clenched his fists and stood up straight, closing his eyes tightly as if that would negate the beating he was about to receive. 

 

‘You’ve earned this. Let it happen. After the first few punches, play dead. He might back off after that’ he thinks, hoping that the man who’d raised him might go at least a little easier on him.

 

Thump! Thump! Thump!

 

“I didn’t want to do this. I swear. She forced me into it. I-,”

“Forced you into what Master Jason?”

“AHHHHHHH! I’M SORRY!!”

If he’d been looking at himself from outwards he would’ve been embarrassed, screaming out in fear like that, almost like a woman, jumping nearly out of his flesh and turning, striking a combat pose on instinct, ready to fight.

 

He expected to see Bruce, either as Bruce or possibly still in the Batsuit, the latter of which was more horrifying to think of. Bruce Wayne usually went easy on people when he was forced to fight. Batman? Not so much.

 

But instead of a scowling, vengeance obsessed vigilante intent upon meting out punishment upon a man for going after his daughter in all but blood, he saw someone completely different. Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, the loyal and faithful servant of Wayne Manor, and a grandfather figure to them all.

 

While his eyes widened in response to Jason’s shout, the aged servant didn’t seem all that unduly concerned, simply raising an eyebrow at Jason’s rather strange reaction to his appearance. Alfred looked the same as ever, his salt and pepper hair, what was left of it, clinging to the rim around the dome of his head, the rest bald. His perfectly manicured, pointed mustache tucked beneath his nose with his bright blue eyes shining with a quickness that he had never quite lost.

 

“Dammit Al!” Jason shouts, mad, but not really at the butler. No. He was angry with himself. He brought his hand up to his face, wiping away some of the sweat that had coalesced over his brow, his breathing still intense as his chest rose and fell. 

 

“You can’t sneak up on me like that”.

“A thousand pardons Master Jason” the man said, half sarcastic and half meaning it, though hiding both under a veneer of servitude that none of them had ever really believed in. “I wasn’t aware that I was doing so”.

 

“We…you…you need a bell on you” Jason says, pointing at the man and smiling, able to find the humor in this, at least a little bit. Though that probably came about more due to the fact that it wasn’t Bruce who was standing behind him. 

 

‘Just…Alfred…damn…you have to calm down. He doesn’t know and see everything”, he thinks, though he doesn’t believe that for an instant. Bruce did seem to know and see everything. ‘It’s only a matter of time’ came the second, almost unbidden thought to his mind. 

 

“You’re spending too much time around Bruce” Jason teases, feeling at least a little bit better, knowing that Alfred was much safer territory. “Get any better at that and he’ll have you wearing a Robin suit soon enough”.

 

Alfred smirks at that, finding the sentiment hilarious quite truthfully.

 

“I will be sure to remember that…and raise the issue of possibly acquiring a bell for me, Master Jason”.

“Good…good…so uhh”.

The younger man was rubbing the back of his head, a clear and present indicator of his nervousness, especially as he looked around, part of him pondering if Alfred wasn’t in on it, being used as a distraction while Bruce snuck around him, possibly from the shadows, or maybe from the ceiling above him.

 

“What are you up to?”

It was immediately after asking the question that Jason noticed the stack of towels in the butler’s hands, placed one on top of the other. Instantly a nefarious purpose came to mind.

 

Alfred’s smile fell away as he dropped the towels, keeping his gloved hand only upon one.

“Master Bruce! Here!”

He tosses the square of soft fabric meant for drying, and Jason could only watch as it sails helplessly beside him, into what he thought was the empty air behind him. But it wasn’t. Someone was there.

 

An armored hand reached out, and clutched at one end of the fabric, another grasping the opposite end, twirling and twisting it up until it was a bunched up roll. Jason turned just enough to see the hate filled glare within the cowl, and the flash of white as Bruce brought the towel up and over his head.

 

“Bruce wait! I can expla-Urrrrrk!”

 

“No need” came the growl as the bundle of towel went around his neck and was pulled tight, instantly and expertly cutting off his air supply in an instant. He struggles, and against a normal opponent his training would’ve won out.

But this was no normal opponent.

This was the man who’d trained him, taught him everything that he knew. But he hadn’t taught him everything HE knew, and that was the difference now. “We’ve seen enough” Bruce growls right in his ear, Jason still struggling, reaching up for the towel as if to try and get it off of him, Bruce almost yanking him off of his feet.

 

“Alfred. Show Jason what he’s earned”.

 

“Ohh with pleasure sir” the butler says, a smirk on his face as he cracks his knuckles and advances towards Jason with a malevolent smirk upon his face. “A-Alfr-urrrk!”

 

“You disappoint me Master Todd” Alfred says, pulling his fist back, ready to send it slamming forward into Jason’s gut, something that Jason just knew would hurt. Alfred was SAS trained, and he knew how to extract the most pain for his effort. “I’m afraid you will be spending the night in the ICU rather than Miss Cassandra’s bed. What a foolish idea you had”.

 

“Make it hurt Alfred”.

 

“Ohh it will sir”.

 

Jason took a step back in response to the thought that went through his mind, his head swivelling as the fear returned to him, looking back and forth, desperate for any sign of Bruce waiting to trigger the ambush. This only further concerned Alfred, whose smile slipped away completely. He stepped forward, still holding the towels.

“Jason, are you sure you are feeling quite alright?”

“Huh?!”

Jason Todd felt more like an animal than a person at that moment, sure that at any second he’d be turned into raw hamburger meat. But Alfred’s concern only grew. He only referred to them by their first name when things were serious.

“Jason…were you injured on patrol tonight?”

“What? No, no…I uhh…ummm”.

 

He wiped his brow again, collecting the sweat while he relaxed. Still no sign of Bruce. ‘He doesn’t know. If he was going to attack he would’ve done it by now’ he consoles himself, again only half believing that statement. “I guess just…tired, you know?”

At this Alfred softens, the idea of Jason being tired apparently well within the scope of possibilities.

“Yes, I must admit I have been worried over the rate at which you and the rest of the family have been working yourselves” he ventures. “And with crime already falling in Gotham at this moment it seems rather preposterous to me”. The butler sighed after saying that, shaking his head.

“But Master Bruce will assuredly tell me that the only reason crime is falling is because you all work yourselves to the very edge of endurance”.

 

“Hehe…yeah, yeah that does sound like him…umm…what’s with the towels?” Jason asks, still nervous over the mundane household item which had been used to such great effect in his made up scenario in his mind. ‘I can’t fucking believe it. The great and mighty Red Hood, scared of a goddamn towel. Thanks Cass. Really appreciate this’. 

 

“Ohh, I am simply restocking the second floor bathroom” the butler says simply and jovially, gesturing towards the door that indeed led to the second floor bathroom. “We are down to only three towels, which is well below the requisite ten”. He raises a hand and pats the top of the bundle as if in pride.

“Which is why I have brought eight to replenish the stock. One for good luck and a bit of breathing room. Heaven knows that you all seem to go through much in the way of laundry”.

That much Jason knew was true. With their exercise routines and patrols, fights with criminals and what not, showers were taken multiple times a day.

“I only just managed to get the dried remnants of Mister Karlo off of the last batch. Let me be the first to say, Master Jason, that I had just about given up hope and was ready to simply incinerate them. Luckily, through good old fashioned elbow grease and the modern marvel of detergent, I was able to free them of his malign, and sticky, influence”.

“Well…that’s great to hear”.

Jason tried to be happy for him, really, he did. Alfred took great pride in such small, trivial things, but to Jason? It was just towels. Alfred doesn’t catch the man’s lack of interest however and smiles, nodding his head.

“Yes. I am sure Master Bruce will be overjoyed to hear of my success. And what of you, Master Jason? Might I inquire as to what you are being forced into, and what you are sorry for?”

“Huh?”

Jason’s mind was spinning once again, trying to make sense of what the man had just asked, apparently forgetting what he’d just said in his fear of Batman sneaking up on him. It came back to him soon enough, and gave him further cause for concern. How was he going to explain away what he’d said?

‘Shit’.

“Ohh, uhh…that…I…uhhh…”.

Alfred continued to watch him, his gaze becoming more and more concerned as Jason stuttered, seemingly reaching for an answer. The younger man knew that his chance for convincing the butler that everything was alright was rapidly slipping him by.

 

“Dish duty!” he shouts suddenly, remembering the series of chores that were entrusted to each and every member of the family so as to assist Alfred in his old age. It was a Hail Mary pass, the plan brewing in his brain, but it was the best he had.

“Dish duty?” Alfred parrots back to him, a questioning tone to his words. Jason nods his head up and down eagerly. “Yeah, yeah, dish duty”.

“As I seem to recall Miss Stephanie was assigned to that this week”.

 

“Yeah, yeah, but…well, the thing is I’m taking over for her” Jason says, still nodding, feeling a bit more faith in his plan actually working. “I…I kinda screwed up, you know?” he says, feigning genuine embarrassment, which wasn’t all that fake, just directed in a different place. “She had this big project for her classes and I bumped into a table, long story short? She’s gotta rewrite a bunch of stuff. Coffee stains and stuff make it unreadable. I can’t exactly fix that, so I offered to take over dish duty so she’d have time to do it…well, offered isn’t the right word. She sort of forced me into it. Fair is fair though. Didn’t fight it much”.

 

“Ahh, yes. I see”.

There was still some suspicion in the older man’s eyes, but Jason could tell he was at least mostly buying it. It did sound like something that would happen after all. “Well, she is correct, as are you Master Jason. It is only fair that you take over such duties for the week”.

 

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry. Already feel bad enough about it”.

 

‘Shit! Now I’ve actually gotta do the dishes! Dammmmitttttt!’

 

He hadn’t thought about that part until now, neither had he thought about what he would tell Stephanie. Convincing her to let him take over dish duty? That wouldn’t be hard at all. Explaining WHY he wanted to take over dish duty without telling her he’d had to lie to Alfred to cover for the fact he was going to have sex with her best friend?

That was the challenge.

 

‘I’ll figure that out later’.

 

“Even still, I must commend you. It is a sign of maturity to admit when you are wrong, and take action to make amends”. Alfred smiled at the man, all traces of suspicion gone as the truth of his words shined behind those blue eyes of his, which only made Jason feel worse as the pride he felt in him was completely and utterly misplaced.

 

“Y-yeah…thanks Al”.

 

“Do not worry, Master Jason. The dishes are not truly as bad as you think. To tell you the truth?” the butler asks, looking both ways before leaning in a bit, ensuring nobody was listening in. “I haven’t washed them in years. I use the dishwasher, truly a modern marvel. You should do the same. Simply deposit two pods into the slot at the door. As simple as that”.

 

“Woah…alright, thanks Alfred”.

“You are quite welcome, Master Jason. Now, if you will excuse me” he says, sidestepping the man and walking forward. “I must return these towels to the bathroom. It has been bothering me all day if I’m being quite honest”.

 

‘I can’t do this’ Jason thinks, his mind turning to Cass and the demand she’d made of him. ‘I can’t. Shit. I just can’t. I’m already a wreck. What’s going to happen after I have a secret to keep?’ he asks.

 

“Yeah. Sure Al”.

 

‘No. No. I’m not doing it’ he thinks to himself, coming to a conclusion. ‘I know I promised but I can’t do it. Everyone will hate me for it. Seriously. I can’t. I won’t. I’m not’. Images entered his mind, images he DIDN’T want in his mind.

 

Mainly the penis that Cassandra had shown him against his will.

 

It chafed him. Some random guy, coming over, getting down and dirty with the woman. Part of his mind knew it was being protective of the woman, someone he should look out for. But another part of his mind? It was much more primal, possessive.

 

She was offering her body to him. Shouldn’t he be the one to take it?

 

“It seems quiet tonight. Does it not?”

“Uh huh” Jason says, responding to Alfred’s small talk, his eyes focused ahead of him, on his door. He was getting closer and closer to Cassie’s door, but he had already made up his mind. ‘She’s an adult. She can make her own decisions. She wants to fuck a random dude? Go ahead. It’s not my problem or responsibility’.

 

He didn’t feel like he was being honest with himself, but whatever! That was the truth. It wasn’t. He wasn’t going to be blackmailed. Given an ultimatum. No. Not him. Not the Red Hood!

“Master Bruce I know is in, but he is still within the cave. I believe Masters Timothy and Dick decided to go to the movies, and Miss Stephanie might have joined them” Alfred carries on, Jason only half listening. 

 

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I believe that just leaves you and Miss Cassandra, though after her own shower, which used yet another towel” the butler says, seemingly frustrated in his ever continuing war to keep the bathrooms stocked. “But since then I have not seen her. I believe she is in her room at the moment. I do wish you and she would socialize more.”

“Huh?”

Jason listened in at that, his heart rate increasing as he started to pass Cassie’s door. ‘Just walk right on past. Ignore it. Let her fuck that guy…even if it’s completely, utterly wrong’.

 

“Yes, I am quite sorry to say Master Jason, and please do not think me forward, but the both of you are much, much too young to not have any social life, nor perhaps a special person to share it with”.

 

“Ohh…I uhhh…umm…well, you know”.

 

Creeeeeeak.

 

Cassandra’s door opened quietly, almost as soon as Jason came into view, and before he could respond, even as his eyes widened in shock and fear, a hand shot out, going instantly to his mouth, covering it and preventing any chance of him calling out for help.

 

“Mmmphh!”

 

Apparently age had caught up to Alfred in some areas, as he hadn’t heard either the door open, nor Jason’s muffled groan. He continued walking forward, speaking to himself. “I have been telling Master Bruce the same thing for years, but we all know how he is. Insistent upon doing things his way, believing he knows best….ahhh..but he doesn’t? Does he? So many kind, caring, thoughtful women entered his life, and yet he let them slip by. A pity, a true pity”.

He was close to the bathroom door now, and reached out, grasping the handle to open it slowly, turning around at that moment to face Jason, believing the man had followed. 

 

“I do not want the same for either of you. I believe it is time for you to get back out there. Get on the horse again as they-hmmm”.

He suddenly realized that he was alone, and talking to something…which wasn’t what he’d expected to be doing. The hallway? It was empty, with no sign of where Jason had gone. The butler sighs, and shakes his head.

“Apparently nobody wishes to listen to me in this household” he laments to himself, shifting his hand to pull the door open, believing that Jason had just slipped into his room so as to avoid the speech the butler wanted to give him.

Even still, Alfred couldn’t help but wonder why Jason had been acting so strangely. He paused at the precipice of the bathroom doorway and looked back through the now empty hallway, pondering over an answer to such a question.

 

“Hmmmm…”

There was no ready answer, and for the moment? He just wanted to get these towels put away and set about his other duties. “Everyone in this family is so bloody strange”. He loved them, he truly did, but he couldn’t lie and say that wasn’t the truth.

 

Jason wasn’t in his room though. No. He was in Cassie’s room, with Alfred deaf to his muffled cries for help.

 

Bedroom of Cassandra Cain

 

“Mmmfff! Mmmmm!”

“Stop struggling” came a voice in monotone that, if he had to hazard a guess, was meant to be comforting, but was anything but. “It’s just me”. Her hand slowly slid away from his mouth as his grunts and moans ceased. The door was closed behind them now, effectively sealing Jason in the one place he didn’t want to be. 

 

Cassandra stepped away from him, her brown eyes locked onto his, her expression, as always, unreadable.

“Are you fucking crazy?” he hisses angrily, unable to hold it in. “What the hell is your problem?”

She didn’t react to the insult, and merely stood where she was, looking at the man almost expectantly. “You were with Alfred. That meant that you needed to be extracted. I saw an opening, and took it”.

“Yeah, well…”

He didn’t know what to say to that, and just brought his hand up to the back of his head, rubbing it, unsure of if he should tell her that he’d changed his mind. The deal was off. She should just call that guy from Tinder, he wasn’t doing it.

 

But that…had just become a little harder to do, and he cast a sideways glance towards the slightly younger woman. 

 

‘God damn…this…this is unfair’.

She, like him, had showered, though it was clear she’d had more time to dry and change into her clothes. Which consisted of little more than a sports bra and panties ensemble, black in color, with a white lining over the bottom, of the bra, and the top, of the panties.

They clung to her, tightly, exposing her peak of female perfection body to him. Medium sized breasts that jutted out proudly, simply begging for attention it seemed, the well of the inner curve visible through the opening up of the garment at the top. 

 

Her shoulders were slim, and her hips wide, her abs and toned biceps on display, with her powerful thighs also a focal point of his attraction.

 

‘Shit, imagine those wrapped around-no, no! Stop. You have to tell her you can’t do this. That it’s wrong and…and…fucked up!’

 

“You enjoy how I am dressed”.

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Cass didn’t ask questions, not really. Not when she was so good at reading body language. “Yeah, yeah. Alright? I do. Is that a crime?” he asks, knowing that the woman wasn’t dressed sluttily, but still…much sexier than he’d ever seen her before. While Steph and Babs, well…back when Babs was able to exercise, worked out? They wore yoga pants, tight fitting sports bras. Cass? She wore sweats and a t-shirt. She hid her body and now? Jason was finding out exactly what was under those layers.

 

“No. It is legal. I am twenty years old. Well above New Jersey’s age of consent”.

 

“Yeah, I get that”.

“You are nervous” she says, stepping forward and tilting her head slightly, a flicker of concern passing over her eyes before her body works on instinct to hide it, no doubt having been trained to see it as a sign of weakness. “Why?”

“Pfft…why? Do you know what happened out there?” he asks, throwing his arm back towards the door. “Alfred happened. I thought he was going to kill me!”

 

“Irrational. Alfred does not have the capabilities to kill any of us, and besides that he wouldn’t. He loves us”.

“Yeah well…yeah…ummm…listen, thanks to you? I now have to take over Stephanie’s dish duties” he says, pivoting off of one point and onto the other, now realizing how silly his daydream about Alfred and Bruce working together to pummel him was.

“How did that happen, and how is it my fault?”

No accusation or sarcasm, just curiosity.

 

“Duh! I was talking to myself and said some…things, I guess” he admits, now realizing, AGAIN, that it had been he who was acting foolishly, and that Cass was not at all at fault. “And he overheard them. Had to come up with something to cover my ass, so…thanks. Really, thanks”.

“You could’ve remained silent and not spoken to yourself” she says, this time her voice carrying with it the faintest hint of accusation under a veneer of stoicism. Jason glared at her, narrowing his eyes. “Yeah, I get that…shit….shit”.

He bends over, placing his hands upon his thighs as he breathes deeply, trying to catch his breath as his nervousness catches up with him. “Oh God…do you realize…” he trails off, swallowing as he takes another breath, pointing back towards the hallway again. “That that was the most stressful fifty feet I have ever walked? At any moment, Bruce could’ve swooped down, and snapped my neck”.

“That is…also not likely” Cass says, but this time? She lets out a slight little smile, which falls away quickly after that. “Is sex normally this stressful?”

“What? Ohh…uhh…no, no. Normally? It’s a stress reliever” he says, standing back up and taking another deep breath, swallowing once more. “Ohh”. That was all Cass had to say, but her mind was already whirring with the thought.

 

‘It is important to keep mental and bodily stress at acceptable levels’ she thinks, remembering what her ‘father’, and she used the term loosely, had taught her about factors outside of the body’s control, and one’s response to it. Even she could feel stress. 

 

‘If sex is a way to mitigate that, then maybe Jason and I having sex will be a tool to help both of us’.

 

While Cass was thinking up a new sex based training regiment, Jason looked around her room, not having been there…well, ever, really. ‘I’ve gotta say? Not at all surprised’ he thinks, taking in the rather spartan conditions, a bed pushed up against the wall near a window, a dresser, a mirror…little else.

Except, strangely enough, a purple stuffed elephant resting atop her bed near her pillow. Jason remembered that oddly enough, mainly because he’d given it to her about three years ago.

He smiled at the memory.

 

POP! POP! POP! POP!

The balloons rising out of the top of the clown heads popped as the jets of water issued forth from the front of the guns held by the different members of the Bat Family, though none of them were in their uniform. The balloons didn’t pop all at the same time. One had before the others.

 

“Ohh come on!” Tim shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration while Dick shook his head and half glared, half smirked down at Jason, who leaned back on the stool, arms crossed over his chest with a smug look on his face.

“Uggggggh! It’s not fair!” Stephanie shouted, slamming her head down, though not too harshly, atop the counter before her, her mop of blonde hair spreading out as she pounded her fist against it. “He wins every. Single. Shooting. Game”.

“Duh” Jason retorts simply, knowing that Bruce, standing a few feet back from the carnie game, was shaking his head, fighting his own smile. Standing next to him, as she had been the whole night, was Cassandra, who thus far hadn’t participated in any of the games that the others insisted they stop at.

 

“We have a winner!” the man running the game says, picking up a wooden pole with a hook at the end of it, reaching up into the mass of stuffed animals overhead, and grasping something down. “Here you go champ! Nice work!”

He tosses the purple elephant to Jason, who catches it easily. 

 

“Huh. Thanks”.

 

“You’re very welcome! Thanks for playing at Lucky Leo’s!”

“Ugggh, the game’s rigged!” Stephanie says, jumping up as Tim, Dick and Jason do the same. “How? How would it even be possible to…unless” Tim says, pausing as he turns to Jason, suddenly glaring. “Unless he got here early and paid him off!”

“You got me Tim” Jason says, raising his hand in mock surrender, the purple elephant still clutched in one. “I came here a few hours in advance, pretended not to wanna go when you all insisted, paid the guy a few hundred bucks to rig the game for me just to win a stuffed animal I could’ve bought for three bucks at the store. Dead to rights. You really are the world’s second greatest detective”.

Tim just glowered, but eventually smiled, the group falling into mirth and joy again as they moved back onto the boardwalk, continuing to move along and enjoy the festivities. 

 

“Here”.

Jason went to Cassie’s side, and handed her the elephant, the girl looking a bit surprised as he offered it to her.

“But…you won it”.

“Yeah? And I’m giving it to you. Here. What am I gonna do with it?” he asks with laughter coloring his voice. Cassandra seemed unsure, but she couldn’t deny that at least part of her wanted it. She reached out, and took it from Jason’s hands, holding it before her and admiring it as if it was made of gold.

“Thank you”.

“You’re welcome” Jason says, already forgetting about it as he looked forward at the others who were walking ahead, already intent on playing the next game. “Ohh! Ohh! I know! The dart and balloon game! Those are darts, not guns. He’s gotta suck at that, right?”

“Good idea! Yeah!”

 

“Ugggh…Bruce? Can you tell them we’re gonna stop and get something to eat first” the second Robin groans.

“Why don’t you tell them yourself?”

“They don’t listen to me”.

“Alright”.

 

Cassie agreed with Jason. She was hungry, but as she trailed behind them, saying nothing, participating little, she looked up at his back, and smiled slightly, which from Cass? Was a very big thing indeed.

 

‘Huh…I’m surprised she kept that thing’ he muses to himself, unaware of how happy such a simple, small thing had made Cassandra then, a few years in the rearview now. 

 

“Allow me to relieve some of your stress”.

Cass had walked forward towards the man, and without saying anything further, reached out, and grasped his crotch through his pants, giving his flaccid manhood a squeeze. Jason’s eyes widened instantly, and his hand shot out to Cassie’s wrist, pulling it away from him, momentarily forgetting that she was like one giant nerve with muscle memory, and could’ve killed him eight different ways.

“Woah! Woah! Woah! Ummm…woah!”

 

Her eyes widened for a moment, the woman clearly worried that she’d made a mistake.

 

“I’m sorry. What did I do wrong?”

Clinical. That’s how he could best describe it. Like a student wanting to do her best, and demanding corrections. Jason kept his hand on her wrist, as if he was fearful that she’d go for it again. 

 

“I…well…shit…I mean, yeah…uhh…you don’t…I mean, I guess you can but, real sex? Or…you know…you shouldn’t just…dammit”.

‘I’m the absolute worst person for this fucking job’.

 

Cass gently extricates her wrist from his grasp, and Jason releases her as well, knowing that she wouldn’t do such a thing again, not after that reaction. ‘Thank God she’s a perfectionist’ he thinks, knowing that the woman would even want sex to be done as best as she possibly could. 

 

“I’m sorry” she reiterates, genuinely meaning it as she locked eyes with Jason once again. “I was just trying to mimic what Barbara and Stephanie told me that they do”. That…made perfect sense to the man, who nods in understanding, getting it.

“Yeah, yeah. I get that but…not to knock them, or you…but they’re…way more experienced than you. Yeah, experienced”. He rubs his forehead, knowing that he’d wanted to use a much different word than ‘experienced’ but refraining from doing so. 

 

“That is why we are here”.

 

“Yeah…I get that too” he says with a sigh, shaking his head. ‘Fuck it, you’re in this. Try and do the best you can and not let Babs, or Steph, teach her what sex is….or some random asshole who’s gonna come over and teach her all the wrong shit’.

 

“I am supposed to get your penis erect so that it can penetrate me”.

 

He winced at that, but nodded, essentially agreeing with the sentiment.

“Yeah, but…that’s not how it’ll work. At least not for me”.

“Men respond differently?”

“Yeah” he nods, understanding that he was essentially going to try and give her a crash course in sex. “So do women. There’s no one way to…well, you know, have sex. Or make love. Whatever you want to call it”.

“Make love sounds less impersonal”.

“Yeah…alright, let’s stick with that then. But, yeah, okay. Essentially? Before you have sex a man is supposed to get hard…and a woman is supposed to be…wet”. He points down to her crotch, and Cassie follows his finger, and looks down at her own panty clad crotch. “I….I don’t understand”.

 

She sounded frustrated, which made sense.

Cassie was raised to be the best at everything, never given any leeway for failure. Her not knowing something? That was akin to failure in her mind, and Jason was going to have to combat that too.

“It’s okay. Well, basically it’s when you get…horny. It’s when your pus-vagina”.

“You can use the words you want” she says quickly, cutting him off. “I understand them as well. If I don’t, I’ll ask you to elaborate”.

 

“You…you want me to…alright, whatever. But yeah, for sex to work I’m going to need to get your pussy wet, and you need to get my dick hard”. He was a tomato now, and he doubted that if it were anyone but Cass that he’d be able to remain in the room. “You’ve played with yourself, right?”

He was nervous about asking that question, especially as the image of Cass, naked and spread eagle, her fingers plunging into her own depths, entered his mind. ‘Shit’. With her impromptu touch, and that mental image he could already start to feel his prick start to grow, lifting up slightly within the confines of his pants off of his full sack.

 

“Yes,” she admits quickly.

 

“Okay, well…it’s like that, except I do it to you. But…listen, Cass, sex isn’t something you just…do. Or rush. It…I don’t know what Babs or Steph taught or told you, but it’s not a one size fits all thing. It can be rough, soft, somewhere in between. And it doesn’t start immediately, alright? You have to…you know, get in your groove for it. Work your way up to what you want”.

“Barbara and Stephanie’s stories are straight to the point”.

“Of course they are”.

Not for the first time Jason was angered by how slutty those two could be, and the awful example that they were setting for Cassandra and her view of sex. Besides that, he could feel at least a little bit better about this.

 

‘If she invited that random asshole over he might’ve hurt her…and gotten hurt way worse back’.

He almost winces at that, realizing in a way that he was saving both Cass, and the mystery dick on Tinder, a lot of trouble. 

 

“Okay, look…do you know what foreplay is?”

“Something that happens before the sex” she says simply, though it was clear that she was using the context clues of the spelling of the word rather than any actual knowledge of what it meant. Even still, she was technically correct, and Jason nods. “Yeah. Basically it kinda…gets you in the mood. It’s basically…simple touches, stuff like that…at first”.

 

“Will you show me?”

This was it. The moment of truth, of no return. He should’ve turned around, marched right out of that room and pretend this never happened. But…he couldn’t. There was something about Cassie that night he couldn’t explain. Something almost…vulnerable, soft and gentle, mixed with a hidden eagerness.

 

She was trusting him with something, and it was clearly more than just her body and virginity. That much couldn’t be denied. He knew her, and her struggles. That was something some random asshole off the street didn’t have. 

 

“Yeah…sure”.

He moves closer towards her, showcasing to them both what they already knew. That he was a full head or so taller than her. He looked down at her, and felt a strange protectiveness of the young asian woman, despite the fact that she needed absolutely no protection.

But…then again?

Maybe tonight she did.

 

Slowly he reaches out, and places his hand on the upper part of her arm, almost on her shoulder. His touch was light, but firm, and Cassandra found herself turning to look, watching as he moved up and down, stroking her arm. 

 

“So…this is, I guess, part of what could be considered foreplay” he explains simply. “Gentle touches, caressing…whatever. Sappy shit”. He reaches out with his other free hand and then down to Cassandra’s side, placing it upon her flesh as he strokes there as well as her upper arm.

“Ohh”.

“Do you like that?” he asks, indeed genuinely curious. As weird, uncomfortable and maybe even wrong as this was, he was still at least a bit curious as to what would feel ‘good’ for a human weapon. 

 

‘Is she even capable of feeling like that?’

He knew it was a stupid question, but with Cass? Sometimes it was legitimately hard not to think she was a robot. He was getting clear and present proof that that wasn’t the case right then though, as Cass’ skin felt warm to the touch, the pinprickles of goosebumps impacting at the underside of his hand.

“Yes”.

She almost sounded surprised, her eyes moving from his position atop her shoulder down to her side, back and forth, as if she was still in shock. “It feels…very nice. And this is how all sex starts?”

“No, but…sex between people that care about each other does”.

 

He squeezes her side a bit, feeling her toned flesh seemingly fight back against him. If it wasn’t necessary body fat, Cass didn’t have it. She was hard as stone, and yet it took away absolutely nothing from her femininity. 

He blushes though, realizing what his statement might’ve meant, and makes to explain himself.

“You know…I meant…well…it’s just…sex…not so-”

She didn’t even appear to be listening to his words as she reached out, no longer content to simply watch. One of her hands came up to his chest, pressing against the fabric from the outside, and pushing in against his pectoral. She splayed her fingers out as she moved back and forth, caressing, and giving slight squeezes as she did, feeling out his own toned chest for herself. 

 

Her other hand went to his arm, his lower arm, crisscrossing almost as they caressed one another, her fingers trailing over his slightly hairy appendage, teasing over the tips of the hairs and forcing them back as she did. 

 

“Am I doing this right? Or is it only the man that’s supposed to caress the woman?” she asks, looking up at him with that strange, and utterly out of character innocence shining behind her eyes. 

“No, no…listen, you uhh…there aren’t like…rules to sex, you know?” he says, wondering if he could accurately explain this to the woman. “You just sorta go with the flow. As long as you’re okay with whatever you’re doing or whatever is being done to you? It’s cool”.

He swept his other hand over her midsection, shifting from her side to caress her stomach, his fingers teasing over her abs, moving up and down over the light divots that existed there, and could be seen more clearly when he pushed inwards, though he dare doesn’t do that too much.

“Mmm-mmmmm”.

“You okay?” he asks, hearing a strange, and unexpected reaction from her, furthered only by how her fingers seemed to grasp his arm. “Yes” she says simply, seemingly just as confused by her own reaction as Jason was. “It felt…good”.

 

“I’m glad”.

He smiled in response to that, feeling proud, and continued to do it, sweeping his hand back and forth over her belly, giving it as much a squeeze as he could. Slowly though, his eyes were drawn upwards, to Cassie’s chest.

 

‘Ohh man…’

 

His hand went further and further up on each sweep, right until it was almost touching the undersides of her still covered chest. “If a guy ever does something you don’t like though” he says, suddenly turning serious, his mind drawn back to the conversation they’d just been having. “You tell him…and if he doesn’t knock it off? You know exactly what to do. Feed him his fucking teeth”.

She nods at that, her eyes fixed upon him.

 

He had no doubt that she’d do exactly that.

“And if I do something you don’t like, let me know. Give me a little direction as to what feels good, and what doesn’t. I’m here to…I guess teach you and help you figure some stuff out”. He almost wanted to slap himself for how cringey that sounded.

 

‘Like some sort of cheap porn script you fucking weirdo’.

 

“I promise I will. But I trust you. Tell me if I do something that you don’t enjoy”.

He thought back to when she grasped his crotch and how he’d rebuffed her, knowing that he’d indeed make her aware of what was going through his mind. “Alright, well-,”

“You want to see my breasts”.

Again, it wasn’t a question. It was a statement. And one that caught Jason off guard yet again. 

 

“You can” she says simply and quickly, pulling her hands away but remaining close, her fingers dipping into the lower portion of the sports bra, pulling the elastic fabric away from her flesh and then upwards. 

 

“I do, yeah”.

 

He couldn’t lie. He did want to see her tits, but it didn’t help towards making him feel anything less like a disgusting pig. But Cassie? She didn’t stop, and pulled her sports bra up further and further, revealing more of the lower half of her breasts, which instantly started to work their way out of the garment with the help of gravity.

With one harsh tug they come free, bouncing out, revealing themselves to Jason, and realistically to a man for the first time ever. He felt honored. Really, he did, and he would’ve thought even deeper on it had his eyes not suddenly become the size of saucers. 

 

“Holy shit”.

 

Cassandra Cain had a very nice pair of tits. They weren’t the largest he’d ever seen, that honor went to Artemis of Bana-Mighdall, but at that moment Jason was learning the lesson that size wasn’t everything. 

 

Not that she was small or anywhere near flat of course.

If he had to guess? She was a solid C-cup, but it wasn’t the size that leant them the designation of best pair he’d ever seen Jason assigned to them. No. It was…well. Everything. They were perky, with a teardrop shape, though a bit fuller and rounder. They jutted out from her chest perfectly, matching her frame with the greatest of ease.

 

Her nipples?

Dark, which contrasted clearly with her pale skin. The nipples themselves were small, but surrounded by equally dark areolas that were about a quarter in size. He just…he wanted to latch onto them right then and there, taste them, pull as much as he could into his mouth as he suckled her.

 

But he held back, something that was much to his credit and a testament to his self control. 

 

That didn’t mean that Cassie couldn’t read what he wanted to do as if it was etched across his face clear as day. 

 

“You…like my breasts?”

This time it wasn’t as assured as her other statements, and again a tremor of nervousness was laced through her words as she pulled the sports bra up and over her head, tossing it to the side, allowing it to land upon her floor. 

 

“Yeah, I really…really do”.

 

“How do they compare to the others you’ve seen?”

“You don’t need to compare yourself to others Cass” he says, reaching out with both hands now, each one going to either side of her belly, and moving up and down, his fingers now barely brushing against the undersides of her tits, causing her to shiver. ‘Better back off’.

 

“Barbara’s and Stephanie’s are much larger than mine”.

 

“Yeah…they are” he admits, still eyeing them, almost unable to believe the completely erotic turn this had all taken, as if Cassie had been lying, teasing him…even though she wasn’t capable of either. “But they don’t have the shape you do”.

“And the shape is good?”

“Yeah, it’s excellent. Really…shit, Cass, I don’t wanna stop every five seconds to ask for permission for things” he ventures, knowing how weak and pathetic that would be. Sure, consent was the most important thing for lovemaking, but no woman wanted to be with a man who had to ask if he could touch her there, or do this, every five seconds.

 

Not even Cass, a woman who’d never had sex before. 

 

Of course this was different. If he did something she didn’t like he ran the risk of having his head smashed into the floorboard, or of all of his limbs being broken in quick succession. That did change things. 

 

“I understand. Touch me however you want” she says, indeed getting his concern and responding to it quickly. “I will give you a warning if I don’t like something”.

“Good. Because I need to do this”.

His hands suddenly move upwards, and clamp down upon her chest, seizing them from the bottom first, caressing them, and even thrumming his pointer and thumb against the lower portion. He quickly found that looks were deceiving when it came to her breasts, as they felt larger than they looked. Much more than a handful. Maybe two, or three handfuls. 

 

“Mmmmmmmf!”

Cassie again hissed, and Jason wondered if he was about to get cold clocked, the woman’s instinct overriding the words she’d spoken. Her hands did come up, and he flinched, but instead of balling into fists and unleashing agony upon him, they went to his arms, squeezing and holding on.

 

“W-why does that feel so good?” she demands, a pointed tone to her voice, demanding to know as Jason continued to squeeze and caress her breasts, focusing upon the swell of them for the moment before moving upwards, Cass’s hands traveling with him, but not obstructing them in the slightest.

 

“I don’t know” he admits, focusing on his task with even more vigor now that he knew she enjoyed it. “Some women’s tits are very sensitive”. He felt like his mouth was watering as he laid eyes upon her nipples, which seemed to be getting harder at even this rather tame touch. “I think you fall in that category”.

“K-keep going. Touch me more”.

 

He smiles, unable to help himself, and pushes his hands up further, passing over her nipples and feeling them brush against the undersides of his palms. “Mmmmmmmmm!” Cass’ groan was louder this time, and she looked down, watching as Jason moved up and down over her tits, biting her lip out of instinct.

He had to admit. It was a very alluring sight.

 

“Okay. You like breast play. Duly noted”.

 

“Y-yes. Is this…part of foreplay?” she asks, still somewhat treating this like a learning experience as Jason slowly began to bring his hands away, with her still holding onto him. “Yeah it-woah!”. He found that he couldn’t pull away, Cass’ grip upon his arms being suddenly far, far too much.

“What are you doing?”

She pulls his hands back, forcing them onto her tits once more. 

 

“Umm, okay. You REALLY like boobplay then. As to what I was doing, I was pulling my hands back to do something I think might be even better for you” he explains, taking note of the strange, wild look that was now in Cass’ eyes, something he’d never seen before. Not even in a fight!

 

“It feels really good”.

 

“I know, but like I said, I’m gonna do something you’ll like even better”. He licks his lips, deciding right then and there to find some way, any way, to get his mouth on her tit.

“Let go of at least one of my hands…please” he adds, while giving her right tit another squeeze, drawing a hiss of pleasure from her mouth. “I’ll keep squeezing this one. Sound fair?”

“What are you going to do?”

“You’ll just have to see, won’t you?”

He was getting a little more comfortable with this now, with any doubts about him going through with it completely on the back burner. He wasn’t thinking with his big head, the one with all those boring, nervous thoughts and worries. No. He was thinking with the little one. The one who wanted to have fun and relax. 

 

He could tell that Cassie was weighing her choices, tactically working it over in her mind. On one hand? She liked how Jason’s hand felt on her tits. She didn’t want to lose that pleasure, not so soon after discovering it.

 

But…on the other hand?

He was promising her more. They’d only just started, after all.

 

‘He can do more to me if I let him,’ she thinks, reminding herself that it wasn’t she who was the expert here, but rather Jason. She would have to defer to the teacher until such a time as she had her own skills to apply. 

 

One of her hands relaxes its grip upon Jason, and pulls away somewhat reluctantly. She missed it instantly, and not only because of the fact that her left tit was now left without Jason’s hand upon it, no. She liked the feeling of him in her grasp. She liked feeling close to someone. 

 

‘This doesn’t feel like what Stephanie or Barbara talked about’.

 

That much she had to admit. She was surprised. At this point she would’ve thought that his penis would be out, but so far he’d simply caressed her arms, and now? Her breasts. ‘Is sex really meant to be this nice?’

 

“I promise, you’re going to like this”.

He lowered himself a bit, almost moving onto his knees but not, just low enough to where he was essentially eye level with her breast, continuing to squeeze her other tit as he did. 

 

“Do what you want”.

 

“Don’t mind if I do”.

 

She wasn’t sure why he was where he was, or what he was planning, but she could tell by the look in his eye that he was looking forward to it. Would whatever he was planning pleasure him just as much as it would her?

He opened his mouth a bit, parting his lips, and moved in as he pushed his tongue out past them. She felt the first contact like a jolt of electricity through her body as the wet organ made contact with the brown, almost spongy nipple, which only began to further harden in response.

 

“Mmmmmmfff…ohh”.

She turns her head and bites her lip, her face almost clenching it seemed as Jason took note, and pulled his tongue back, looking up at her in worry. “Too much?”

 

‘She has the most sensitive nipples I’ve ever experienced’.

 

It wasn’t the smallest pool of women. He’d had his fair share. Essence, Artemis, Talia, Rose Wilson, otherwise known as Ravager, and Isabela Ardila. With the exception of Essence, all of them had larger breasts than Cassandra.

But none, not once, had ever reacted like her to his hands, or his tongue on them. 

 

“No. No. More”.

Her dominant side was showing once more as the hand she’d released his arm from now went to the back of his head, her fingers threading through his hair, getting a firm grasp before pulling him forward, back onto her nipple.

 

“Hey, hey” he laughs, her breast being pushed against his mouth, her nipple teasing against his lips, back and forth. “Relax. We’ve got-mmmph…mmmm”. She seemed to know what she wanted, and Jason gave it to her eagerly, lapping at her nipple which was now fully ensconced in his mouth. He battered his tongue back and forth against it, feeling it perk up even further as he gropes and squeezes her other tit.

‘This is worth Bruce killing me’ he thinks to himself, using his power of suction to pull more of Cass’ tit flesh into his mouth, something that she seemed to enjoy all the more.

 

“That feels very good” she says, her voice faltering, a gaspy, breathy tone that he’d never heard before coloring it. It pricked something in the back of his mind, assaulting him with a few thoughts that came somewhat subconsciously.

 

He was making her feel good.

This was the first time she’d ever made noises like this.

 

He would be her first.

 

He started sucking her tit harder, while his other hand grasped at her opposite tit, squeezing and hefting it up, moving his hand and the breast it was holding somewhat counter clockwise. He had a very tight grip upon it, and his thumb and pointer moved upwards, grasping her opposite nipple, pinching it, not to the point of pain, but still harshly, enough to get her to notice. 

 

“Mmmm…mmmm…mmmm”.

“Ja-Jason?”

He releases her tit with a pop, his mouth and her titty now very, very wet from having been partially in her mouth. He brings his remaining hand up and clamps down atop it, removing it from her side where it had been placed. It was then that he realized he was very close to her belly.

Her toned, tight and very inviting belly.

 

‘What the fuck are you doing?’

“Yeah?” he asks while leaning in, acting on some sort of inner desire that couldn’t be easily explained as he moves down and extends his tongue, making contact with the flesh of her stomach. ‘Okay…new, weird thing you’ve discovered about yourself’ he thinks as he lathers his tongue up and down her abs, feeling the divots like sand dunes.

Cass, for her part, didn’t find this development unwelcomed, though she looked down upon him with a curious expression in her eyes.

 

‘What is he doing? Barbara and Stephanie never said anything about this…though, it does feel good’.

 

So far she’d been deferring to whatever felt right, letting Jason take control, and she’d been right to do so. Her erect nipples, and wet tit were testament enough to that. But there was something she needed to tell him, something she felt was vitally important. 

 

“I’m wet”.

 

“I know,” Jason says, pulling away from her belly for a moment before leaning back in and placing a kiss upon it, his hands moving down off of her breasts and down, slowly, to her side. He was worshipping her body, his touch soft, yet still ever so dominant. He continues to trace kisses over her belly, his fingertips cruising right over it, causing goosebumps to raise in their wake.

 

He gets to her waist and rests there for a moment, squeezing it and scrunching up the fabric of her panties ever so slightly. Before Cassie could say anything though, his hands advanced across her side, and to the rear, where he instantly clamped down upon her ass cheeks.

 

Just as before, she hadn’t expected to feel as pleased as she was, and the resounding shock sent through her sensory system was intense.

“O-ohh”.

She felt like putty in his hands as he squeezed down on her ass with much less gentleness than he’d worked her tits over with, though in all fairness her butt could handle it. There was a lot more to grab there, Cassie having been blessed in that department. He could feel every inch of it through the panties, his fingers kneading it like dough, squeezing, caressing, bunching up the fabric even further so that the lower half of one or the other cheek was out at any given time.

 

Jason was moving up onto his feet as well, rising before her in an expert fashion, still kissing his way upwards. 

In each spot his lips landed it felt like an explosion, as heat bloomed beneath her very flesh, filling her with a desire she’d never had before, or at least couldn’t accurately pinpoint. She knew what arousal was, she knew what sex was, generally speaking, but she had never, not once, felt DESIRE.

Desire for a specific man.

 

‘I was right to choose him’.

 

Of course she was. She’d always been the best tactician in the Wayne Family…Bruce aside of course. She’d weighed every pro, and every con of interacting with the man in such a way. But, even still, to be faced with proof that she’d been correct? 

 

Well…it was nice.

 

‘Stephanie never talks about sex like this’ Cass thinks, watching as the man kisses his way up her body, almost worshipfully. ‘It’s always so…vulgar. Are we doing it correctly?’ That thought rankled her. Of not doing something ‘right’. But, Jason was leading this, and she’d defer to him.

 

And it did feel good.

 

Soon enough he was on his feet, taller than her once more, and reaching around, still groping her ass cheeks.

 

“Still want to do this?” he asks, breathing heavily himself, Cassandra feeling his breath impact against her face as he looks down at her, his own desire, visible and clear to even a virgin such as herself, burning behind his eyes.

“Ye-”

She had to pause, finding that her mouth was suddenly dry. Very dry. She takes a moment to swirl her tongue around to make it moist once more.

 

“Yes”.

 

Realistically he knew he should’ve been frustrated. That he should be looking for any and every excuse to simply end this whole sick, twisted thing right then and there. But he didn’t want to…and apparently neither did Cass.

 

“This isn’t what Stephanie or Barbara described”.

 

Jason had to roll his eyes at that.

“Yeah, well, don’t tell them I said this? But they’re kinda slutty. That’s fine, do what you want but…uhh-,”

“Slutty. Sexually provocative and promiscuous in a way that is considered-mmmm!”

 

Jason had dug his pointer into her ass crack as she said this, and she bit her lip instinctually to try and muffle her moan as she turned and looked over her shoulder as best as she could, wanting to see what was happening back there.

 

“Is that…literally the dictionary def-”

He stops, realizing it was a stupid question.

 

‘Of course it is’.

 

He removes one single hand from her ass, and brings it up, first to her shoulder as she turns around and faces off with him once more, having schooled her expression once again. It turns serious once more, and Jason gingerly brings his hand to her neck, brushing a thumb over the flesh there.

She closes her eyes and tilts her head to the side, cooing slightly in response, though so silent you might’ve missed it had you not been paying attention.

 

“Cass…I need you to listen to me, okay?”

“Yes”.

“If we do this…you can’t take it back, you know?” he begins, feeling as if he was explaining the most basic of things, things that a ‘normal’ woman might already know, but doing so anyways. “Your first time? It’s supposed to be special. Really special”. He’d covered this ground before, but he’d try again. For her sake.

“It is special”.

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, sighing.

“That…it isn’t what I meant. What I mean is, uhhh…dammit”.

“Jason”.

She brings her own hands up, somewhat lost, unsure of where to place them, but she quickly decides that his cheek was as alluring a spot as any. ‘I don’t know how to make him feel good’. It was frustrating to her already, having him seemingly knowing her body perfectly without knowing what to do.

She was at a loss, and that wasn’t normal for her.

 

He responds though, much to her joy which she hides instinctually. He looks at her, and Cassie finds that she…enjoys it. The softness in his eyes, the way she seemed to be his center of attention, and he hers.

 

‘I am starting to think that Barbara and Stephanie have been having sex wrong’.

 

“I want to experience this with you”.

 

That was all she said, but it was more than enough. If she was saying it, it was the truth. She wasn’t lying. She wanted to have sex with him. And if he was being honest? So did he. He wanted to have sex with her! Not him wanting to have sex with him.

 

‘My brain’s out of commission for this’.

 

“Cass?” he begins.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Have you ever kissed someone?” he asks, already knowing the answer to that but still wanting to ask it, be a gentleman. She shakes her head no, confirming his suspicions. “Did you want to?”.

 

“Yes”.

Her answer came quickly, as was normal, but even still it felt like it was very, very quickly. Like she’d had the desire locked and loaded, waiting for the right time to ask it. “Okay. So…I’m gonna kiss you, alright?”

“Yes. I…”

She pauses, almost as if she was embarrassed. It was only momentary, not lasting long. She’d already committed to the action after all. “Okay, okay. Cool. Cool”. He licked his lips while looking at her mouth, finding her light pink lips set against her pale skin even more alluring. They were plump, kissable despite the fact that they were always drawn up into a blank expression.

 

“So…here you go, first kiss”.

 

‘Why the hell do you sound like a tour guide? Jeez, you’re such a loser’.

 

He leans in, getting closer and closer, with Cassie staying right where she was, unmoving, as she keeps her eyes wide open, wanting to take in every detail for posterity, or rather to be able to do it right, as was her fashion.

 

It was disjointing for Jason, mainly because he’d never kissed a woman while her eyes were open like that, but he’d also never kissed Cass before. He was mere centimeters away, tilting his head to the side as his hands moved to either side of her face, caressing her with his thumbs, sweeping them across her cheek.

It was almost like he was trying to keep her in place, though there was no way she’d ever move in the first place.

She was intent on keeping still, and receiving her kiss.

 

“Mmm”.

And just like that it came, with Jason making contact with her lips, a certain wetness still lingering from his extensive lavishing of her tit with his tongue remaining. It tasted…strange, Cassie couldn’t explain it, but the instant warmth and…and…connection! Yes, connection was the right word, she felt was undeniable.

 

‘What…why…this…’

 

Her mind was now completely scattered. It had been on the brink of being so before, with Jason’s very aggressive, but pleasurable assault on her chest and ass, but now, at such a new, foreign…and amazing sensation, it went over.

Her eyes widened at first, but slowly fluttering closed afterwards, her hands clamping down on him as she suddenly didn’t entirely trust her feet to keep her upright. “Mmmm…mmmm”. Jason caressed her lips with his own, locking them in and trapping one or the other at any given moment. 

 

It felt exquisite, and the taste!

She still couldn’t place what he tasted like, but she enjoyed it. 

 

And she was beginning to maybe act on instinct.

The trained fighter, the human weapon, a woman who’d known nothing but perfection from the day she was born, was learning how to love. Or make love, more specifically. She pushed herself closer, craving closeness with Jason, her chest, and her still engorged, erect nipples, brushing against the fabric of his shirt, which she was only just now starting to realize she wanted him out of.

 

‘His body…I want to feel it!’

 

Her inner voice, usually so controlled, stoic, was losing that composure. It was almost like there was another woman in there hidden beneath Cassandra Cain. Still her, but more…primal. Less led by what others wanted and demanded of her, and more by what she wanted.

 

‘Stephanie and Barbara never told me that kissing could be this good’.

She was almost angry with them. Like they’d been hiding the central and most basic tenets of sex from her, withholding them from their stories to ensure Cassie wouldn’t know that joy. She knew that was untrue though. At least in Stephanie’s case…Barbara? She might very well have.

 

Cassie pushes past that for the moment, feeling as Jason’s tongue pushes out of his mouth, and brushes against the top of her lower lip. It was a surprise, for sure, and she suppressed the urge to respond as if it was an attack.

 

Instead? She took it for what she was.

Something that held promise of bringing her, and him, pleasure. She was rapidly becoming aware of the fact that while he might’ve derived some sort of mental pleasure from allowing him to touch and caress, even taste, her body. But she hadn’t been offered a chance to return the favor.

And Cassie Cain most certainly wanted to return the favor.

 

‘Relax’ she thinks, her mind still a flurry of emotion as she pushes her own tongue forward to meet Jason’s advance, the two making impact against one another atop her lip. “Mmmm?” He hadn’t expected that, and the semi questioning tone of his grunt gave it away. But he didn’t stop kissing, the two leaning against one another, heads tilted, taking in each other deeply. 

 

Their tongues continued to wrestle, with Cassandra taking this aspect on with a bit more ease.

It was, after all, a bit like combat.

This goes on for a time, but slowly, and unfortunately, their need for air, constricted by their amorous makeout session, overrides their desire to remain attached at the lips.

Jason pulls back first, delivering a few lingering, soft kisses to Cass’ ever so receptive lips, the woman leaning after him, wishing he didn’t have to pull back.

 

“So…yeah, that’s kissing, but…a bit more than normal” he says, bringing his hands down to her side once again, with Cassie repositioning hers upon his body as well, settling on his chest. “We were…making out, correct?”

She tested the term out, having heard it from her fellow Batgirls, though it was much, much easier to understand the word now that she had a frame of reference. Jason seemed pleasantly surprised, nodding his head with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah. Basically. But when tongue’s involved? It’s known as French kissing”.

 

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why is it called French kissing?”

Jason’s own mind was abuzz, feeling rather good after delivering such a passionate kiss to the woman, especially for her first one. He’d been afraid of fumbling it, screwing up, but now, looking at her flushed expression? He was pretty sure he’d nailed it.

 

‘Jason Todd. Expert at frenching, at your service’.

 

But expert he might be, he wasn’t ready for that question.

“I…I don’t know” he says with a shrug, rubbing her bare sides again. “Maybe the French are the first ones to patent it or something”. He jokes, but it doesn’t land. Or at least…he didn’t think so? Cass wasn’t giving him much to work with in terms of facial expressions.

“Ohh”.

 

He leaves it at that, and softens.

“I would’ve pushed my tongue a little deeper into your mouth buuuut wasn’t sure if you’d like it, and didn’t want-,”

“I would’ve liked it”.

She cuts him off quickly, again surprising Jason who was caught off guard. Cass quickly explains herself, sensing it. “I wouldn’t have said no to having your tongue deeper. It felt…nice”.

“Well shit…I’m glad. But, yeah, that kinda kissing is for when things get really passionate”.

“Barbara and Stephanie haven’t talked much about kissing”.

 

He rolls his eyes again.

“I kinda figured that”.

“Will we do more kissing? I would enjoy it if we did”.

 

“Umm…sure, yeah, I mean, we’re not done so there’ll definitely be more kissing”.

“I mean after” Cass explains, not missing a beat, in opposition to Jason who completely and utterly pauses. After? He hadn’t even considered an after. And part of him hoped that after would consist of them pretending that this never happened. But how could they? This? It was life changing. World changing even! 

“You mean like…practice? Kissing practice?”

She seemed stuck between a nod and a shake of her head, yes and no.

 

“Yes” she eventually settles on. “But also if either of us just want to kiss”.

 

“You liked kissing that much?” he asks, partially disbelieving, a single eyebrow raised as if in shock. At this Cassie wastes no time. She just nods her head. “Yes. With you”.

 

“I…I’m okay at it” he admits, blushing. “Probably a lot of other guys out there that are way better”. 

 

“I do not know other men well enough to kiss them” she explains simply.

 

‘Am I imagining it, or is her touch getting…softer?’ he asks, feeling her continued presence upon his chest as she gently moves her hand back and forth. It did feel better, a lot better. Almost like Cass was getting the hand of foreplay.

 

“And I would prefer only kissing you”.

Maybe she didn’t realize it, but there was an implied exclusivity there, almost as if she wanted them to da-

‘No! No! She’s just…confused, wrapped up in the moment. She doesn’t, couldn’t, not possibly, ever want that’ he thinks, cutting THAT train of thought right at the base, knowing it wouldn’t do him any good at the moment.

Things were already screwed up more than enough as it was. 

 

“Jason. I am wet”.

 

“Huh? Ohh, right, right”.

He leaned back, looking down at her breast, still shimmering with the remnants of his saliva upon it. She’d said that before he started kissing her abs and stood up, so the conversation was brought back to where it had left off…before her first kiss. 

 

Her stomach and her tit now were wet, and in Jason’s mind, which wasn’t up to snuff right then and there, that’s what she meant.

“Here, let me dry it-,”

“No,” she says, stopping him. “I am wet”. She repeats her sentiment, reiterating it for the man’s understanding, before following it up with a pointed look downwards. Down towards her crotch. Jason’s eyes went wide and his mouth went slack, the meaning behind her words now clear.

 

He looked down, and could indeed see a large dark spot in her panties, one that hadn’t been there before and still seemed to be growing.

 

“Shit…uhh…yeah, you are”.

“What do we do next?”

He could almost, just barely, detect the faintest hint of excitement in her voice, the woman clearly being eager to continue on with this. And so was Jason. All he could look at at that moment was her sopping wet womanhood, a virginal flower that hadn’t been touched by any man.

 

A prize to be seized, but one which was also being offered.

Men had gone to war over such things. Virginal brides. In the past they’d dueled, rode out to battle, staked their entire honor upon such things, and Jason? He felt like he was in a similar boat somehow. Wasn’t he running a massive risk fucking Batman’s daughter? Yes. Yes he was.

And he was now fully committed to taking that risk. 

 

The caveman part of his brain wanted to rip her out of her panties, toss her on the bed and slam his cock into her, spear her and take her innocence…but the rational, human part? He knew that was insane.

 

‘She’d fuck me up. And not in a good way’.

 

“Jason. It is only getting worse” she says, her hips now lightly humping forward into the air as if a pressure was building within her. And it was.

Jason had brought her to that point, so it was his job to relieve it.

 

“Alright, umm…Cass? What do you know about cunnilingus?”

She tilts her head to the side and looks at him, her answer clearly in the negative as Jason repositions his fingertips and pushes them into the hem of her panties, getting a firm grasp upon them. She brokers no dissent, and indeed just watches as he yanks them down, allowing gravity to quickly do the rest, bringing the soiled garment to her ankles, which she gingerly steps out of.

 

‘Holy fucking shit!’

He could see it now. Cassandra’s pussy was on full and clear display to him, with the woman apparently not caring in the slightest that he could see her most intimate spots. It was a tight little slit, he could see that from her, the twin clefts coming together perfectly so that only the thinnest black line remained.

 

He was going to have to work hard to open it so as to allow him in.

 

‘Lucky for me, and for you Cass…I love eating pussy. And that one? Looks like a downright meal’. In his mind he was getting increasingly lewd and crass, while outwardly? He remained respectful.

Thoughts were okay, weren’t they?

 

“I am very wet” Cassie says as if Jason couldn’t see for himself, her juices leaking out of her, covering her cleft with a glossy sheen, while little droplets rush down her thighs. “Yeah…I can see. I..I haven’t gotten a girl wet like that as quickly as I did you” he says, knowing that was true. The others? Had all taken a considerable larger amount of effort. 

 

“You are very good”.

“Thank you”.

He puffs up with pride at that, but quickly returns to the matter at hand, gently taking her by the side and leading her towards her bed. Cassie looks at him, but doesn’t resist, following along, making it easier for him.

 

“Alright, uh…sit down”.

She does exactly that, plopping her perfect ass atop the end of the bed, the mattress bouncing slightly from her frame. “Soooo they haven’t told you anything about cunnilin-oral sex?” he corrects, making the connection between the words for her, but not relying on the longer word.

He moves to his knees on the floor before the bed and reaches for her thighs, grasping them with ease, giving him clear and intimate access. He tried to look her in the eyes, but he kept getting drawn back towards her vagina.

 

‘Shit. Why the fuck does it look so goddamn perfect?!’

 

“Eating pussy, is that also a term for it?” she asks, looking down at the man with barely suppressed eagerness, already wondering what was coming next. Again she humps upwards, instinct telling her to do so. But something wasn’t right. She was just meeting air. She needed more.

She needed it right now.

 

“Yeah, yeah it is” Jason says with a wince, half aroused, half upset about her use of the word. It was almost like hearing a previously innocent child using it after picking it up somewhere. It felt, and sounded, wrong.

 

“Only that they complain of their lovers never giving it to them”.

 

“Well duh” he says, almost to himself, getting in closer, so close that the breath from his nostrils impacts against her pussy. ‘Shit, she’s hairy too’ he thinks, noting the thick and dark, natural looking bush atop her pussy. It looked soft, and a place he definitely wanted to take a nice whiff.

 

‘You’re sick…well, I’m gonna get my ass kicked by Bruce either way. Already gone too far. Might as well make it worth it. 

 

“I wouldn’t wanna eat out some sl-woman who just had sex with two guys” he says, drawing a nod from Cassie who understood. “Yes. Neither would I”. He was about to say that it didn’t make any sense for her to say that, but he didn’t waste time on it. He got what she was trying to say.

As it was she was leaning upwards, looking down at him, watching intently, waiting for what she didn’t even know the particulars of, but was sure that it would feel amazing. 

 

“Well…I’m gonna do that for you. But seeing as how some light groping and licking your nipple has already gotten you this horny, let me know if licking you here is too much”. He left the ‘I don’t want to be leg locked and suffocated in pussy’ part unsaid. After all, he wanted that kept on the table.

 

‘One hell of a way to die’.

He releases one of her thighs, trusting the woman to keep it open for him, and thrusts his finger forward, lightly pressing against her slit, and only exerting the tiniest amount of pressure.

 

“O-ohh”.

 

Her response was instantaneous, though muted. Which made sense. It wasn’t much. 

 

“I’m uhh…just trying to make sure you’re lubed up enough” he admits, moving his pointer up and down, gathering as much of her juices onto it as possible. But he also leans forward, purses his lips, and spits right on her vagina and his finger, further adding to it. Cassie watches this without protest.

In fact? She was squirming a bit, though it was clear she was desperately trying to keep herself still. 

 

“For penetration” she states simply. 

“Yeah” Jason concurs, continuing to move up and down, and now, exerting a bit more pressure as he gets ready to push into her vagina. 

 

“Mmmmm…it…it feels…be-better than when I do it” she admits, giving Jason a mental image of Cassie naked, just like she currently was, on her bed, trying to pleasure herself, but not really knowing how. 

 

“Thanks” he says with a smile, looking up at her and taking his attention away for a moment all while still pressing in with his finger. He overextends himself though, and finds that his finger? Quickly disappeared.

It was almost as if it was sucked in Cassie’s folds in an instant, allowing him to feel muscle, warmth, and wetness instantly surrounding him.

“G-guhhh…o-ohh”.

 

‘Shit’.

 

His finger was buried in her, right to the base, well past the knuckle. Even he was shocked for a moment, going wide eyed at what he’d done. ‘That was too fucking much! You’re supposed to go easy on h-’

 

“M-more”.

“What?”

That whispered word cut his thoughts off, and he looked up towards Cassie, seeing her face suddenly flush, her composure starting to fall away. She humped up again, but this time she didn’t find air. Instead she brought Jason’s finger back and forth over her inner walls as a result of her movement.

 

“More! Pl-please”.

She was losing her patience and honestly? Jason was a little scared. He’d never, not once, seen her make a face like that, not even when her arm was almost bitten off by Killer Croc. True her face was covered then, but even still!

 

“Okay, okay! Just…get ready” he says, having a feeling that what he was going to do next for her would be far, far more than she was prepared for. His penetration, even slight as it was, was apparently doing the job.

Cassie’s pussy was absolutely soaked now, and much more open.

He could even see her clitoris, that engorged little bud, starting to poke out from under the hood of flesh that covered it. He smiled, and leaned in, opening his mouth and pushing his tongue out, getting ready. Slowly he began to move his finger back and forth, making sure to curl it and tease along her walls, looking for sensitive spots.

But with how new this was to her, and how her muscles seemed to be spasming even around his finger, he got the feeling he’d be finding a surplus of those.

 

‘Alright, here we go Cass’.

 

“Mmmmm”.

He drew his tongue right over her clitoris in much the same way he’d done with her nipple, teasing it and feeling it practically throb, a testament not only to her arousal but to her sheer strength of will that she’d applied in hiding it. He stayed there for a few moments, lathering the bud in attention, but quickly brought his tongue down lower lower over her slit, teasing it as he finger fucked her. 

 

He didn’t leave her clit alone for long though.

He’d give her a second or two of respite before coming right back up.

 

“Mmmm…mmmm…mmmm”.

She tasted delicious. Salty, but with some fruity aftertaste, no doubt a result of her strict diet. ‘Okay, I might offer her the same deal with pussy eating as I did with kisses’ he thinks. ‘Because this is-wha-what is she-?’

 

“MMMPH!”

Cassie had brought her legs up, and quickly wrapped them around the back of his head, trapping him. But even more than that, forcing him in deeper. He found his nose buried in her bush, giving him a heady scent, a mixture of her own smell and the soaps she used. His whole face was forced into her twat, and in an instant he was soaked.

 

“Mmmph! Mmphh!”

 

Her legs wrapped around the back of his head, and kept him there, so strong, so powerful that even if he’d ever intended to leave he couldn’t. ‘Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!’ He was almost in panic mode, but he kept licking, teasing and shimmy his tongue up and down her cleft, while bringing his eyes to look upwards.

Cassie was looking down at him with yet another expression he had never seen before. 

 

Her eyes were wide, and her chest was rising and falling as she took deep, faltering breasts. She looked like an animal, a woman who had lost complete and utter control of herself and reverted to nothing more than primal instinct. 

 

Her hand went to his head, gently moving through his scalp, caressing him in a mixture of softness and harshness, alternating.

And she was humping again.

“Y-yes. Yes!”

 

‘Shit! She needs to be quiet!’ he thinks, shocked that Cassie was even raising her voice. But he couldn’t pull away to tell her! His mouth was full of her pussy. He sucks on her lips, almost the same way he would’ve with her mouth, effectively making out with her pussy now. 

 

“T-this is a-a-amazin-guhh-amazing. I-n-ne-nev-never k-k-k-”

 

She throws her head back, her thrusts against his mouth and finger, so desperate for pleasure, only growing more and more intense as time went on. Time that Jason felt was running out. All of his senses, smell, taste, even hearing and sight, were overwhelmed by Cassie, who was grunting animalistically as she continued to use his mouth to pleasure herself.

 

‘What the hell did I do?’ he ponders to himself, able to get a few breaths from the inch or so he was able to pull back before Cassie’s leg lock forced him back in, refusing to let him get any further than that. ‘What the hell did I do?’

 

He should’ve known better than to mess with a tigress, to walk into her cage, even if she truly believed she didn’t want to eat you. He knew from the get go that Cassie? She was dangerous. One of the most dangerous women on Earth, and he was a fool to think he could handle her.

 

‘I’m going to die. I’m going to die!’ he thinks while thrusting his tongue into her atop his finger. He truly believed that, especially as Cassie hissed in pleasure, throwing her head back and gritting her teeth.

“Ehhh! Ehhh! Hrrrm…heh…ehhhh!”

 

He was going to die with Cass riding his face like her life depended on it.

 

So why the hell didn’t he give a damn?

 

‘What a way to go’.

 

Content with his fate he continues eating Cass out, deciding that air was less important than making sure this woman, who’d been robbed of so much in her life, was pleasured. She deserved to let loose a little, didn’t she?

Yeah…she definitely did.

And boy oh boy was she.

Chapter 3

Notes:

Sorry guys! I was away but I'm back now. Also got insanely into painting Warhammer figures so there's that too haha. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Master Bedroom, Wayne Manor

 

“Mmmmf! Mmmmf! Mmmmf!”

 

With every grunt the man brought his body upwards, using only one hand to push off of the wooden floor beneath him. His other arm? It was tucked behind his back, ensuring that he wouldn’t use it to assist him.

 

In a few minutes he’d switch off to the other, ensuring that they got equal exercise, so that no single part of his body was neglected.

Up and down he went, his face getting near the floor and then pushed away with the greatest of ease. 

 

‘Two hundred. Two hundred and one. Two hundred and two’.

He was like little more than a machine whose entire purpose was to push himself up and down, uncaring of how long he’d been going or how much further he had to go. But, that was Bruce Wayne. He had to put his body through such strenuous exercise, otherwise? He’d get soft, and Gotham would suffer.

He continued his push-ups, dressed only in a pair of pajama pants, his incredibly toned and muscled torso on full display to anyone who might have walked in at that moment, though the odds of that happening at this hour were slim.

 

The others? They were undoubtedly asleep, as he would be soon…for about two hours when his body would force him awake once more to do four hundred sit-ups. 

Normally exercise calmed him, steadied his mind, but tonight? It didn’t have that effect. Even under the counting and strain of exertion he felt upon his body he was thinking about something else.

 

‘Jason was acting strangely’.

 

He could still remember it all from when he’d returned to the cave. The strange expression, unwillingness to make eye contact, the slight blush that was still present. ‘Why?’ That was how Bruce’s mind worked. Why was the question that it asked over and over again on repeat it seemed, needing to dissect anything and everything, break it down into the question’s most basic components, and thus the answer. 

 

‘I haven’t seen him like that since he was in high school’ the man thinks, going back through the years to maybe get an answer to the question. ‘When he had a crush on his classmate. Rena’.

He smiled, still able to count as he remembers that more innocent time. Before…well…just before. 

 

Of course he remembered the girl’s name. He remembered everything, especially in regards to his children. He also remembered that he’d tried to dissuade Jason from pursuing anything with the girl, knowing that when it came to his own relationships, the few he allowed himself, he kept himself at arms length. 

 

It was dangerous, letting someone get close like that. If someone found out about Robin’s connection to a girl, it could be used against him. Just as so many women had been used as a weapon against Batman.

 

He’d tried to impart that on Jason as well, though as usual the second Robin had completely ignored his advice and proceeded anyway. The relationship didn’t last long regardless. Young love, cut off right at the stem by the Joker’s evil and a mother’s treachery. 

 

For a while Bruce had thought that that would be the end of Jason’s romantic endeavors. Even when he came back, angry, twisted, he was much too broken to pursue more ‘normal’ interests it seemed…

 

‘I’m such a hypocrite’.

 

He allows that thought into his mind, acknowledging it as true within himself in a way he’d never allow to be shown outwardly. If at least not to give Alfred the satisfaction of knowing he was right.

 

“Mmmmf! Mmmmf! Mmmmf!”

Right in the midst of his downwards trajectory he switched arms, bringing the other one down quickly enough to prevent himself from face planting into the floor, continuing after that as if it was nothing. 

 

‘One…two…three’.

 

‘This isn’t about me, it’s about Jason’ he reminds himself, turning back to the issue at hand. ‘A few women have come into his life’ he further muses, though quickly finds that that thought wasn’t nearly as positive as he’d wanted it to be.

‘But none of them were able to dissuade him from his path of brutality’. 

 

Essence? She was a killer as well, who most definitely wouldn’t have tempered Jason’s more…aggressive approach to crime. In fact? She would’ve encouraged it.

Talia?

At that thought Bruce paused in mid air, grimacing in disgust, balanced on his one hand while fighting the sudden urge to vomit. Talia, a woman he’d once been sure that he was in love with, a woman who’d almost, and he didn’t like to admit how close it was, got him to change his mind about his crusade. 

 

A killer, who wanted to purify the world in much the same way that her father did. Who didn’t balk at genocide, murder, starvation and spreading disease.

A woman who’d brought Jason back from the dead, resurrected his greatest failure, returned him to the world of the living…

 

And then had sex with him.

 

Why? Bruce still didn’t know, but what he did know was that Jason was vulnerable, alone, left reeling with his murder and subsequent dip in the Lazarus Pit, surrounded by killers and murderers, subjected to brainwashing no doubt, with Talia, a very beautiful, voluptuous woman, using her body to further ensnare him to her cause which was…what?

 

Making him jealous? 

 

If that was the goal, she’d failed. It only disgusted him, and destroyed any last remnants of love that he’d had for her. She’d taken advantage of Jason, used him, and that? Bruce would never forgive.

 

Though Talia hardly counted as a love interest. From what Jason had, begrudgingly and embarrassedly told him, as if he was worried about Bruce’s reaction to the information.

‘I never did tell him that I wasn’t upset with him over that’.

The thought hit him like a sack of bricks as he returned to his routine, feeling awful once more about how emotionally aloof he was at times…most times. 

 

“Mmmf! Mmmf! Mmmf!”

 

‘How would I even tell him? How would I approach that?’

 

He didn’t have an answer to that question, and so he moved on. Back towards something more comfortable, something he might have a better grasp on. ‘Ravager is another one that I didn’t particularly like for him’ he thinks further, knowing that Deathstroke’s daughter most certainly wasn’t a good match for Jason.

 

They were a bit…too similar. 

 

‘Artemis…I didn’t like her either. Diana doesn’t trust her’.

 

That was more than enough for Bruce to completely and utterly write off the Amazon from the renegade tribe. 

 

‘Isabel Ardila’.

That was the last name that came to Bruce’s mind, and oddly enough? It was one that made him smile. He’d met the blonde woman…once, and remembered how she’d been so nervous and seemingly starstruck while she stood at Jason’s side, his hand on her waist as he proudly showed her off, happier than Bruce had ever seen him.

 

“M-Mr. Wayne. It’s such an honor to meet you”.

She extended her free hand towards the billionaire, who didn’t hesitate to reach out and take it, giving her a firm, but not painful, shake. “It’s nice to meet you too, Isabel. Please. Call me Bruce”. He was in boardroom mode, putting on his most winning smile as they all met outside of Gotham International Airport, the woman still wearing her stewardess uniform. 

 

It wasn’t feigned this time though, the fake smile or laugh you’d put on when you met someone interested in joining the board. No. It was a real, actual and very rare Bruce Wayne smile.

 

‘Jason was right. She’s gorgeous’.

 

“Jason’s told me so much about you” the man says, looking over towards Jason who only smirks even wider, as if saying ‘see? I can get babes too’.

 

“Hehehe…I…I hope only good things”.

“What else would there be to tell?” Jason asks, hugging her even tighter. “There’s nothing but good things about you”.

“Jason”.

 

Even through this minor interaction Bruce could already see the affection between the two, clear as day and unhidden. It…it made him happy, honestly. “Well, come on. Alfred’s waiting for us and I got all four of us reservations at Gold’s Steakhouse”.

 

“Alfred’s going to come?”

Isabel seemed positively joyous over that, and Bruce raised an eyebrow towards Jason, curious at why such a reaction would come from his girlfriend. Jason just shrugged and averted his eyes.

“Yes” Bruce answers, sure that the woman would answer his question herself in a moment. “Is that okay Isabel?”

“Okay? It’s more than okay! Jason has told me soooo much about Alfred. He’s a legend. It seems like every time I ask, Jason has another Alfred story”.

“Heheh well, you know Alfred” Jason breaks in. “The man, the myth, the legend”.

“Indeed”.

 

Bruce could only agree with that sentiment, finding that this woman was quickly growing on him. Of course he was still suspicious, and he’d already run numerous background checks but he’d try and get a hair sample at some point during the dinner as well, wanting to make sure she wasn’t secretly a metahuman or alien. 

 

He had, of course, gotten the hair sample and found…nothing.

She was just a simple, human woman, without metahuman abilities or secrets. To all appearances? She was just a stewardess who enjoyed Jason’s company. The dinner had gone really well, with Isabel chattering away with Alfred all night.

 

She’d spent the next three days sightseeing in Gotham with Jason until she’d had to return to work, but she promised to come back soon.

And she most likely would have had Jason’s life not gotten in the way.

 

Bruce draws himself up, getting off of the floor and moving into a sitting position beside his bed, taking a moment to catch his breath even though he was barely winded. Now though? He was in a decidedly sour mood.

 

‘Jason went off and formed the Outlaws, first with Starfire and Arsenal and then? Bizarro and Artemis…and Isabel just…faded into the background’. It had been a disappointment, and while he hadn’t said anything Bruce got a taste of what Alfred seemed to get nonstop with him. 

 

‘Maybe I should give Alfred a raise’.

 

He wished that Jason had just stayed with Isabel. Maybe drifted away from this life altogether. Settled down, had a family and just tried his best to forget the pain of the past. But it was not to be. He monitored Isabel from time to time, still holding onto hope that the two who, were at least still friends, would find their way back to one another.

 

But any chance of that ended last year when Isabel got married to a pilot…who Bruce also ran a check on, just to be safe.

They seemed happy while Jason? He seemed…less so.

 

‘He hasn’t reconnected with any of them’ he thinks to himself, now certain that Jason’s embarrassment had to be related to some sort of either romantic or physical endeavour. That was the only time the man seemed to show his emotions openly.

 

‘Or when he’s enraged’.

But the blush, general discomfort? That wasn’t rage, and Bruce knew he was onto something.

 

He rose up, standing and looking towards his bed, wondering if he should just get in and go to sleep, but such a thing was hard to do when your mind was whirring. ‘He hasn’t gotten in touch with any of the others…so there has to be someone new in his life. But someone he’s embarrassed about sharing with the others’.

 

His mind goes over it, and heads back to that airport meeting with Isabel.

 

‘No. He wants to show off the women he gets, especially when it’s serious. He wants everyone to know…so it’s not something serious’ he settles upon, feeling the pieces come together easily. ‘It’s something purely physical. A one night stand or maybe something longer term’.

He sets himself down on the bed, laying down while folding his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

 

‘I need to find out who she is’ he thinks, unable to turn off Batman any more than he was able to stop breathing. It’s who he was. ‘She might be a threat. Like Bernard’. Bruce had already run Tim’s boyfriend through an intensive background check, blood, hair follicles, everything ran through the crime database. 

 

Clean.

Fortunately.

 

‘That’s why I allowed the relationship between him and Stephanie’ he thinks, though if that sentiment was voiced towards anyone else they would’ve made it clear that he didn’t ‘allow’ anything. That they had their own lives, and made their own decisions.

 

Regardless, Bruce had preferred it when Dick was seeing Babs and Tim was seeing Stephanie. It ensured that their secret was safe and that there wasn’t a risk of a loved one being used as a weapon, as said loved ones were just as experienced in crime fighting to keep themselves and the others safe.

But now? With Dick engaged to Starfire and Tim seeing Bernard?

The risks were greater. Both of leaks, and of danger.

 

‘I don’t need Jason adding to it’ he thinks. ‘Especially not now’.

 

So many things to be concerned about, so many threats to Gotham, and he had to juggle them all. Even the ones in his own family. None of them understood the dangers that came with remaining in this life. None of them. Sacrifices had to be made. You couldn’t have that sort of closeness with people. Not if you wanted to keep them safe.

 

He sighs in frustration, shaking his head once more.

 

‘At least Cassandra doesn’t give me these headaches’ he thinks, unable to stop the small smile that crossed his lips as he thinks about the woman he had adopted as his daughter, who he intended to leave his cowl to. ‘She’s committed. Focused only on the mission. She doesn’t need people. She’s like me. She won’t let herself fall prey to love or lust. Gotham. Gotham and justice. It’s all she cares about’.

 

Down the Hall, Cassandra’s Bedroom

 

“Mmmm! Mmmmmm!”

 

‘I’m gonna die! I’m gonne die!’

 

He tapped on her thighs, desperately trying to signal to the woman that now? He needed to breathe, but it wasn’t getting through to her. Of that he was sure. Or maybe…maybe it was. ‘She’s Lady Shiva’s daughter’ he thinks, feeling a cold hand grip his spin as he thrusts his tongue into her, feeling the tightness of her walls desperately trying to cling to it as he combines his saliva with her excitement, slithering across them. 

 

‘She might kill me to make herself feel good’.

 

His nose was buried in her now sopping wet bush, his entire face coated in spit and her cum, the woman leaking like a sieve now as the normally composed and stoic cash thrashes on the bed. He’d never seen her like this and honestly? If he wasn’t being suffocated he might’ve found it hilarious.

Or frightening.

Probably more of the latter.

Her eyes were wide, almost like saucers, staring up at no particular place as her head moved this way and that atop the bed, her arms out to the side and her hands grasping at the covers with a ferocious strength. 

 

Her breasts rose and fell quickly with her harsh breaths and forward humping, the woman moving her back up and down against the bed as she ground her pussy against his face, an action that only got more intense as he pulled his tongue out of her slit and brushed it across her clitoris, sending the woman into a seizure. 

 

What was the scariest however was that Cass?

She was practically silent. 

 

She hadn’t moaned or groaned, screamed or said anything. She just…grit her teeth ferociously, like she was in a fight, though Jason knew from experience that she didn’t even make that face while fighting.

 

“Nnymmmfff…nymmmmmfff!”

Harsh exhales of breath escape from her mouth, indicative of the pleasure she was undoubtedly feeling, but otherwise? He wasn’t being given much verbally.

But the anaconda-like grasp of her thighs and lower legs on his head was more than adequate.

‘She’s like a fucking animal! How many times do I need to make her cum?!!!!’

 

She’d orgasmed at least two or three times, he couldn’t be sure with how absolutely sopping wet her peach was, but there had definitely been some spasmings that were more intense than others. The space she left open for him to breathe became less and less after each one, until there was barely a centimeter between his face and her crotch.

 

‘Gotta…get…loose!’

He grasped her thighs, fiercely, feeling bad about possibly hurting her but putting more emphasis on his own survival at the moment. ‘One shot at this’. He pushes his tongue flat against her clitoris, and delivers a whirlwind of motion atop it.

 

“MMMMMYNNNFFF!”

Cass’ grunting grows more and more wild, a little louder even and yet another spurt of wetness makes its way to Jason’s chin, dripping down to his shirt around the collar, making it look as if he’d been sweating. 

Cass’ legs tighten for a second, making him believe he’d made a mistake, and then, suddenly, loosen just a bit. This was his chance.

Jason rockets back, pushing himself off of Cass via his grasp upon her thighs, forcing her legs to part. He could feel the faintest hint of resistance, but as Cass’ orgasm was her brain's most pressing concern, she wasn’t able to stop him.

 

“Guuuuuuuhhhh!”

Jason takes a deep breath of unimpeded fresh air, though he could still smell and taste Cass, his face almost having become permanently affixed to her pussy. He falls over a bit, resting on the floor atop his palms, desperately breathing while excess ejaculate drips from his face and onto the floor.

 

It was as if he’d been underwater for too long, and was now desperately trying to recover. 

 

‘You’re okay! You’re okay…you’re okay’.

 

His breathing slowed as he slowly came back to reality, turning his head to make sure that Cass was okay. His first sight was, naturally, her pussy, which shimmered with the residual excitement that was still leaking out of it and staining the covers below. 

 

‘Holy shit…it still looks delicious’.

 

Part of him wanted to put his face right back there and continue where he left off, with only the memory of how close he’d come to dying because of it keeping him from doing so. Her legs were spread and limp, hanging over the side of the bed, allowing him to see the red marks that were already forming from where he’d grasped her thighs.

 

‘That’s gonna bruise’.

 

“C-Cass?”

He reaches out for a corner of the bed, placing his hand upon it as he tries to rise up on shaky feet, still not having gotten his bearings back fully. “Are you okay?” He was worried. He couldn’t see the rest of her, lying flat as she was, her body only occasionally shaken by aftershocks of pleasure.

But she was silent again, not even that harsh, animalistic cooing she’d let out as Jason absolutely ravaged her pussy.

 

“Cass?”

“I…I am fine”.

‘Ohh thank God’.

 

She rose up a bit, shifting uneasily upon the bed as she brought her elbows up and inclined herself, her face now visible to the man as he stood by the side of the bed, still breathing heavily and appearing as if he’d just dunked his head in a pool. 

 

Her hair was a mess now, no doubt from how hard she’d been thrusting her head backwards into the bed, her body not used to the pleasure she’d felt at all. 

 

But it was in her eyes were Jason saw the most difference.

They seemed…more aware now, though that was silly to even think. Cass? She was always aware. Of everything. Sizing everything up, taking it all in, planning and then acting. But it was the only thing he could think of.

It was as if her eyes had been opened for the first time.

She looks down across her breasts and belly, down to her crotch, her legs still spread as she raises herself up even higher, wanting a better view. Jason, meanwhile, turns and collapses onto the bed, sitting on his rear a foot or so away from the woman, his hand going to his head. 

 

“That…that was a close one”.

“I am sorry” the Asian woman says simply, her eyes glued onto her pussy, her clitoris still engorged and horny it seemed, wanting more, while her labia were slick with saliva and cum. Droplets of her own juices dripped from the strands of her pubic hair, giving the appearance of grass on a spring morning.

“It’s fine…whatever”.

Jason brushes his hand across his face, feeling the liquid clinging to it, at first easily mistakable for sweat, but far too viscous to be so. He pulls his hand away from his face and watches as little bridges of Cass’ cum cling between his fingers, breaking quickly enough. 

 

‘She is pretty tasty’ he thinks, blushing quickly afterwards at the thought. He turns to look towards Cass who, for the moment, seemed enraptured at the sight of her own womanhood. ‘Fuck it’.

He brings his hand to his mouth, dabbing his tongue out and collecting the droplets Cass left for him. ‘If I had to suffocate in her, I damn well get to taste what’s left over’. He pushed a finger into his mouth, sucking her off of him. She did taste good. Really, really good, and he savored it as he closed his eyes.

 

“Are you…okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, yeah” he says, dropping his finger out of his mouth quickly in embarrassment, wiping the remnants off on his already soiled shirt. ‘Doing this load myself. Definitely do not need Alfred asking how I got covered in this’.

“Just…gimme a second to breathe”.

Cass shuffles up further until she was in a sitting position, her legs still spread wide as she sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at her crotch. “I…I have never felt that before”.

 

“You’ve touched yourself” Jason says simply, looking down at his shirt and grasping it, pulling it outwards a bit to inspect how soiled it was. ‘Great, yeah, this one’s no good’. He reaches down to the lower hem, and begins pulling it upwards, revealing toned and scarred flesh.

The movement draws Cass’ attention, and she watches him, her eyes roving over every inch with a newfound appreciation of the man. She feels…warm again, and she was relatively sure it wasn’t residual lust from her multiple tongue induced orgasms.

‘I’m gonna need another shower, and Alfred is gonna complain about the towels again’.

She reaches out as he pulls the shirt over his head, and places her hand, palm down, on the middle of his back. The touch provokes an instant response as Jason moves forward, severing the point of contact, much to Cass’ chagrin.

 

‘He does not like being touched there’.

 

“Okay ummm…sooooo that was good enough, right?” he asks, standing up and turning abruptly, putting distance between them. Cass remains on the bed, but tilts her head to the side, regarding the man curiously. “I mean, you came right? Now you know what sex is like?”

“There was no penetration”.

“Yeah there was,” he says, his mind somewhat remembering all of the misgivings he had in that moment, and still hoping that he could stop now. ‘That had to be enough right? Come on, it just…it has to be!’

 

“My tongue was…you know, inside you”.

 

‘This is so wrong’.

 

Cassie’s gaze doesn’t change or shift, but somehow it still felt as if it had hardened, as if she was able to pierce to the very center of his soul. “I am still a virgin as long as your penis has not entered me”.

She was right, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Jason stamps his feet almost childishly, getting more than frustrated.

“Ohh come on! Cass! Please, you have no idea what you’re doing to me!”

 

“I don’t” she says, making it seem as if she was understanding his plight and what he was going through in that moment. “But you haven’t taught me what I should do to you yet”. He was instantly robbed of that notion.

“Cass. When Bruce finds out we did this, he. Will. Kill. Me. Do you understand that?” he asks, making sure to enunciate every word.

“Batman doesn’t kill”.

“HE’D MAKE AN EXCEPTION FOR YOU!” he shouts before quickly controlling his voice, realizing that he might be overheard, and this whole, sordid affair, quite literally, is discovered. He brings his hand to his face and resists the urge to scream in frustration. 

 

“Do you realize how much he cares about you?” he asks.

“He cares for all of us”.

“Yeah, but you’re the golden child, you get that right?” Jason asks, not noticing how the woman wasn’t seemingly listening to him, distracted instead by the bulge that had formed between Jason’s legs, and was now protruding through the fabric.

 

‘Jason’s erection’.

 

The woman hid it well, but if could properly communicate her thoughts she would’ve said that she was impressed, and a little intimidated at the same time. Of course she hadn’t been being sarcastic when she told him that she was sure he had nothing to be worried about in the penis department, clearly a point of male pride she was beyond understanding. 

 

‘Six point seven inches’ she thinks, judging the length of the bulged out fabric, though her mind quickly adds another two to account for the compression that was placed upon his member from the fabric. 

 

‘Well above average’.

 

“He won’t ever say it but you? You’re like his perfect little clone. You do things exactly as he would do. You give everything to this life Cass, like him. He seriously respects you for that. We all do”.

 

She shuffles on the bed, moving her legs to the other side and throwing them over, her feet making contact with the floor as she sits facing him.

“Thank you”.

Her inflection changed slightly, a softness edging its way into her words that only people who really knew her would’ve noticed. She was genuinely thankful to hear such a thing. 

 

She…didn’t hear it often.

Aside from Stephanie she felt like most of the family simply dealt with her, only occasionally remembering she was there when she was needed. But hearing that from Jason?

It was nice. It made her feel less…forgotten.

 

Her eyes were still focused on his waist however, her mind focused single mindedly on her goal. 

 

“And if he finds out I did this with you? He’ll kill me. Yes, he will. And the others? They’ll join in. I can see it. They’ll tie me down and beat me to death with socks filled with quarters or something”.

“They wouldn’t do that” she says, reaching out without the man noticing, and grasping the hem of his pajama pants, too focused to think about how such a move would be perceived. She couldn’t understand why but the heat? The one she’d felt as Jason put his tongue in her, right before she orgasmed? It was back, and all from looking at his penis.

 

‘I don’t understand…but he will explain it to me’.

 

More than that? He’d show her, and that’s what Cass was looking forward to the most.

 

She began to tug downwards on the pants, which attracted Jason’s attention.

“Wait, what are you-no!”

 

He wasn’t in time to stop her. Jason was quick, but Cassie was quickly. She yanked his pants down to the middle of his thigh, allowing gravity to do the rest of the work as the fabric rolled down like an avalanche, right down to his ankles.

 

She wasn’t paying attention to that though.

She watched something else far more intently. As soon as she’d started yanking it down, she saw his pubic hair. Jet black, like hers. But where hers was the forest before her slit, his was in front of a shaft.

 

A very large one.

 

It was wide and rounded at the base, somewhat as expected due to what Cassie had seen, though perhaps the novelty was greater because of this being the first time that she’d ever seen a penis up close. As the fabric came lower and lower, more and more of the shaft was exposed, going every downwards, his cock already mostly hard, which surprised Cass as she hadn’t done anything to him to make it that way.

 

‘I have to understand how a penis works’ she thinks, verging on desperation. ‘Why is it hard? I haven’t even touched it’.

 

Eventually the pants caught on the end of his cock, and with no more shaft to hang on it fell over the tip. Previously it was angled downwards, no doubt due to the constraint posed by the pants, but as soon as it was released? It bobbed upwards.

Cassie found herself once again surprised as the penis, the first one she’d ever seen in person, was exposed right before her, swaying in the air.

‘It is…better than the one on Tinder’.

 

She didn’t know how to quantify that, but she also felt she didn’t have to. She was allowed to have opinions on things that were outside of missions. Cassie devoured it with her eyes, committing every detail to memory. How veins crisscrossed the member, popping up tightly against the flesh.

 

The skin that obscured the reddened head at the tip of his penis, though if she looked closely enough she would be able to see the redness poking through from beneath. His testicles, which hung low beneath his cock, and were of, at least Cassie would assume, large size. Unlike the one on Tinder, Jason was not shaved, and Cassie wondered why that was.

“You do not shave your pubic hair”.

“What the fuck Cass!” 

 

He makes to reach down, pull his pants up and cover up his penis once more, obscure it from the woman’s sight. But again, he wasn’t quick enough. With ninja like precision the younger woman reaches out…and grasps him tightly.

 

“Urrgh…o-ohhh…sh-shit”.

He was forced to pause, almost as if she’d hit him with one of her patented and Bat Family paralyzing nerve strikes. His back was arched for a moment, almost painfully, and he had to stand up straight to minimize it.

 

Which only forced his cock further into Cass’ grasp.

 

She watches as the tightness of her grip forces his foreskin back slightly, revealing the head.

“You do not shave down there” she says simply, slowly moving her hand up along his shaft, closer to the head. “And you have skin at the tip of your penis. It’s not the same as the one on Tinder”.

 

“N-no…”

He was finding it hard to breathe again, and he wondered how much of that was from arousal and how much from fear. There was no denying it now. Cassie was naked on her bed. He was naked standing next to it. Her pussy was wet. His cock was hard. Her hand was on his cock.

 

“I’m not some metrosexual”.

He was about to say stop, tell her, insist upon it. Something he knew would be respected if push came to shove. But…he didn’t. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Looking down at her, idly stroking his penis, moving up and down, exploring it, her thumb tracing over a vein in an ever so pleasurable sensation. 

 

‘Shit…’

 

He took another deep breath and put his hands, which were opening and closing, seemingly for want of something to do, on his hips. 

 

“You aren’t sexually attracted to trains” she says, taking Jason by surprise as he hadn’t thought she wouldn’t understand that. “What? No, no, it means…a guy who’s really into himself or something. Like…I don’t-”

She looks up at him, and that’s when he notices something shocking.

She was…smirking?

He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like that. A slight upturning of her lip on the right side. “You…you were joking?”

It falls away quickly, replaced by a flash of nervousness before she returns to her stoic expression, never releasing her hold upon his dick. “Yes. I’m sorry. Barbara told me I shouldn’t as-,”

“Listen, in a lot of things? Listen to Babs. She knows a lot. But on that? Ignore her. She has no idea what she’s talking about”. He looks around nervously, as if someone was in the room with them to see what was happening. 

 

“That was funny, and honestly if my dick wasn’t in your hand? I would’ve caught it. Mmmf”.

He was eminently reminded of that fact as soon as Cassandra tightened her grip, her thumb brushing, on accident, across the head. She took notice of his reaction, and socked it away in her mind.

 

“The tip of your penis. It is sensitive”.

“Y-yeah…yeah it is”.

“Should I pull the skin back?”

“Ummm…”

 

‘It’s hard to teach her about male biology when I’m the damn lab rat’.

“No…no…it’s…very sensitive. If you touch it too much it’ll go off”.

“You mean ejaculation?”

“Yeah…yeah, that’s what I mean”.

 

“Hmmm”.

 

Cassie seemed further intrigued by that, and was now looking intently at Jason’s cock which she still held in her hand. She was pumping it back and forth methodically, sliding her hand along his length, pulling and pushing the foreskin naturally over his cockhead, but not fully uncovering it.

 

“Shit…”

 

‘Might as well enjoy it’.

He leans his head back, closes his eyes and moans, pushing his hips forward so as to force more of his length into Cass’ hand. Slowly he brings one of his hands up, and begins to move it towards the woman’s head, something that Cass notices, yet doesn’t prevent. He places it atop her head, feeling the softness of her hair, lightly caressing her scalp.

“Does it feel good for you?”

Her voice was strangely soft, nervous, as if she couldn’t tell and needed assurance. An assurance Jason was all too eager to give him. He nods his head slowly, keeping his breathing steady as he does. “Yeah. It feels great”.

 

“This is called a handjob, correct?”

“Yeah”.

She pauses, her hand right in the middle of his cock, her touch tight, and worrying. For a second Jason wondered if he’d done something wrong, and he opened his eyes, looking down at the woman. He wondered if maybe she’d come to her senses, and realized how wrong it was that they were doing this.

 

But he also realized that if she did stop now? She’d be leaving him with the worst case of blue balls he’d ever experienced.

 

‘I feel like I’m going to explode’.

His cock was throbbing in her hand, eager to be somewhere warm and wet where it could ‘deliver its payload’ so to speak. Jason, just like everyone else, wasn’t immune to human nature after all. 

 

“Something wrong?”

“Will you teach me how to give a blowjob?”

It felt like the world paused for a moment, and Jason’s monkey brain went into overdrive. The thought of Cass, with her lips wrapped around his cock as he thrusted in and out of her mouth, all the while she looked up at him with that adorable expression of hers…

 

It was soon all he could think about.

 

But reason, and reluctance, once again won out.

 

“I…I don’t know about that one Cass. That’s taking it too far”.

“Why?” she asks pointedly, not even giving him a moment to think of why he should prevent her from doing that. Of course there were possibly dozens of reasons why, but he was really, really struggling to articulate them in that moment. 

 

“Stephanie and Barbara have both done it, and they enjoyed it”.

She softens after that, and tilts her head to the side, looking down at his cock and giving it another soft stroke. It was kinda cute to be honest. How gentle she was with his prick. Like it was a small animal or something and she wanted to be careful not to crush it.

 

All things considered? Jason was thankful for that. 

 

‘Especially since putting my cock in HER hand was probably the dumbest decision you’ve ever made in your entire freaking life’.

 

“You don’t have to do everything that they do you know?” he says, wanting her to understand that more than anything else. ‘Shouldn’t have to always weigh herself against those two. Especially when we all know deep down? She’s the best Batgirl’.

 

It was a thought he’d had for a long time, but one that he’d keep to himself.

Cass? She really was born for this. She could fight better than anyone else, and under Bruce’s tutelage? She’d become a grade a detective. She also didn’t have a tendency to overlook certain crimes like Babs leaned towards from time to time.

Barbara Gordon was, at her heart, a community activist. And for those types of people? The ends justified the means.

Cassandra Cain? She was a crusader, and she’d never, not once, betray her morals.

 

Jason hated to admit it, but he was much closer to Babs in that regard than he was to Cass and Bruce. And sometimes? Well…he wished it was different. But that was neither here, nor there. Right now? He had to make sure, positively, one hundred percent, that there was no chance her mouth went anywhere near his dick.

 

“I know” she agrees with a nod, unaware of his internal monologue.

 

“Good, now-,”

“But I want to”.

 

He deflated, realizing that once again he wasn’t going to win this battle. He brings his free hand up to his face and sighed, shaking his head while bringing the hand he’d placed atop Cass’ head down to the side of her face, cupping her cheek in an affectionate way. To his surprise she leaned into it, nuzzling against him, but said nothing, merely continuing to look up at him as she awaited his answer. 

 

“Why the hell would you want to? You realize I pee out of this thing right?”

“Yes. But you showered and are clean”.

She looks back towards his cock and leans in, almost making Jason think she was going to start sucking it right then and there. But instead? She sniffs it, further shocking the man who had not once ever seen a woman do that. 

 

‘What. The. Fuck?’

 

Cassandra remains where she was, taking in his scent, before leaning back and looking back up at the man. “You smell nice”.

“Thanks…but for future reference? Don’t go around smelling guy’s dicks”.

“Okay. Only yours”.

 

“That’s not what I…ugggh…okay, yeah, I wash my junk and it's clean, but that doesn’t mean you should want to put your mouth on it”.

“I do”.

 

“No, you don’t”.

“Yes I do” she says, this time more insistently, and Jason winces as he feels her grip upon his cock increase, and his fears of what she could do once more rise up within his head. “And I do not want to do it because Barbara and Stephanie have”.

“Urrggh…o-okay. Then why?”

“Because it would make you feel good” she says simply, taking the man by surprise as he finds that he genuinely didn’t have a retort or answer for that. “They have both talked about how much men like oral sex. And I want you to enjoy sexual activity with me”.

 

Her gaze lowers for a moment and then comes back up, another blush coloring her cheeks.

 

“I…I enjoyed your tongue in me. Very much”.

“Pfft, understatement of the century. I was there remember? Death by pussy and leglock? That’s what they would’ve put on my gravestone if it lasted another ten seconds”. He made it clear that he was joking, smiling and even letting out a laugh as he does, wanting to make sure she didn’t get upset. It worked too as Cass gave him a slight smile of her own. 

 

‘That’s one hell of a thing to have on a gravestone though to be honest’.

 

“I am sorry. This is how I’ll make it up to you”.

She looked again at his cock, and this time? Seemed a bit intimidated by its size, something that struck deeply at Jason’s masculine pride, though in a positive way. He almost wanted to flex for her so that she could further enjoy it.

“If I invited that other man tonight, I would not have put his in my mouth” she offers. “Only yours. As long as…”

She pauses, her tongue licking out over her lips quickly, darting out like a snake ensuring that its burrow was free of predators. “You do not go as roughly as I was on you-,”

“Literally impossible”.

 

“I would like to learn. You promised to teach me about sex Jason” she reminds him, no doubt feeling he was honor bound to see this through. “Pleasuring your partner is about sex. Let me try this”.

 

He saw that she wasn’t going to be dissuaded, and even though he knew it was wrong, how was a man really going to argue against a blowjob? He couldn’t, not with how his dick was throbbing, desperate for some sort of release.

“Alright, alright” he finally settles on, shaking his head before rolling his eyes and huffing, smiling all the while. “You talked me into it”.

She apparently got his sarcasm that time, and smiled once more, something that Jason was seeing more tonight from her than he’d seen in years. But she was just as quickly back to business, her expression stoic once more as her attention was focused upon the hardened organ in front of her.

 

“Tell me what to do”.

“Well, first? Let go of the death grip you’ve got on my shaft”.

On command Cassandra lets go, though he could tell that she did so reluctantly, frustration flashing over her face. The pressure decreased and she brought her hand away, and instantly Jason missed it. ‘I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be doing this’.

 

All the same, he shuffles a bit, opening his legs further, giving her better access to his cock as she sat on the bed.

 

“Alright, so…first? I guess some guys like different things” he starts, hemming and hawing as he tried to come up with what he should say to her.

“What do you like?”

And of course she doesn’t allow him that breathing room, instead instantly cutting to the heart of the issue. ‘Great, yeah, well, positive? No woman has ever asked me that question’ he ponders thinking back over his other partners.

Especially in regards to oral sex.

 

Essence and Talia? Downright refused to do so. Both echoed similar sentiments, telling him that it was demeaning, though they never once turned down a chance to get eaten out by him. Isabel and Rose had no problem doing it, but neither were particularly good at it, though he’d never say that.

 

‘Surprisingly? Artemis was the best at it’.

 

He had to smile at that. The hardcore Amazon, whose first male sexual partner had been him, gave the best head. ‘She didn’t give head’ he corrects himself, thinking back on it. ‘She gave throat’.

 

“GLLLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLK!”

“Oh God…oh God!”

It was all he could do to hang on, leaning against the wall, his pants around his ankles and both of his hands on top of the woman’s head as she kneeled before him. A head which was bobbing up and down vigorously, though without any force or input from him.

 

No. She was doing it all on her own, her deep blue eyes focused upon his, locked on like a missile as her thick, pouty lips wrapped around his shaft, which she was taking right up to the hilt. 

 

She was on her knees in front of him, right in the middle of a warzone, albeit at night when most combatants were either sleeping or none too eager to fight.

 

“Shit…Artemis? Should we be-urrrrgggh fuck”.

He threw his head back, feeling it make contact with the ruins of the brick wall that made up the kitchen they were taking their moment in. 

 

“Spppt…mmmmm…mmmm”. Artemis pulled back, leaving half of his cock in her mouth which allowed her to free her tongue, which slithered snakelike under the shaft, teasing it as it caressed and massaged a vein.

It didn’t last one however, as quickly? She returned to her previous ministrations,but this time while tilting her head and changing things up. Now he had to contend with her tongue and her mouth, at once. 

 

He began to buckle, his legs feeling weak.

 

He knew what was coming, and his grip on the back of Artemis’ head tightened in warning, ready to pull her off while her hands came up to rub at his thighs…which of course only made it worse.

 

‘Fuckkkkkk!”

 

He could feel his balls contracting. This was the last possible moment to stop.

“Ar-Artemis? I’m gonna cum. Y-you need to g-get o-”

 

He was humping forward into her mouth, unable to help it as he did so, moving on instinct, but any thought of being able to pull out suddenly went right out the window. Her hands moved around the back of him, lifting off from his thighs, and instead clamping down on his ass cheeks.

And pulling him forward.

“Gllllk! Glllk spppttt! Mmmmmm! Mmmm! Mmmm!”

The vibrations caused by her moans went up and down his cock as she gagged but recovered and Jason was now watching her spittle covered lips and mouth envelop his cock with the ease of an expert. It was a beautiful sight, and Jason now knew that she’d wanted what she worked hard for.

Mirth danced in her eyes and that night? Jason let an Amazon taste his seed.

 

‘Damn…I really miss her’.

 

He felt ashamed that that thought came about from a sexual memory, but it was true. He did miss her. And not only because of the sex! Though…considering his dry spell until tonight? That was part of it. Even still, as much as they loved each other they knew it wouldn’t work. They were still good friends

 

‘Don’t have time to think about that now’.

He was brought back to Cassandra’s question. What did he like?

“Umm…alright, well…”

He reaches down and grasps his own cock, lifting it up a bit to further showcase his balls, which were large and hung low in the sack beneath his cock. Cass was instantly interested, and like an eager student was taking down everything.

 

‘His testicles seem large. Is that because he hasn’t ejaculated in a while?’

 

She’d heard the term ‘blue balls’ from Babs or Stephanie at one time or another, and she’d never put much thought into that condition being real, but now she was beginning to wonder. ‘If it is true, I have a duty to help Jason relieve it’.

 

“You see these?”

“Your testicles. Yes. They are impressive”.

“Thanks…that’s a first. But you can just call them balls” he says with a half teasing roll of the eyes. “Give it a try, huh?”  He couldn’t help it. He wanted to hear her say it. Cock, balls, dick, pussy, fuck, shit. Anything! Not once, in the entire time he’d known her, had she said anything along those lines. She was innocent in that regard, and for some reason he wanted to take that too.

‘What are you doing?’

 

Not that he could do it without guilt though. 

 

Cass, meanwhile, tilts her head to the side and regards the man curiously, her eyes going from his face, back to his prick, and especially his nutsack. “You don’t have to Cass. Was just trying to suggest that-,”

“Your…balls are very nice. Large”.

 

She said it. Just like that it was out, and Jason felt his lust for the woman rise as she paid him such a compliment. ‘...I want her to say other things now. What the hell did I do?’

 

“Thanks. I’m uh…glad you like them”.

“Do you want me to touch your test-balls?”

“Kinda, yeah”.

 

‘Understatement of the century’ he thinks before adding things verbally, knowing that he needed to expand a bit on what he was asking her to do. “But gently, you know? They’re fragile. Sensitive”.

She reaches out, bypassing his cock though he got a sense that she didn’t want to ignore the shaft, and instead wished to grasp it and start jerking him off once again. 

 

“Yes. I understand”.

“Cup them in your hand first. Like your palm, maybe” he explains, almost shivering as he feels Cass’ flesh make contact with his own. She was indeed palming his nutsack, and he felt her fingers close in around the edges. 

 

“My hand is cupping them”.

 

“Yeah…I can feel that. Unnf…it feels really good”.

“I am not doing anything to make you feel pleasure”.

There was an accusatory tone there, as if she believed he was lying to her, which would’ve been humorous in any other situation where one of the world’s deadliest women wasn’t holding his nutsack in the palm of her hand. “You are” he says, wincing a bit. “This is just the start. Give them a little squeeze. Gently!”

 

He was glad that he’d gotten that last word out, as Cass acted quickly, and without him saying that she might’ve gone all out. But instead she did as he asked.

And gently squeezed his ballsack.

 

“Ohhhhhhh…shit…okay…that’s…perfect”.

He feels his balls shift within the sack as she constricts her fingers, pushing them down further into the flesh below. He could even feel one of her fingertips atop one, passing below it through the skin, which Cass’ finger follows instinctively. 

 

A slight smile crosses her face as she does this, and she looks up at Jason with said grin still plastered there.

“It is warm”.

 

“It needs to be” he says, knowing his own biology. “You know, for the things to work”.

 

“Yes”.

She kept tracing the path of his testicle within the sack with her finger, all the while her others, splayed out as far as they could go, squeezed the rest of it, like an orange in her palm. Jason was throbbing now, his dick responding to the stimuli as well, which Cass took note of quickly due to being eye level with it. 

That put any doubts of Jason lying to her behind her.

 

“Why are balls considered an indicator of manhood?”

“Huh?”

He was taken out of the pleasure he was feeling by that question a bit, and while it took him by surprise his mind was able to put the pieces together quickly. “There are many sayings involving testicles. He has balls. Grow a pair. Many. Why?”

“I guess it’s because it’s at least fifty percent of what makes a man a man” he says out loud, knowing that the other half was the hardened shaft protruding out in front of him. “That’s where the magic happens, so to speak”.

“Where you produce sperm”.

“Yeah…that…that”.

 

“Hmmm”.

 

‘God she’s so much like Bruce sometimes, it’s scary’.

 

Her attention shifts away from his ballsack, and back to his shaft, and it was clear to the man that she wouldn’t wait much longer for the main show. “They are fragile”.

“Huh?”

“They are fragile” Cassandra says, looking up at him while still cradling his nutsack. “You asked me to be gentle as you are afraid of them breaking”.

“Well…yeah, I mean, they’re kinda fragile I gue-,”

 

“Men base their masculinity on being tough, strong, averse to pain. But testicles are the symbol of masculinity without being the same”.

 

‘Is she waxing poetically about testicles?’

 

“A vagina is much stronger”.

 

“What?”

He was shocked by that sentence that came forth from Cassandra’s lips, finding it both humorous and strange, something that might’ve been uttered as a joke at a man’s expense but from Cassie seemed to just be a statement of fact. He was kept calm by the fact that Cassandra was very good at massaging his sack, but even still he felt like his masculine pride was under attack.

 

Cassandra looks up at him without a shred of humor or sarcasm on her face.

“A vagina is made to withstand not only sex, but also childbirth. It is objectively stronger than a penis”.

“Pffft…yeah…well…whatever, it isn’t a contest”.

 

Now he was blushing, and starting to feel an urge to reach out, grasp the back of her head, and shove it onto his cock in revenge for such a statement. ‘Let’s see how weak my dick is then, huh?’

 

“Don’t be offended”.

“I’m not!”

 

“Men seem so afraid of being kicked here” Cassie says simply as if to bolster her argument. “It is actually a weak spot”.

 

“Ohh, right, right. Let me kick you in the crotch huh? You’re telling me it wouldn’t hurt?”

Cassie hadn’t thought of that it seemed, and she became contemplative for a moment, running the calculations in her mind like a computer before rapidly coming to a conclusion. “Yes, it would hurt. Very much”.

“Duh! You know what, do you wanna suck my dick or not? Because we can easily-,”

 

“Wait! Yes! Please” she says suddenly, showing more emotion as she pushes herself forward a bit on the bed, getting closer to the man’s still hard organ. “I am sorry. Show me. Please”. It was so odd. A complete inverse of what was normal.

And it was all the hotter for it.

 

‘She really does wanna do this, huh?’

 

He already knew the answer to that question, and with a sigh he looks back down at his cock, and decides to start giving her instructions. “Okay, see the head?”

“The tip, yes?”

“Sure, yeah” Jason says, gulping a bit as they get to the moment of truth. “You should start by…well, remember how we kissed? You…kinda do that to the head. Purse your lips around it, and kinda…slather your tongue over it. Get it wet while getting a feel for it. You can bring your other hand up onto the shaft if you-unnnnf!”

 

He didn’t even get to finish his statement before Cass brought her hand up and clutched his dick again, a few inches down from the head. It sent spasms of pleasure up his body as she did that, pleasuring him even more than before.

 

‘Okay…clearly she wanted to’.

 

“Do I stroke it while I suck you?”

“You can but lightly. Hehe…I’ve gotta be honest Cass, but you’re holding a loaded gun right now” he jokes, blushing while clenching and unclenching his toes beneath him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m already really close to cumming…umm…ejaculating. And…sorry, it’s kind of embarrassing for me to admit that”.

“Why?”

“Because a man isn’t supposed to cum that easily” he says exasperated and even still not yet comfortable with talking so openly about sex with Cassandra, definitely not as comfortable as she was. “Another guy thing, I guess”.

“It means you are attracted to me”.

 

The world stopped as she said that and Jason had to swallow again, turning away as the Asian woman’s eyes gazed up at his, pools of hidden emotions and desires behind him that he wasn’t sure he was ready for.

 

His hand comes up to the back of his head and rubs it as he nods.

“Yeah. Very much so. Like I said Cass…you’re a gorgeous woman”.

“It’s a compliment that you’re so close to ejaculating already” she says, still lightly pumping her soft, delicate hand up and down his shaft with a tenderness he didn’t think she was capable of, all while she massaged his balls with her fingers and palm. She sported a slight blush as she turned her gaze back downwards. 

“I am going to do as you suggested now, and kiss the tip”.

“Wait!”

 

She was moving in, pursing her lips, and only stopped when Jason called out to her. She paused, merely two inches from his cock, and looked up with a mixture of concern, and slight anger. Anger at being stopped yet again, of possibly being told no once more. Her grip tightened upon his cock again and Jason winced.

 

‘Better…unnff…tell her’.

 

“Sp-spit on it, first”.

 

In an instant her grip relaxed, but by no means did it cease, surprise and confusion replacing anger. 

“On your penis?”

“Yeah” he says, licking his lips and looking down, finding it rather ironic that while Cassie was in a submissive position for him, it was he who was at her mercy. “To lube it up. Get it…wet. Makes it easier to stroke and…you know”.

 

She seemed skeptical at first, but it was clear from how her eyes darted back and forth that she was at least considering it. She purses her lips, and even from his position Jason could see how she was swishing her tongue around in her mouth, gathering up saliva.

 

‘Shit. She’s gonna do it. She’s gonna do it’.

He pushes his waist forward a bit, getting his dick even closer as Cass finally gathers up enough spit. She parts her lips, and forces the liquid out.

 

“Pfftuah”.

 

It was a quiet sound, the woman no doubt not in the habit of spitting whatsoever, but doing it now at his prompting. He watches the globule of saliva on its arc through the air, and then feels the wetness land upon his cock head, settling atop it, shining almost against the paleness of his skin. 

 

“N-now br-bring your hand over it” he says, quivering as Cass goes further back with her stroke this time, capturing the spit beneath her palm. “Ohhh yeah…like that. Just….try and…get as much as you can”.

 

“Okay”.

She pushes forward, stroking him once more, and Jason watches as the spit was spread out as evenly as possible over his cock, going from the head downwards over his shaft. “This feels…good to you?”

“Yeah…very much so” he confirms with a nod. “But…you can, start sucking the head now too. Or…kissing. Whatever you want”.

“It is about what you want” Cass says simply, moving forward once more and pursing her lips again, but this time? It wasn’t to spit. She closed what little remained in the way of a gap between the two, and he quickly felt the slight wetness of her lips close in upon his cockhead. 

 

“Mmmmm”.

 

He felt the tip settle right between both of her lips, and when he looked down, taking in the sight, he found that it took his breath away. There was Cass, sitting on the bed in front of him, one hand on his cock, the other on his balls…smooching his dick. 

All the while she looked up at him like a student, eager for further instructions. 

 

‘Stop! Stop! Stop! Joker…granny panties…Killer Croc’s lair…’

 

He had to look away and force different thoughts into his mind, otherwise? He would’ve exploded right there, shooting out ropes of his cum over Cass’ face…something he wasn’t averse to. 

 

Cass releases his cock and pulls back, looking up at him. 

 

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah…just….a lot…closer than I thought”.

He could feel it in his balls. The swelling, the contracting, his entire reproductive system getting ready to deliver its payload if it was in a warm, fertile pussy or not. “Thank you”. If he didn’t know any better he’d think Cass was being sarcastic. 

 

‘Never had a girl thank me for being a wimp. Shit’.

 

“I…I don’t know if you should suck it that much Cass. I…I’m not going to last much long-,”

“Please. Just one”.

 

She was insistent, and he could feel it in the air as she moved her hand off of his shaft and onto his stomach, gently and lovingly rubbing there, as if that would do anything whatsoever to stave off the impending orgasm. 

 

“I…shit, alright, but if I cum in your mouth? It’s on you. Remember that” he says, all while knowing that if he was about to cum he’d yank himself out of her quicker than he’d done anything else. ‘No. Fucking. Way. Am I cumming in her mouth’.

 

The thought enters his mind, of Cass, her mouth around him as she holds on, her cheeks filling up as he fills her mouth with his seed. Would she like the taste? Swallow? Or be disgusted and spit it out?

Part of his mind wanted to know.

 

‘Stop it! You’re still a gentleman despite all of…this’.

 

“I accept”.

She eyes his cock once again, and opens her mouth wider, having gotten a taste for him even with just the head. ‘It was not at all what I expected’. She had to admit…she liked it. ‘It was salty, and warm. It felt…natural, yes’. That was the word she settled on. Feeling his cock resting on her lips, ready to move into her mouth felt natural. Right.

 

‘I want to do more of this’.

 

But now? She had to get one solid taste, a feel of how things would be in the future, and so she grasped his cock again, and brought her lips to the edge once more, getting ready. On instinct, and without prompting, her tongue came out, and began to sweep across the head teasingly, taking more of the salty flavor into her mouth.

Jason grunts from above her.

 

“Not. Helping”.

 

To Cass though this meant she was doing the right thing. Pleasuring him, something that was now singularly occupying her mind. ‘I want him to feel good’. She had to admit that she was intimidated. Jason’s penis was large, scary even.

 

‘He’ll put it inside me’.

The thought aroused and frightened her, thinking that something so big could enter her and disappear. ‘How do Barbara and Stephanie fit such things in their mouths?’

 

“Mmmmm…okay, yeah, tongue? Good thing to use in this situation” Jason admits, biting his lips to try and muffle the moan he wanted to let loose. “That’s good. Very…very good”. He reaches down, and pats the top of her head, remaining there.

And Cass?

She blushes at it and quickly averts her eyes, not wanting to let on the fact that his words of support and the position she found herself in were…well, they were making her hot. Wet, once more. She could feel it in her womanhood, the same feeling that she’d gotten when he’d used his tongue upon her.

 

On instinct she pushes forward, and feels more of his cock enter her mouth, pushing past her lips and onto the top of her tongue. When she looked? She realized that his head was entirely in her mouth now, and she was looking down at the rest of his shaft.

 

‘My mouth already feels so full’.

 

She was shocked at how this felt, and how the taste that she’d gotten from Jason prior was now overwhelming all of her senses. 

 

‘More. I must take more’.

With another grunt she pushes herself forward, and takes about another inch or so. 

 

“Ohh shit…ummm…fuck”.

 

She was on the right track, but now his cock was already taking up about two thirds of the length to her throat, much more and-

 

“Mmm…gllllkkk! ACCCK!”

She coughs around his dick, her gag reflex triggered as another two inches were taken, leading to about half of Jason’s dick being in her mouth. But only half. “Cass, don’t hurt yourself” he says, looking down in concern even as lust overwhelmed his mind and he fought the urge to simply grab the back of her head and thrust all the way in like Artemis always wanted him to do.

 

“Just…relax and-”

 

“Mmmmfff!”

 

Spittle flew out around the edges of her mouth, which was now tightly wrapped around his dick. She pushed herself even further and Jason could actually feel his cock now in her throat as Cass fought against her need to gag.

Her hands remove themselves from his balls and shaft, and instead go to his thighs, clutching on tightly and almost digging her nails in.

 

‘I…won’t…quit!’

 

Her cheeks puffed in and out as she looked up at him, an intense fire raging behind her eyes as if she was in the midst of a fight and was refusing to give up. Apparently she was taking this as a challenge. ‘Barbara and Stephanie can do this. So can I’.

 

“Ohhhhhh shit! Cass…Cass baby…”

 

He was clenching and unclenching his hand in her hair as he hunched over, his entire cock trembling in her mouth and throat. “You…you don’t-”.

 

“ACK! ACCK! SPTTT! MMMMMM!”

She pushes forward again, taking more inches this time, many more than he expected as she was now only about half an inch away from the base of his cock. She was bent over the bed, with Jason hunched over atop her, giving him a perfect view of her back and ass cheeks, which were now pressed outwards due to her position.

 

‘She…she’s going for a deepthroat! She’s fucking crazy!’

 

He could feel spittle running like rivers down his cock as Cass remained where she was, Jason rubbing the top of her head with one hand and reaching down across her back, caressing it softly as if in support.

 

‘Oh God…stop. Please stop. I can’t stop you. Shit! Shit! I wanna keep it in your mouth forever!’

 

It was a sentiment he felt keenly at that moment. Cassandra’s mouth was warm and soaking wet, with every moan and hum she let out massaging his dick. She was also, miraculously, able to keep her teeth from scraping against him which was, quite frankly, shocking.

 

‘Is…is she a natural?’

 

He was finally at the lowest portion of her back, and in that moment he couldn’t help himself. He bent further, and reached down for her ass cheek, grasping it as they found themselves in a very odd, but pleasurable position.

Cassie moans around his cock again, and as his hand lands atop the cheek he feels her shuffle up, pushing herself into it, as if she wanted him to grab or squeeze more. If that’s what she wanted, that’s what she got, as Jason squeezed her ass cheek hard, needing it to support himself at the moment. 

 

‘Fuuuuuuuuck! Stay calm, stay calm!’

 

Meanwhile Cassie was eyeing that last half inch to the base of Jason’s cock, that forest of black pubic hair. She couldn’t explain it, but she just knew that that’s where she had to go. To prove something to the man. That he wasn’t wasting his time and that she was eager to learn, be molded by him.

 

‘So…close’.

 

Her eyes were watering, and she knew that if she remained where she was any longer she’d run out of air. But she couldn’t quit. Not now.

 

She squeezes his thighs harder as she sways her ass back and forth, not able to explain why she liked how it felt to have him grab it so much, but simply enjoying it for what it was. It was just enough though. Just enough to get her over that one final hurdle.

 

“MMMMMPHHHH!”

With one final push, one last surge, she covers the last bit of distance and feels her nose buried in his pubic hair, his cock halfway down her throat. “MMMM! MMMM!” She squeezes his thighs ferociously, inhaling deeply of his scent though the air she took in through her nose was halted by the blockage. 

 

‘I did it’.

That was the main thought on her mind at the moment however, as pride overwhelmed her. She could feel his length, throbbing, ensconced tightly within her, warm and wet. But her time? It was almost up, and she could already feel her body revolting against it.

 

‘I need to breathe. I’ll vomit soon’.

She wasn’t sure of all of the ins and outs of oral sex, but she was relatively sure that Barbara and Stephanie had never talked about throwing up. She began to pull back, regretfully knowing that she couldn’t keep it up any longer, but wanting to, as she could tell that Jason was clearly pleasured.

 

‘She…she took the whole thing. She took the whole thing!’

 

Jason was in awe of her, that feeling reflected in his gaze as she pulled back quickly and desperately, spittle flying from her lips as her hand comes up to her mouth, coughing harshly.

“Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack!”

 

“Cass? Cass? You okay?” he asks quickly, concern overriding the lingering pleasure he felt, the man still amazed that he hadn’t cum right down her throat. He kneels down, reaching out as he places a hand upon her shoulder, and the other on her thigh. She still wasn’t looking at him, tears running down her cheek as she continued to cough.

“Cass? Shit, Cass…knew you shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve warned you”.

“Ack…I-ack-am…fine”.

She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand quickly and turns to look at the man, her expression stoic and controlled once more but made all the more strange due to the redness of her face and the wetness of her eyes.

 

“You sure?”

He didn’t believe her, not after that, but even still he had to prod further. She nods, not answering any further as she considered it a moot point. She was much more concerned with receiving an examination of her work. “What did I do correctly? What did I do wrong?”

‘Really? Is she-I have to stop asking that question. She’s dead serious’.

 

He looks down with a sigh and shakes his head, trying to come to terms with all that had just happened while glancing down at his now saliva soaked dick, wet droplets clinging to his pubes where her lips and nose had been, her high water mark so to speak.

 

“Well for one? You shouldn’t choke yourself. Take it slow, relax”.

“Barbara and Stephanie-,”

 

“Are well experienced apparently” he stops her, still breathing deeply, continuing to rub her shoulder and thigh, movements and caresses that Cassandra takes note of, and looks at with veiled appreciation. “That…that was…okay, what you just did? It’s called a deepthroat”.

 

She didn’t say anything, and Jason was glad that at least that was self explanatory. 

“And..usually? It goes in and out a few times” he admits. 

 

“You have had deepthroat much before?”

“No, not really. Only Artemis and there is no way I’m ever going to be as rough with you as she liked it when it came to oral sex”.

“It requires practice. I see” she says, a strange look coming across her face. “We shall do that more until I am proficient”.

“Woah, woah…woah…umm….you….liked…that?”

Jason couldn’t help the tone of skepticism that creeped into his voice as he spoke, looking at Cassandra who nodded in answer.

“Yes”.

 

“Umm….okay…why?”

“I do not know”.

 

She didn’t offer anything further after that, and Jason quickly realized that fact with resignation. “Okay”.

“But you taste nice” the dark haired Asian woman supplies. “I enjoyed it. And your smell. It felt like a challenge. I enjoy challenges”.

 

“I can see that, yeah”.

 

“Jason”.

“Yeah?”

“I am ready”.

He didn’t need to ask ready for what as Cassie gently began to move back onto the bed, pulling her legs up over the side and quickly spreading them, once more revealing her womanhood to him. As she moved backwards, sort of like a crab towards the pillows, she didn’t remove her eyes from him. 

 

“Yeah…I guess you are,” the man sighs, shaking his head and bringing his hand to his face, the other gently pressing itself onto the bed. He collects himself, trying to think for a moment, trying to find a last minute way out of this. “Cassie…you really want this?”

“Yes”.

 

“I need you…you’re not understanding, I really need you to tell me that you understand what this means” he says, his body acting all the while as he brings his leg up and kneels on the end of the bed, his member still thrusting out before him, gently swaying through the air with the movement. “You need to tell me that you really, really want this…and understand one hundred and ten percent what this means”.

 

Cassandra didn’t miss a beat.

“I want this very much. And understand what it means”.

 

“Dammit”.

 

He brings his other knee up onto the bed, now completely naked just like the woman, and begins to move towards her. “Why are you so reluctant?”

“Because it’s wrong for me to be doing this” he responds, getting closer and closer.

“I want you to. I am of legal ag-,”

“Maybe there’s more to it than that,” the man says quickly, cutting the woman off as he reaches her, and kneels down, resting on the back of his legs, allowing Cassie, who was sitting up on the pillows, a perfect view of his cock and balls. Dangling between his legs. “Maybe there’s more than one kind of right and wrong”.

“Do you want to have sex with me?”

 

“That’s an unfair question” he says with a half laugh, gently reaching out for her calves, caressing them as he spreads them out further. “Like I said…you’re gorgeous Cass but…I don’t understand if you really get it. Your first time? It’s supposed to be special” he says, still trying to reach her at that moment.

 

“This is special”.

“No, no, Cassie…it’s supposed to be…you know, with someone you love”.

“I love you”.

 

“I…it’s different, okay?” he admits, blushing despite knowing that the woman meant it in a different way. “It’s a romantic love. A…I don't know how to explain it”. He was getting exasperated again, still feeling in his heart that this was wrong. “Who was your first time with?”

The question took him a bit off guard as it was unexpected and, strangely enough, hadn’t been asked up to this point. 

“Talia”.

 

“Did you love Talia?”

He paused for a moment, silent, unsure of what to say, but still knowing the answer. Eventually he settles on that. “No. She…she used me”. There was a certain sadness to his words as the memories come back to him, of those nights spent close to her, of her sweet whispers. Lies. 

 

‘Fucking bitch’.

It was only later that he knew the truth. She’d molded him, helped push him along a path, and her body was one of the tools she’d used to do it. Cassandra doesn’t react to the sadness she sees on his face, at least not outwardly, but she nods in understanding.

“She stole that from you”.

 

“I guess, in a way, yeah she did”.

 

“It wasn’t special”.

 

“No”.

 

“I do not want the same thing to happen to me” she admits almost unevenly. “I want my first time to be special too”. Jason rolls his eyes. “Says the woman ready to fuck some guy on Tinder”.

“That was just to get you to agree”.

“Always strategizing, planning and scheming huh?” he asks, not even really mad at her. Cass didn’t understand certain things. How she could come across as aloof, cold, Machiavellian. ‘Again, carbon copy of Bruce almost. The daughter he wishes he’d had…the daughter he has’.

 

“I do not feel romantic love for you. And you do not feel it for me. But we care for one another. I trust you. I always will. That is special. Yes?”

 

It was simple, succinct, uniquely Cass and above all? Correct. Jason couldn’t deny any of that, and even if he wasn’t absolutely throbbing with anticipation he might’ve been convinced by those words alone to do it.

 

‘She’s beautiful, smart, nice…she really, really is’.

 

“How do you want to do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Positions” he says, further elaborating on the words he was speaking. “Like, what position do you want us to do it in?” Cassie seemed to understand, at least a little, though she didn’t have an answer. “I…I do not know”. 

“Okay, well, doggy is when you’d get up on your hands and knees, butt towards me, and we’d do it that way” he begins, feeling at least some of the awkwardness to be natural now. “We can do cowgirl, where you get on top and…you know. Or we can do missionary”.

“Missionary?”

“Yeah. You stay right where you are” he says. “Keep your legs spread and I move on top of you”.

“We would be face to face”.

“Yeah”.

 

“I want that”.

It was oddly…touching, and Jason felt the blush on the edges of his face flare up as he nods his head in agreement. “Alright”. He begins to shuffle forward more, his hands moving up to grasp her thighs, further spreading them out somewhat in a frog-like position, as if she was ready to leap.

 

All while Jason got closer and closer, moving in between the gap between her legs. 

 

He almost winces when his cock, which was swaying about due to the movement, made impact against her thigh. Cass didn’t give anything away, but he could see in her eyes that she’d felt it too. Her chest was rising and falling a little faster now, her pert, perfect breasts being brought up and down with each breath she took.

She was excited again, that much was clear. 

 

‘She doesn’t even get like this during a fight’ he says before falling down a bit, now looming over the woman and only stopping himself at the last moment by reaching out and placing a hand, palm down, on the pillow beside her head. He was strong enough to hold this position, though soon his other arm would be assisting him.

 

For now though it was busy, his hand reaching down and grasping his own cock which had, by necessity of his position, landed atop Cass’ hairy pussy. “Mmmm…fuck”.

“That feels good?”

“Yeah” he admits, unable to help himself as he humps against her, sliding his rod along the exterior of her womanly flower, parting the petals while feeling the tips of her pubic hair brush against the underside of his cock.

 

Cass squirms beneath him, letting out a harsh little breath.

 

“It feels good for me too”.

 

“I’m glad”.

 

He pulls back though, knowing that if he kept this up for too long he’d be spewing his load onto her belly, something he intended to do regardless but not until after he’d at least put it inside her. He keeps hold of his dick, pulling back enough for his head to have a clear angle of attack. He presses it right up against her virginal entrance.

“You weren’t kidding” he says, swallowing as he feels her wetness even here. “You’re soaked”.

 

“I want you to have sex with me very much”.

 

“Yeah…I do too…mmm”.

The urge was there. To just…slam into her, do it in one foul swoop, but that was with other women. Women who’d already been experienced by the time they’d met one another. Cassandra? A completely different story. ‘I need to be gentle. Seriously. Why the fuck does the first time have to hurt for women?’ 

 

He still had zero clue why that was the case and he very much doubted any scientist did either. But even still, the theoreticals would have to take a back seat to the physical reality for the moment.

 

Cass was craning her head upwards, looking down to see Jason’s cock at her entrance, albeit only the head and not inside of her yet. It looked to her as if their genitals were kissing. Not something she was adverse to at all.

 

“Cass…this is going to hurt. You know that, right?”

“Yes” she nods. “Do not worry”.

She places her hand upon his bare chest, rubbing her dainty, soft digits against his pectoral in a loving, calming way. It didn’t go unnoticed by Jason at all, who smiles down at her, a sight that provokes a slight, almost nervous smile back from Cassandra. 

 

“I understand. Start. Please”.

She was eager, very eager, and Jason had to take her word for it.

 

“Okay…mmmff”.

He pushes forward a bit, her entrance enveloping his head just as he removes his hand, no longer needing it to stabilize his own cock, him being inside of her being more than enough for the moment. His other hand moves up and slams down onto the pillow on the other side of the woman, assisting him in balancing even further. 

 

“Mmmmmff”.

He feels her hands in a different place now, both of them coming to his wrists and wrapping around, clamping tightly. He sees her bite her lip as her entire body quivers, and fear instantly fills his mind.

“Shit, Cass. Are you-?”

“I’m fine” she says, half forcing it out as almost an inch of Jason enters her. “It feels very…good”.

 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes”.

 

“Cass, I need you to be absolutely, positively fucking sure, okay? If you’re not ready-”

 

He was taken by surprise.

Apparently Cassandra had been learning things, though that wasn’t unexpected. She was the perfect student in many ways, but even still. Jason hadn’t expected her to lean up, and press her lips to his in a warm, sensuous kiss. 

 

Their lips make contact with one another and Jason instantly melts into it, tilting his head to the side slightly as they move and sway against one another, just like before, though Cass was only getting more skilled with each encounter of their lips.

 

All too soon it was over and she pulled back, falling onto the bed, continuing to breathe heavily. 

 

“I am sure. Please. Take my virginity”.

 

It couldn’t be any more clearer than that, and for Jason? His head was still swimming with that kiss. “Dammit…alright. Hold onto me however you need to. I’d like it if you didn’t dig your nails into me but if you have to? You go right ahead and scratch the hell out of me”.

“I will”.

 

Her hands move off of her wrists, no doubt getting acclimated to the man inside of her, though he was barely an inch in yet. He expected them to go to his chest once more, but instead they went to his sides and slowly began to stroke up and down. “Push it in slowly. But do not stop”.

 

“Alright”.

He liked her touch. How featherlight and yet intense all at once it felt as goosebumps rose up and down his flesh. He could still feel her wet clinginess from below, his head absolutely soaked in the woman’s juices now. ‘At least that’ll make it easier’ he muses to himself, his whole body quivering itself in desire to be within her.

 

“Mmmmf”.

He pushes forward even further into her tightness, and feels the walls separate, but only so much. It was as if he’d jammed his cock into a vice. A warm, wet…amazing vice. His entire head was gone now, as well as two or three inches of his cock. 

 

“Ahhh. It’s so big”.

Cass threw her head to the side on the pillow, fighting to not let any of her thoughts or emotions out as her training dictated, but failing due to the unique circumstances. Her stroking of his sides got more and more intense, pressing her hands in as if he was the only thing keeping her tethered to the Earth.

Jason had to admit, he loved hearing those words from her lips. It was one hell of an ego boost.

 

“And you’re very…unnf…tight”.

 

He pushes in again, knowing that soon? He’d reach that barrier. A barrier that had to be broken if Cass wanted to lose her virginity. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Hurting her. Making her feel pain. Of  course there was the affection and lust that came with knowing you’d be a woman’s first one, that she saw you as worthy of having that gift, but Jason would never understand the pornographic obsession with ‘virgin’. It wasn’t some cheap gimmick, something to jerk off to.

 

No. It was something special. Beautiful even.

 

“Alright, here we-”

 

He pushes further and feels his cock reach its objective. Her hymen. He could feel it. That elastic band of flesh he’d have to tear through to get to her depths. The moment of truth.

 

“Ja-Jason?”

“Yeah?”

He was shaking as if he was freezing cold, something that was mirrored by Cassie, making it hard for him to not just tear her hymen right then and there. ‘Fu-fuck stay focused!’

 

“I am r-ready”.

Her slight tremor notwithstanding, he knew she was telling the truth. It was him that wasn’t ready. He hadn’t been entrusted with something like this. And it scared him. “Jason?”

 

“Yeah! Yeah just-,”

 

“Please” she said, though panted could be a more accurate descriptor, something that Jason had never heard her do before and sent a primal jolt of arousal right to the center of his mind. “I need you to do it”. 

“It’s going to hurt, Cass”.

“I’m ready”.

Her hands move even lower, reaching for his ass but only able to make it to his lower back due to her position. When she gets there she squeezes his flesh, and tries to pull him further into her depths, though Jason was able to hold back.

 

“Urrgh…fuck, fuck. Give me…huff…a second”.

She was so damn tight, which was to be expected. It almost felt like a glove was enveloping his cock, granting him warmth, wetness and comfort all at once. Her walls clenched and unclenched tightly, no doubt due to the fact that she wasn’t used to this, and her body was taking it as an altogether new sensation.

An intruder…but one that made her feel good. 

 

‘Relax…relax’.

It took everything he had to not blast right into her at that moment, fill her with his seed, something he most certainly shouldn’t do, and wouldn’t do no matter what. ‘I wish I had a condom. Why? Why didn’t I tell her we needed one? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’

 

He should’ve pulled out right then and there of course.

 

But…he couldn’t.

Or rather he didn’t want to.

 

Him and Cass? It felt like they fit together very, very nicely. Perfectly even. As his body quivered and trembled atop her, almost in tune with her vaginal spasms, his primitive mind conjured up an image. One of Cass, visibly pregnant, naked, looking down at her swollen belly as she rubbed her hand across it almost in bewilderment, but also in clear affection.

It was a thought that should’ve repelled him, but in fact did the opposite.

 

Part of his mind was whispering for him to ‘do it’. That she’d look amazing and that the greatest possible sign of possession of a woman was…well, that. But the more rational part won out, and he shook the very alluring image away.

 

‘No. I’ll just…I’ll just pull out. Yeah. It’ll be easy’.

As if to emphasize the fact that he didn’t even believe himself, her pussy clenched down upon him again, his head pushing even more against the hymen which distends further, drawing a hiss of pain from Cassandra’s lips.

 

Was it beginning to tear?

“I’m ready”.

“Are you-?”

“DO IT! NOW!”

She’d clearly braced herself as much as she possibly could for the pain that was coming, and the emotion, the urgency that came from her lips told Jason just how desperate the situation was. Like pulling off a bandaid, you had to do it quickly, and while taking it slow had gotten her aroused, she was at the point where lust was turning to pain.

If he was going to turn it back to pleasure, he’d have to get her through the pain quickly. 

 

“Hang onto me”.

 

She doesn’t respond verbally, but her hands do come up to his back, clutching him in the same way that billions of women had clutched their lovers throughout human existence.  And Jason? He plunges forward even deeper.

The resistance tightens, the hymen struggling against him, as if in desperate desire to prevent his advance. But it was powerless in the face of his member, and in an instant a hole is opened up by his head, a hole that expands as he pushes further and further, lowering himself further and further atop her. 

 

He feels her grip upon him increase followed by pain that he thinks is more than earned as she digs her fingernails into his back, possibly drawing blood, he wasn’t sure. All he could feel was her at that moment as he threw his head back and winced. 

 

Cass was surprisingly quiet, only letting out faint hisses and croaks that made it sound as if he was strangling her. Her eyes were wide, her teeth clenched together almost to the point where it looked as if they’d break.

 

But Jason didn’t dare ignore her order, and kept going…right up until there was nowhere more to go. Or, rather, nothing left to give her. He was lowered, almost face to face with the woman, his cock completely inside of her, their equally dark strands of pubic hair mingling with one another.

 

‘Ohh God…’

 

He’d done it. He’d taken Cassandra’s virginity, and even at that moment could feel his entire length being squeezed and clutched at by her walls. He was deep inside of her, the first man to ever be there. 

 

“Huff…hufff….Cass?”

He looked down at the woman who had, at least somewhat, relaxed, her head laying on the pillow, limp as she breathed intently. “Cass? Baby? Are you alright?” He reached out, able to balance on one hand, helped by the fact that his cock was inside of her, waist to waist, and went for her cheek, lightly stroking it. 

At first she didn’t respond, and he was just about to repeat his statement when she turned, and looked up at him with a fire that he hadn’t ever seen before burning behind her eyes. For a moment he was worried that she had come to her senses, and was rightfully enraged at him for doing this, the pain being the wake up call.

Her own hand detached from his back, at least one of them, and came forward, showcasing the blood on her fingertips, which confirmed his suspicion that she’d absolutely destroyed his back. He didn’t mind though. Not in the slightest.

 

He winces, watching as the hand comes to his face, fully expecting a slap or his nose to be broken, but instead? She lays her hand upon his cheek and caresses it, clumsily, but in a clear mimicry of what he had done to her.

 

“You called me baby”.

“Huh?” 

He was confused, unsure of what she was saying at the moment before he remembered that he had called her baby. “Ohh…sorry, yeah. It’s called sweet talking” he explains, the oddness of this encounter making itself clear to him once more as they lay there, him deep inside of her. “You know…better than…saying nothing or…”

 

He trailed off, unsure of what to say or how Cass would receive it. As it was she was looking at him with a strange expression in her eyes once again.

“Really, I’m sorry”.

“Don’t be. I liked it”.

 

“Huh?”

Cass didn’t move and her face didn’t shift as she continued to look up at the man. “Stephanie and Barbara didn’t tell me about that. I enjoyed it. Please, call me baby”.

 

“O-okay…um…baby”.

 

It felt weird and wrong now that it was forced rather than a natural extension of pleasure and affection, but all the same Cassandra smiled and continued to stroke his cheek. “Baby”. She says the word to herself, though it wasn’t clear to him if she was calling him that, or simply saying the word to test it out.

Either way, Jason had to admit…

 

It felt nice for her to say that while her fingers played over his skin. 

 

“I have recovered”.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes” she answers quickly, bouncing back from the pain quicker than he expected. Then again, she was trained from birth for something like that. “Begin thrusting”. He was absolutely sure that if he looked down at his cock he’d see blood, blood mixing with the woman’s juices.

It was certain now. Cassandra Cain was definitely not a virgin anymore.

“Alright, but if it hurts? You tell me and I back off” he says simply, returning his hand to the side of the woman as he starts to pull out, feeling her walls resist such a retreat, trying to keep him within her for as long as possible. Her lips quiver as he does this, able to pull out halfway before pushing gently back in.

Plap!

“Unnff…it doesn’t hurt”.

“Urrghh…okay”.

 

He pulls back out, and then pushes back in, this time with a bit more intensity.

 

Plap!

“Cass? I’m gonna do something, okay?” he says, speaking though the thrusts as he gets lower and lower, moving his face into her neck as his ass moves up and down atop her, and Cass brings her hands to his back once more, caressing the thin red lines she’d inadvertently formed as if to make it better.

She doesn’t resist, nor does she say anything as Jason pushes his face into her neck and begins to lick and suck at the pale flesh there. It felt good, especially in tandem with how his penis felt within her. The pain was rapidly receding now, replaced entirely by pleasure.

She tilted her neck to the side, granting him more access, which he eagerly took advantage of. 

 

“Baby”.

 

She whispers that word out huskily, even Cassandra, the living weapon, a woman at heart, unable to help the pleasure she was feeling, or the closeness that it caused. Her heart was beating in her chest as her hand came up to the back of his head, more out of instinct than anything else. She pushed him in further to her neck.

 

As the soft bristles of his hair touch against her fingers she feels vindicated. This was the correct decision.

 

‘Stephanie and Barbara will accept me more now’ she thinks triumphantly, though it felt like her fellow Batgirls were far away from her at that moment. And Jason? He was close. Very, very close. Perhaps so close that he was all that mattered. 

 

It felt like a much greater victory that she was closer to him than the two women, at least right then. She now understood what they were speaking of though.

Sex, at least with Jason, was amazing, albeit painful though she knew going forward it would not be so. She hoped they did this more. Much, much more.

“Yes. Baby. Yes”.

 

She didn’t know why she felt the need to speak into his ear, but something told her that he’d like it, and while she was clumsy with her sexy talk, she was still trying. As a result she felt Jason throb within her, and his tongue sweep out over her neck in response.

Even her clumsy ‘sweet talking’ as he’d called it, was enough.

 

Shanghai, Ho Cha Trading Corporation Docks

 

“Urrggh…urrggh”.

He clawed his way forward, one hand over the other as he grasped the rotting wooden dock beneath him, trying to get away. All he could think about was getting away, escaping the fate that the others around him had not.

 

He passed by one of their bodies. He couldn’t be sure who as the head was simply a mess of gore and viscera splayed out over the wood, one arm hanging limp over the side, pointing down towards the water below. 

 

So many dead, so many.

But not him! He’d escape. He’d get away. Jin Lao-Zhou would get away. The serpent always escaped to fight another-

Thunk! Thunk!

He was eye level with the dark black leather boots that stepped out in front of him, arresting his path. Stopping his escape. The portly Chinese man in torn leather jeans and a t-shirt looked up in fear, shaking as his eyes travelled further up, past the boots to the black silk pants that were practically painted over the female form before him.

 

It gave way to an altered Mandarin style dress, short in the front, tucked into the pants with the back open in tails that went down to the back of her knee. It was red and black, with stylized dragons fighting over the front of it, etched deeply into the fabric. The woman’s arms were crossed over her chest, her hands covered in black gloves.

She radiated malice and disappointment, as if she was angry at him for running away from a fight, or rather slinking away.

The flames from the burning ship beside the dock, already half in the water, illuminated her face, a face which left no doubt as to who she was. Sharp, angular features, sharp like a sword it seemed, which fit with her character.

She was still quite beautiful though, her hair long, straight, and jet black, splayed out over her back as she looked down at the man, her almond shaped brown eyes burning with raw, seething hatred.

 

“Where do you think you are going?”

Lady Shiva.

 

Death herself. 

 

“I-I-I-,”

“That is not an answer. It is fear” she responds, speaking in perfect Chinese to the Triad member with the snake tattoo over the right side of his face, the Serpent being a feared man in Hong Kong. Or rather…used to be a feared man in Hong Kong. His ship full of burning heroin, the poison riding like smoke in the night, and his dead men all over the dock were proof that his sun had well and truly set.

 

He was able to collect himself though, remaining in a subservient position upon the floor, crawling around in the muck, so to speak. 

 

“I will pay you. More than the Dragons. I-,”

 

“Impossible” she says with the harshness of a sword, cutting the man off. “You have no men, and no product with which to pay me”.

“I can! I swear! I-”

 

CRACK!

In an instant Lady Shiva had lifted her foot, the heeled boot rising in the air before the man could even finish his sentence. It had come down on the back of his skull, forcing his head downwards where a sickening crunch could be heard as the woman’s heel forced its way through the man’s skull and into his brain. He was dead in an instant, his eyes wide yet unseeing.

 

But Shiva? She doesn’t stop. Not yet.

She pulls her foot free, and up into the air once more…before bringing it down again, this time much, much more harshly. Blood began to seep out of the dead Triad leader, just as it was from all the other men upon the docks, each and every one of them dead.

 

All told? She was sure forty had been killed, roughly eighty percent of the organization. 

 

‘All without breaking a sweat’ she thinks to herself somewhat disappointed as the Serpent’s skull flattens further and further, the woman bringing her boot up time and time again until the skull, whatever was left of it, gives way completely, and grey matter and viscera were sprayed out across the deck.

 

‘Sure there are benefactors who can offer me a challenge’.

 

She turns away from the dead men, and gives one last cursory look towards the rickety junk that they’d been using to smuggle their heroin in and out of the city. The flames were still going strong, flames that she herself had set before walking out onto the dock in full view of the triads.

 

She’d expected a good fight upon seeing so many of them, but she’d been disappointed.

 

‘As I always am now’.

She sighs to herself, looking out into the sea, ignoring the carnage around her. ‘It almost makes me wish to go and fight with Wayne once more’. The thought of the billionaire vigilante makes her smile in a way she rarely ever did. She couldn’t help it.

Out of all the men in the world, only one could ever truly give her a good fight.

She was assured that she’d win a strictly hand to hand fight, but that was the beauty of it. Bruce was excellent at using tools to even the odds, a master of his surroundings. A fight with him was never simply a battle of hands. It was one of wits, and while she knew she was the better martial artist, she was not the better thinker.

It galled her. It enraged her. It frustrated her.

It excited her.

 

‘Perhaps it is time-’

 

BEEP! BEEP!

Her phone went off, causing her to sigh as she was distracted from her thoughts, turning her attention to her right pocket from which she grasps up her phone, sliding her glove clad finger over the screen and opening it up.

 

As expected it was from the man who hired her.

“Is it done? We are already getting reports of a fire”.

 

She quickly wrote back.

 

“Yes”.

 

“Good, very good”.

The messages came fast as she liked, never one for patience. But now? Now was the moment of truth. The payment portion. Sometimes the most dangerous part of any such transaction. Would the one who hired you try to rip you off? Would they simply hire someone else to off you?

So many variables.

All of them interesting.

Sandra Woosan found herself hoping that they would try and screw her over. It would give her something to do. Something to-

Beep!

“The money is on the way. Plus extra. Thank you Lady Shiva”.

 

Beep!

Another notification, this one telling her that three million American dollars had been deposited into her account. Just like that it was over, and Shiva sighs, replacing the phone in her pocket as the wind picked up, fanning the flames even further on the part of the ship that was still above water.

 

It was at that moment that Shiva…got a feeling.

 

A strange, unnatural feeling, one that you would only understand if you were like her.

A mother.

 

“Cassandra”.

She says the name simply, as if her daughter could hear her at that moment, as if she was right beside her, though she wasn’t. Something was…not wrong, but…different. She could just…sense it. Something had happened in Gotham. Something that was important and it involved her daughter.

She was filled with a feeling of trepidation and anger, hating that once more, the life she had chosen had taken her away from her daughter, just as it had all those years ago. Sandra Woosan would never win a mother of the year award.

 

Never, and she knew that.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t love her daughter. Quite the opposite. She loved her with every fiber of her being. Which is why she stayed away, knowing that she and David Cain had done more than enough damage to the girl.

 

‘I must get to Gotham’.

She wasn’t even thinking, simply bringing up an airline booking site on her phone, using some of her millions to secure herself a ticket. She couldn’t explain it, really, she couldn’t, but she NEEDED to be back in Gotham right now. As soon as possible.

Unfortunately as soon as possible was in fifteen hours, plus a little extra for getting to the airport and waiting.

 

Regardless, if Cassandra was in trouble, Shiva felt it was her duty as a mother to assist. She would bring all of hell with her too.

 

Back in Cassandra’s Bedroom

 

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuuuck! Ahhhhhh!”

 

He’d been able to pull out, but only just. It was very, very close, far closer than he ever would’ve been comfortable with, and it almost felt like the eighth wonder of the world that he’d been able to do so with how perfect Cassandra had felt. 

 

He was sitting up no, getting off of Cassie, watching as his cock exiting her sopping wet hole, revealing the slight streaks of her virginal blood that could be seen like red rivers in her ejaculate, which covered his cock.

He quickly returned the favor.

As soon as the head was out of the woman he exploded, the pell mell retreat out of her pussy having been more than enough to push him over the edge. He came, shooting out a thick rope of cum right across her bush and belly, coating the dark hairs in fertile white seed. 

 

This was a big load mostly due to the fact that Jason hadn’t gotten any in quite some time, and it felt good to unleash it. Even more so knowing that it was safe.

 

“Shit…shit…”

Cassandra watched in morbid fascination as he let loose, having already cum two more times during their lovemaking. She was almost at the edge of her endurance when Jason quickly found he could go no further. 

 

She felt a strange, inexplicable joy as he came, his second spurt adding itself to his first as he kneeled there, panting, desperately trying to control himself with his hands resting upon her thighs. “Ohh shit…”

Cassandra watched a man cum for the first time, and what made it more special was that he was cumming because of her! That was exciting, even she couldn’t deny that though she admitted in her mind that she had done very little other than lay there and allow him to sate his pleasure upon her.

 

‘He didn’t instruct me to do anything else’.

 

He reaches down, grasping his cock as the last tiny in comparison to its predecessor squirt of cum comes out, landing solely on her bush this time, coating it white, almost as if it was a forest in winter. He shakes it, getting all the remnants out as much as he could, draining his balls completely.

 

“Shit”.

“That…that is your ejaculate”.

“Yeah” he answers, breathing heavily, his cock already softening while he brings his hand to his head, wiping away the sweat that was there. He was shaky on his knees, as expected, and half distracted by the piece of art that was Cassandra’s cum covered body. His seed practically glistened atop her abs.

 

‘Hot damn’.

 

He was rapidly brought back to Earth however, and realized that now? They had a secret to keep. Until death. ‘Shit…gotta clean up, quick!’

 

He reaches over the side of her bed, grasping up his shirt. ‘I’ve gotta do the laundry now! No way I can let Alfred find this!’. That was the least of his concerns as his eyes traveled to his blood and cum covered soft cock. He had evidence to dispose of. ‘Shit! Shit! Shiiiit!’ He began wiping it all away, using the fabric to do so, scouring every inch of the dick that had just been in Cassandra, wiping away the fluids.

Cassie watched him with a stoic gaze, idly wondering what he was doing.

“Alright, there. All clean”.

Of course it wasn’t ‘all clean’. He’d need a shower to get her unique scent off of him, ensuring that nobody suspected a thing. And so would she! He checks his cock again, hefting it up and down, checking all the angles. “Okay, alright. Your turn!” he says while moving towards her with the shirt, quickly wiping up the cum, dabbing her bush multiple times to ensure that he caught every loose bit of his spunk.

 

“I thought I was supposed to ingest it”.

“What?” he asks, shocked as he stops in the midst of his work, his hands moving over her body as he pats her down. “Stephanie and Barbara always-,”

“Yeah, well…”

He doesn’t know what to say, and instead blushes profusely, returning to his work. ‘Great, so what knowledge she does have comes from those two sluts. Great’. Of course he loved Stephanie and Babs, like sisters! But in that moment, with all the problems their sexual escapades had caused him, he reserved the right to call them sluts. 

 

Satisfied that her bush was mostly clear, only a glossy, wet sheen remaining, he moved up onto her belly, scooping up the lines of cum that had settled there.

 

‘Holy fuck, has it really been that long?’ he thinks to himself, glad that he’d had the self control to pull out…but also again, imagining how it would’ve felt to cum insi-

 

‘No! No! Stop it’.

He was rubbing her belly counterclockwise, cleaning her as best as he could with the semen clinging to the fabric. “You…you technically don’t have to”.

 

“I don’t?”

“No, no. In fact, a lot of women? They don’t do that” he says.

“And what of the women you were with?”

“All of them except for Artemis didn’t let me cum in their mouth” he explains, pulling the shirt away and looking at her belly once more, ensuring that it was free and clear of any evidence that he’d pulled his cock out of her and cum all over it.

 

It was, though it still appeared wet.

‘That’s good enough, right?’

 

“I would like to try and see if I can be one of the women who do”.

“One” he says, pointing a finger in the air as he sighs, lowering his head and tossing the shirt to the side, off of the bed. “No. Fucking. Way. This? This was already way too damn far. Two? I’ve got absolutely nothing left in the tank for you. I’m empty”.

As if to check, Cassie looks down towards the man’s testicles, and sees that they seemed to be riding up a bit further than where they were when they’d started. She couldn’t tell exactly, but if they were smaller? She wouldn’t be surprised.

 

“When they are full once more then-,”

“We aren’t doing this again”.

He cut her off harshly, a bit more harshly than he intended too, and Cassie recoils as if she’d been hit. Guilt instantly welled up within Jason, and he brought his hand to his face. “Come on Cass…you’ve gotta know this was seriously fucked up”.

“Why?”

“Because I…it just was! Okay!”

 

He should’ve left by now, gathered up his clothes, got dressed, sans shirt of course, and ran. But he didn’t. Not yet. He was stuck here, and didn’t quite understand why. Maybe it was because of how Cassie looked laying there, so vulnerable looking. So…beautiful. 

 

“We are a man and a woman who are physically attracted to each other. We are not in any romantic relationships with anyone. There is nothing morally wrong with what we did”.

“Uggggggh!” he groaned, bringing both of his hands to his face as he wanted to scream. But instead? He turns around and falls onto his back atop the bed, causing the woman at his side to bounce upwards slightly, though she quickly recovers.

She doesn’t say anything, and simply watches the man as he slowly draws his hands down his face, looking up at the ceiling.

 

“This has to be a secret Cass. Alright? Seriously. A secret”.

 

“Okay”.

“I mean it” he says, turning suddenly onto his side and looking at the woman dead on, wanting her to understand the seriousness of the situation. “I’ll be dead, kicked out of this family, if you say anything”.

She nods, face to face with the man, clearly understanding though not believing that that would be what happened.

“I understand. I will simply tell Stephanie and Barbara that I have lost my virginity, but not to whom”.

 

He grunts, not liking that, but knowing that there was nothing he could say or do that would dissuade her. He hoped to God this was the end of it, but he knew that it wouldn’t be that simple. Nothing in his life ever was.

 

“But I would very much like to do it again. Explore more sexual activities with you”.

“You gonna blackmail me again?” he asks, looking at her with a slightly frustrated gaze. “Say you’ll do it with some other guy if I don’t?”

 

“No” she answers quickly. “I have already decided to delete Tinder. If I am to have sex for the foreseeable future, it will only be with you”.

“What?”

“Having one, monogamous sexual partner is safe” she explains. 

 

“Right, right…”

He sighs and thinks it over for a second, knowing that even with his balls empty he wasn’t thinking right. The truth was? He wanted to make love to this beautiful woman again, and well, with the taboo already broken…

 

“Fine. Why not, right? Fuck it”.

“Thank you”.

“You’re welcome”.

He should’ve gone then. Got up off the bed and left, but…again, he didn’t. He looked towards Cassie and reached out for her side. “Turn around. Put your back to my chest” he says simply in way of explanation.

Cassie regarded him with a strange look, but did as he said, turning away from the man as they both shuffled, forcing their legs under the blankets. Jason started to pull the blankets up over their bodies, covering them when he felt her back make contact with his chest. “I should just leave, you know?”

“Why?”

“Because if we’re both caught naked in bed, we can’t exactly say we were just playing Monopoly” he explains, reaching around her, placing his hand upon her belly beneath the blankets. Instantly he feels her hand come up and place itself atop his arm, idly stroking it.

 

“That’s what your Tinder date would’ve done. Booty calls are like that. You’re just there for sex”.

“We did not have a booty call” she says, sounding out the words as if they were utterly foreign to her.

“No. We didn’t” he admits with a sigh and a shake of his head. He did love the woman. Of course he did! They were…family felt wrong to use now. Babs and Stephanie were family. He’d never been, or would be, balls deep in them. No. Cassie was different now. Tonight had changed that, and he wasn’t sure to exactly what. It definitely wasn’t romantic love! No, no. Not that. What was he some sort of sap?

You didn’t fall in love with a woman after one roll in the hay. No, especially not Jason Todd. And Cassandra? She most likely wasn’t even capable of romantic love. It would interfere with the mission.

 

Gently he rubbed her belly all the same though, treating her as if she was the most beloved woman in the world, something he felt she deserved right after losing her virginity. 

 

“I am glad I gave my first time to you Jason” she says, nuzzling into him, uncomfortable with having someone else in her bed, something she’d never done before. Another first for her. 

 

“Despite the fact my dick might get cut off? I’m glad too” he says, leaning in and kissing the back of Cassie’s head lovingly, lingering there so as to inhale her scent. “Now…go to sleep, alright? I need a break from weird, fucked up situations for the rest of the night, alright?”

She listened to him, remaining quiet, but unable to fall asleep.

Jason suffered no such issue, and soon his snores could be heard in her ear. If he’d been awake to hear it, he’d have been worried about being discovered in her bed via the noise, but he was not, which allowed Cassie to find the noise strangely…comforting.

 

She smiles lightly to herself as she lowers her hand towards his, and takes it, lightly treading her fingers through his own, grasping it as if they were holding one another’s hands. She’d always wanted to hold hands.

It was one of those things she’d see in public, couples walking, hand in hand. Close. A small to others sign of affection, but massive to one who’d been starved of love such as Cassandra. She wanted to hold Jason’s hand, though she knew that they weren’t a couple.

 

‘We aren’t in love’.

 

It felt strange but…she wasn’t entirely convinced of those words. For her, love was simple. A summation of activities, so to speak. And her and Jason had already partaken in quite a few of them.

 

It hurt even still, a low throbbing, but she felt far greater pleasure than pain, especially now.

 

‘I will show Stephanie and Barbara that I am their equal soon’ she thinks, looking forward to the next ‘girl’s night’ for the first time ever, knowing that now she would have something to share. But for right now? There was Jason.

And he made her feel…strange. 

 

But, then again, the normal was strange to Cassandra. Maybe the fact that her heart was beating in her chest rapidly was simply something that she hadn’t experienced before. Maybe she liked his arm around her all the more because she’d never experienced something like it. Maybe this was just how you felt after sex normally.

She pondered this as she closed her eyes, ready to drift off to sleep with the techniques Bruce had taught her to assist in forcing one’s body to turn off. She considered all this at the same time however.  Maybe it was strange, or normal or…whatever. 

 

Maybe. But all the same, she felt strange.

And she liked it.

Chapter 4

The Clocktower, Three Weeks Later

 

    “Yeah…yeah, the old clock tower. Just ring the bell and I’ll send someone down. Awesome, yeah. See you then”. Stephanie slides her finger over the phone screen, ending the call as she turns and looks at the two other women positioned behind her, one seated on the couch and the other in her wheelchair.

“Give it about an hour”.

“That’s fine”.

Stephanie strolls across the room, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt with the symbol of the city’s football team, the Gotham Knights, upon it. “Ugggh!”

Thud!

The blonde woman plops down on the couch, her arms splayed out over the back and her head nestled atop the back. “Hey! You break that couch, you’re gonna buy it” Babs retorts, though good naturedly, a smirk gracing her features as she says so. 

 

“Yeah, yeah. Just take it out of my bat allowance then” Stephanie responds languidly, waving her hand in the air as if to dismiss the other woman’s words. “I’m sure that’ll cover it”.

“It will be an hour until the food arrives?”

Cassandra couldn’t explain it, but she was…nervous? Was that the correct word? She couldn’t tell if it was. ‘Perhaps it is similar enough to be called nervous’ she thinks in her mind as Stepahnie turns her head to look at her, said head still on the back of th couch. “Yeah, about an hour. Sucks too. I’m starving”.

“Me too. I haven’t eaten either,” Babs says, butting into the conversation without even realizing it and causing Stephanie to take her eyes off of Cassandra, and instead look towards the woman who first wore the mantle of Batgirl. “Bruce had me working the murders in the East End alllll day”.

 

“Ohh yeah? Any leads?”

“None” the redhead confirms with a shake of her head. “At first we thought it was Zsasz, or Calendar Man but doesn’t match either of their  MO’s”.  Babs brings her hand up to her face, rubbing over it as if to remove the tiredness from her eyes, though if it worked remained to be seen. Doubtful. 

 

“Wait, wouldn’t it be like…apparent if it was Calendar Man?” Stephanie asks, sitting up. “The guy only kills when it’s a holiday or the stars are aligned or some shit, right?” 

“Yeah, but a few of the murders coincided with some ancient Sumerian calendar that Bruce thought might’ve been a link. Only a few though. Feels like it’s just a coincidence”.

“And we know it’s not Zsasz, how?”

“Because he likes to taunt after he kills someone” Babs responds. “And we haven’t gotten anything. A note, a phone call. Nothing at all, so we’re basically ruling him out until we’ve got something more concrete, though I doubt we’re gonna get it”.

“Gut feeling that it isn’t Zsasz?” Stephanie asks seriously, receiving a quick nod from Babs.

“Yeah. Let’s call it that”.

Normally when it came to cases Cassandra found that she could easily lock in and focus on nothing more than the case, not stop thinking about it until it was completely solved, with whoever was behind whatever it was behind bars.

But tonight?

She felt frustrated, agitated even, and it showed in how she began to shift uneasily in her seat, trying to get comfortable but failing to do so. Her phone felt heavy in her pocket, the subject matter which she wished to speak about, and what she expected them to talk about as easily as they had every other time, eluding them thus far.

 

‘Why aren’t they talking about sex?’

 

“Who do you think it is?”

Stephanie sits up, leaning forward as she folded her arms over her knees, looking towards Barbara who was just as engrossed in the conversation unfolding as the blonde was. “Not sure. Honestly? The only thing the victims have in common is that they all have criminal records. Extensive ones”.

“So some criminal is offing other criminals?”

“That’s what it looks like”.

“So the question is are they doing it because they’ve got a boner for a more proactive form of vigilante justice, or if they’re doing it to wipe out the competition”.

“That leaves us with a really long list of suspects. Anyone wanna bet on who it is?” the redhead offers lazily, the group having gotten so used to things like this that even the death of a dozen or so people seemed almost more like a statistic than anything else.

Well…at least for Stephanie and Babs. 

Cassandra herself was torn up about it, as she herself had been working the case as well, trying to find something, anything, to help advance the case. But there was…nothing. Stab wounds, one through the throat, one to the stomach. Someone who was good. Very good. Who knew exactly where to strike to leave as little behind as possible.

 

‘We must end it’.

Cassandra felt the gravel in her own thoughts at that, the desire to see the man, or woman, who was doing this brought to justice burning brightly within her. Even murderers and thieves deserved justice.

That was simply how she felt.

 

What had been ingrained into her by Bruce through years of training. If tonight were a normal night, and not one where she had something important to share, she would’ve been out there, looking for whoever it was, waiting for them to strike.

 

‘I…I must share with them. But how?’

 

She looks down, folding her hands in front of her within her lap, fidgeting as her foot lightly begins to tap against the floor. The sound it generated not being enough to gain her attention from the other two. 

 

‘I…I cannot just…say it, can I? I have to wait for the conversation to go that way…don’t I?’

 

It was at this point that she really regretted her inability to simply have a conversation. It had only occurred to her as of late that she was a reactive, not proactive member of the group. She responded to things already being discussed, and even then in limited, precise fashion, contributing only what she thought necessary.

It was as if any word that was not absolutely needed for the conversation to advance she did not speak. As if her syllables themselves were being rationed. 

 

‘How?! How do I bring it up?!!’

 

She roars within her mind, the outside remaining rather stoic and withdrawn, though the furrowing of her brow could be seen as evidence to the contrary. Her eyes looked this way and that, trying to find something, anything that might be a segway into that. 

 

‘I need to tell them. I need to. That way, I will be an equal’.

 

She’d thought it would be so easy! After all, every other night it seemed that sex was the only thing that either Babs or Stephanie could speak of. Why was it the one night that she needed that to be the main subject of interest, they had to be serious and speak of a case?!!

It was frustrating beyond words.

Slowly her hands begin to rub back and forth between one another, another tic exposing itself, her foot banging a bit more heavily against the floor. ‘I need to tell them. I need to tell them that I made love…and that I loved it’.

 

“Do you think we missed something? Maybe something caught on one of the cameras in the area of the murders?”

Babs shook her head in the negative, the two continuing to be unaware of the fact that Cassandra was at the very edge of her endurance when it came to holding such things in. “No. I already went over everything that there was to see. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Whoever is slicing up scumbags seems to know exactly where to do it”.

“Soooo…he gets them out of camera range or something? Maybe these guys know him or something?”

“Maybe, maybe”.

 

‘I NEED TO TELL THEM!!!!’

 

“But the method of killing doesn’t suggest that it’s personal in any-,”

 

“I am no longer a virgin!”

 

The words exploded out of Cassandra’s mouth, forced out almost like projectile vomiting, as if the very act of keeping the words inside of her was too much for her body to handle, and her immune system was rejecting it.

You could’ve heard a pin drop in the room as the two women whom she’d interrupted slowly turned to look at her, differing expressions present upon their faces. For Stephanie? It was a shock, as if her mind was still working to process the words that had been spoken by her best friend and sister in all but blood. 

She’d get it…soon, Cassandra was assured of that, but for now she looked like a fish out of water, wide eyed and open mouthed, trying to make sense of the sentence that, while simple, was a lot to take in.

If only because of the woman who’d spoken it. 

 

Barbara though?

She was different, and Cassandra could easily read all of the emotions on the redhead’s face. Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw clenched, clearly showcasing her frustration at what she saw as something important, and it undoubtedly was, being interrupted. Again, the dismissiveness, the disdain that she hid so well, came roaring to the forefront. 

 

She’d have much rather had Cassandra remain silent, never saying anything at these little get togethers.

But there was another thing that Cassandra could read in the woman’s face. And it manifested in the slight smirk that turned the corner of her lips after the initial wave of disdain and anger passed. The slight tilt of her head. The twinkle in her eye. 

 

She didn’t believe her.

 

Barbara thought that Cassandra was lying, and that? It annoyed the Asian woman, who removed her hands from her lap, and let one land upon the couch cushion next to her, clutching at it tightly to try and fight back her annoyance. 

 

‘I said it. Now it is their turn to respond’.

 

Cassie’s chest rose and fell with each breath she took, each inhale and exhale at the moment being a bit laborious as the adrenaline from sharing such a thing was almost too much for her to take at the moment. 

 

She looked back and forth, between Stephanie and Barbara…waiting. In quiet, overbearing desperation, for a response.

Any response!

Of course said response would come from Stephanie, who quickly closed her mouth and smiled, though it was an uncertain smile, the blonde having thought that she knew the woman well enough to be prepared for any and anything that Cassandra would ever say.

That assumption had just been thrown on its head.

“Wow…Cass…r-really? Umm….that’s uhh…great. I…shit…I’m sorry. I just…I have so many questions”.

 

Cassandra sat up straighter, eager to answer any and all questions that might come her way, beyond welcoming them even! ‘Questions mean that they care and I will get to talk about Jason!...w-without mentioning Jason’.

That was the one drawback to her desire to share her experiences, and like with many things she did not understand why. Was it important to share not only the sexual acts you’d committed, but the person you’d committed them with?

‘Stephanie and Barbara always speak more about Dick and Tim. Where they excel and where they fail at sex. I…I want to tell them about Jason’. She had MUCH to talk about when it came to Jason’s abilities in bed.

And it was all because of her ability to read people’s emotions with a near perfect result. She’d learned more about Jason in one night of passion than she had in her entire time knowing him platonically. 

 

‘He has to have flaws’ she thinks to herself, her mind going back to that night. ‘But I do not know what they are’. Of course she knew that this was only because of her virginity and lack of experience.

One thing was for certain though, Jason? He was a pleaser, a man who was very attentive to the needs of his lover. In many ways Cassandra couldn’t have asked for a better teacher. But what was more important to that night was not the sex itself, but the hours that passed afterwards, in which they’d spent in one another’s arms, was more important. 

 

“Snnnnf…ggnrrrr…snnnnff…gnnnrr”.

 

She was wide awake now, staring ahead through the darkness at the wall across from the side of her bed, the sound of the man’s snores ringing in her ears like atomic bombs. ‘His concerns about being heard were…not unfounded’.

 

It should’ve been annoying, anger inducing, as for every other night she’d slept in silence, alone within her own bed. Having someone else within it besides her should’ve been something that wasn’t easily acclimated too.

And yet?

She found the sound…comforting.

It was so different, so foreign to her life of silence. It was disruptive, and yet Cassandra welcomed the disruption because of its disruptiveness. It felt…well, she had to be honest, it felt amazing. Her entire body could just sense him.

From his breath impacting against the back of her head, the warm air parting some of her uppermost layers of hair which then fall back into place before the process continues, rhythmically and consistent. 

 

His arms around her, strong and firm, one wrapped about her belly, clutching at her tightly, allowing her to reach down and lightly stroke her hand up and down, feeling the tendrils of his arm hair teasing at her soft, smooth flesh. She did it slowly, softly, doing it in conjunction with each breath he took. 

 

His chest was to her back, firmly, leaving nothing in the way of space.

It was…closeness.

A closeness that had always eluded Cassandra throughout her entire life. A closeness that had been seen as weakness, something that would interfere with her ability to be nothing more than a human blade. 

 

‘He took my virginity’.

Cassandra remembered that fact, her mind going back to hours before. She could feel the soreness in her loins which, while dissipated, was proof that she was now a woman….though that expression confused her.

 

‘I was a woman before I had sex’.

 

Some…most euphemisms escaped her, even to this day with years of exposure. She suspected that it would always be this way. 

 

“Snnnnrrrrr…gnnnnnn”.

 

“Jason”.

 

Her own words broke up the silence even more than Jason’s snoring, at least in her mind, and despite her desire to remain perched perfectly in his arms on their sides, she remembered his concern over being heard snoring within her room.

“Snrrrrrr…gnnnn…hmmm?”

 

“You need to wake up”.

She pushes forward, gently grasping his arm as she moves it off of her, slipping onto her rear end atop the bed, forcing the blankets off of her and revealing her nude body to the darkness of her room, the only illumination coming from the moon high up in the wintry skies above, coming in through the window.

“Mmmmm…mmm…C-Cass?”

It was as if her removing herself from his arms was enough to wake the man up, and he fell onto his back, shooting up in the bed with his arms bent behind him, palms down, his blinking eyes quickly looking about the room, desperately searching for the woman.

 

‘He is afraid. Why?’

 

“I am here” she says quickly, turning the sleepy man’s attention back onto her, sensing his instant relaxation before it is replaced by worry and concern once more. He sits up again, bringing himself further up in her bed. 

 

“You alright?” he asks tepidly, as if dipping his foot into a pool to test the waters. 

‘Is he worried about…me?’

 

“Yes. I am fine”.

 

She felt…warm at that thought, even with the slight chill of the room bashing against her naked body. She shifts on the bed, bringing her knees up onto it, allowing her to look down on the man. Jason relaxes a bit as she comes closer, something that she takes note of while his eyes rove over her breasts and body. 

 

She curves her back lightly, pushing her chest out a bit further, enjoying how it felt to have his eyes upon her. 

“You sure?” he asks, slowly reaching out, almost nervously, towards her before his hand landed on her side, gently grasping her while beginning to rub up and down, his warm fingers making contact with her chilling flesh. 

 

“Jeez, you’re getting cold”.

 

“Yes. The temperature outside is well below twenty degrees”.

“Pfft, this old place hasn’t ever been good at keeping heat in” Jason says, half smiling, though his nervousness continues. ‘He is making conversation. Or rather trying’.

 

“So uhh…well…”

 

The man’s mood plummeted, replaced by fear and nervousness completely, allowing Cassandra yet another look at him, but this time? When he was vulnerable. Showing weakness. 

 

“Never show weakness Cassandra. Never. If you do, I can assure you that it shall be the last thing that you do”.

 

For some reason her mother’s words come back to her at that moment, and relate themselves towards Jason. He was showing weakness. If she were an opponent, he would be doomed. 

 

‘No. Stop’.

She tries to shake the thoughts, and her mother, out of her mind, reminding herself that she was NOT simply an extension of Lady Shiva or David Cain. 

 

“You’re more than a weapon, Cassandra”.

Another voice enters her mind. This time belonging to a completely different person. His tone was gruff, harsh, but even still…warm, caring. It was as if he was forcing himself to say what he thought, knowing that it needed to be said. For her benefit.

It was Bruce’s voice.

 

And that was the one she chose to listen to.

 

“Maybe I should…you know, head out. Slip back into my room. Definitely doesn’t feel like a pump and dump now, does it?” he half states, half asks, that forced smile upon his face as he sat up further, and reached out for the blanket, ready to lift it off of him.

 

“G’night Ca-,”

 

“No”.

She acted quickly, and decisively, as was expected of her, reaching out and grasping the man’s shoulder, pushing him back onto the bed with a not inconsiderable amount of strength. The man goes wide eyed, surprised as his head and shoulders hit the pillow, and Cassandra takes advantage of his position.

She climbs atop him, pulling the blankets back and exposing his naked body to the chill as well, right before she throws her leg over him and straddles his waist. Instantly he feels a pressure in all the wrong, or perhaps right, places, and hisses, his hands both going to the Asian woman’s waist, clenching down.

 

Cassandra placed her own hands upon his chest, lightly touching there, her fingertips trailing over his skin with her nails lightly scratching him. She was emotionless, blank faced, stoic…but he could see…something in her eyes.

 

‘It’s…nothing, right? Just the moon or something. It’s dark in here’.

 

His attempts at convincing himself fell on deaf ears, or at least his own. Thoughts were hard to come by anyways, with blood starting to move away from his brain, and into another organ. An organ which was pressed up tightly against Cass’ slit, her entrance feeling particularly warm and inviting in the chill.

 

“Stay”.

“What…urrm…what are you doing?”

“Trying to excite you” she says, right before she starts to slowly move her hips back and forth, sliding her pussy over his cock. If any vestiges of sleep remained in his mind, this simple yet utterly seductive act pushed them right away. 

 

“This…unnff…is exciting you, yes?”

“Y-yeah” he sighs, smirking to himself as he shakes his head and turns to the side, his hands moving up her sides slowly, his thumbs extended outwards to rub her belly. He felt her shiver under his touch, her breathing getting heavy, clearly reacting to his ministrations. 

 

“I…am getting excited as well”.

“We just did it…”

He pauses, turning to look at the digital clock that she had on the end table, taking in the time.

“Four hours ago”.

 

“Is there a…huuuhhh”.

A quick inhale of breath and a shutter, the woman bringing her head back slightly as her eyes flutter served as proof that even this slight action was doing more than enough to get them prepped for what was amounting to a round two.

 

‘Shit…she’s wet again’.

He could feel that, most definitely. 

 

“You okay?”

“Y-yes” she says, recovering a bit as she paused, her body trembling with unspent energy that no doubt needed to be released soon. “I am…fine. Is there a limit to how many times a day you can make love?”

“Not as far as I know” he admits, his hardness slipping out from under her as she moved a bit too forward, his cock now completely erect, and thwacking lightly against her ass cheeks as it pops up. Meanwhile his hands? They went towards their intended target, grasping onto her breasts in an instant, his thumbs moving to her cold and arousal-hardened nipples.

“Mmmm”.

She pushes herself forward into his touch, clearly enjoying it. 

 

“You like that?” he asks huskily, feeling less restrained than he had before in the early hours of the morning. 

 

“Yes. Very much”.

“We need to work on your dirty talk” he teases, gently starting to tweak her nipples as he sighs, humping his own waist upwards, trying to gain pleasure from sliding his cock along her ass cheeks.

“I guess it depends on how much the guy has” he continues from before, feeling Cassandra writhe under his touch, her body so used to pain and strain, not pleasure. “D-do you have more?” she asks almost cutely, innocently, which only made Jason want her more.

“You feel how hard I am?”

She focuses her attention on the sensation between her ass cheeks, the hard, throbbing cock so close to her, skin to skin contact. Yes. She could feel it.

 

“Yes” she says huskily, her own excitement coloring her voice. 

 

“That means I’ve got more”.

 

“Good”.

“Wanna try a new position?”

“Yes”.

“You’re already where you need to be” he admits, looking down as he shifts a bit, moving upwards against the pillow while keeping a firm grip on her. “It’s called cowgirl. It can be forward facing, or with your butt to me”.

“I want to face you”.

“Alright then…move yourself up a bit, put some space between us” he explains, like a teacher which he sort of was.

 

‘This sort of teaching belongs in a porno’.

 

Cassandra was a quick learner, pushing her knees onto the bed and hoisting her body upwards, doing just enough for Jason’s cock to sway right into position without the obstacle of Cassie’s rump in the way.

 

She could feel his tip tickling at her entrance, waiting to plunge into her depths which, while known to him now, were still new. She was dripping on him, her arousal only growing even further now that she knew what to expect. 

 

“Alright, now gently-ooooooooohh!”

 

Again, Cass was a quick study. She didn’t need the man to tell her what to do now, and in an instant she pushed herself down onto the man, swallowing up his length with ease. Warmth, and wetness met him, and one of his hands detached from her tit to move onto her back, grasping her tightly.

 

“Unnnff…unnnnff”.

“Sh-shit…just...went for it…huh?”

“Y-yes”.

She was being pulled in by the man, with her own body assisting him, eager to be near him as she bent down, keeping him within her as she moved her waist up and down.

Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap!

Once again, the sound of flesh meeting flesh emanated throughout the room, as Cassie and Jason come together once more.

“Fuck…as good as this feels? I’m still cold”. 

 

“Yes. P-pull the blankets ov-mmmmf…”

He didn’t need to be told twice. While Cass was doing all of the work at the moment he leaned up a bit, still holding her with one arm wrapped about her back, and grasped the blanket, pulling it over both of their bodies once again. 

 

“I…I want you to kiss me again”.

 

“Lucky for you, I wanna kiss you again. Evens out in the end”.

 

She’d known he hadn’t wanted to leave. And she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted him to remain with her, cuddle even further…but it could only be accomplished, in her mind, if she made love to the man again. 

 

Not that she was at all adverse to the idea…

 

In fact…if she was being truthful? She wanted it more than him. 

As their lips locked and their coitus continued, the bright winter moon shining in through the window, illuminating their writhing bodies under the blankets, causing waves to ruffle through the fabric like the sea.

 

It took a bit longer this time, though in the end they’d reached climax once more, this time with their lips locked onto one another. 

 

In the end they were far too exhausted to even think about leaving the bed, and Cassandra collapsed in a sweaty heap atop the man’s chest, his cock still within her. His arms wrapped around her while her head rested atop his shoulder.

 

It was a very comfortable rest, all told. 

 

And he didn’t snore in this position oddly enough. Just let out contented little grunts and moans every so often.

Cass didn’t mind that. Not at all. 

 

“So uhh…well…I guess first and foremost…WHO THE HELL DID YOU HAVE SEX WITH?!!!”

Stephanie turned instantly on the couch, a wide, beaming smile on her face as she looked at her friend, no doubt wanting to partake in the almost ancient tradition of sharing tales of sexual exploits. 

 

‘I am equal to them now’.

 

“A man I met on Tinder”.

 

She felt awful that she had to lie, even though she understood why it was so. Even still…it was…tempting. Tempting to tell them that she’d made love with Jason. ‘No. He asked you to not tell’.

 

“Awww, Tinder, really Cass?” the blonde asks, somewhat disappointed, mirroring the Asian woman’s own feelings on the matter.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Not really…I guess but…your first time? It’s supposed to be something special” the blonde says simply, feeling as if she had to explain all of this to Cassandra. She didn’t. Jason already had, but again, that was part of the secret. Cassandra tilted her head to the side, looking towards her oldest friend. 

 

“Your first time was with Tim”.

“Exactly” Stephanie retorts, raising her hand and pointing, as if that explained all of it. “It WAS special. At the time? We were dating…seriously dating. It wasn’t just a…you know, fly by night thing”.

“A…booty call?” Cassandra offers, trying out the words for herself.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Same difference I guess”.

 

“But you have had sex with two men at the same time” Cassandra ventures, not in reproach, but rather curiosity, finding it odd that Stephanie could hold fast to a standard such as that while also being so promiscuous in other areas.

Stephanie paused at that, stuck in mid retort before closing her mouth and nodding, finding merit in what Cass had just said.

 

“I mean…sure, yeah buuuut not for my first time”.

 

“What is the difference?”

“The first time is…well…the first time. It’s special”.

 

“But you will do it again, yes?”

“Duh” Stephanie teases good naturedly, reaching out and gently pushing against her friend’s shoulder while giggling. “It feels awesome. You should know that for yourself now you bitch”. Despite the epithet, which Cassandra knew was spoken with love and affection, Cassandra smiles.

 

“Yes…I do”.

 

‘I did it twice in one night…with the same man’.

 

“Alright, alright. The deed is done sooooo…deets! Deets! Deeeets! Now. Spill” Steph says, folding her hands under her chin and looking at the Asian woman intensely, trying to read her eyes so that she could get an answer before she even spoke. 

 

“It was…enjoyable”.

 

Steph’s face instantly falls, frowning as she turns her head.

“C’mon. Give us more than that sister”.

 

Now Cassandra was nervous. 

 

‘What do I tell them?’

 

She hadn’t thought of anything beyond telling them that she was no longer a virgin. The details? They almost seemed like they would be implied. But here was Stephanie, looking at her eagerly, expecting more when Cassandra wasn’t sure how much she should, or could, give. 

 

“It was…very enjoyable?”

“Ugggh…how big was he?”

“Large. Larger than average” she says quickly and simply, not wanting to give an exact number as she thought that there was the possibility that Barbara or Stephanie would be able to trace such a specific one back to Jason. But that would imply that either of them had seen Jason’s penis.

And that…that made her feel…strange.

 

Almost angry?

Jealous…perhaps?

‘No. They have not seen Jason’s penis. They haven’t had sex with him’ she thinks, wiping the thought away instantly. ‘They would’ve said so at one of these girls' nights’. A sudden, discomforting thought enters her mind though.

 

‘You are not telling them that you had sex with Jason’.

 

Was that possible?

Had either one of them been with Jason in that way, and like her were remaining silent about it? Her mind was whirring with thoughts, strategies, plans to try and find out, and thoughts about what she’d do when she did. It was automatic. Like a computer dedicated only to solving complex logic issues.

 

‘Stop. Focus’.

 

“Okaaaaay…cool, cool. So he was hung huh?” Stephanie asks, still smiling but her voice carrying with it a tone of suspicion. As if she didn’t believe that Cassandra had actually had sex, the evidence being that she wasn’t being specific as she normally was.

She was humoring her, and Cassandra felt a desperation to be believed well up within her.

 

“Yes. He was white, uncircumcised, and hairy”.

“Ohhh, a manly man huh? You know, I prefer shaved myself, but whatever floats your boat Cass”.

“His testicles were large” Cassandra carried on, her eyes flitting back between Barbara and Stephanie, wanting, no, needing to be believed. ‘I am so close to being fully accepted!’

 

“Ohh yeah? Balls are cool”.

“We made love multiple times, in many different ways over the past week. I have learned how to suck penis, and how to ride cowgirl and-,”

“We don’t believe you”.

The words were like cold water thrown over a hot fire, causing the flames themselves to sizzle and almost burn out. And they’d been spoken by Barbara who, up until this point, had remained silent, seated in her wheelchair with her arms crossed over her chest, looking at the other woman.

She wore her disbelief much more openly than Stephanie did. The blonde wanting to be kind and simply get past it. 

The redhead had no such qualms. 

 

“You’re making it up”.

Frustration. Anger.

No doubt from being interrupted for what she saw as a useless distraction, and a lie at that. 

 

“I am not” Cassandra says back stoically, relaxing a bit as she sits on the couch, trying to collect her thoughts while frustration reigns supreme in her mind. ‘Why? Why doesn’t she just take my word? Why doesn’t she trust me?!!’

 

It was about more than just her having sex. It was…well…everything!

 

Ever since she’d become Batgirl, Babs seemed to keep her at a distance, never truly offering the same level of help that she had Stephanie when she’d donned the mask for a while. It extended outwards, into everything. It was subtle, below surface level, something that the rest of the Bat Family wouldn’t pick up on.

But for Cassandra it was as clear as the nose on her face.

 

“Babs, come on” Stephanie says, the blonde trying to be the peacemaker as usual, leaning forward to put herself between Cassandra and Barbara. “She isn’t lying”.

Cassandra could easily tell that Stephanie was lying, that she thought she wasn’t being honest, but was at least trying to cover that up. Something that the Asian woman could be grateful for for the sake of their friendship but was still further angered by.

 

“I. Am. Not. Lying”.

She enunciates each word clearly, as if there was an issue of understanding that prevented the two from grasping her words.

Barbara just huffs and rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, she is. Seriously Steph? Some guy off Tinder. Cassandra. Cassandra Cain. The woman who didn’t even know how to speak until a few years ago can suddenly just call a guy and ask for him to come over and what…have sex with her?”

“Woah! Woah! Outta line Babs”.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re right” the redheaded woman says, holding her hands up and appearing, at least to Stephanie, genuine. But Cassandra knew the truth. The slight smirk on her face, the glimmer in her eye. She didn’t mean it at all.

‘That is how she gets away with it. How she ALWAYS gets away with it!’

 

“I’m sorry Cass. Really. That was….screwed up. But come on, be serious. You didn’t have sex and that’s fine. You really should just wait for the right time, okay? You don’t need to make anything up. None of us think you’re any less of-,”

“I have proof”.

 

Cassandra had had enough, and while she was an expert at cultivating a poker face, even her anger was showing at the moment as she glared directly at the redhead, and started fishing into her pocket. 

 

“Woah, really?”

Stephanie was back to smiling, turning towards her friend and revealing her hand, that she hadn’t actually believed the woman, but was humoring her because she was her friend. Cass forgave her though. She always did.

“Yes”.

With a single finger swipe over her phone Cassie opens it, and quickly taps upon the picture icon, bringing up a few folders. One was dedicated to family pictures, what she could get of them, having been told that that was what phones were for. 

 

She sometimes just sat in her bed, looking at them and smiling to herself. Sometimes for hours it seemed.

One of her washing dishes with Alfred, the butler smiling as he waves for the camera good naturedly. A bunch of her and Steph in soooo many different places. A few of her and Tim either working on college papers or playing video games.

Even a few of her and Dick, training mostly.

There were little of her and Jason though, maybe only two or three, and one was forced upon him a few months before when she realized that she didn’t have any pictures of them together. It was at dinner, snapped quickly when she leaned over the back of his chair and managed to get them both in frame, him jumping in surprise but smiling.

 

It was her favorite now, all things considered, and even at that moment she had to take a pause to look at it before quickly moving on, remembering her purpose.

 

‘I will show them’ she thinks, finding the hidden folder, which she opened with another tap of the button.

“Here”.

She turns, and positions the screen towards Stephanie and Barbara, allowing them both to see the contents. The redhead? She just went wide eyed in complete shock, remaining quiet at what she saw. 

 

Stephanie? She was shocked herself, but her expression was one of joy, shock and maybe the slightest hint of arousal that came with seeing something sexual.

“Holy shit Caaaaaaas! Woah! Woah!”

 

She didn’t turn her eyes away, but brought her hand up to her mouth, covering it up. On the screen, reflected in front of her, was a picture, obviously taken by Cass who held one hand up and outwards to take a ‘selfie’ as she’d been taught. The other?

Well, that was grasping a pair of pendulous testicles while the shaft they were attached to was perched between her lips at the side, as if she was kissing it. Her face? Covered in ropes of what was undoubtedly cum. Babs and Steph had seen enough of it to tell. Across her cheeks, her nose, some in her hair. 

 

Cass smiled, feeling proud of her accomplishment, not finding showing such a picture strange in any way, shape or form. She still remembered when it happened.

 

“Guhhh…shit…shit…fuuuuuuck”.

Jason stood above her, breathing heavily as he looked down at the kneeling woman who, seconds before, had been bobbing her head up and down along his cock with expert precision. ‘How the fuck did she get so good in like a week?’ he ponders to himself, finding it unbelievable that anyone would ever beat out Artemis in giving head.

 

His legs were wobbly, and he found it hard to stand but juuuust managed to keep upright, his hand reaching down to her head.

“I am getting better”.

 

It was a statement, not a question. She damn well knew that she was getting better.

“Yeah…yeah…you…definitely are…shit”.

He runs his hand through his sweat soaked hair and lets out a deep breath, still riding the high of orgasming. When he looks down again he takes note of the fact that Cass’ face was covered in cum. And she was looking up at him, a mixture of stoicism and innocence which only made it feel wrong and even sexier at the same time.

 

‘She asked to blow you!’ he reminds himself. ‘Not the other way around, okay? Not your fault at all’. He tries to assuage himself of any guilt but quickly realizes that there was no way in any world that he would’ve said no. 

 

‘Dammit…you’re still a pervert’.

 

“I’m uh…sorry about…you know, the face”.

 

‘Really? Really?! You sound like a total loser’.

“Barbara and Stephanie have both let men ejaculate on their faces”.

“Yeah well, it’s slutty. Let me get something to-woah!”

She grasps his testicles right as he was about to turn around and grasp up a hotel provided blanket or bed sheet to help the woman clean her face when the tightness of her fingers grasping his marble sack. “Ahhhh!”

“Wait”.

 

She reaches onto the bed herself, and grasps up her phone, opening it up…all while still holding onto his nutsack.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Taking a picture” she answers simply, raising the phone up and turning her cum covered face towards his cock, pursing her lips as she kisses the side. “A picture? For what?”

Click!

“Proof” she says simply, bringing the phone back towards her and ensuring that the picture came out well. And it did. There she was, kissing the side of a large, but softening cock, her face covered in cum. ‘This will show that I am telling the truth’.

“Uhh…shouldn’t we be avoiding that?” he asks, helping the woman get up, marveling at how at ease Cassandra was with having cum on her face. “Proof? We want this to be a secret, right?”

“I am going to tell Barbara and Stephanie that I have had sex soon. Barbara will not believe me if I don’t have proof”.

 

“I mean…I guess you’re right, yeah” he admits, setting down on the bed with Cassandra quickly doing the same besides him. “Does this…bother you?”

“No, no! Just...as long as my face isn’t in it, you know?”

“It is only my face and your penis in the picture” the naked woman says as if that was nothing. ‘I can’t believe how many punches I just have to roll with’ he thinks to himself, marveling at Cass’ ability to simply say what she meant and just forge right on ahead without any realization of how it might be perceived. 

 

“Alright…good”.

“Would you…like me to send it to you?” she asks, reaching for her phone again.

“Nah. It’s okay. Trust me. I have the mental image well enough…again, sorry about cumming on your face”.

 

“I am not upset”.

“It’s just…for a lot of women? It’s dehumanizing I guess. Demeaning?”

“I did not feel that way”.

“It’s just you were sucking a little…too well and uhh, couldn’t you know, hold it. I did try to warn you!” the man says, apparently not hearing the woman sitting besides him when she said that she didn’t mind, trying to defend himself with a finger in the air. “But you kinda just sat there. I was gonna move it! I swear but when things get like that you have no time at all to react and-ohhhh!”

She silences him, this time by grasping his cock and starting to lightly stroke the member, wanting it to get hard once more. 

“I liked it” she says simply, now having his undivided attention. 

 

“Okay…cool, cool. Nothing wrong with that” he says, leaning back a bit, and giving the woman further access to his crotch. 

 

“It is called a facial, correct?”

“Mhm” the man grunts, closing his eyes and biting his lip, feeling the woman’s soft, warm hand sliding up and down his cock, the pulsating veins beneath the flesh, having thought they were done with their work for the night, pushed back up against the flesh, his cock filled with blood.

She gently strokes, pulling back the foreskin slightly and stroking her thumb over his already cum and pussy juice slick head.

“Mmmff”.

 

“I did that correctly, right?”

“Yeah…yeah…you’re a real…natural”.

“I would like for us to kiss some more”.

She made to lean in, not even thinking, her eyes starting to flutter closed as her lips pursed. “Woah! Woah! Wait a sec! Wait a sec!” He almost panics, bringing his hand up and putting it between his face and her own.

A second of hurt flashes in her eyes. 

 

“What is wrong?”

“One sec, alright? Juuuuust…”

 

He looks around and grasps up a towel, one of the ones they’d used once they got to the hotel room, coming in off of patrol before stripping down. “Let me…”. He leans in and begins dabbing her face, collecting his cum off of it, cleaning her. 

 

Cassandra lets him, suddenly remembering the presence of his seed upon her face, and finally explaining it to herself mentally why he wouldn’t wish to kiss her while she was in that state. It takes a few more seconds, but eventually her face was all clean of the offending, and life giving, substance.

“Alright. There we go. Now we’re clear to kiss”.

A slight smirk passes over the woman’s lips as she leans in again, and this time faces no resistance, the two lip locking with a quiet intensity as they slowly fall back onto the bed, getting ready for round two. And yes, with lots of kissing involved.

Cassandra liked to think she’d gotten good at that as well.

 

“You let a guy cum all over your face…AND TOOK A PICTURE?!”

Stephanie made to reach for the phone, wanting to take it from the Asian woman, but Cassandra was far too quick for that, reacting instantly and pulling the phone out of reach. “Yes. I enjoy that”.

 

“I knew there was a wild side hiding in there Cass. Way to freaking go! Guy has an awesome cock too. Who is he? Is he cute or is he one of those ugly guys that makes up for it in other ways? No judging, just wanna know”.

 

This. This was it.

The shared female camaraderie that she’d always wanted and yet, seemed to elude her. She was finally getting it. Sharing things with the two other Batgirls. 

 

“He is very handsome”.

“Show me! Show me!”

“No”.

“What? Why not?” Stephanie asks, her mood plummeting a bit as Cassandra remains firm. “Because it is a secret”.

 

“Pfft. We don’t have secrets, remember?” the blonde asks, teasing, taking the other woman’s hand and wiggling her thumb against it, Cassandra mimicking the action on instinct. It filled the dark haired woman with warmth to feel it, as she did remember when Stephanie INSISTED on them having a secret handshake years ago.

 

“Remember?”

“Yes, I do,” Cassandra says while releasing Stephanie’s hand. “But I still cannot tell you. He wishes to have it remain a secret”.

 

“Whaaaaaaaat? That’s crazy. I’ve literally never met a guy who’d wanna keep getting some a secret” the blonde teases, taking Cassandra’s words at face value now that there was bona fide proof of what she was saying. “Seriously. Especially not punching a hot babe’s V-card”.

“He wants to remain secret” Cassandra reiterates, blushing as she most definitely wanted to tell them that she and Jason were…well, having sex at least. She didn’t know what to qualify their relationship as exactly.

 

‘Fuck buddies?’ she ponders mentally, thinking over the words that Stephanie had used in the past to describe some of her repeating but not seriously encounters. She instantly rejects it, the thought leaving a sour taste in her brain.

She didn’t know what they were…

 

‘I will ask Jason’.

“Do we know him?”

“He wishes to remain secret”.

 

“Uggh, she’s dug in. Alright, alright. Just…tell me. He good in bed? I mean, I know you don’t have much to compare it to, buuuuut…you know?”

Cassandra did indeed ‘know’, and a slight smile adorned her lips as she nodded her head in agreement. 

 

“Yes. I know. He is very good. We’ve done it over a dozen times in the past weeks”.

 

“Holy shit Cass! Alright, alright. More deets! What have you done, and tell me everythiiiiiing in typical Cassandra Cain detail. Don’t leave a single thing out”. It seemed like an order, and one that Cassandra was happy to obey as she began to recite the things she and Jason had done, and how they made her feel. 

 

Stephanie paid rapt attention, laying down on the couch on her chest, kicking her feet back and forth, occasionally giggling or giving ‘pointers’ as she called them.

 

But Babs?

She was also paying attention, though in a much less proactive way. It almost seemed as if she was…angry. Angry at the attention being lavished on Cassandra at that moment. As if she was jealous, it seemed.

‘Why? Why did this not work with her?’ Cassandra thinks, frustrated once more as she tries to think of what she could possibly do to gain the redhead’s approval. But the conversation carries on outwardly, with Stephanie continuing to probe for more and more, though she knew better than to try and get the identity of Cassandra’s ‘boy toy’ as she had entitled the mystery man.

 

If Cass said she wouldn’t tell, she wouldn’t tell. It was as simple as that.

“Okay, first things first, blowjobs? They’re great. Guys love them, but honestly? Titjobs are just as fun. Give it a try next time Cass. Trust me. I like giving them even though you don’t feel too much”.

“I…will take that in mind”.

 

“She doesn’t have enough to do something like that” Babs finally says, drawing a disapproving click and glare from Stephanie, the redhead’s words having the opposite effect. “Tcck, shut up Babs. She’s got more than enough. Besides, it’s more about the look anyways. Also, Cass? If he asks for a footjob…run. He’s a weirdo and you might end up in a sex dungeon or something…I mean, not you but even still he’s a weirdo”.

 

Babs went back to being quiet, her attempt at deflating Cass’ moment falling flat. 

She sat there, simmering in her anger. 

 

And Cass was still left wondering what to do.

‘I wish I could speak to Jason about this’ she thinks to herself, sure that her…boy toy would be able to help. He was a fountain of knowledge for her now it seemed, and she’d come to rely on him quite a lot.

 

She wondered where he was tonight.

 

East End, Gotham City, One Hour Later

 

Zzzzzp! Zzzzzp! Zzzzzp!

 

“Oww!”

“Relax” the gruff, helmet covered voice says, his gloved hands reaching out and pulling the rope through the makeshift pulley he’d rigged up while he looked down below at the trio of goons he’d wrangled tonight.

“Almost done”.

“You…you can’t leave us here!”

“It’ll just be for half an hour. Hour tops”.

 

Zzzzzp!

The rope is pulled one final time through the impromptu pulley system, and after that the feared Red Hood, one of the close associates of the Batman, known throughout Gotham for his…well, let’s just say not so gentle approach to crime prevention, moves the rope to the side. He loops it around a cooling unit, once, twice, three times before tying it off, securing it.

 

The three drug dealers he’d captured were now dangling a solid twenty feet in the air, all three of them tied together tightly with little more than a few cuts and bruises. 

Even they knew that they got off easy, incredibly easy. 

 

“The cops are on their way” Jason says, raising a foot and placing it on the brick half wall atop the building, looking down at the three men who switched between looking down into the snow covered alley or upwards to the roof.

 

“This is bullshit man! We were just selling some snow! Don’t make nobody buy shit. They come to us”.

“Rules are rules” Jason retorts back coldly, waving his hand through the air in a dismissive fashion as he looks at the three men who were at least moderately warm in their heavy winter jackets. “So just be good boys and wait here…unless you want me to put you back down on the ground”.

“Yeah mothafucka’! That’s exactly what we want, gawddamn” one shouts back, the wiry one wearing a beanie who was the lowest part of the scumbag pile. The one Jason was sure was the leader.

“Alright, fine with me” Hood says, moving to undo the rope. “Just know that that means I have to beat the shit out of you. Just to make sure you’re unconscious and won’t go anywhere. Maybe I’ll even break a leg or two. Sound good?”

“Now hol’ up! Hol’ up! This is fine!” the bigger one shouts, obviously the muscle of the group before he turns and elbows the man who’d spoken up and almost gotten them an ass kicking. “Shut the fuck up Reggie!”

“Oww! You motherfu-,”

“You guys sure?” Jason asks, tilting his head as he looks down at them. “I mean, it’s really no big deal”. He reaches down to his side, retracting one of his pistols from the holster, waving it in the air. “I’ve got these new rubber bullets I wanna test out. Wanna see if they can shatter a testicle or something. It’d be really cool if I had some test subjects, you know?”

“Nah, nah! We fine!” the bigger goon says, shaking his head rapidly side to side, the three swaying in the air a bit with the wind.

“Ahh well, if you’re sure”.

Hood stands up straighter and reholsters his pistol, giving the three men one final look before bringing his hand up to his red helmet and adding a cocky half salute to his farewell. “Have a good night guys. And remember…stop selling dope. Bye”.

He disappears from view, turning around and starting to walk away, the sound of boots crunching on snow still audible to the three men.

“Oww!”

Reggie gets elbowed again.

“What was that for?”

“Dumb motha’fucka’. That’s the Red Hood, you know that right? Shiiit. Sometimes it’s better to get taken down by the Bat than him. Guy usually got a serious hardon for guys like us”.

“Yeah, yeah. Fuck you asshole. Now we gotta hang here ‘til the pigs get here”.

“Better that than a rubber bullet to the dick”.

“Yeah…guess that’s fucking true”.

All of this went unheard by Jason who continued to walk away, getting further and further along the rooftops. ‘Damn…I actually went pretty easy on those pieces of shit’ the man thinks to himself, reaching up to remove his red hood, the article of clothing and armor that gave him his name. He pulled it off of his head, cradled it under his arm, enjoying the feeling of the cool, winter air upon his face.

 

Crrrnch! Crrrnch! Crrrnch!

 

He wore only his domino mask to obscure his identity, but for the most part? It felt good to be free. He turns, walks towards the front of the building he was on, resting there, looking out over Gotham City, or at least the East End.

 

He was smiling to himself.

 

‘You know exactly why too’.

 

It felt strange and stupid to admit it but..the regular sex he was having with Cass? It actually made him, somehow, a better crimefighter. ‘Maybe letting out some of that excess aggression shit makes me more attuned to my surroundings. Heh, definitely makes me less likely to punch in a loser’s face…any more than necessary anyways’.

 

He really couldn’t believe it.

Almost every night Cass wanted something sexual. Either a blowjob, to get eaten out or full on sex. She rarely even asked him. Usually she just grabbed him…or dropped her pants and let him figure out the rest.

They’d been going to hotels, using made up names and secretive credit cards meant to help them if they ever had to run. There was NOOOO way that Jason was going to risk either of them staying in each other’s rooms at the manor and getting caught. No. And besides…they both liked to cuddle after. It made it easier when they didn’t have to worry about someone else coming in.

 

But…there were times that they didn’t even wait to get to a hotel.

 

Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap!

“Fuck! Just like that C-Batgirl, just like that” he says, his hands clutching onto the soft, supple ass cheeks belonging to the woman that was bent over a railing in an abandoned warehouse that they were meant to be investigating, ensuring that it was indeed still abandoned. 

 

All thoughts of that went out the window after it was indeed confirmed, and their thoughts turned to other endeavours.

Cass’ black pants and utility belt were barely down before Jason was inside of her, humping her as hard and fast as he could, his entire length disappearing into her wet and warm hole. She clutched at the railing intensely, looking back over her shoulder, giving nothing away due to the fact that she wore her mask which hid her mouth and even her eyes.

“Mmmf. It feels…so…good”.

Somehow? That only made it hotter!

 

Thwack!

He slaps her ass cheek, watching the flesh jiggle as he does. He’d long gotten past the fear that Cass would retaliate. She clearly, very clearly if judging by how her walls clenched around him, enjoyed being spanked.

 

Suddenly though her hand goes up to her head, specifically the side and presses against it, triggering the communications. Clearly someone wanted to speak to her…right at that moment. Jason’s heart froze, and he stops, pausing with his cock halfway inside of her.

 

‘Ohh shit! Oh shit!’

 

“Batman. This is Batgirl” she says simply, not bothered in the slightest by this. 

 

‘Ohh shit’ Jason mouth’s panicking as he gets ready to pull out of the woman and pull his pants back up, as if the man was right there. But Cass senses what he’s doing, and pushes herself back, securing her rump right in his waist completely, and drawing a groan from the man who quickly tries to muffle himself.

“You haven’t checked in” comes the gruff reply. “Is the warehouse clear?”.

“Yes. We thought we heard something in the basement. We’re checking it out”.

“Is Hood with you?”

Cassie turns and looks over her shoulder once again, saying a thousand words without speaking a single one. She tilts her head, her meaning clear. ‘Why did you stop?’

 

“Yes. He is here”.

Slowly, Jason gets back into the groove, unable to believe how dirty and lewd Cass was being. ‘She wants us to fuck…with Bruce literally on the comms?’

 

The sounds of impact came again, but this time low, very low. Almost so that Bruce couldn’t hear as Jason slid his cock back and forth against Cass’ wet slit. ‘Number five of the top ten dirtiest things you’ve ever fucking done’.

 

“Good. I have a GCPD report that there’s a disturbance near you. Domestic disturbance”.

‘Shit…shiiiit!’

Jason was gritting his teeth as his humps became more and more intense, his orgasm getting closer and closer. ‘I’m gonna cum! I’m gonna fucking cum!’

 

“A man is holding his wife and children hostage. Get there”.

“We’re coming”.

 

‘I definitely am!’

 

It was so wrong, so completely wrong, to be so near orgasm when news like that had been related, but with one final thrust, one that brings Jason entirely into the woman, he finishes, the tightness of her walls too much for him to fight.

 

‘Ohh God!’

 

He spurts his cum, much less than normally due to how often he found himself ‘making deposits’ so to speak. He fills her instantly though, and gasps, letting the shockwave pass as he forces himself to pull back, knowing that even though he’d put cum in her, he couldn’t put it all in her.

 

‘Shit! Shiiiit!’

 

He pulls out, just in time for his second and final spurt to land across her ass cheek, the pure white contrasting nicely against her pale white. If he’d had anything in the tank left whatsoever he might’ve cum all over those asscheeks again just from the sight of it.

 

“What was that?”

“Nothing” Cassandra answers quickly. “Jason was surprised by a rat”.

 

He couldn’t believe it. There was Cassandra, her pussy dripping cum and her own excitement, and yet she was able to pretend as if nothing was wrong whatsoever. “We are on our way Batman”.

 

“Hmm”.

 

And like that the link was severed.

“We must hurry” the woman says, her legs a bit wobbly, the only evidence outside of her slick thighs of her orgasm. She leans down however, and pulls up her pants, heedless of the semen that had been deposited within and on her. She just…pulled her pants up right over it, trapping it all within.

 

“Holy shit…he…he almost…he…”

“We must go. Now”.

She was all business, which fit of course. There was a family in danger, and that thought rapidly spurred Jason on to yank up his own pants and quickly start to follow Batgirl, who was rushing across the catwalk.

‘Holy shit…holy shit…’

That was all he could think all night. Even after feeding the abusive husband his teeth and saving a family alongside her, all he could think about was how inadvertently naughty and kinky she could be. 

 

‘At least that was a safe day’ he thinks to himself, grimacing. ‘Otherwise we’d have little Jasons or Cassandras running around and that? Would be impossible to explain’. Again, the image came unbidden into his mind, of Cass, visibly pregnant with her large belly, sitting there naked, gently and lovingly rubbing it. 

He pushed it away just as quickly as he had the first night they’d started all of this. 

 

‘I’ve created a fucking monster’.

Beep! Beep!

“Great” he thinks, expecting that the notification on his phone wouldn’t be good. It was Gotham. When was it ever ‘good’?

 

But, dutifully, he pulls his phone out and looks down at the screen.

One message.

From Cass.

 

His heart began to beat quicker, and there was no hesitation in his movements as he unlocked the phone and went to his message’s tab, opening it up. It was simply and uniquely Cassandra, even through text.

“I told them”.

 

He was a bit surprised by that, though more so with the fact that she’d waited so long to do so, considering all of this seemed to have started because she wanted to be ‘equal’ to the other two girls. ‘Guess she lost herself in all the excitement of something new…I definitely did’.

He begins writing back, the world around him melting away.

“That’s good. What did they say?”

The response was, as expected, instant.

“They did not believe me until I showed them the picture we took. Stephanie was supportive. Barbara is not”.

 

He furrowed his brow at that, unsure of what she meant.

 

“What do you mean?”

“She seemed agitated. Angry at me. I don’t understand why she hates me”.

“She doesn’t hate you. I don’t know. I can’t get a fix on her sometimes. Want me to talk to her?”

“No”.

“Okay”.

It almost felt like the conversation would die there. After all, they’d both said everything that needed to be said. Conversations just ended like that with Cass. But Jason? He wasn’t so sure he was comfortable with that, wanting the conversation to continue.

Craving non-sexual contact with her almost as much as he did sexual ones.

“How’s girls’ night going?”

 

“I am bored now”.

 

“Ohh. Sorry. Maybe watch a movie or something?”

“Stephanie has told me many things”.

 

Jason was given pause at that, uncertain as to what her meaning was. ‘What did that nympho tell her?’ he ponders before smirking and thinking that Cassandra might very well be a nympho as well, though so far she’d only had sex with him. 

 

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like nudes?”

“What?”

“Nudes. Pictures taken while naked or of specific body parts that are pleasing to men’s eyes”.

He scoffed at that and smirked, rolling his eyes before using his thumbs to type out a response. He pauses though, unsure of exactly how to respond. ‘Should I just tell her the truth? I mean…it’s not like she won’t know I’m lying anyways’ he thinks with a sigh before going back to the screen.

 

“Yeah. Every guy likes nudes. But you shouldn’t just hand them out Cass. Only to a guy you’re really comfortable with. They could save them and use it against you later. And you don’t even have to do it if you feel uncomfortable. Don’t ever let a guy pressure you into doing that, alright?”

He sent his response, hoping that she’d understand what he said. It was so, so damn hard walking that tightrope of making love to her while trying to teach her things about limits and boundaries. 

 

‘Literal definition of biased’.

 

Her response took a few more seconds than usual, but it came.

Beep!

And this time when Jason opened the phone there was a photo attachment. 

 

‘Shiiiiiiit’.

 

He couldn’t exactly NOT look, and when he did he saw what Cass was doing. She was in the bathroom of the Clocktower, her grey sweatpants dropped around her thighs, revealing her hairy pussy, while her shirt was pulled up, allowing her medium sized tits to be visible as well. She was holding her shirt up with her teeth while she held the phone, her other hand on her own breath, simulating his touch it seemed. 

“I am comfortable with you. I trust you”.

 

Jason gasps and looks away, closing his eyes and licking his lips, finding it unbelievable how absolutely sexy she was while taking a selfie like that. Maybe because she was her. That had to be it! Because you’d never expect in a million years for Cassandra Cain to send a nude.

Beep!

“Did I do it correctly? Stephanie taught me how to take one”.

 

“Yeah, it’s really, really sexy Cass. You’re really sexy”.

 

“Thank you”.

This time her text was accompanied by a kissing emoji, something that made Jason do a double take until a follow up text was sent. “Stephanie is trying to teach me how to flirt through text. Do you feel like you are being flirted with?”

“Hahaha!”.

 

He couldn’t help it. He just had to laugh which he followed up by quickly looking around to make sure that nobody else was there. He shook his head in response, texting back.

“I definitely do. Yeah. You’re good at flirting”.

“You are not good at lying”.

“How can you even tell through text?”

“You just admitted it”.

She got him there and he had to admit it had been good. But quickly he sends another text. “Okay but it’s only because you’re not a pro at it that it’s so…cute” he says finally, settling on the right word. “I don’t know if that makes any sense”.

“It does”.

“Cass? Can I ask you a question?”

The text message was out before he even thought about it, and in an instant he wished he could take it back. ‘Dammit! You dumb fuck!!!’ He was angry with himself because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to come up with a good enough question to warrant the seriousness of how he’d begun. 

 

“Yes”.

 

With the responding beep he felt even more trapped!

 

‘You shouldn’t have said anything. Fucking idiot! Idiot!’

 

Beep!

“Are you still there?”

‘You have to answer her you idiot…shit…just…I don’t know, try?’

It was stupid, insane even…but he knew that just being honest and asking her the question he wanted to ask was the best possible way to go. 

 

“I was just wondering, remember how I told you your first time should be special?”

Beep!

“Yes”.

“Okay well, we’ve been doing it a lot for a while now, and it’s been great. Amazing, really. But I don’t want you to feel that you’re just a…you know, someone to have sex with. Is any of this making sense?”

“No. I don’t feel that way”.

“I…well I guess I kinda feel like I’m making you feel that way. Like you’re just a piece of meat”.

“You are not. I feel very good with you”.

“I know, but you telling me isn’t really going to help. I guess, I don’t know I was just wondering if you’d like to…go out? Kinda like girls’ night but…just me and you. Maybe to a movie and dinner or…something”.

 

It got quiet, Cass’ response not being so quick as before.

Panic began to well up within Jason’s chest. 

 

‘You fucked it up! You absolute fucking waste of space! You asshole idiot! Fuuuuuuuuck!’

 

Beep!

 

“Like boyfriend and girlfriend?”

He should’ve answered no. Just as friends or something less committed. 

 

“Yeah”.

 

Instead he went right for the jugular, piercing through the heart of the issue, again opting to just be honest and tell the woman what he wanted. It was the only way to get through to her anyways, as if there was anyone who’d ever lived who was no nonsense, it was Cassandra.

 

Again Cass took her time in answering, which caused Jason to panic, again feeling that he’d gambled everything, and lost. ‘You idiot…you asshole. Why would she ever want to go out with you? She just wanted to try it. You’re so lonely and desperate that you’ll-’

Beep.

 

“Yes. I will purchase a dress. What color would you like me to wear?”

“YESSS! YESS! FUCK YESS!”

Jason couldn’t contain it, and he shouts in joy, throwing his fist up into the air as he jumps up and down, not even caring if he looked like a total dweeb while doing it. He felt successful, strong, powerful.

‘I feel fucking awesome!’

 

He didn’t care how it looked. He was alone…or so he thought.

 

“What are you celebrating?”

The words were cold, harsh, like the biting winter wind, and came from a few feet behind him, and he turned, ready in an instant, dropping his phone in his shock and surprise. There was a figure there, a woman, her long tailed coat flapping behind her as she pushed her hands into her pockets.

 

She wore tight fitting black pants, and patterns of dragons swirled over the fabric on the outside. She…radiated malice, and Jason was already scared as he looked ever upwards towards the woman’s face, confirming what he already knew.

“S-Shiva?”

“Lady Shiva” she corrects, tilting her head as she continues to glare at the man, though her eyes move off of him and travel to the side, peering down at the phone which remained in the snow off to the side.

“Did you get a text message that made you happy Todd?”

“I uhh…what…umm…I uhh…yeah, yeah just uh…won a sweepstakes. Yeah”.

 

‘Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What the fuck do I do?’

Jason was a gifted hand to hand fighter, a man that most everyone else on the planet wouldn’t want to go up against. He’d gone toe to toe with the likes of Deadshot, Deathstroke, Copperhead, and even Bruce on occasion and either won or held his own.

But there was no doubt in his mind that against Lady Shiva?

He didn’t have a chance in hell.

 

‘Won’t even be able to land a single punch’.

 

Her appearance here, in Gotham, at this particular time seemed rather obvious as well, at least when it came to the reasoning behind it. You didn’t need to be the world’s greatest detective to figure that out, but, even still Jason held out hope.

“A sweepstakes?” the world’s deadliest woman says, her eyes widening and her lips pursing as she nods her head, folding her arms across her chest while she begins to pace back and forth over the roof.

Crnnch! Crunch! Crnnch!

 

“That’s funny. I didn’t see you enter a sweepstakes once during my entire time watching you…over the past two weeks”.

She pauses, glaring at him, and instantly summoning to mind the image of a tigress ready to tear into her meal. 

 

“T-two weeks?”

“Yes, two weeks” she says. “Let me tell you, it’s been very easy to elude you…and Cassandra”.

‘She knows. She fucking knows! There’s no way she doesn’t!’

 

“You two aren’t nearly as observant or prepared as you should be while…distracted. I can hardly blame Cassandra. Falling prey to a pervert. Degenerate. Soon to be utterly dead man. I do have to say though, Jason. I understand why she is so enamored with you. You’ll make a very handsome corpse”.

“Wait! Wait! Shiva, it…it isn’t like that…I…I just asked her out! I really love her, I mean…I like her! A lot! And uhh…you know she’s an adult…and-and she can make her own decisions without your input!”

He says, sticking up for the woman as he points towards the ground, trying to appear as if he’d be a threat in any way, shape or form. For a single second, he thought it might work, as Shiva paused a few feet in front of him, her face giving nothing away.

 

“That…that didn’t work, did it?”

“Did you really think it would?” she asks, her expression stormy as she cracks her knuckles within the palms of her hands, getting ready…if a human weapon like her ever had to actually ‘get ready’.

 

“No” he admits, drawing his own fists up, not willing to go down without a fight. 

 

“I think I’m going to start with your prick, the organ that you dared to defile my daughter with” she says, spacing her legs out far, lowering her center of gravity while bringing her open palmed hands outwards.

“Have you ever seen a hot dog split in half?”

Jason had been in a lot of situations. Most of them terrifying. But right now? He was surprised he wasn’t defecating himself. He was going to have to survive Lady Shiva. Not fight, survive.

 

And he didn’t have anyone he could call for help. 

 

‘I’m so fucked’.

 

Chapter 5

Notes:

Sorry for not having been able to write as much. My father's been very sick and just have had a lot going on mentally but I'm trying to be more regimented and get back to it as best I can.

The Clocktower

 

Thud!

 

The door closed behind her without much effort on her part, Cassandra looking forward, focused on her phone screen as she held it up before her. ‘Why did he not answer?’ she asks herself, her eyes roving over the two check marks present next to her last text, indicating that it had been received.

 

The Asian woman frowned, leaning back against the wall as she continued to look at her phone, waiting for the chat indicator to come up, which would tell her that Jason was responding to her question.

 

‘Did I offend him?’ she ponders, wracking her mind for a reason as to why asking what color dress she should wear for their date would’ve done such a thing. It didn’t make any sense, but then again many things didn’t make sense to Cassandra Cain.

In the absence of an easy answer the woman begins to feel fear and worry prick at her consciousness, something that she was not used to, something rarely felt.

 

‘Is he already regretting asking me out?’

That thought…worried her, mostly because of what it would signal. An end to the activities that she had so been enjoying with him. Of kisses stolen when nobody was looking, of clutching at his body as he drove into her. Of hearing his sweet, embarrassment inducing words whispered into her ears. Words that she didn’t know how to respond to in the slightest, and yet felt a deep desire to.

 

‘I…I do not understand’ she thinks, clutching at her phone with a strange intensity, as if doing so would prompt a response from the man on the other end of the text exchange. ‘Please, Jason. Tell me what I did wrong so that I can apologize!’

 

Panic.

That was an apt word to describe how Cassandra was feeling, even if deep down? She knew it was ridiculous to feel that way, logically speaking. Before she began to hyperventilate she forced her mind to work more like Bruce had trained her, a fail safe so to speak. One that they had both implanted in her mind.

 

‘He is on patrol’ she reminds herself. ‘He might be busy. Criminals might’ve interrupted him, or Bruce might have sent him somewhere else. He is not ignoring you’.

 

It worked…or…well, at least she was trying to convince herself that it worked. She still felt uneasy, like something was wrong, but was at a loss as to what to do about it.

 

‘I can go out and find him. Meet him face to face and ask-’

Cassandra stops herself right then and there, knowing that it was the wrong move. It would come across as needy, desperate, and more than likely push Jason further away rather than pull him in tighter. And tighter was definitely what Cassandra wanted.

 

‘I…I will wait for him to respond’ she thinks, making a mental vow to herself to do so, knowing that at that moment it was the best course of action. She should’ve moved away from the wall behind her, pushed off of it and headed back into the living room to join the others, but she didn’t want to move yet.

And she didn’t put her phone away.

 

‘The nude I sent!’

It suddenly occurred to her. What was missing, and what had, at least in her mind, most likely upset Jason. ‘I only sent him my vagina and breasts. Not my buttocks. Yes! Yes! If I send my buttocks then he will respond!’

Cassandra was certain that she’d cracked the code, and turned, phone still in one hand, to reach out for the door handle to Barbara’s bathroom with the other, wanting to head back in and do exactly as she’d just thought.

 

‘I know the correct angle to use as well. The mirror will assist me’.

 

Crrrrrrk!

“Hey, whatcha’ doing?”

So close.

 

Cassandra stops, midway into entering into the bathroom, and turns to see Stephanie, standing a little ways down the hallway, leaning against the corner with her arms crossed under her chest and a slight smile upon her face. 

For a split second Cass looked like a deer in headlights, her eyes wide with shock and surprise, right before her muscle memory mixed with pain reinforced training kicked in and her face returned to its usual stoic state.

 

Her ‘poker face’ as Stephanie often called it. 

 

“Nothing”.

Thud!

 

She closes the bathroom door once more, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to come up with a satisfactory reason as to why she would go into the bathroom again. Not when she’d already told the two that she was going there. 

 

“I went to the bathroom”.

“Heh, yeah, I can see that. Did you uhh…already put something I told you into practice?”. Cassandra was confused for a moment, not understanding what her blonde friend was saying until she traced the invisible line formed between her and the woman by the thrusting of Stephanie’s chin forward.

 

It drew Cassandra’s attention to her own phone, the woman suddenly remembering that she held it.

 

‘There is only one possible reason that Stephanie could deduce as to why I’d have my phone with me in the bathroom. It is further narrowed down by the fact that we were just discussing nude etiquette beforehand’.

 

She thinks about lying despite the fact that her strategic breakdown of the facts made such a path foolish. ‘No. We have to lie so much already’ Cass reminds herself, already feeling guilty for keeping such a secret from her best friend. 

 

‘Tell the truth’.

 

“Yes”.

“Ohhhhh nice, nice. What you send?” Stephanie asks, moving off of the wall and towards Cassandra, opting to keep this conversation private….at least for now. Cassandra tilts her head to the side, studying the blonde and every single one of her movements. Curiosity. Care. Concern. Light arousal and a desire to tease.

All of it was visible as clear as the nose on Stephanie’s face, and all just as equally readable to the woman before her. 

 

“My breasts and my vagina”.

“Ohh damn. That serious huh?”

 

Cassandra didn’t have an easy answer to that. Mostly because she didn’t know. ‘He asked me out on a date…and then went silent. Does that count as serious?’

 

“You don’t have to answer. Listen, Cass? Can…can I talk to you?” Stephanie asks, her face turning suddenly serious, the care and concern growing much stronger, coupled now with clear and discernible worry as she reached out and clamped a hand atop the Asian woman’s shoulder. 

 

“Yes. Always” Cassandra replies without missing a beat, bringing her own hand up to place itself atop her friends’, her fingers lightly lacing themselves through her own. Stephanie smiled at this, squeezing Cass’ hands in the midst of this unorthodox hand-holding. 

“I just wanna say…well, I don’t really know what I wanna say but I’m happy for you. You know? Stepping out of your comfort zone, meeting a guy and…taking that step. Honestly? I didn’t think you had it in you”.

“Because I’m an asocial freak who lacks the ability to communicate, read social cues or properly display affection”.

 

It was almost as if Stephanie had been slapped, so wide did her eyes go, her mouth opening instantly to push back against Cassandra’s statement. “What? No! Jeez Cass, it isn’t like that, it’s just…well…you know it’s like…”

Stephanie trailed off, her confusion and discomfort quickly augmented by the dawning realization that her friend was messing with her, the slight upturning of her lips at the corner of her mouth.

“You bitch!”

 

The blonde reached out quickly, lightly punching her hand against Cassandra’s shoulder, sporting a smile of her own as she laughs. “I told you, don’t fuck with me like that”. She’d purposefully blunted the punch until it was barely a tap, and even then the Asian woman had had to restrain her instincts to launch forward and slam her own fist into her friend’s nose.

 

‘She is playing with you. There is no need to retaliate’.

“It’s hard to tell when you’re joking. Seriously, unfair advantage. Heeeeey…maybe we can get into the big money if we just got you into poker. Can you count cards at all? Because if you can mix that with your poker face, it’s allll over”.

“No”.

Cassandra seemed confused as she tilted her head a bit to the side, looking at Stephanie askance. “And why would we need to make money in such a way? Bruce is already one of the wealthiest men in the world and is happy to share with us”.

 

Stephanie rolls her eyes as she throws one arm around the other woman’s shoulders, Cassandra again having to suppress her instinct for retaliation. 

 

“You’re no fun, you know that right?”

“Yes”.

 

“Ugggh. Whatever, really, just wanted to say I’m happy for you and we’re really happy that you shared that with us, me and Babs”. There was a tone to the former Robin’s voice, a slight tremor as she spoke Barbara’s nickname, as if she wasn’t sure of what she was saying. Cassandra instantly picked up upon it and it’s meaning.

“She despises me”.

“What? No, no, Cass…she…she really doesn’t”.

 

“Yes she does,” the Asian woman says back calmly, lightly removing her friend’s arm from her shoulder as the conversation turns a bit serious in the hallway. Stephanie kept looking back down the opposite end, wanting to make sure that the redheaded subject of their conversation wasn’t listening in, before looking back towards Cass. 

 

“It…it really isn’t like that”.

Doubt. Uncertainty. Pity. The feeling of dual loyalties pulling her in different directions.

It was all as visible to Cass as words on a page might be to other ‘normal’ people. 

 

‘I do not wish for her to feel like she needs to choose,’ Cassandra thinks to herself, filled with pity for her friend and the situation she found herself in. ‘I can handle my own problems with Barbara’.

 

Before Cassandra could find the most effective way to articulate those words the blonde sighs, bringing her hand up to her face and shaking her head. 

 

“Sh-she really doesn’t hate you…it’s just…I don’t know, I guess maybe I understand?”.

 

Fear. Worry. Concern. She was worried about how Cassandra would take the words she was going to speak if she could judge from the worried tone that the questioning lilt at the end of her statement suggested. 

 

“How so?”

 

Cassandra kept herself calm though, willing to hear Stephanie out. 

 

“Well it’s just…you’re you, you know?”

Stephanie used her hand to gesture towards Cassandra, moving it up and down through the air as if to encompass all of her being. “This thing we do? You’re perfect for it. It’s like you were made for it, and I know, I know, it wasn’t your choice, but, even still Cass, you’re amazing! Like…a genuine human marvel or something”.

 

“...Thank you”.

Cassandra was grateful for the compliment, really, she was, but also…offended, if that was the right word. ‘I am not just a weapon. I am not just a weapon. I am not just a weapon’ she repeated over and over in her mind, her very own mantra that kept her grounded as Stephanie continued. 

“One of, if not the best martial artist in the world” Stephanie carries on, raising one finger as if she was counting everything off. “A grade A super sleuth. And now?” The blonde comes closer, smirking as she gently elbows the other woman in the side. “Getting some grade A dick from a certified stud. You’ve got it all”.

 

“So does Barbara” Cassandra says back, a light blush coloring her cheeks though she quickly wills it away. At this, Stephanie wilts, reaching up to rub the back of her head.

 

“Had, Cass. Had. Try and look at it through her eyes, ‘kay? She used to be Batgirl. She started the whole thing. She’s got the tech prowess and some seriously good moves. Shit, she’s saved this city literally dozens of times…but, now? She’s stuck in that chair”.

 

For a moment Cassandra was able to forget her anger with the redheaded woman, and allow herself to feel pity once more, or perhaps understanding would be the better word. 

 

“Then, all that shit with Dick? She’s lost a lot…and then, there’s you…her replacement”.

 

There seemed to be an accusing tone in the woman’s voice, though Cassandra knew that it was there more by accident than intent. It calmed her to know that. She raised an eyebrow and regarded Stephanie with a look.

 

“You were also Batgirl for a little while”.

Stephanie shrugs and nods, agreeing as she puts her hand up in surrender. “Yeah, but I wasn’t really good at it. I had TONS of screwups, and was always relying on Babs to train and help me out. I never really fit into that costume and we both know it”.

 

Sadness. Regret. Guilt. Stephanie felt guilty for what she saw as her failure to live up to the mantle that had been bestowed upon her.

This time Cassandra lets her instincts win out, and she reaches for the other woman’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze as she tried to be comforting.

“You did not fit…because it is not you. You are Spoiler. And you are the best Spoiler there ever was, or will be”.

The blonde chuckled and rolled her eyes, reaching up to place her hand atop her friend’s, giving it a squeeze as she did. “Pfft. Whatever”. Outwardly she was dismissive, removing the hand from her shoulder, but Cassandra could tell.

She was grateful for what Cassandra had said. 

 

“But that’s the issue” the blonde says, serious once more. 

 

“When it comes to you and Babs? There’s no debate. You’re the better Batgirl”.

Cassandra was…at a loss as to what to say. To hear that from Stephanie was something that was earth shattering, and yet, she couldn’t detect any trace of the woman lying.

 

“But, you know, I’ll deny I ever said that if she asks so keep that to yourself, alright? Or I’ll be pissed”.

 

“Of course”.

It went without saying that Cassandra would take that secret to her grave, but, even still, she was riding the unexpected high of being told such a thing. ‘I…I’m the better Batgirl? And…Barbara is…jealous of me?’

 

It was a novel thought, and one that brought a slight smile to Cassandra’s face. After so many years of passive aggressive treatment she now had something verging on an answer, something that made sense.

Barbara was jealous of her. 

 

And now Cassandra felt nothing but pity for the woman in place of a hidden yet ever growing resentment. ‘It all makes sense. Why didn’t I see it before?’

“So, I guess go easy on her or…cut her some slack. I know it’s unfair as hell, and trust me I’ve noticed it but…I really don’t know what to say to it without pissing one or both of you off so I’m sorry about tha-,”

“No. It is fine” the woman says, cutting her friend off before she could finish her apology. “No need. I understand. The problems between Barbara and I are our problems”. It was a massive relief for Cassandra to hear that she wasn’t the only one who saw it. That she wasn’t alone in all this. Even if Stephanie hadn’t wanted to interfere too openly, she understood. 

 

‘Families are…complicated’.

“So chin up. And when she’s being bitchy to you? Just remember it’s coming from somewhere else, alright?”

“I will…thank you, Stephanie”.

Cassandra still wasn’t sure what to do with the information that had just been given to her, even though it all made perfect sense. Now she had to go back into Babs’ living room and sit across from her, occasionally taking a barb or a passive aggressive statement, a roll of the eye, without saying anything. That in and of itself wasn’t going to be hard to do. After all, she was trained to stay silent, but still.

 

“Anyways, we’re gonna get Chinese food again. I told her to get your usual”.

“Thank you”.

 

“So uhh…any news on your stud?” the blonde asks, steering the conversation away from where it had been previously, and onto a new subject. “He like the picture you sent him?” She was raising and lowering her eyebrows quickly in succession as she looked at her friend, and Cassandra looked back down at her phone, checking for a notification to show that he’d responded. 

 

“Yes. He said so”.

There was none, and the woman feels her heart sag further. 

 

“Well duuuuh. What else did he say?”

“Nothing for now”.

Cassandra shuffled uncomfortably on her feet and forced herself to move forward down the hallway, heading towards the living room. She needed to hide her face from Stephanie, fearful that she’d given too much away.

 

“Heh, yeah. It’s like that sometimes. He’s probably doing something. Trust me, he’ll respond” the blonde says, not at all picking up on Cassandra’s flagging mood in that moment. She’d given her too much credit, assumed that she’d had even a fraction of the skill Cass had in regards to reading emotions. 

 

‘I have made that mistake many times before’.

 

It was both a gift and a curse. A curse because of the fact that people often misread and ascribed their own thoughts in regards to her emotions, and were often wrong for it. A gift because it was a skill that she and she alone seemed to possess in most situations. 

 

‘Only Bruce is able to match me’. 

 

“You think it’ll get more serious between you two?” Stephanie asks, her footsteps falling heavily on the floor behind her as she walked to catch up, keeping her voice low so as to not alert Babs as to what they were talking about.

 

“N-no”.

 

It was slight, barely discernible, but there was a slip in Cassandra’s voice, a slight stutter that hadn’t been present since childhood. It gave away clearly the fact that she was lying. Her heart almost paused right in her chest, half expecting her father’s slap or her mother’s disapproval of her failure to mask her emotions properly. 

 

“Well that’s alright too. Sometimes it’s like that. You know, good for one night, not for a month kinda thing. Now that you’re on the prowl though? Definitely gonna find your Prince Charming”.

 

“Have you found yours?”

“Pfft, not yet. Thought I did but I turned him gay” the blonde says self deprecatingly. Cassandra was quick with a rebuttal, utilizing her words like the blade of a rapier. “You cannot turn someone gay or straight. Sexual orientation is immutable. You had nothing to do with it”.

“Pfft, I know, I know. I’m just screwing around Cass”.

 

“Self loathing isn’t funny”.

 

“It isn’t self loathing!” the blonde defends. “It’s a pity party I’ll have you know. Anyways, I’m glad your stud isn’t around tonight. Means that I don’t have to teach you the age old rule”. Cassandra stops at the end of the hallway, ready to turn into the living room of the clocktower. 

“What is the rule?”

She was genuinely curious, needing to know.

 

Stephanie smiled wide, grinning as she raised her balled up fist, going in for a ‘fist bump’ as she’d been trying to teach Cassandra as of late. On instinct she brings her hand up and lightly presses it against her friends’.

 

“Chicks before dicks. No matter how good he is in the sack, me and Babs? We come first Cass. Always remember that”.

 

“Chicks…before dicks…hmmmm”.

She thinks over the words, repeating them back slowly as she thinks it over, imprinting the meaning over her mind. “That’s right. Remember that one? And we’re good. Hehe…ohh shit, hey! Babs! Did you order crab rangoons?!” the blonde says suddenly, moving forward into the living room with an expression of panic on her face. 

 

“Crap!”

“CALL THEM BACK!!”

Stephanie was insistent after hearing the wheelchair bound redhead’s response. There were few things that Stephanie took more seriously than crab rangoons, and if they weren’t there there’d be hell to pay.

Cassandra would’ve found it amusing if she wasn’t ruminating over the words that had been said, and the situation that was going on. ‘Chicks before dicks…but what if Jason and I become more romantically entangled? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Does that rule still apply?’

 

She would’ve asked Stephanie, but one? She was gone, wrestling with Babs over her cellphone, and two? She needed to keep this a secret.

 

It was…frustrating to say the least.

 

‘If it was not a secret I could get more accurate advice,’ she thinks, reaching for her phone once more and swiping her thumb across the screen. Again. No new messages. Her last message had been read, but not responded to.

 

‘Stop’ she thinks, her mind exerting its will over her thoughts. ‘He is on patrol. Something must’ve happened. That is why he is not responding. What is it? A fire? A robbery? Joker?’ Like a supercomputer her mind was going at super speeds. 

 

She pockets her phone once again and turns, making to rejoin her fellow Batgirls. 

 

Even still her mind couldn’t be stilled, and her thoughts break out of the mold of the usual monotone it held. 

 

‘Jason…what are you doing? Please text me back. Quickly. Now!’

 

East End

 

“Can’t we talk about this?!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!!”

CRRRRKKKK!

A brick in the wall behind where he’d been standing seconds ago shattered in response to his words, right on the tail of the woman’s war cry. He saw her black glove tear, a flash of crimson spraying free from her knuckles, the woman clearly wounded by the act. 

 

‘Shit! Shit! Shit! That was almost my head!’ he screams mentally, panic overtaking the normally so stoic and prepared vigilante who’d felt the rush of wind moving past his head as Lady Shiva threw that punch.

 

If he’d been a second later than he was, he was sure that his head would’ve cracked open like a melon. As it was he threw himself forward, tucking his body into a roll as he moved over the gravel set atop the roof.

 

When he came to a stop he turned and knelt down in an instant, his hands going down to the twin holsters at his side, his hands clutching the pistols and removing them, bringing them up into the air and aiming them at the woman who’d turned to face him.

Her fists were clenched tightly, and her nostrils flared, her almond shaped eyes wide and flashing with rage. She wasn’t even bothered by the fact that she’d just demolished her knuckles and broken a chunk out of a brick wall.

 

“You. Are. A. Dead. Man. Todd” she spits in rage, standing there in range of his pistols without the barest hint of fear. 

 

In that moment he was glad that he was wearing his helmet, otherwise? Shiva would’ve one hundred and ten percent seen the fact that he was scared shitless. ‘No. She definitely knows’. His hands were shaking, and he couldn’t blame the cold.

 

“T-this is all one big mis-understanding Shiva”.

 

He stands, forcing himself upwards without taking his pistols off of her, the woman seemingly cowed as long as she was in range. Nobody wanted to get hit with what he loaded in his magazines. Sure, they wouldn’t kill you. But they hurt.

Really, really bad. 

 

Her eyes were moving right to left, looking over her surroundings, looking for a weapon to use.

 

Even in this sparse environment there was no doubt in Jason’s mind that she’d find one. ‘We’re talking about a woman who broke out of Belle Reeve with a spork…A FUCKING SPORK!!’ he thinks, trying to keep himself from hyperventilating.

 

“Did you, or did you not, fuck my daughter?” she seethes in response to his argument, her voice making it clear that she already knew the answer. She’d been watching them, hadn’t she? There was really no point in lying. 

 

“W-well yeah but there’s more to it than that!”

 

“No. There isn’t”.

Her eyes narrowed, moving down to her feet for an instant before flicking back up, everything about her poised, ready to deal damage beyond one’s wildest imagination. “SHE ASKED ME TO DO IT!” Jason shouts, desperate to say something, anything, to get this woman to at least pause in her attempt to kill him. 

Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say.

“You lie! You filthy…disgusting…perverted…PERVERT!”

 

‘Ohh yeah, she’s beyond pissed’.

 

For Lady Shiva, whose tongue was almost as cutting as her hands…and knives…and swords…and…really anything she could get her hands on, to use pervert, albeit in two separate ways, as an insult in such a small time frame, was telling. 

 

“I’m not! I’m not! I swear. She came to me and said…well…y-you know that-”

 

“AGHHHH!”

It was a good thing that Shiva’s battlecry interrupted him, as truth be told? He had no clue whatsoever what to say or how to say it. ‘There’s literally no way to soften the blow. Dammit Cass!’

 

The Asian woman’s battlecry had two separate effects.

One?

It distracted him, caused him to clench, his fingers moving to squeeze the trigger of his twin pistols, though he didn’t do it quickly enough. That was his first mistake.

It gave Shiva time to duck before it happened, the loud BLAM followed by a rubber bullet being ejected from the muzzle of the weapon, sending the projectile right over her head.

Shiva squatted down, low to the ground, and while balancing on one leg swept the other outwards, disturbing a mass of gravel which took to the air.

And headed right towards Jason.

It was instinct to defend yourself from something flying towards you, and despite years of training to marry instinct to logic, to force your body to know when something was a trap or a ruse, there was still a split second of time when Jason couldn’t do such a thing.

‘Oww! Shit!’

The pebbles made impact, slamming into his armored arm and chest with minimal actual inflicted pain. ‘Wait, that didn’t hurt. Why-?’ 

He didn’t have time to answer his own question, because what came next? Most definitely did hurt.

CRRRKKKK!

“AHHHHHH!”

Shiva had closed the distance between them in a forward lunge that kept her body close to the ground like a snake, making her a smaller target should the man recover before she reached him. It turned out to not be necessary, as he hadn’t even lowered his arm by the time that she’d reached him.

Nor had he been able to respond when she reached out and grasped his wrist, turning it in an instant, the source of the sickening crack as bones and cartilage ground together, and the man’s hand opened on instinct, forcing him to drop the pistol into the snow covered gravel beneath him.

 

“MY WRIST! YOU BROKE MY-AHHHHHH!”

He screamed again as Shiva maintained her grasp upon his destroyed appendage, turning it the opposite way, and dealing even more damage. The pain was so intense that he fell to his knees, breathing heavily.

 

“I intend to break more” she retorts coldly, looking at him, her eyes ablaze. 

 

‘I’m going to kill this bitch!’ he thinks, seething as he finally feels the rage building within him become a great enough pool to fight back. Before? He’d been scared but now he knew that his very survival depended upon him fighting back.

 

Well, it had since the start of this but he’d been a bit too preoccupied with trying to explain to the world’s deadliest woman that he was indeed having sex with her daughter, but that he also loved her! Or…well, no…liked…liked a lot. That was more appropriate for how long they’d been together, wasn’t it?

Or…were they really together? Did it count yet?

These questions seemed unimportant at the moment as he focused on bringing his other arm upwards, bringing the pistol that he still had in his undamaged hand up, trying to get a bead on her side.

‘Just…need…one…shot…’.

 

He could see it happening. Firing, sending a rubber bullet right into the woman’s side. At this range? It would hurt. It would hurt a lot, and when she inevitably pulled away from him, gasping for breath he’d go on the counteroffensive, this time with the advan-

 

THWACK!

In an amazing display of flexibility, as well as situational awareness, Shiva seemed to be innately aware of what he was planning, and brought up her left leg in an instant, catching the man’s arm right at the elbow with the tip of her foot.

‘Oh no’.

Jason could feel the impact wrack his body, causing his arm to shudder and the grip on the pistol loosen. He grit his teeth, feeling even more pain with the pistol falling to the floor just like its compatriot. 

 

‘Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!’

 

“You’re almost impressive Todd. Almost”.

 

He didn’t see the fist that she threw into his face, but he definitely felt it. His head was thrown back, the woman’s already injured hand slamming forward into the mask, which caused the fleshy dome within to pinball off of it, the armor now turning into a bit of a disadvantage. 

 

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Back and forth.

Forward and back.

On and on.

 

She was making her haymaker punches appear to be produced on an assembly line, so steady was the drumbeat of impacts that were being made against his helmet, which was delivering less and less in the way of protection as his body began to go limp and sink closer and closer to the ground.

 

‘I’m going to die’ was the lone thought upon his mind, enhanced as the red helmet that gave him his name began to crack under the onslaught of Shiva’s punches.

He could still see her through the cracked eye lenses, her face still marred by rage. 

 

“YOU!”

BLAM!

“FILTHY!”

BLAM!

“ANIMAL!”

BLAM!

He couldn’t use the hand that she was still clutching, twisting it so intensely now that he almost thought it would tear right off, but he weakly reached up with the one that wasn’t so injured…relatively speaking.

He was trying to punch her, but all he got was a weak tap which landed helplessly against Shiva’s hip, barely doing any damage.

The Asian woman only stopped for a moment and looked down, her left arm still pulled back with a tightly clenched fist ready to be thrown forward once more into his face which would be rather redundant considering the man was teetering on the edge of consciousness. 

 

“S-stop…p-please” he wheezed out, uncertain if he’d even be heard through the helmet, which now sported a large black crack right through the middle. 

 

He kept lightly tapping at Shiva’s side, as if that would do anything.

 

“No” the woman said in response coldly. 

 

BLAM!

The final fist came, and made impact against the half shattered mask, finishing the job. As she let go of Jason completely, content with letting him fall back to the gravel beneath him, the two pieces of helmet slid off of his face and onto the ground, revealing his face covered only by the red domino mask he wore underneath it.

 

He saw stars as he fell, or at least half of them as one of his eyes was already swollen shut. His nose had fared little better, being a broken, bloody smear across his cheek. A tooth, or possibly two, it was hard to tell with his bloodied mouth, had been knocked loose, and his lips were swollen.

 

“Urrggh!”

Thud!

His body made contact with the rooftop, splayed out, barely moving save for the ragged breaths that caused his chest to rise and fall. “Hhhhughhhh…hhhhuggggh…hhhhhugggh”. He was alive…for now, but to Jason? That wasn’t exactly a positive.

 

‘Everything…h-hurts’.

 

His body was destroyed it seemed, and not only that, but his ego as well. Not since the Joker had beaten him to death with a crowbar had he felt this damaged. ‘Nightwing and Red Robin are going to laugh their asses off at me’ he thinks, the thought rather strange as he most likely wasn’t leaving this roof alive.

 

And aside from that there wasn’t anybody who could really laugh at him for losing to Lady Shiva. 

 

‘Heh…n-not even Bruce’.

 

He was lost in his own thoughts, looking up at the Gotham winter sky at that moment, wondering if that was going to be the last thing he ever saw. ‘And all for Cass’ he thinks, finding the thought funny. Funny enough to force a half broken smile. 

 

‘Heh…was it worth it? You know…heh…k-kinda was’.

 

He wasn’t the only one breathing heavily at that moment, though for Shiva it was definitely not due to pain or exertion, but rather latent anger. She stood above him, her fists clenching and unclenching as she looked down at the man.

 

“Normally” she begins, pausing to take a deep breath as she brings her hand back to her head and pushes some loose strands of long black hair back into place, no doubt something she was doing to keep herself calm.

“I would’ve afforded you the relative mercy of killing you quickly. But, considering the circumstances of our meeting tonight I have decided to draw this out”.

She gets closer and closer, casting her shadow over him as she glares down at his bruised and broken body.

 

“L-l-like her…a-a-alot” he says breathily, still trying to convince Lady Shiva that whatever was going on between him and Cassandra, it wasn’t just sex…even though it had started as such. In response Shiva moved her foot forwards…and rested it right against his crotch.

Even in the utter agony that seized his body the man winced in fear, trying to move away so as to protect his vulnerable manhood from the woman’s none too gentle ministrations, but Shiva only dug in more, this time with her heel.

 

“Urrrgggh”.

“Did you enjoy ejaculating in my daughter, Todd?” she asks, twisting her heel in a bit more, not enough to do any real damage, but more than enough to tell him what was coming. “Because I saw that as well. What if she is with child because of it?”

“She isn’t” Jason attempts to defend himself, his voice suspiciously high. “It was a safe day”.

 

“The thought of it alone makes me want to vomit. The thought of your…pathetic, weak genes mixing with the perfection of my line, of them befouling Cassandra and saddling her with your mewing little brat…I won’t dwell on it”.

She was breathing heavier now, her rage overwhelming her like a tidal wave. 

 

“She isn’t. You didn’t succeed in your venture. No, it is impossible. I won’t even consider it”.

 

The pressure on his balls increased, and despite his injuries he made to sit up, though he didn't get far before falling backwards onto the gravel once more. “Pl-please”.

“But I must ensure that such an eventuality never comes to pass. Have you ever been to a farm, Todd? Have you ever seen what happens to problematic studs? Males who simply won’t be calm or keep their filthy pricks where they belong?”

‘She’s going to do it. Oh God no…please, don’t do this!!’

 

“They’re gelded. A pity I don’t have a suitable weapon for such a job on me” she teases, looking down and moving her foot back and forth across his crotch, seemingly looking for the correct point to strike. 

 

“I shall simply have to do it in the ways of the ancients”.

 

“N-no”.

 

“I’m going to kill you, of that there is no doubt. But before that? I will make you feel such pain that-”

BEEP! BEEP!

A noise interrupted the villainess’ monologue, drawing her attention to the man’s jacket pocket from where the noise came. Her lips curled and her eyebrow raised, and without hesitation she reached down and plucked the phone from his pocket before he could even respond.

Not that he’d have had any chance whatsoever of doing so. 

 

He could only weakly reach after the phone in a vain attempt at snatching it back.

“W-wait...d-don’t!”

She ignored him and held the phone in her hand, her foot, mercifully, moving away from his crotch for the moment. She looked at the lock screen for a moment, and without even turning her head to look at the man, spoke.

“Passcode” she demanded imperiously.

 

Jason didn’t answer, weighing his options at the moment, though the woman was less than pleased by that fact as she turned and brought her foot right back to his sack, practically kicking him through his pants. 

“Ohhhh!”

There was enough force this time to make him wince and turn, his hand going to the wounded appendage as he moved onto his side, curling up into a fetal position. He’d seen stars. “I will not ask again”.

“Pfffurrgh…pfffurgggh”.

Hot breath made impact with the snow and ice interlaced rocks as he fought to bring his mind back into some semblance of control. He knew she wasn’t joking. “F-four-fi-five, seven s-s-six”.

“Hmmm”.

 

The woman acted quickly, her thumb moving over the screen with ease, inputting the code that the prone man had given her. His phone was now open to her, and Shiva wasted no time in going to his messages.

 

“Ahh, it appears that my daughter has sent you a message” she mocks coldly, pacing around before the man who just wanted the pain to stop. ‘Just kill me…please, stop fucking playing with me and do it!’

 

Her eyes scanned over the message…as well as the ones that came before it…including the picture that had been sent.

She snarled again, further enraged by the nude picture of her daughter, one that Cassandra herself had sent. “This is how low you have brought her?” she spits scornfully down at the man as she winds her foot up again and kicks him, this time in the side. Jason curls up even further into a ball, grunting with the pain, but finding himself grateful that it wasn’t his penis.

 

“Getting her to send these disgusting pictures for your amusement? I have decided now that I am going to cut your cock from your body, have it stuffed and preserved upon my wall”.

 

“Urrrrgggh”.

 

Shiva spends a few more moments going over the messages, looking through everything, occasionally grunting or clicking in displeasure. “Your rot has seeped further than I thought. Simply killing you will not be enough of a message, will it?”

She looked towards him as if fishing for an answer, though it was clear that it was rhetorical.

 

“No. No”.

She brings the phone closer to her, engaging the camera as she turns it, raising it up in the air high enough to capture both her and the injured body of Jason beneath her. With a click she captures it, taking a picture, right before she brings it back down and begins using her fingers to type it.

 

“Wh-what are you do-urrrgggh”.

Her foot, this time against his chest, forces him back down, and she turns her once more hate filled eyes upon him. “Simply inviting my daughter to a long overdue mother-daughter chat which you, unfortunately, are the subject of. Now, get up” she orders, removing her foot and offering no assistance to the injured man.

 

Slowly he begins to sit up, knowing that he was being watched like a hawk, with any move he even thought about making already being prepared for by the woman. “S-sh-she’s gonna kick…your…ass”.

“Hmmm…your faith in my daughter is admirable, but she will soon see things my way. Now, I did not ask you to speak” the woman says, Jason having only gotten to his knees before she backhanded him across the face, sending him back to the ground, but this time?

Face down.

“Urrrggh”.

He groaned, but slowly lifted his head.

 

‘Alright…don’t say anything. Got it’.

He’d always had to learn lessons the hard way it seemed. Though honestly? He didn’t need to learn the lesson that he couldn’t take on Lady Shiva. He didn’t know why the universe had decided to teach him THAT one first hand.

 

‘Life’s a bitch’.

The Clocktower

 

“Okay, okay…I’ve got one”.

“Ssllllrrp. What?” Barbara asks, bringing some of the noodles into her mouth, holding the lo mein container close to her as Stephanie brings the container of General Tso’s chicken away from her, placing it back on the table.

There was a wry smile on Stephanie’s face, as well as a blush, a testament to how far along in the night they’d gone. 

 

Cassandra puts away her phone, having been looking at the text message she’d sent to Jason so as to try and elicit a response.

‘Did I upset you?’

She hadn’t received an answer yet, but she was positive one was coming. ‘He will be honest with me. He always is’ she thinks, right before she turns her attention onto Stephanie, having been making it a point to ignore Barbara since the conversation in the hallway. The blonde was blushing, looking back and forth between the two women conspiratorially.

 

“I…you know what? Forget it” the blonde says, giggling as she brings her hand to her face, shaking her head as she leaned forward, crossing her arms over her thighs. “It’s fucked up”.

“Ohh now I have to know” Babs says, leaning forward a bit to place her own food down on the table, a smirk crossing her face.

Cassandra was intrigued as well, though she remained silent.

 

‘It is unusual for Stephanie to hold back’ she thinks to herself, knowing that her friend was very, very open. Especially about her sex life.

“Okay, I’ll ask but this? This definitely stays-,”

“We’ve already been through this” Babs huffs. “EVERYTHING stays here”.

“But this? It really, really has to stay here” Stephanie reiterates, her smile still on her face but her eyes making it clear that she was deadly serious. “Like a swear on your secret identity kinda thing”.

She looks back and forth between Babs and Cassandra, though her focus was more on Babs as she knew that Cassandra was a steel trap. 

 

“Alright, alright. Extra promise on this. It stays between us. Alright? I swear on…I don’t know, the Clocktower and all my equipment”.

“Good enough for me” Stephanie says, acquiescing as the teasing smirk returns in its entirety, and she slowly begins, shrugging a shoulder. “Soooooo…I was thinking, alright…and…well…I’ve fucked Tim…and Babs has fucked Dick”. Instantly Cassandra was on alert, her heart rate increasing.

 

‘Does she know? Can she even guess?’

She wracked her mind for any information she might’ve given away that would lead to Stephanie discovering her and Jason’s secret, but couldn’t find anything. ‘She can’t know. She can’t. There’s no way’.

“Uh huh…and? We’ve been through this…like a lot” Babs says, not sure where Stephanie was taking this. But the blonde was clearly enjoying the confusion the question created, and was drawing it out.

“Sure, but we never asked this question”.

“Which isssssss?” Babs asks, getting tired of the waiting. Like any good show woman, Stephanie knew when it was time to give the audience what they wanted, and this time? She decided to do it with no lead up. 

 

“If you guys could get away with it, without anyone ever knowing…which guy in our little group would you screw around with? Nobody ever knows. They keep it a secret too” the woman says, outlining the terms of this hypothetical.

Cassandra instantly relaxed a bit, realizing that Stephanie wasn’t onto her and Jason, but as soon as that relief passed there came…discomfort. ‘I don’t like when she asks these questions’ the Asian woman thinks to herself, knowing that Stephanie had a habit of asking ‘what if’ hypotheticals for fun.

Cassandra hadn’t enjoyed them in the past, but mostly because she hadn’t had a frame of reference. She’d been looking forward to it now due to the fact that now? She did.

 

But with this being the first question post her losing her virginity? She wasn’t so sure.

“Wait…so…you mean…the bat family? Like the guys we work with on a day to day basis?” Barbara says sarcastically, raising an eyebrow with a dismissive look in her eyes, but not ignoring it altogether. “Entirely hypothetical!” Stephanie says, raising her hands up into the air in mock surrender. 

 

“You know. Just a thought experiment”.

“Yeah, about who we’d fuck in a group of men who’ve literally saved our lives and vice versa countless times” the redhead says, leaning her head against her hand which was nestled atop the arm of the wheelchair. She was clearly interested in the question. Cassandra could tell.

 

‘She…already has an answer’.

 

“No harm in just talking, right?”

“Alright then, ‘miss no harm’. You go first. Who's your choice since you’ve clearly thought about it” Babs says with a good natured challenge clear in her voice, implicit in her words. Stephanie just smirks, raising her chin up a bit in defiance, clearly knowing that her answer was going to throw them for a loop.

“Bruce”.

 

You could’ve heard a pin drop. Even Cassandra, usually such a master of her emotions, felt her eyes go wide, and her mouth would’ve opened if she’d been out of control of her responses for a second longer. Babs, however, didn’t have the training she did, and wore her shock much clearer on her face. 

 

“Bruce? Seriously? One? You’re like….what? Less than half his age?” the wheelchair-clad heroine says, a half smirk on her face as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

 

Stephanie just shrugs, still smiling and coyly playing with a loose strand of her hair.

“I wouldn’t be the first young woman to fuck an older man”. 

“Pfft, yeah, I guess not but…shit. I don’t really even know what to say to that” the redhead says, rubbing her own hand over her forehead as Stephanie makes to defend her choice. “You guys seriously never thought of it?” she asks, quickly receiving a shake of the head, a most vigorous shake of the head, from Cassandra, who wanted to rush from the room right then and there.

 

‘That…that is disgusting!’

 

She loved Stephanie, she truly did, but that? It disturbed her. Bruce was…well…he was like her father! And the thought of him being intimate at all, let alone with a woman her age…STEPHANIE NONETHELESS…made her want to vomit.

 

‘Batman is dedicated to the mission’ she thinks, reiterating and shoring up her view of the man she called father. ‘He doesn’t let those distractions affect him’.

Of course she knew that wasn’t true, and a quick litany of names entered her mind.

Selina Kyle, Vesper Fairchild, Sasha Bordeaux, Vicki Vale, hell, he’d even dated Harley Quinn for about four months, something that Cassandra would never forget.

 

“Ohh, hehe, sowwy, those are mine”.

 

A pale, almost perfect white, arm reached over her shoulders, and grasped the piece of fabric that Cassandra had, with disdain, pulled from the drying machine. When the trained killing machine turn she came face to face…or rather face to chest, with Harleen Quinzel, who’d taken residence at Wayne Manor.

The woman’s large breasts were hidden only by a half shirt, her taut belly on display and a pair of short shorts covering her lower extremities.

“Heheh, again, sowwy sweetie. Threw some o’ my clothes in with yers. Ran out…ya knows how it is”.

In her hand she was clutching a thong…the very same thong that Cassandra had fished out of her own clothing.

“Hopes ya don’t mind. Sees ya lata!”

As she walked away, her hips swaying side to side, her pert ass cheeks framed by the fabric, Cassandra remained there, secretly fuming as she thinks of the woman locked in a passionate embrace with Bruce…something she’d had the misfortune of seeing time and time again over the past few months.

‘She…is…a…distraction”.

 

The former villainess had infuriated her to no end, and when she’d moved out, her relationship ending with Bruce? She could’ve danced in joy. She couldn’t understand it. Why she wanted Bruce to remain alone.

But it didn’t matter.

She didn’t need to understand it.

He needed to focus on the mission, on training her to take over said mission. None of these women were good enough for him anyways. She saw it. 

 

“I mean…come on it’s just…he’s the goddamn Batman” Stephanie explains, smiling. “You’re telling me it wouldn’t be hot to just…do it with him? You know? All sweaty, worked up, maybe cut a little after some fight with Joker or Clayface, on a roof or something. Adrenaline going? You’re telling me you’ve never thought of it?” she asks, looking between Babs and Cassandra again.

“No” Cassandra says quickly, cutting the very idea off. 

 

But Babs?

Well…she was sporting a little blush and a slight smirk.

“Alright I…kinda see your point”.

“Aha!”

 

“I’ve thought about it, I’ve thought about it!” Babs defends with a smile, raising her own hands. “Especially after I broke up with Dick” she admits with a shrug, drawing an ‘ooooooh!’ from Stephanie who folds her hands under her chin and leans in, looking intently at her friend.

“Spill girl, spill!”

 

“It was just a stupid little fantasy!” the redhead says, defending herself further. “I was pissed at Dick and I had every reason to sooooo…I don’t know I was kinda thinking of ways to get back at him and…fucking Bruce? It would’ve been up there”.

“Shit…yeah, wow. I didn’t even consider that” Stephanie says, understanding the woman as she nods.

“This is wrong” Cassandra says, fighting to keep her voice even. “He is like a father to us”.

“Uhh, ‘scuse me, no offense? But no. Not at all” Stephanie says with a slight laugh. “I have a dad. A crappy dad sure, but I have one”. Barbara nods in agreement, casting a strange look over towards Cassandra. “I have a father as well. A damn good one. Bruce is more like an older brother or close friend to me”.

“Safe to say” Stephanie says, defusing the moment, reaching out towards Cassandra and grasping her shoulder. “Bruce isn’t Cass’ choice”.

“No” the Asian woman reiterates, still angry but trying to hide it as she knew it was silly, but even still…

She didn’t want Bruce dating.

 

“How about you Babs? Does that mean that it’s Bruce for you too?” Stephanie asks the redhead, who’d quickly warmed up to the question it seemed. She shook her head and smirked, rolling her eyes and pursing her lips before smirking. “No, actually”.

 

“Ohhhhh it’s someone else? Who? Who? Ohh it’s gotta be Duke, or maybeeeee…Jace?” Stephanie asks, prompting her to go somewhere expected with the conversation. To the blonde’s surprise she shook her head.

“No”.

“Huh? Then who else is there? Ohh…wait…you wanna do it with Tim?”

It was clear from the expression on Stephanie’s face that she didn’t know how she felt about it, and was already a little upset despite the fact that she had absolutely no claim over the man any longer.

But Cassandra?

She knew that Tim wasn’t the other woman’s answer.

And her eyes narrowed in response, almost to dagger points.

 

‘I can reach ten of her twenty arteries with ease’ she thinks, unable to stifle the thought in that moment, or even her imagination which conjured up images of her doing exactly that to Barbara. But the redhead remained unaware of what her friend was thinking. 

 

“Relax, it’s not Tim. Actually? It’s Jason”.

 

She said it so matter of factly, as if she was simply commenting on the weather. The response from Stephanie was instantaneous. “Jason?” She looked as if she’d smelled something awful, clearly disapproving of the statement.

Cassandra just clutched the arm of the couch.

Hard.

Very hard.

 

“Pffft, really? You’re giving me shit after saying you’d fuck Bruce?” Babs asks, clearly finding the situation humorous. Stephanie brings her hand to her head, thinking it over. “I mean…I guess I can see it, yeah but…Jason? He’s like…total brother material”.

“Pffft, what?”

“He’s just got that vibe to him”.

“He’s sexy is what he is” Babs says, not taking notice of how Cassandra’s lip curled upwards in utter disgust and rage, her teeth flashing somewhat like a tigress getting ready to pounce. “Yeah but…you knew him when he was a kid”.

“That makes it hotter to me” the former Batgirl says with a shrug. “I watched him grow into the man he is today. It’s like….I don’t know, finally getting to taste some fruit you grew in your garden or something”.

“Babs…you’re fucked up. Like…really fucked up”.

 

Barbara just rolled her eyes and reached back for her lo mein. “Whatever. It all stays here anyways”.

“Yeah but…”

“He used to peep on me when I was changing, back when I was Batgirl” the woman says further, smiling as she slurped up another noodle, pausing for dramatic effect. “And…you know I kinda let him”.

“Whaaaaaaaaaat?”

The couch’s arm groaned as Cassandra grasped it tighter, the wood underneath the fabric about to snap. “Yeah. I mean, he was curious, you know? And it’s better he learned about the female body from that then…you know, porn or something”.

“I mean…I guess…”

Stephanie was uncomfortable now, a first as usually she was the bravest and most honest of the group about her sexual exploits. It was quiet for the next minute or so, the three women dealing with the fallout of what had been said until…Babs broke the silence.

“And you know what? I’m gonna go for it”.

“Babs…seriously, don’t. This is all just…hypothetical, right?” Stephanie asks, laughing while Cassandra locked her eyes onto Babs, glaring. ‘I wish I had Supergirl’s heat vision’ she thinks, knowing that if she did two neat holes would be drilled right into Barbara’s forehead. 

 

“Why not? We’re both adults” she says, slurping on a noodle again, this time rather seductively, though perhaps that was simply due to the turn the conversation had taken. “And honestly? That’d be a nice way to get back at Dick. He was always moaning about Jason. He’s jealous. Hah! Can you believe that? He’s jealous. Of Jason. It’s so path-,”

“You’re not his type”.

Silence, again, this time as a result of Cassandra speaking. 

Both Barbara and Stephanie turn onto her, the latter with surprise, the former with bubbling anger.

 

“What?”

“You’re not his type” Cassandra reiterates, not backing down as she locks eyes with Barbara and continues to glare. “That means that he wouldn’t enjoy the company of a woman like you, correct?”. She was insulting Barbara now…openly! All while ensuring that her words were understood perfectly like she normally was, double checking meaning and what not.

 

“Pffft, and how the hell would you know?”

“Woah, woah. Easy Babs, easy. She’s just…I don’t know but don’t take it personal okay? We’re all friends here” Stephanie says, trying to defuse the situation and already regretting asking the question in the first place

“She can speak for herself, can’t she Steph?” the redhead bites back. “I mean, we taught her how to do that, didn’t we?”

“Hey, Babs! Low blow! Knock it o-,”

“He deserves more than to just be used” Cassandra says, standing up and as a result towering over the wheelchair bound woman. “You are not his type”.

“And what is his type huh? Like you know anything about it?” Babs bites back while Stephanie? She just…watches her friend, and takes note of something…strange. ‘Woah…I’ve never seen Cass like this. It’s almost like she’s-,’

If there was an oven timer in her head it would’ve been dinging at that moment as it suddenly came to her.

 

‘Jealous! Was…was that Jason’s dick we saw?!!!’

 

The very thought of it made her want to vomit, especially in light of how she’d looked at it, commented appreciatively on it, and even used it mentally that night when she was enjoying some private time! ‘Ohh God…ohh God!’

 

She couldn’t explain it, but Jason? She just couldn’t view him as a sexual being. He was one of her best friends. A pal. A brother to her! He was the one willing to hang out with her when everyone else was busy or brushed her off.

 

‘And….Cass…and…Jason…?’

She just couldn’t see it but…for some reason? It fit. A mystery boyfriend. Her refusal to say anything. Her seeming jealousy at the very idea of Barbara going after Jason….she wasn’t the best detective in this family, but she was still a damn good one.

 

And the pieces?

They were all there.

The blonde sat in stunned silence, processing everything. 

 

“I know more than-”

BEEP!

A text message.

As soon as she heard that sound, Cassandra forgot about the argument, not even fighting to suppress the smile upon her face as she reached into her pocket and quickly opened the phone. “Pfft, Jason has ALWAYS had a thing for me. Bet money if I sent him a text right now? He’d do it”.

 

Cassandra ignored her, focusing on opening the message…a message which contained a picture.

At first she expected a picture of his penis, something she wouldn’t be adverse to, though she knew Jason didn’t like sending such things. But instead she saw something that chilled her to the bone.

 

Her mother.

Standing over a very visibly wounded Jason.

Her heart almost stopped in her chest as she read the text below.

“We need to talk daughter. You know where to meet me. Come alone”.

 

That was it.

Instantly she shifted, pocketing her phone once more as she turned, moving away.

“I have to go”.

“Wh-what? Wait? Where are you going?” Stephanie asks, recovering just in time to see Cassandra grasping up her coat from the wall and throwing it about her shoulder. “Are you going to see J-him?”

She almost slipped with her theory and thoughts, preventing it at the last moment, remembering that Barbara was still there, fuming as she sat in her chair and shook her head. It was clear she wouldn’t say anything to prevent the woman from leaving, and before Stephanie could say anything further the steel gate covering the elevator opened, and Cassandra stepped in. She turned, and both heroines watched as the cable car traveled downwards, the woman glaring forward, though not at Barbara. Instead?

She seemed to be looking somewhere else.

 

“I don’t know why we invite her to these things” Babs continues, her anger not having run out of steam yet. “She has zero clue what the hell she’s talking about. And then what? She just leaves? Pfft, she really, really pisses me off”.

 

Stephanie fell back onto the couch, her mind still whirring, seeking any other explanation.

 

‘No…no…Jason and Cass? They…they just don’t fit? I mean…why? It…ugggh’.

 

“She’s been spending way too much time with Bruce. I think that’s the problem. He’s only helping her be more of an asocial freak than she already was”.

 

Apparently she was stuck. Stuck with her theories AND listening to Babs’ rant…something she hoped would stop soon. 

 

‘I…I saw Jason’s dick’ she thinks, unable to get over that part. ‘And I…touched myself to it…ewww’.

If one thing had been proven beyond a doubt tonight?

This messed up crime fighting family needed therapy. All of it. Every one of them. 

 

‘Me most of all…shit…’

Chapter 6

Downtown Gotham

 

“Freakin’ light”.

“What’s the matter Bullock? Got a hot date tonight?”

Renee Montoya’s tone was teasing as the newly minted detective sat in the passenger seat, not even turning to look at her partner as he voiced his frustration about the inopportune light. The man grasped the steering wheel, leaning forward and ducking down to glare at the light suspended above his head.

 

“No. Just don’t wanna be sittin’ at this freakin’ thing all night”.

Renee had to agree to that, and she shrugged, placing her cup of coffee back in the cup holder to her left. “I guess not”. She turned to the right, looking out the window at the snowy, and mostly empty streets of Gotham.

 

‘Mierda. I didn’t think being bumped up to detective would mean LESS action’ she thinks, bringing her hands into the pockets of her coat which, while inside Bullock’s unmarked car, was still on, only unbuttoned.

 

BEEEP! BEEEEEEP!

“COME ON!”

Renee turns back, shaken from her musings as she looks at the corpulent detective, his own blazer around his shoulders, buttoned up, his fedora perched around his head. Even in the low temperatures of a Gotham winter he was sweating, and for a second the Hispanic woman watched the beads of sweat run down his forehead.

 

He was seething in anger, not at all something that helped as he continued to glare at the light which, stubbornly, remained red.

 

Montoya sighed, leaning her elbow against the window and resting her cheek against her hand. “I don’t think it heard you. Maybe you should honk again”.

“Ha, ha. Very freakin’ funny…gnnnrrr”.

She understood his frustration. She really did, and even though Harvey Bullock couldn’t be considered a patient man in the slightest, she couldn’t exactly fault him this time. It was beyond frustrating to be stuck at a four way intersection as the only car, while the light went through the motions and let the phantoms go from the other streets.

 

“It’s dead tonight” she says offhandedly, looking out the window towards the rows of shops that lined either side of the street and beyond. All of them were closed, empty, not even a single light on.

‘Mostly shuttered too’ she thinks, finding herself reminded once more that Gotham wasn’t exactly a safe city.

 

‘That’s putting it lightly’.

Even the relatively rich section of Downtown that they were in, with its coffee shops and art galleries, wasn’t immune to stick-up jobs and the attention of so-called supervillains. Maybe because of that they were even MORE susceptible.

But tonight? It was quiet on the little corner of Logerquist and Kane, with only the street lights and a few intermittent, lingering Christmas lights still illuminating the area.

Vrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmm!

The light turns again, but not for them, and a large truck comes lurching along from the adjacent street to their left. Montoya watches, making out the markings on the side, designating it as a DOT truck. Its purpose was ascertained quickly as it moved along, little pebble-like things bouncing out from the yellow apparatus strapped into the bed, landing on the slush covered road.

 

“Guess they’re putting out more salt” she observes offhandedly, just wanting to make conversation and, hopefully, alleviate the man besides hers’ stress.

THUD!

“We don’t need no more freakin’ ice!”

 

Harvey didn’t take the bait though. He thumped his hands against the steering wheel and continued to glare at the red light which was becoming something of his mortal enemy. “COME ONNNNNN!” he shouts, still holding onto the wheel, shaking back and forth, which only had the added effect of bringing more sweat to his forehead.

 

“Uggh”.

Renee turns away once more, looking down the straightaway before them, finding her own patience tested, though if it was because of the light or Bullock’s reaction to it, she wasn’t sure. 

 

‘Probably the second part. Gotta tell Cash not to send me out with him agai-’

VROOOOM! VROOOOOM! VROOOOOOOOOM!

Another engine sound. Coming from far off, but getting closer.

Rapidly.

 

Renee sat up in her seat, finally feeling that feeling she’d been waiting for all night. That pull to action. For something, anything, to happen. “Sounds like a motorcycle” she says, the engine getting louder and louder while the large road sign off to their right flashed its orange hue.

 

Blizzard warning. Avoid unnecessary travel.

Most Gothamites, good or bad, had taken the hint apparently. 

 

‘Except for our resident joyrider’.

 

She was looking out through the darkness, and Bullock even forgot his rage to join her, peering out before him at the street from which he thought it most likely to be coming from. “Yeah, it does. What kinda jerkoff would be ridin’ a bike in this weatha’?” he asks hypothetically, peering up once more at the jet black winter sky above them, getting ready to unload even more of the white stuff over Gotham City.

 

VROOOOOOOOOOOOM! VROOOOOOOOM!

The engine revs, giving the two detectives a sign of the power that was held within the bike, and in an instant they watch as a black shape darts out from one of the side streets down the way from them, and skids across, almost entirely to the other side.

 

It almost looked like it was about to wreck, slam into one of the parked cars along that side of the street, but at the last minute the rider, whoever he was, swerved and turned with military-like precision, missing the parked sedan by inches.

 

Slush was being kicked up behind it, the wheels digging into the street and finding traction with the greatest of ease.

 

“There he is! There he is!”

Montoya was slamming her hand into Bullock’s shoulder with one hand while the other raised to point down towards the unknown rider, as if there was any chance in hell of anyone missing the dark shape.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep yer panties on” Bullock says, reaching for the area by his feet where he picks up a small light. With his other hand he started to roll down his window, getting ready to place it atop the car so as to facilitate a chase.

 

“Hehe, at least we ain’t gonna need ta worry about the lights fer a little while” he says, getting ready to engage the flashing light. Renee just rolled her eyes.

 

‘I can’t believe him, of alllll GCPD officers, follows traffic laws!’

It was true. 

Harvey Bullock was a stickler for city ordinances, and when he wasn’t chowing down on donuts, adding his sometimes useful, usually unwanted, commentary on a crime scene, he was writing tickets. Parking in front of a fire hydrant, failing to use a turn signal, going three miles over the speed limit, you name it.

If you broke traffic laws, Harvey Bullock would find you.

And what was even worse was he wasn’t a hypocrite about it.

He followed each and every city ordinance to the letter. He’d even gotten chewed out way back for giving former commissioner Gillian Loeb a ticket for running a red. It’d gotten thrown out of course, but even still, the gall! You’d never catch Harvey going over the speed limit, or running a red.

He wouldn’t even use his status as a police officer to avoid things, which is why he was waiting at the red so patiently instead of just putting on the lights and sirens and going through. 

 

Vrooooom! Vrooooom!

Whoever the maniac on the bike was, they were in for a rude awakening. 

 

‘Bullock’s gonna chase them down like a…like…uhhhh…’

Montoya expected the bike to turn and rush away as soon as Bullock triggered the flashing lights, the joyrider no doubt wishing to avoid the police no matter what.

 

But instead?

The bike was heading towards them…

 

And very, very quickly.

 

“Bullock…they…they’re coming towards us. What do we-”

It was a useless question to ask.

What do they do?

What COULD they do?!

The bike got larger and larger, and because of that the visibility that the two detectives had grew even greater. This wasn’t any average joyrider out for a flirtation with the law and possibly death and injury. No.

 

The woman perched atop the all black bike was an altogether different animal.

The bike itself was heavily armored, though how it moved at the speeds it did was astounding. Montoya had to raise her hand over her eyes and turn her head as the bright headlight positioned under the splayed out wings of a bat symbol hit her, almost blinding her. 

 

“Maldita sea!” she cursed, Harvey doing the same as he raised his hand over his eyes, but still managed to get a good look at the rider. He almost smiled to himself as he took in more details. ‘Heh. Haven’t seen ‘er in a while’ he thinks, taking in the figure perched over the bike, her long, black cape flowing out behind her, whipping in the wind.

 

The yellow bat symbol on her chest should’ve been a dead giveaway as to her identity, or at least her identity within the Bat-Family, but Bullock was sure that he’d seen the other two with yellow Bat symbols too.

 

‘The redhead and the blonde, yeah’.

 

He was sure of this one though. The full face mask and lack of eye holes, as well as the fact that her hair was secured within the cowl, made it more than clear enough. 

 

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The roar of the engine was right in his ears as the bike rocketed through the intersection and then right on past the car, completely ignoring the flashing lights as if she hadn’t even seen them. The car moves back and forth with the kinetic energy released by the bike.

 

The seasoned detective was able to cast one quick glance into the rearview mirror, and watch as Batgirl disappeared down another side street. 

 

‘Damn, if I wasn’t sure I’d bust my head open I’d try an’ get me one o’ those’.

 

“Bullock! What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Huh?”

He’d almost forgotten Montoya, so distracted was he in that moment, watching as the vigilante moved past him. The junior detective was once again smashing her hand against his shoulder, trying to get his attention. “She went that way! Go! Go! Go!”

 

Montoya was turned around in the seat, pointing through the rear window where she could see the street that Batgirl had just been on, the singular, deep tire tread in the slush further indication of that. For a second it was like she was speaking another language…something that the woman could very well do.

 

But the words slowly knit themselves together into a sentence that made sense in Bullock’s mind, and his response was made worse by the frantic and excited look on Montoya’s face.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!”

He threw his head back, and laughed, his jowls bouncing with the movement while Montoya moved back into her seat, sitting sideways and regarding her partner with shock, not understanding why he wasn’t throwing the car into reverse and initiating a chase. “Why are you laughing?”

“You, ya idiot!”

Now it was Bullock’s turn to slap Montoya’s arm, albeit good naturedly, the smile still on his face, mingling with the last remnants of his laughter.

“Ya really think I’m gonna be able ta catch ‘er in this piece o’ crap? Hahahahahahahaha!”

Montoya made sense of what was said much quicker than Bullock had, and her response was instant. Anger. It split her face as she glared at her partner. “We have a job to do-”

“And so does she” he bites back, ceasing his laughter but keeping the smile. “Relax Montoya. If she’s rushin’ off like that, ya just know it’s important. Cool down”.

The Hispanic woman knew she wasn’t going to win this one, and flopped back down in her seat, still angered by the fact that they weren’t going to stop her. “Sides. That one? Definitely ain’t the one ya wanna screw with” Harvey continues on, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette, which he plucks between his lips and lights in one seemingly smooth motion.

 

“Out of…I think three? Hard ta be sure sometimes. Anyways, outta’ the three Batgirls? That one’s the one that don’t got a single funny bone in ‘er body. Even heard Bats ‘imself crack a wise one a few times. But her? She just…stands there”.

He shivers, seemingly able to conjure up a mental image of the woman right then and there. 

 

“It creeps me out. But she also kicks the most grade A ass so ya can lets the creep facta’ slide”.

“I don’t like it”.

“Don’t like what?” Bullock asks, leaning forward again to check on the light, having hoped that it would’ve turned by now. It didn’t. It was still red.

 

“DAMMIT!”

He slams his hand against the wheel again.

“I’m getting Jim right on this! Freakin’ lights busted”.

Renee ignores that and fixates on her previous point instead.

“Vigilantes” she says simply, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring ahead, wishing that she could get as far away as humanly possible from the speeding Batgirl as she could if she couldn’t catch her. “Doing the job we’re supposed to be doing”.

“Pffft, ya really complainin’ ‘bout less work?”

“That’s not it” she growls. “And of course your lard ass would be happy to do less”.

 

“Ey! I’ve been collarin’ perps since ya was in diapers short pants. Show some respect”. He glared at her, and Montoya balked, if only a little. “That’s my point. We should be doing that. Not them. We should be the ones that make Gotham feel safe”.

 

“Sure, sure” he says, waving his hand in the air as if to bat away her concerns. “Next time Killa’ Croc is tearin’ up downtown, I’ll let the bats know that Detective Montoya’s got this covered”. He said that with a teasing smirk, but it lessened as he tried, in his very Bullock way, to comfort her.

“In a perfect world? Maybe we’d be enough. But it ain’t a perfect world. We got killer clowns with enough gas ta make the Western Front look like a doozy, and giant crocodile men. Don’t even get me started on the freakin’ Riddla’”.

Now? Harvey seethes.

Out of all of Gotham’s rogues, he hated Edward Nygma the most. Mainly due to the fact that he’d trapped him in a storage unit until he could solve a Rubix Cube, clearly not thinking the man worth any more of a brain tease than that.

 

What made it worse was he was one turn away when Gordon and Batman came to rescue him.

 

“So when that world comes? When we don’t need ‘em? I’m sure Batgirl will be more ‘n happy ta stop speedin’ round in the night like her hair’s on fire and annoyin’ ya. But, until then? The commish and them gots a deal. An’ we work with ‘em when we need ta. THAT’S how we keep Gotham safe”.

 

There wasn’t any more argument to be had. And while Montoya didn’t like it? She knew Bullock was right.

“Ey! Hallelujah! Christmas freakin’ miracle!” he shouts, the light turning green as he releases the brake and puts the car into drive. “I swear, when we get back ta the precinct, put it down Montoya. I’m raisin’ holy freakin’ hell ova’ it!”

 

“Uggggh!”

‘Great. The only thing we did tonight was find a faulty traffic light. This is why I joined the force’.

 

Five Blocks Away

 

The roar of the engine and the vibrations that came about as a result kept her grounded, focused as she clutched her thighs tightly against the sides, her hands gripping the handlebars like a vice.

It was very rare for Cassandra Cain to react in such a way to nearly any crime or emergency.

Sure, she’d get there as quickly as possible, wanting to save people.

To honor the oath she’d took, which took a physical form in the shape of a bat upon her chest.

But this? This was different.

The Asian woman had always lacked a…personal attachment to any of the people she saved. Save for her family of course, but even that always felt different. Usually they were able to assist in their own rescue, or get out of it themselves beforehand, with her just serving as backup. There was never the raw, visceral panic that she was feeling now.

 

When someone was trapped in a burning building she just rushed in and got them out. When Two Face was taking a hostage she just threw a batarang and disabled the gun. It was simple to her. A string of actions and reactions that led to the only acceptable outcome.

Saving a life.

Even when they thanked her, throwing their arms around her and hugging her tightly, smiling or clapping her on the shoulder, she didn’t feel much. Sure she felt satisfaction, a legitimate joy that they were okay.

 

And a warm, bubbling feeling in her stomach when Bruce would look at her with that stoic expression of his and say ‘good work’, just like he always did. 

 

On the way there though she’d never had any fear because in the end? She knew everyone would be okay. That she’d save them, do her job. It was what she was trained to do, and failure wasn’t an option.

That fact had been beaten into her from a young age. 

 

But this was different.

 

The person she was going to save was a Bat Family member…but also…more. And there was absolutely no certainty whatsoever that she would be able to save him.

 

‘He might be already dead’.

Her throat tightened as she thought that, and she had to swerve to avoid a fallen trash can which had been pushed off of the sidewalk and into the street. If she’d hit it she would’ve went flying, and the injuries would’ve been catastrophic.

 

‘Focus’.

Her own voice had a harsh, but very familiar tinge in her mind as she raged at herself, revving the bike once more as flames shout out from the spoilers behind her, propelling the bike even faster along her route. 

 

It was her own voice. That was undeniable. 

 

But it carried within it a hint of someone else, of emotion that she rarely allowed herself to feel.

It sounded a bit like her mother.

 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The sound of an incoming call from the inbuilt comms in her cowl went off in her ear, telling her that someone was trying to get in contact with her. ‘Mother’. That was instantly who she thought of, knowing it wasn’t beyond Lady Shiva to be able to hack into their comms. She wasn’t only skilled at hand to hand fighting after all.

She removed one of her hands from one of the handlebars, bringing it back towards the side of her faceless cowl, clicking on the space where she knew the button that would allow her to answer the call would be. 

 

‘She’s calling to tell you he’s dead. That you’re too late’.

The bike wobbled as she became unsteady, the thought acting like a punch from Bane. Her heart was going at a million miles a minute, and it had nothing to do with the adrenaline that would affect anyone else going at such a speed.

She’d long since gotten used to such a thing. 

 

“Cass? Can you hear me?”

“Stephanie?”

She found herself surprised, and relieved, that the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t that sensuous, but poisonous tone of her mother’s, but instead a whispered and half nervous Stephanie Brown.

 

“I can’t ta-”

“It’s Jason, isn’t it?”

Her heart froze again at hearing the question from Stephanie. At that moment? It could’ve meant a multitude of things, and Cassandra’s mind went down the possibilities like an itemized list, disregarding them based on unlikelihood in an instant. She remained silent, which prompted Stephanie to probe on.

“You know…the uh…guy you’re with”.

 

Vrooooooom!

 

The bike rocketed further on, and Cassandra turned into yet another empty street just as the white particles of snow began to cascade down from the heavens onto the hellish city below. Her surroundings were changing, moving away from the clean, upper class of Downtown, into a more…derelict, rundown portion of the city.

 

Park Row.

 

She was getting closer.

 

“...I don’t have time for thi-”

 

“You seriously can’t tell me that you showed me Jason’s dick” the blonde seethes into the phone, though she keeps it as a whisper. That at least piqued Cass’s interest. “Why are you whispering?”

“Because I’m in the bathroom” Stephanie says back in explanation, anger still coloring her voice. “And I don’t want Babs to hear”.

“You found out, and haven’t told her?”

Even Cassandra was a little surprised by that.

“No, you bitch, duhhhh!” Stephanie retorts, this strange, utterly useless conversation occurring while Cassandra was locked in a race of life and death. “She’d kill you if…okay, she’d TRY to kill you, and fail miserably if she found out. I’m running interference on that. Hell, if I didn’t know I’d get my ass handed to me? I’D try and kill you”.

 

“Why?”

“Because you made me look at Jason’s dick!” she seethes. “Do you know how gross that is for me?”

Now Cassandra took offense, not even realizing that she was being distracted as she moved onto autopilot, knowing that she could get to her destination with her eyes closed if need be, though she doesn’t chance it in her current state of mind.

“Jason’s penis is perfectly–”

 

“That’s not the point you bitch!!!” Stephanie hisses in the phone, though Cassandra could practically see the pause the blonde would take to look over her own shoulder even though she was safe and alone in the bathroom. “I already said it was…nice”.

Those hadn’t been the words that she’d used.

Stephanie had been a lot more congratulatory when she’d seen the picture. When she didn’t know that it was Jason’s penis. 

 

“Oh God…I almost vomited”.

Cassandra remains silent, unsure of what to say or if there even was anything to say at that moment. ‘I should hang up’ she thinks to herself, wanting to prioritize the mission at hand. Mainly saving her boyfriend…if that’s what he was.

 

“Look…Jason is like a brother to me, okay? You know that”.

“I do”.

Vrooooooom!

She turns onto another street, getting closer to her target. She could feel the adrenaline rising within her, which was possibly the only reason that she kept the call with Stephanie going. It kept her from going overboard.

“SHIT! SHIT! SHIIIIIT!”

As it was she had to swerve around a car that was coming her way, filled with teenagers who were very clearly up to no good. She hadn’t caught it until it was nearly too late, meaning that the rear portion of the bike scraped against the side of the car, sending sparks flying into the air above.

 

“What was that?”

“Nothing”.

Vrooooom!

She was rocketing down the street once again, not even looking back at the group of gang bangers. She had bigger issues to worry about right now. ‘Seeing me will be enough of a deterrent’. She knew that to be true.

 

Cassie had a certain…reputation amongst the criminal underworld.

 

They’d still fight her, sure but…it went unspoken that out of the entirety of the Bat family? They’d rather not take her on. Batman punching you in the face or Nightwing using his escrima sticks made sense. You could see the chain of events that would lead to you being face down on the ground.

 

But with Batgirl, or at least this one?

You mostly just woke up in traction, your mind not able to comprehend the flurry of movement that brought you there. 

 

“I mean it Cass” Stephanie says, drawing her sister in all but blood’s attention back to her. “He was there for me through a lot of bad shit. He…he understands me. How it feels to be an outcast, you know? And then, after Tim-,”

“I am aware” Cass retorts, starting to finally slow the bike as she sees her destination come into view.

The large building loomed over its surroundings like some sort of giant, though one that was decrepit and falling down. Even from her position on the street she could see the roof starting to cave in, the ancient beams angling downwards, the windows shuttered and graffiti adorning the walls.

Cassandra brings the bike to a stop, her foot touching the dirty, wet street below her as the snow begins to fall much heavier around her.

 

She remembers it all.

 

“You choose him?! A man who is not even blood!! Who uses you as a soldier in his war!! OVER YOUR OWN MOTHER????!!”

Shiva’s face contorts in rage as she throws a fist at her, a punch that would’ve knocked anyone else in the entire world into the next room and possibly killed them. A lightning fast blow that should’ve been impossible. 

 

But Cassandra?

She did the impossible and dodged it. But not only that.

THWACK!

She brought her own fist up into Shiva’s face, causing the woman’s head to snap back, her teeth clattering in her mouth. Lady Shiva stumbled back…but only a foot or so despite the haymaker blow, and she rapidly recovered, her head snapping back down, a light stream of blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth.

 

That was the absolute most anyone had hurt Lady Shiva in a long time.

 

She stood across from Batgirl, her daughter, who remained in her stance.

 

“Yes. He’s my father”.

Four words, more than she had ever spoken to her mother before. For the longest time she didn’t even speak, that skill not seen as important by either of her parents. Lady Shiva stood there, her face implacable, unknowable, even by her own daughter who’d been trained to read a life story in the minute facial tics of anyone she faced. 

 

She hadn’t taught her to read her. 

 

If she had? She would’ve seen the awe she held her daughter in, the respect she felt…the love, in her very own Shiva way. But also? The pride. ‘That’s my daughter’.

 

“You will die for this, Cassandra”.

 

Nevertheless, she charges forward, ready to carry through with her threat.

 

Cassandra knew that if it hadn’t been for the intervention of Batman that day she would be dead, and at the hands of her mother. Together? They’d been able to fight her to a standstill, and with the others on the way she knew she didn’t have much of a choice.

 

She retreated, and surrendered her daughter to Batman.

 

Until today. 

 

And it happened in this building which had once been a Chinese restaurant. Humorous considering her heritage, the heritage she’d gotten from her mother. 

 

“Sooo…is this thing…serious between you guys? Or…you know…just a hookup?”

“I…I do not know”.

She felt a pause overtake her, something she was unable to shake even as she engaged the kickstand but remained astride her bike. “What do you want it to be?”

“......”

Cassie didn’t answer.

“Right…okay. Listen, I’m not gonna tell you guys what you can and can’t do, alright? You’re a big girl and you can make your own decisions and he’s a big boy too I guess…I’m just worried. About both of you”.

 

“Don’t be”.

“Sure” Stephanie huffs sarcastically. “That’ll magically make me not worry. I’m serious Cass. Jason might appear like he doesn’t feel anything outside, but inside? Well…he’s soft. And hurt. And you? I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t even know if you’d be aware of it if you hurt him”.

That stung, but Cassandra offers no rebuttal.

Mainly because she knew it was true. Social cues? Relationships? These were things that she had zero understanding of, and was only just now starting to pick up on. Already she could feel the guilt seeping in over how she’d effectively blackmailed Jason into having sex with her.

 

‘Him being with you has already put him in more danger than he’s been in since the Joker’.

That thought was sobering. 

 

“Anyways…I guess I’ll let you…do…whatever. Honestly, you kinda screwed up girl’s night anyways. Babs is pissed. Maybe it’s good you went off to…yeah”.

 

“I’m sorry”.

“It’s cool. Really. Are you on patrol or something? If you are, maybe I can come out and we can have some more honest girl’s ti-,”

“No”.

 

“Ohh…it’s like that huh?”

“Yes”.

Cassandra was glad for one thing. Despite her ineptitude with human relationships, and feelings, Stephanie never got angry with her, and always seemed to understand. And yes, it was like that. This was something she had to do alone, even though every fiber of her being was crying out for Batman to help her.

 

“Alright well…be saf-”

Click!

Cass ends the call, continuing to stare up at the building. Her mother was inside. With her sort of boyfriend. She had to do this. 

 

No matter what.

 

Interior of Wang Feng’s Buffet

 

“Are you still alive?”

The voice came with a cold, disinterested and slightly mocking tone, one that told the man who was bound to the chair that she couldn’t possibly care less if no was the answer. ‘Bitch’. He didn’t need to look up to see that she was leaning against what once was a counter over which fresh trays of food would be slid.

 

Which was good, because movement hurt.

 

“Yes”.

 

“I cannot decide if that is good or bad” Lady Shiva says, toying with a knife with a wicked curve to it. She plunged the tip into the granite, lightly twirling it around as if to entertain herself. “Wouldn’t be the first time” he grunts out, finally getting enough energy to lift his head ever so slightly, bringing it back over the rear of the chair. 

 

“Urrrgggh”.

 

The older Asian woman watches this, and for some reason a flicker of an emotion crosses her face. Was it regret? No, no. Lady Shiva regretted NOTHING! But…even still…

 

‘Perhaps I was overzealous’ she thinks to herself, taking note of the myriad injuries that criss crossed over Jason’s body. His broken arm which was tied behind his back like his unbroken one, secured to the chair. The patterns of cuts seeping partially dried blood over his face and exposed portions of his body.

The bruises, and sweat flecked brow. 

 

“In hindsight” the woman says, her voice even, hiding all the thoughts that were swirling through her mind at that moment. “I must say that I’m not really angry at you Jason. In fact, I respect you”.

 

“Could’ve fooled…urggh…me”.

“The fact that you are even still alive is a testament to your strength and skill” she says. “I admire that, though you were trained by lesser teachers than I”.

 

He didn’t know what to say to that, so he remained silent.

 

‘Anything I say will probably just get me hurt more’.

 

The slight calmness and light mirth that lingered on the world’s deadliest woman’s face fell away though, replaced by the same rage which had seen him so decimated. “But the insult that you have paid me…my daughter…”

She pauses, breathing heavily as she moves off of her leaning position against the counter, standing once more, her fists clenching and unclenching as she holds her arms straight at her side.

 

“You defiled her. Todd. You did”.

 

The glare felt like it could cut through him with the sharpness of a blade. ‘I’m gonna die…for real this time, aren’t I?’

 

“How did you do it?”

“Wha-URRRK!!!”

His head was jammed backwards as Shiva grasped him by the throat, squeezing just enough to ensure he could feel the pressure. The ease with which she could snap his neck with the flick of a wrist. 

“Do. Not. Play. Stupid”.

She enunciates each word, as if she was speaking to a fool, which in her mind she was. With a bit more force than was necessary she released her hold on his throat, tossing him back so that the chair wobbled, but mercifully didn’t send it careening to the floor.

 

“Guuuuuh!”

He gasps for oxygen, panting, even the few seconds in her grasp being enough to pull all the air from his lungs. Shiva allows him to catch his breath, watching without doing anything, simply waiting.

“I…ugggh…t-told you” he says, trying to force as much strength into his voice as he could, glaring up at the woman. “She. Asked. Me. And I love her. And you know what? If I survive this? I’m gonna keep fucking her you crazy bitch! Sppptt!”

He purses his lips and manages to gather up enough crimson streaked spittle.

He wanted to send it into her face, but the best he could manage was the floor right in front of him. It landed amongst the dust and the dirt, and Shiva watched it fall with an air of amusement. 

 

It’s washed away quickly as the words he’d spoken enter her mind.

“I’ve changed my mind”.

With a flick of her wrist another blade appeared in her gloved hand, gleaming in the low light of the interior of the restaurant. “I will simply take your life, and speak with my daughter about it later. Finding your lifeless corpse will be enough of a lesso-,”

 

“Stop”.

It was a singular word, but one that was spoken with all the iciness of an arctic storm. Both him, and Lady Shiva turned towards the source of it, the left side of the restaurant, in the shadows. A figure was moving there, walking forward slowly, purposefully, and while it took Jason a moment, battered senses and all, Lady Shiva instantly knew who it was.

Cassie, clad in her Batgirl uniform, stepped out of the darkness and stood there, facing off with her mother who turned away from the man she’d just threatened to kill. The blade disappears once more, secreted upon her body.

 

‘How the hell does she do that so good?’

 

Jason would’ve pondered on that question further if he wasn’t filled with joy at seeing his possibly, maybe girlfriend. He beams at her, smiling through his injuries. “Hey Cass” he calls out, wanting to get the younger woman’s attention. “I’d wave but YOUR PSYCHO BITCH MOTHER BROKE MY ARM!!!”

He was angry and couldn’t contain it, though Cassandra knew that he wasn’t angry at her. ‘He doesn’t need to feel ashamed,’ the woman in question’s daughter thinks. ‘Nobody can stand up against her…’

In that moment she felt the weight of the woman’s skills and reputation upon her shoulders, and began to think that even she would have little to no chance.

 

‘Stop. Bruce taught you about self doubt. Stop it. You can take her’.

“Hello daughter”.

 

“Mother”.

Shiva smiles, and tilts her head as she takes in the form of her grown daughter. Not much could be seen of her through the outfit she wore, though the womanly accouterments that she had further developed since they’d last laid eyes upon one another could be seen with ease.

“You’ve grown even more. Heh. You are quite the beauty, my daughter”.

 

She smiled, as if this was a social visit. After years of not seeing one another, and the last time they’d done so being a physical fight almost to the death, she was smiling. Cassandra didn’t outwardly show it but it angered her.

 

“It’s been years”.

“Far too long daughter. Far, far too long”.

Shiva was relaxed, calm, and even more frustrating for Cassandra, unreadable. At this moment in a fight, the minute or so before the first punch would be thrown, she’d know what her opponent was feeling. She’d be able to read the Joker’s hidden nervousness, or Crane’s fear.

But with her mother?

Nothing. 

It was as if she was nothing but a blank space.

“Jason. Are you alright?”

She turns her attention onto the bound man instead, finding him a much easier one to read. Though what she got back was in no way, shape or form encouraging. “I’m fine Cass” he lies, gritting his teeth through the pain, trying to put on a brave face, but she could tell. “You called him right? The calvary is on the way?”

“No”.

She looks back towards her mother.

“I came alone”.

“WHAT?!!”

 

“My daughter understands honor, Todd”.

Shiva moves forward, walking towards her daughter, swaying her hips out side to side in a very feminine fashion. Cassandra does the same, though her hands were balled up at her side, the only outwardly visible sign of the rage she felt boiling beneath her. But while others might miss it, Shiva did not.

“You actually care for him, don’t you?”

The two women met, or almost met, in the middle of the room, where they walked counterclockwise to one another, circling each other like birds of prey. Just like she’d been trained to do before they ‘practiced’.

 

Jason found himself paying closer attention…

 

“That is not your business”.

“Ohh Cassandra. Everything involving you is my business” her mother and mentor retorts with an acidic tone to her voice. “And when you make choices I don’t agree with…that I will not allow, it is my right as your mother to interfere and correct them for you”.

 

“You abandoned me”.

“Only because you demanded it” Shiva counters, sidestepping the accusation as easily as she might a physical blow. “You wished to be a superhero. To waste the skills your father and I gave you on saving lives”.

 

“He is not my father”.

 

Shiva of course knew she was speaking of David Cain, and releases a sardonic smirk in response.

“Of course not. Your father dresses up in a ridiculous outfit and tries to save the world. At least you haven’t tried to replace your own mother with the likes of Wonder Woman or Hawkgirl”. Cassandra doesn’t respond to that. 

She didn’t know how.

When it came to David Cain she had nothing but hatred, but her mother?

She was more difficult. She’d never gotten any softness from her birth father, or care, or love. And maybe she hadn’t gotten any from Shiva either. But there were…moments of tenderness, care. At least how Lady Shiva would define them. A certain nobility at times that David Cain always lacked. 

 

‘I am stuck with her. No matter what’.

The two women stop circling one another, pausing on either side of the impromptu ring that had been set up by them, glaring at one another across the distance. On the floor was a mural, depicting two dragons, one black, one red, locked in combat. 

 

“You are not simply going to acquiesce to my demands and accept your punishment, are you my love?”

“I won’t let you hurt him”.

“He will die, Cassandra. For the sin of touching you, that is what he deserves”.

“I asked him”.

Shiva’s eyes went wide at that, the unbelievable statement that Jason had made being confirmed now. The bound man smirks. “Told you”. Shiva casts a glare that could melt steel at the man and shouts. “BE SILENT!!”

Usually? He’d have a cocky retort, but when Lady Shiva said something it was best to just do it. 

 

Slowly she turns back to her daughter, who now saw a chance to unbalance her.

 

“I liked it,” Cassandra says, speaking through the hood that covered her face. “It’s my favorite thing to do”. Shiva’s eyes narrowed, and she shifted into a fighting stance, getting ready. “It appears that I shall have to be much more physical in applying my lesson to you as well daughter”.

 

Shiva struck first, almost like a lightning bolt. It was so quick, so succinct that Jason almost didn’t see it. One second they were ten feet apart, the next? Face to face.

Anyone else? They would’ve been dead on the ground. But it was like Cass was ready for it.

‘Technically? Two women are fighting over me’ Jason thinks sarcastically to himself, knowing that that masculine fantasy didn’t apply in the way most men would want it to. “KICK HER ASS CASS!!!” he shouts out, all while slowly starting to work on the ropes that bound him.

It was hard with a broken arm, and he couldn’t do it while Shiva was watching, he didn’t want to risk it, but now? He had to get loose.

 

‘Gotta get help. Gotta get help. Gotta get help’.

 

Outwardly he was certain Cass would be triumphant, but inside? Well, he wasn’t so sure. 

 

In front of him two dragons fought. 

 

And the sound of their battle roared in his ears. 

Chapter 7

Notes:

Sorry this took me so long guys. I made it a little longer to make up for that

The Batcave

 

SCREE! SCREE! SCREE!

The bats overhead were a near constant, and had been ever since Bruce had discovered the cave all those years ago. At all hours of the day they squeaked, chirped, or flapped their wings, though they only truly became active at night, in keeping with their nocturnal nature.

 

‘They’re feeding’.

It was an errant thought that came into Bruce’s mind as he continued to sit in front of the Batcomputer, the blue glow from the screen the largest bit of illumination in the mostly dark cave, coupled only with a few guidelights along walkways and overhangs.

At this point Bruce didn’t even need them, so well did he know the cave that he could practically traverse it blindfolded. Only Alfred putting his foot down had made it so the guidelights remained.

 

“Not all of us are nocturnal crime fighters, Master Bruce. I do not possess near superhuman levels of sight”.

 

Bruce smirked at that, or as much as he could, which amounted to little more than a slight upturning of the side of his mouth. Just as quickly as it appeared it was gone, and the man continued to work on the computer.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

With a few strokes of the keyboard, and a click upon the mousepad, numerous bits of information flashed up on the screen. Newspaper clippings, mugshots, everything. Was any of it important? That’s what he was trying to figure out.

 

The man’s eyes narrowed beneath his cowl as he took in all the information, reading through pages within seconds it seems, his mind able to take in the words and pluck out the necessary information in an instant. 

 

“Computer”.

The icon in the corner flashed on, letting the man know that his command had been heard, and would be answered. “Bring me everything we have in the database about William Declan”. The whirring of the computer could be heard as it instantly went through every database in Gotham, and the world.

“William ‘Full Deck’ Declan” , the female voice that was the extension of the Batcomputer’s artificial intelligence, calls out. “Known criminal associate of the Riddler”. A picture was brought up, the mugshot from before, though this time it was emphasized, right alongside a rap sheet that felt like it was a mile long.

Batman leaned back in the chair, balancing his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepling his fingers together as he listened, his mind working in a manner very similar to the computer, angles and memories, information all stitching itself together in a tapestry that, he hoped, would make something worthwhile in the end. 

 

The mugshot showed a sandy haired man in his mid to late thirties. At one point he might’ve been considered attractive, but numerous blows to the face had taken that away. His nose had been bashed in so many times that it resembled a nub of flesh more than a body part.

 

His eyes, brown, glared out at the viewer in a predatory way, like he was already thinking up ways to hurt or take advantage of someone.

He held the GCPD prisoner placard before him, as was procedure.

“Currently out on probation following a four year stint at Blackgate Penitentiary for armed robbery, accessory to terrorist threats, and multiple counts of attempted murder”. 

 

He remembered.

Batman had been the one to foil the Riddler’s last attempt at robbing the First Gotham Bank and trying to cover it with a series of dirty bombs placed throughout Gotham. In keeping with his modus operandi he’d made it so a riddle was the only way to stop them from going off.

 

‘What relative has a face that can’t see, but hands that can’t hold anything?’

Even now Bruce remembered the riddle, and how almost laughably easy it was to solve. The Clocktower itself. Riddler had, somehow, managed to piggyback off of Oracle’s tech to send out encrypted codes to the myriad number of bombs he’d placed. Of course, once it had been neutralized, it was child’s play to stop the man from threatening Gotham.

 

Barbara had been furious when she found out.

Riddler had, somehow, been able to hide his tech from her, the Bat Family tech guru who prided herself on being better than most everyone else in the world. 

 

But what was even more ironic to Bruce was Edward Nygma himself.

He was so intelligent, smart enough to put together an intricate series of threats to the city, placing the bombs at the best possible places to make it a serious threat, to encrypt the system of delivery to a point where even he was worried when he came to it. 

 

He was able to do all of that…but unable to work it out that Barbara Gordon was Oracle, or how close he’d been to the Batman’s most vulnerable underbelly. It was more than a disappointment. It was sad. 

 

‘A man of your intelligence Nygma’ he thinks, hiding his own disappointment well enough in that moment as he continues to scan over the information being presented to him. ‘You could do so much more…but you’ve wasted your life on…this’. 

 

He knew what motivated Riddler, and because of that? Sometimes he felt like he was responsible for it. Edward Nygma had a near pathological need to prove that he was better than the Batman. To show that it was HE who was Gotham’s greatest intellect. In a way, Bruce felt it was his fault.

 

‘No’.

 

He corrects himself quickly, squashing that thought as he hones in on a bit of information and starts to try and focus, though his attention continues to remain divided. ‘Nygma was already a criminal when you started’ he remembers, knowing that the man had started out with embezzlement and blackmail. 

He only created his Riddler persona when Batman first appeared.

 

‘If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been someone else’ he carries on. ‘Edward’s pathological need to prove himself, coupled with his megalomania, would've caused him to become what he did’. It was simple, succinct, and true. Bruce knew it to be true. From the doctors at Arkham, and other assorted experts, to his own expertise in the field, he knew.

 

But even still…doubts lingered, mixing with the sense of responsibility that sent him out into Gotham every, single, night.

 

If I’d done this…

 

If I just…

 

I should’ve…

 

I need to…

 

All of these thoughts entered his mind when he thought of Nygma. When he thought of practically all of them, he couldn’t fight the sense of responsibility that overwhelmed him, that guilt…

 

He pushes through it, trying to ignore it…for now.

 

“Last known address”.

“Four forty-nine Logerquist Avenue, Gotham City. Specifically in the Diamond District”.

 

‘A halfway house’.

He was familiar with the place. An aged, Victorian style home that was, at least partially, subsidized by the Wayne Foundation. A halfway house for ‘reformed’ criminals that were attempting to turn their lives around. 

 

It was very picky in who it chose, wanting to prioritize those former criminals who were seen to actually have a chance at reform rather than wasting time and resources on those who’d inevitably go back to crime. 

 

‘If Declan made it there he’s definitely making steps in the right direction…’

 

“Hmm”.

His outward sound didn’t match his inner thoughts and he continued to look into the man’s records. Bank accounts, job applications, anything he could get on file which was quite a lot. ‘Is he really changing his ways?’

Bruce wasn’t sure of the answer to that question. He’d seen random surveillance footage of Declan in the Diamond District, which prompted this background check, and with things being…slow, at the moment, he thought it was a lead worth checking up.

 

Keeping an eye on known criminal associates usually paid off, and while Riddler was still imprisoned behind the walls of Arkham Asylum, that didn’t mean he wasn’t planning a breakout.

 

‘Declan might be clearing the way for him’.

 

It was a thought, yes, but so far? There wasn’t any proof, and at least outwardly the former criminal had been in the Diamond District inquiring about the possibility of a job at a warehouse.

And apparently it hadn’t gone well from internal communications the batcomputer was able to snag from the man’s phone, a conversation with a friend. Batman enhances the text messages.

 

“I didn’t get the job”.

“Dude. That sucks”.

“Yeah. Don’t blame them though”.

“Come on man, don’t be like that. You’re turning your life around. Put that Riddler shit behind you, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like that matters to them! All they see is the rap sheet. They don’t care that I’m not with him anymore. All they care about is the fact that I’m a felon who might just be trying to get in there to help some freak with a con job”.

“Are you?”

“Fuck no! I’d rather be homeless than go back to that. Never. I don’t ever wanna hear another stupid fucking riddle again. I guess I’ll see if the agency can get me any job. It’ll be shit pay but better than nothing, right?”

Bruce leaned back in the chair once more, reading over the messages splayed out over his screen. For some reason, even through text, something about the way Declan wrote convinced him that he was telling the truth.

 

‘Here’s your chance to help’.

 

He didn’t even need to think all that long on it before he leaned forward and started typing away again, the sounds of the keyboard echoing throughout the cave. He moves to another tab, this one bearing the Wayne Enterprises header.

He’d started to compose an email, one which was addressed to the Second Start Charity which oversaw the halfway house and many others in Gotham.

 

As he typed he felt hope. That all too elusive, short lived feeling that made this thankless crusade worth it. 

 

“Hello. I wanted to reach out about the possibility of inquiring about any possible candidates for a new employment opportunity for Wayne Enterprises”. He pauses, reading it over once more just to make sure it ‘sounded’ like him. Like Bruce Wayne.

 

When he was convinced that it was fine, he continued.

 

“Candidates would be preferred to have some experience in IT as the job would be in such a department. Please post this memorandum throughout your system of homes so that we might attract candidates of the caliber we require”.

He finishes it off.

“Respectfully, Bruce Wayne. CEO of Wayne Enterprises”.

 

With a single click he sends the email, certain that it would soon be posted in the halfway house that was his target and that Declan, seemingly desperate and having IT experience, would jump at the chance.

 

‘I offered you the hand up Declan’ Bruce thinks, speaking to the man on the screen who was nothing more than a mugshot at that moment, and yet, like so many, had the capacity to be so much more. ‘It’s up to you if you want to take it’.

 

He hoped to hear from the man soon, but for the moment that left him at an impasse. He was sure that the man’s reappearance in Gotham would signal something of importance for him to follow up on, but now, with that lead dry, he was left without anything to fixate on.

 

He should’ve been proud of the work that he and his family were doing in Gotham, of how successful it was at keeping the city, at least for now, safe. 

 

‘I should check in on the others’.

“Computer, bring up GPS tracking”.

 

Beep!

Instantly the screen shifts away from mugshots and text messages, revealing a very large map which outlines the entirety of Gotham City, all of its streets and avenues, its buildings and even the sewer system should he wish to look at that.

 

Each dot on the map was easily visible to him.

 

‘Barbara and Stephanie are at the Clocktower. As expected’. 

 

He turns his head to the left, and sees another dot.

 

‘Tim is in his dorm at Gotham University. Probably studying for his applied physics exam tomorrow’. The younger man was worried about it, but Bruce wasn’t.

He knew that Tim would have no problem passing, even acing, the test. He’d helped him prepare for it after all.

 

‘Damian is in the manor’ he thinks, taking note of the dot that represented his biological son, showcasing him well out of the city and above the tracker he’d placed upon himself. ‘As is Alfred’. Neither of those facts were exactly earth shattering. 

 

Nightwing’s tracker was signalling that he was out of Gotham at the moment, back in Bludhaven. That made perfect sense to Bruce as well.

 

But it was when he’d gotten to Cassandra and Jason that questions arose in his mind. Batman sat forward, looking directly at the screen, at the two dots that were right on top of each other. ‘That’s in the East End’ he thinks, knowing the place well, more than well enough.

 

He’d fought Shiva there and saved the girl from her own mother years ago. 

 

‘Why are the-’

 

BZZZRT! BZZZZRT! BZZZRT!

His questioning thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing that suddenly played out on the screen, signalling that someone was trying to call him. For an instant he felt that thrill of excitement, that guilty hope of his that he was needed. That it would be Gordon calling for his aid, or some alert.

 

The notification popped up as a window on the side of the screen, and the voice of the Batcomputer’s AI told him exactly who it was.

 

“Incoming call from…Harleen Quinzel”.

 

For a moment Bruce was stuck, unsure of what to do as he stared at the tab, the photo of Harley, though a more professional photo reminiscent of her time as a psychiatrist. She was smiling, her long, blonde hair done up into a bun at the back of her head, her glasses perched over her nose.

 

Instantly his mood shifted.

It was…awkward, to say the least. Of course Bruce had many ex-lovers. Women he’d drifted away from in the years that had passed since their relationship had ended. Most of them? He ignored one hundred percent, freezing them out with the barest amount of effort. Some? He saw on a somewhat regular basis, managing to keep them at arm’s length and their further relationship professional.

But there were a few who that was impossible to do so with, either through continued lingering feelings, genuine friendship, or both. 

There were only two women who fit that description, who, thanks to their life choices, were also in close proximity quite often to him. The first was Zatanna Zatara, the dark haired sorceress who’d helped teach Bruce rudimentary magic all those years ago, when he was young and still trying to understand what this crusade he was embarking upon meant.

That youthful flame never died. Not really. Sometimes even now he’d catch her looking at him a certain way on the Watchtower, and he’d find that he was looking back. There was curiosity in her eyes, perhaps…hope…no. No that couldn’t be it.

At least…that’s what Bruce tried to convince himself of.

Regardless of the fact that their love had never been able to blossom into anything more, he and Zatanna shared a friendship and bond that, for Bruce, sometimes felt even stronger than the ones he shared with Clark and Diana. It was enough to even make Bruce wonder if he was making the worst mistake of his life in leaving the walls between them standing. 

Zee was…special. And always would be…

 

And then there was Harley.

The mistake. The one woman in the entire world that he never, not in a million years, should’ve ever considered letting get as close as he did. The former henchwench turned heroine. The maniac who didn’t know when to stop cracking jokes.

 

The woman that, somehow, had made him fall passionately in love with her.

Even Bruce, the world’s greatest detective, was still confused by what had happened between them. The shared patrols that, like with Selina, turned into rooftop flirtations and then? More. She just…she never shut up!

 

It was like she didn’t ever remain silent, and Bruce could attest to the fact that yes, she even talked in her sleep. Most of it? Utter nonsense. But then, more often than you would think, absolute genius would come.

Harley was almost as special as Zee to Bruce, though it had more to do with the fact that she was living proof that his mission was worthwhile. That even the most lost people could change, could be pulled back. 

 

She was proof that the Batman worked. 

 

And for almost a year it had been…nice as much as it embarrassed him to admit it. Harley was one hell of a woman, and was constantly making it her mission to pull Bruce from the darkness, force him out of his shell. And she succeeded, more often than not.

 

‘The sex was amazing as well’.

A blush creeped out from below and around the edges of his cowl as he thought that, his mind going back to the near nightly escapades that he and the woman would embark upon that had little to nothing to do with crimefighting.

 

With a flick of his wrist he brings the cursor across the screen to the left side of the tab and clicks upon the large red button denying the call. In an instant the ringing goes away, replaced once more by the silence of the cave. 

 

‘I can’t deal with Harley right now’.

 

It was…awkward, and sometimes? Downright hard to be near the woman. Their separation had been amicable, acknowledgement on both sides that even though they cared for each other deeply…maybe even…no…definitely loved one another, they couldn’t work. He’d always remember the day she left the manor.

 

THUNK!

The suitcase was placed down on the front porch of the manor, giving the woman the freedom of movement she needed to turn. “Ya know Brucey? I wanna be mads atcha”. The blonde woman was wearing a t-shirt with a bat symbol on it, one that clung to her body and showed off her ample bust and athletic build. The jeans she wore clung to her hips as well, doing the same for the lower half as the upper. 

 

Bruce said nothing, the button up shirt and slacks clad man standing in the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked away. He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.

“Ey, dont gimme a sourpuss before I leave huh? I don’t wants ta rememba it like this”.

She reaches out towards him without any hesitation, the two of them long having gotten used to touching one another, to sharing close, intimate, spaces. She takes his hand and pulls it, plus the arm it was attached to, away from his body.

This causes the other arm to drop as well.

“And look at me. Like I saids before, I ain’t mad”.

 

She reaches out with her free hand as she squeezes the one she holds, taking the man’s chin and forcing it upward. Bruce was stoic, or at least outwardly so. But she could see the hurt inside. ‘I feels it too puddin’ she thinks to herself, using the nickname that was now, and forever would be, his. ‘I feels it too’.

 

She forces a smile, though it doesn’t reach her eyes, and she doesn’t waste any time trying to convince herself that he didn’t see right through her. “Ya know that sayin’? Don’t cry ‘cause it’s ova’, smile ‘cause it happened?”

“I’ve heard it” he responds in the affirmative. 

 

“Good, ‘cause I thinks we should apply it here”.

She drops her hand from his chin and reaches out for his free arm, taking his other hand as well. It was funny, this sort of close, romantic pose was one usually struck by those about to get married. But for Harley and Bruce? This was the end.

 

She couldn’t help herself.

She giggles.

 

“Heh…heheh”.

 

“What?”

Bruce looks at the woman, unsure of what was causing her to laugh, and thus unsure of how he should respond. She just continues to smile, shaking her head back and forth to stave off answering, to give her a little bit more time with the man as his woman before she walks out of his life…at least in that capacity.

“Nothin’, nothin’”.

She lightly strokes her thumbs over his knuckles, lovingly.

 

“It’s just…yer the first ex I eva’ had this moment with”.

 

“What do you mean?”

“The soft goodbye” she explains, perking up a bit as she realizes that this was indeed the case. “I mean, ya know who threw me outta window. Ivy punched me in the face. My ex bf from college just cold dumped me…but you? Yer seein’ me off, helpin’ me with my bags. Sure yer bein’ a sourpuss but hey, it’s betta’ than my otha’ breakups by a Gotham mile”.

 

He couldn’t help himself.

He smirked, slightly. 

 

“Always trying to lift my spirits”.

“Someone freakin’ has ta! Gawd, Bruce, ya gots the weight o’ a whole city on yer shoulda’s and ya neva’ put it down even fer a minute”. There was anger in her voice. Well deserved anger as he knew it. That ‘weight on his shoulders’ as Harley put it had come between them. 

 

‘I mean, I love Gotham too but jeez Louise!’

 

“I’m so-”

“SHHHH!!SHHHH!SHHHH!SHHHHH!”

Harley reacted quickly, dropping one of his hands and extending a finger, bringing her pointer over his lips to silence his apology. He was surprised, but in a way he’d long since gotten used to being surprised. 

 

Harley’s middle name might as well have been surprise. 

 

“Don’t apologize! It’s gonna make me upset ‘cause, ya know I gots it all set in my mind that yer the bad guy here” she explains, trying to keep herself calm despite the tears that were welling up in her eyes, and the strained, garbled quality that was coming into her words. She clears her throat and blinks quickly, trying to fight it back though she fails. “It’s how I’m keepin’ myself from fallin’ apart right now. Yer the bad guy and that’s it”.

“I am”.

 

“Yer really not” she sniffles, her first tear breaking out over her eyelid and rushing down her cheek, the woman doing nothing to stop it as she brings her hand down and away from the man’s face and back to his arm, gently rubbing it up and down.

 

“But I have ta believes that ya are fer right now. I know it sounds confusin’, ya know, ‘cause it is, but if yer the bad guy it makes me not have ta deal with the truth. That we just don’t work togetha…no matta’ how much I loves ya”.

 

That hit him like an uppercut from Bane, and his stomach almost fell out from under him. 

 

She’d told him that before of course. She said it a lot. He even said it back.

Neither of them were lying. 

 

“That’ll hurt too much fer me right now”.

 

“I understand”.

“So…yer gonna have ta be the bad guy fer me, okay? It’s what I need fer right now”. She was moving in close, her chest moving to his as she laid her head against him, the man quickly bringing his arms up in an instant to wrap them around her, holding the woman tightly to his body. She clung to him the same way. 

 

He leans down and kisses the top of her head, lingering there to smell her hair, that heady scent mixture of bubblegum and lilacs, an utterly Harley scent, moving into his nostrils. ‘I’m going to miss this…’

 

Everything about her really. As would most of the Bat Family, which is why they were doing this when they were all preoccupied. Otherwise? She knew she wouldn’t be able to leave.

 

“Heh”.

 

“What now?”

“Just…ya know, sad goodbye and everythin’ but…ya gotta admit”. She pulls back, still hugging the man but with a teasing, flirtatious look in her bright blue eyes. “We were absolute freakin’ animals in the sack, weren’t we?”

She was stroking him, gently, up and down over his back now, and as with many things with the woman it felt like more than just a gentle, soft touch. 

 

“We were very good together that way” he admits, causing Harley to ‘tssk’ in disapproval. 

 

“Good? We were freakin’ pornstars”.

 

She moves back in, standing up on her tippy toes so as to go into the crook of his neck near his ear. He could feel his flesh react almost instantly, goosebumps rising all up and down his neck as her breath teased against his skin. 

 

“The things I let ya do ta me puddin’...I ain’t eva’ let any man or woman do ta me before”.

She punctuates her words by dabbing her tongue out and licking his neck, smiling all the while. Bruce’s eyes narrowed as his grip upon her sides increased, and his arousal grew and grew with each passing moment.

“Ya turned me inta yer little slut. That’s how much I loves ya. I’d do anythin’ fer ya puddin’. Anythin’ ta get yer engine goin’. Remember when I dressed up in Dick’s first outfit?”

“Harley…stop”.

His voice was gruff, insistent. But there was a quiver to it that the psychiatrist picked up on. Over the past few months she’d become an expert at reading Bruce Wayne. And as a result she was an expert at playing him too. “Ohh, ya rememba. Harley, Girl Wonda’. And boy do I know how ta do things that makes ya wonda’”.

She pulls one hand away from his back and moves it to the front, pressing it in between them, pointing it downwards as she rests it on his stomach. She punctuates the movement by leaning in and biting Bruce’s ear lobe, giving it a nibble”.

“Urrrghhh”.

She loved the sounds he’d make when she was really, really getting to him. She knew his tells, especially at this point. It was still there. That spark, that desire. That hidden, underlying tension that had existed even back when she’d first become Joker’s henchwoman, and the tension that led to them becoming a couple.

 

‘Ohh god…why am I doin’ this?’ she thinks to herself, nuzzling her cheek against his as they held onto each other. ‘Why am I leavin’? I should push him back inta’ the freakin’ mana’, and rock his world aga-’

“Harley”.

He was gruff, firm, and as he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back, insistent. He knew, and so did she. This? It was only delaying the inevitable. It wasn’t good. For either of them. Harley was brought back down to Earth, and her arousal and desire forgotten, replaced once more by sorrow.

 

“Heh…sowwy”.

She wasn’t sorry. Not really. And Bruce knew that.

 

“It’s okay” he says simply, grasping her shoulders and giving them a squeeze that was meant to be comforting. He drops the contact after, physical touch not being conducive to either of their goals at the moment. They stood there, awkwardly, once more on the porch.

“I guess one more roll in the hay fer good luck is outta the question, huh?”

“We never stop at one”.

“Fair ‘nough”.

She reaches down, grasping her suitcase again, lifting it up while she takes that first step off of the porch of Wayne Manor. She turns away from the man, bringing her hand up to wipe away a tear. Bruce watches, saying nothing.

 

It was only when she gets to the middle step that she pauses, and slowly turns around, looking back at the man. 

 

“I hope ya meets her one day Bruce”.

He doesn’t even respond to that. He knew exactly what she was saying, but couldn’t force himself to agree with her. Share the sentiment or even return it. It was like he was stuck. But the blonde didn’t mind. She had something to get off her chest. “The one ya really need. Who’s all the things fer ya that yer lookin’ fer, and who ain’t just a stacked, blonde, crazy, awesome in the sack babe like me”.

“Harley-,”

“Ya know, the one that’s there fer ya on the spiritual level and stuff. Who really gets what makes ya tick”.

With those final, and rather simple words, Harley turns once more and makes her way down the steps, this time with purpose. “I hope you find him, Harley”. He didn’t know where that came from, where he found the strength to force it out, but Harley smiles at him for his efforts, understanding what it took.

“Heh…yeah. Anyways Brucey, it’s been fun an’ all but I guess it’s time ta move on, huh?”

“Yes”.

She was getting further and further away, swaying out her hips as she went, forcing some pep into her step. Bruce knew she’d be okay. They both would. Eventually.

 

“Don’t go no contact with me though. Ya been dumped, not ditched” she calls out, making her way towards the garage which sat across the front yard, a hundred or so yards away. It was where he kept his fleet of cars…of which Harley…owned…none?

He suddenly found himself a little confused, not understanding why the women didn’t seem to have any transportation and yet-

 

“And hey! I took this! Hope ya don’t mind!”

She turns, continuing to walk backwards, a sarcastic little smile on her lips, and a set of keys in her hand. Keys to her favorite car of the bunch, the 2024 Aston Martin.

 

“I mean, I thinks I kinda earned it, right? When I did that thing with my to-,”

 

“Take it”.

“Hehe! Yer still the best puddin’ eva’ Brucey baby!”

 

That’s how Harleen Quinzel left the manor. In a not quite stolen car, tearing down the driveway. He still thought about her often, though the pain of the breakup of their romantic relationship had dulled.

Apparently they’d both meant it when they’d assured the other that they still mattered to one another, and that they’d still be friends. It had been tentative at first. Awkward, but eventually they were able to work their way into something very like what was there before.

 

But…even still, it was awkward for Bruce, and not something he wanted to deal with tonight.

 

‘Why are Jason and Cassandra in-’

BZZZRT! BZZZRT! BZZZRT!

 

“Incoming call from Harleen Quinzel”.

She’d called right back, and somehow? It sounded even louder this time. Unavoidable, impossible to ignore, much like the woman on the other end of the line. Bruce’s eyes narrowed and he growled, knowing that she’d just keep calling if he didn’t pick up.

 

‘Fine’.

He clicks on the pad once more, but this time? He accepts the call.

 

“Harley, I’m bus-,”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Busy broodin’ in the cave. I knows’ exactly what yer doin’ Brucey”. Her voice was the same as it always was. Loud, grating, uniquely her. “Ya rememba’ I have a police scanna’, right? And if yer in the cave ta deny my call, which I’m gonna pretend ya didn’t do by the ways, ya ain’t up ta nothin’. Otha’wise I’d be seein’ yer cute butt out on patrol”.

He had to admit, her logic was impeccable. 

“....What do you want, Harley?”

“Did ya eva’ delete those pictures I sent ya?”

The question came quickly, and from left field seemingly, taking the man by surprise. “The wha-?” Before he could finish his question the woman continued, cutting him off. “Ya know, the dirty pictures I sents ya. Did ya delete ‘em or keep ‘em?”

He blushed, instantly remembering what Harley was talking about, his mind going to once in particular. It was of her, naked, on her bed, her legs tucked behind her head and wearing nothing but a smile across her lips.

It was an incredible display of flexibility. 

 

She was a gymnast after all.

‘I almost wish I’d kept that one’ he thinks to himself, answering the woman’s question. “I did”.

 

Her reaction was anything other than expected, which should’ve been the expected reaction of the blonde at any given time. “YA WHAT?!! WHY THE HELL DID YA GO AND DO A DUMB THING LIKE THAT?!”

“You…you wanted me to keep them?”

“Duh” she says, acting as if the answer had been obvious. “Why else would I have sent ‘em ta ya if I didn’t want ya ta hold onta’ ‘em? Uggggh, Brucey, seriously. Those were grade A level nudes. I tooks it ta an art form fer ya. Especially that one with my legs tucked behind my-,”

“Urrrm…I…I didn’t think you’d want me to…continue having them. After we…broke up” he says. “I didn’t want you to worry about-,”

“Jeez, really? It neva’ even entered my mind that ya’d share ‘em or some shit. Ya forgettin’ that I knows ya? And I knew yer phone or computa’ would neva’ be hacked either. Uggggggh! I’ve got lots o’ work ta do now”.

“What do you mean?”

“Recreatin’ all the pictures I sent ya as best I can” the woman says as if it was no big deal and she was just talking about the weather. “Seriously, don’t delete ‘em this time. That was a gift ta ya puddin’. Ya know, ta rememba’ the good times we had”.

There was a seductive purr in her voice that reminded the man that those ‘good times’ were not so far behind him. He shuffled in the chair, trying to reposition his legs as a sudden tightness started to overtake him there. A tightness that would only get worse if she continued this. 

 

“My memory is good enough Harley”.

 

“Don’t I know it, but even still, don’t hurt ta have some reminda’s. Gonna get my titties out first, gimme a se-,”

“Harley!”.

He didn’t mean to sound gruff as he sat up a little straighter in the chair, trying to get the situation under control before things got worse and they both did something they’d regret. “Please…don’t send any more pictures”.

“Awww…yer really sure ya don’t want ‘em?”

“It’s not a matter of not wanting them” he admits, still blushing slightly while leaning back into his chair once more. ‘Why is she the only woman who does this to me? Makes me feel like I’m back in middle school?’ He couldn’t understand that. She’d never done it to him before, while she was a henchwoman. 

 

But things were different now. 

 

“It’s a matter of it not being healthy for either of us to do” he carries on. “We need to set healthy boundaries if we’re going to make our friendship wo-,”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yer usin’ all the biz lingo, puddin’. Don’t worry. I gets it”. She sighs, sounding irritated, and the sound of her flopping onto her bed could be heard over the line. “And I agrees too. Trust me. I gets it. But ya’d neva’ believe how common booty calls between exes are”.

“Hmm”.

 

“Seriously” she carries on. “Ya ain’t eva’ just went out ta get a nut off with a gal ya used ta be close with? I mean…it’s kinda easy soundin’ ain’t it? All the groundwork is there so it wouldn’t be hard”.

“Hmm”.

“Ya don’t need ta think o’ a line ta give ‘em ova’ Tinda’ or somethin’. Ya already gots the roadwork paved. Hypothetically it’d be easy fer ya ta get me in the sack again. Like, ridiculously, crazy easy”. He could almost envision her at that moment, laying on her bed, gently kicking her legs out with the phone up against her ear, biting her lip while her stuffed beaver Bernie was nearby.

 

“Like, all ya needs ta do is say, ‘Harley come ova’ here so I can fucks yer brains out’ easy”.

“I don’t think that-,”

 

“Yer right. Enough talkin’. I really should just be headin’ over there now shouldn’t I? Question, thong or no panties at all? Those are the only two choices busta’”. He smiled despite himself, shaking his head back and forth, knowing that she was joking. ‘If any woman could’ve gotten me to agree, it’s you Harleen…’

 

“I’m sorry Harley…I can’t”.

Silence from the other end of the line, uncomfortable silence and then, finally, a sigh. 

 

“Urrrrgh…yeah…neither can I. Not really. It’s like that book, ya give a mouse a cookie. Ya make loves ta me and then I stay the night. I stay the night? Alfred makes me breakfast. Alfred makes me breakfast? I just GOTS ta stay fer lunch. Before ya know it I’m back in the mana’ permanently and we’re arguin’ lots but we still loves each otha’ and can’t break up twice ‘cause o’ our egos. ‘Cause o’ our egos we wind up married with fifteen kids and a passive aggressive marriage with mind blowin’ sex until one o’ us can’t does it now more”.

She spoke…all of that, seemingly without taking a breath. 

 

‘If only speaking was a super power…’

 

He’d always been impressed by that. 

 

“That’s…a vivid scenario”.

“Ya likes it? I thought it could’a been a nice movie” she says, rolling over and laying her arm across her face, sighing loudly. Both of them go quiet, unsure of what to say to one another at that moment. That had happened a lot lately. 

 

“I miss ya Brucey…is that…bad?”

He was quiet, which only made it worse on the notoriously impatient woman. To her credit, she did give him twenty seconds. “I’m sorry, really, I know I’m puttin’ lots on ya and-,”

“It isn’t, no. I miss you too, Harley” the man admits, leaning back in his chair.

“I’m glad…not that, ya know, yer feelin’ that way or…bad, maybe…I don’t know but…I guess it’s nice ta know I still matta’ ta ya. Because…ya matta’ a whole lot ta me”.

“Of course you matter to me…I’m just not good at showing it”.

“Knock it off. Sure ya can be moody, egotistical, hardassed, but yer the best man I’ve eva’ known” the blonde says genuinely, her words being open and honest as she was always able to be with him. “Definitely my favorite ex if that means anything ta ya”.

Again, Bruce says nothing but he smiles. It did mean something to him. It meant a lot. 

“It’s hard ta sleep without ya too. That big bed o’ yers was the bee’s knees, trust me, but ya made it complete. Bernie is tryin’ ta fill in” she says, turning her head to look towards the stuffed beaver with a slight smile. “But he just ain’t as cuddly as ya believe it or not”. 

 

“I believe it”.

 

“I miss ya Brucey”.

 

“You said that. But I miss you too”.

 

“Do…do ya think maybe we can give it anotha-,”

“Harley” he reproaches, but softly.

 

“I know, I know!” she defends quickly, cutting the man off. “But…I don’t know, I just…I miss the sound o’ yer voice even. When ya’d get frustrated with me or somethin’ and ya’d get this little growl that made me not know if ya was gonna hit me or screw me through the floor”.

 

“I’d never hit you” he corrects quickly.

 

“I know! Crazy right? I think that makes it hotta’. Like yer walkin’ inta the lion’s den, playin’ a really freakin’ dangerous game but it’s okay ‘cause the lion’s a softy cat and loves ya ta hell. It was like all the fun an’ excitement o’ bein’ with the Joka’, none o’ the threat, mixed with bein’ with Bruce freakin’ Wayne AND the Batman”.

 

“You need help, Quinn”.

 

The blonde ignores him and carries on.

 

“Actually? It was kinda like havin’ two boyfriends ta be honest with ya…ya know, without the cheatin’. It was awesome”. She smiles sadly to herself, waiting for Bruce to say something back. “They say the biggest sparks burn out quick…but…puddin’? I…it ain’t burnin’ out yet. Not fer me”.

 

He couldn’t say anything. Not to that. Not tonight. It was too raw, too visceral. 

 

And Harley knew that.

Which is why she quickly changed the subject.

“Whatcha’ up ta? Any cases yer workin’? Leads or somethin’? I know most o’ the old gang is eitha’ in Blackgate or Arkham”. Bruce wouldn’t say it, but he was thankful beyond words for what the woman was doing for him in that moment.

 

“No” he says, looking towards the Batcomputer’s screen, still watching the trackers that signified Cassandra and Jason’s location. ‘Still there…they haven’t moved’. He wanted to tell Harley that there was nothing going on. Nothing on his mind…but that wasn’t true. Something was odd.

And aside from Alfred? Harley was the one he felt he could talk to.

 

“Jason and Cassandra,” he says simply.

 

“Ohh? What ‘bouts ‘em?” she asks without missing a beat.

“They’re in the East End,” he explains. “At a shuttered Chinese restaurant. The same place where Cassandra drew a line in the sand with her mother”. He leans back, steepling his fingers once more while continuing to look at the screen.

 

“Maybe they’re just grabbing a bite ta eat?”

“It’s closed”.

 

“Ohh…hmm….yeaaaah, guess that’s kinda weird, but it makes sense. Honestly they can’t do it in the mana” the woman says, extending her hand out on top of her bed, studying her nails as if what she’d said was no big deal. And to her? It wasn’t. But to the world’s greatest detective, who no detail passed by?

It definitely didn’t.

Bruce stiffened, and while continuing to glare at the map of Gotham prodded further.

“Doing what?” he asks, though it was a partial demand as well. He hears a click of frustration from the other end of the line. “Oh come on Bruce. Ya an’ me did more than ‘nough fer me ta know that ya know yer way ‘round the birds and the bees. They probably just wanted some sexy time ‘way from everybody else”.

 

“Wh-what are you talking about?” he asks, sitting up further, now definitely angry as he looked at those two dots. It was impossible. Insane to even think about. ‘Jason…and Cassandra? Never!’

 

“I mean, one eight hundred come on now! They can’t exactly enjoy some smoochin’ an’ canoodlin’ while Alfred is always stalking those halls. I love that man ta hells and back but if I didn’t know any betta’, with all he sees? I’d think he was a creep who gets off on watchin’”.

“Harley…Jason and Cassandra are not-,”

“Wait…ya seriously didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?”

Scccrch! Scccrch! Scccrch!

 

Harley had started to file her nails, a sound that even though it came from the other side of a phone Bruce knew well. “World’s greatest detective my fine derriere” she smirks. “Ya really didn’t know that Cassie has the hots fer Jason?”

“That…ridiculous”.

“Pfft, no it ain’t! Ain’t at all. That girl…phew, ya can just tell. Repressssssed. I mean, it’s kinda yer fault too, but mostly her mama and papa. Who trains a kid ta be a human knife? That’s just silly. Anyways, it’s all in how she looks at him. I noticed it a few times myself” the blonde says. 

 

“She doesn’t look at Jason any differently than she does anyone else” he defends, growing angry as he lightly slams his glove-covered fists on the computer desk in front of him. 

 

“Ohhh! Papa bat is gettin’ testyyyyyy. Whatsamatta’ Bruce? Did ya really think this day wouldn’t eva’ come? I mean, come on. Ya know Spoiler and Timmy got ups ta it, and Babs? Well, she ain’t no angel”.

“That…that has nothing to do with Cassandra”.

He didn’t want to think of it. Imagine it. It…it made him almost physically ill. Thinking of a man, any man, even Jason, putting his hands on Cassandra in…that way. Of reaching out and touching her. Kissing her. Doing even m-

 

‘No! It. Isn’t. Happening’ he seethes to himself, his shoulders rising and falling as he looks at that dot, specifically? Jason’s. ‘He knows better. He knows not to do that’.

 

“She looked at him lots. Ya know, when she thought people weren’t lookin’. Even caught her once outside o’ the showa’ room in the cave. Jason was in there and, well, I caught yer little princess bat kinda clingin’ ta a corna’, like she was gonna peek ‘round”.

 

“She…she might’ve been ensuring the cave’s security hadn’t been compromised” Bruce defends quickly, not disbelieving Harley who he knew wasn’t a liar, but trying to find a rational explanation for what she was saying.

Well…in reality anything other than rational explanation. 

 

“Yeah. Jason’s batpole is definitely somethin’ she wanted ta check out. That’s fer sure. Probably his butt too”. She purses her head and looks up, thinking something over. “Actually, I think she was tryin’ ta check ‘im all out. I mean, trust me, I cuckoo for Batman puffs but Jason ain’t nothin’ ta shake a stick at eitha’”.

“Stop”.

“Though she might want him ta shake his stick at her”.

“I said stop” he says, trying to be even more firm, but Harley just laughs it off and sits up. “Ohhhh relax sourpuss. ‘Kay? It ain’t no big deal. Jason’s a real good guy under the rough exterior…and…ya know, the fact that he killed a bunch of criminal scumbags and tried ta kill a bunch more like…a few times now I guess”.

 

“He…he’s changed”.

 

“I know, that’s why I’m stickin’ up fer ‘im an’ Cassie. Honestly? Been waitin’ fer them ta gets togetha’. It’s kinda sweet home Alabama-ish, but the guys and gals in yer little family tend ta shack up togetha’. Usually it don’t work out, buuuut in Cassie and Jason’s case? I think it might”.

“They aren’t-,”

“Look, I ain’t gonna hold yer hand through this Wayne…metaphorically, I means. If ya want me ta holds yer hand I’ll come ova’ right now an’ holds it fer ya. But face the facts. Cassie? She’s a grown woman now”.

 

“I know” he responds, almost in a mutter. “I raised her”.

“Exactly. Which is why ya should trust ‘er judgement. I know ya’ve always had this…adorable…sweet thing goin’ on with ‘er. I mean, yer her daddy through and through and her? She's a daddy’s girl. Wants ta make ya happy. But, like we said, she’s a woman now, and she’s gonna want different things. Yer job now is ta ‘elp her through them”.

“And what if you’re wrong?” he challenges, asking the woman that, hoping to checkmate her though in the back of his mind he knew she wasn’t. ‘They’ve been acting strange’ he reminds himself, looking over a few small things that, in isolation, were nothing. But together?

 

‘Jason’s been jumpy and there’s something hiding behind Cassie’s eyes’.

“Ohh trust me, I ain’t wrong” Harley laughs. “Not ‘bouts that. Ya think two, red blooded young people, in tight suits, crimefightin’, throwin’ punches and kickin’ ass, at the peak of human perfection AIN’T gonna bone? Ohh Bruce, haha. Ya might be Batman, but even ya ain’t stoppin’ that”.

 

He was glaring at the screen, at the map, breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. 

 

‘No. She’s wrong. Cassandra wouldn’t do that. She’s dedicated to the mission, to the mantle. She knows that’s only gotten in the way. She knows what happened to me…to the others, when we mix love and the mission’.

 

“Ya gots ta let ‘er enjoy life. ‘Im too. They both gots a really raw deal ta be honest with ya, and they deserve somethin’ like that. Let the girl explore her crush Bruce. Trust me, from a woman? If there’s a guy ya want? Like reaaaaaallly want? Yer gonna get ‘im. And no overprotective daddy is gonna be able ta stop ‘er from getting some dic-,”

“Like hell I can’t!”

 

Click!

The call ended, and across Gotham Harley was shocked, still holding the phone against her ear, trying to reach the man. “Hello? Hellooooo? Brucey? Puddin’? Ya still there?” He was, but wouldn’t be for long. He was marching towards the Batmobile, fists clenched, shaking in rage.

Batman wasn’t one to show emotion. Not usually, but tonight? Well…he was making an exception. 

 

‘Jason…you better not be doing…that’.

 

He had a feeling. A gut feeling. Deep inside. He loved the man as if he was his own son, but he knew that all too often when the opportunity to do the wrong thing presented itself? He dove headfirst right into it. 

 

And sleeping with Cassie?

Definitely the wrong thing to do. If he’d done it. Bruce was still holding out hope that Harley was insane, reading something that wasn’t there. But he’d know her for too long now to think that.

 

He had a feeling that the blonde? She was right.

 

Wang Feng’s Buffet

 

“Yaaaah!”

The primal roar that escaped from Shiva’s lips was something that would’ve been more at home coming out of a lioness’ mouth than a human being’s. But there was no doubting its source, nor the rage that was splayed upon her face as she kicked up her leg into the air with a speed that would’ve made the Flash proud.

 

If Cassie hadn’t moved at the last moment, tossing herself back and forcing her hands onto the floor as gravity brought her down the kick would have, quite literally, knocked her block off.

CRRRRRKKK!

As Cassandra somersaults away from her mother, and then lands crouched upon her feet sliding across the floor a few yards away, her attention is brought to the wooden pole that had become the subject of Shiva’s ire in place of her daughter. 

 

It cracked and shattered, splintered, as Lady Shiva’s foot went right through it, such was the force she’d employed. It was a decorative beam, sure, with a dragon clinging to it, the red paint faded and part of its maw rotted out by years of termites, but even still.

Seeing it crumple like a piece of paper?

That was worrying.

The uppermost portion detaches from the ceiling and crashes to the ground while Shiva walks forward, her leg down, seemingly not at all bothered by the force of the impact. She might’ve looked like a runway model…one with a serious attitude, but Jason was getting yet another first hand view that this beauty was the definition of a dragon lady.

“HEY! HEY! STOP! YOU COULD’VE KILLED HER!!”

He was still struggling against his bonds, though this time he was able to try something else without Shiva being right there. ‘Fuck, this is gonna hurt, but you’re already hurt pretty bad. What’s two dislocated wrists on top of it?’

 

He shifts his hands to the side, using the chair to put pressure on the points he needed there to be pressure, and mentally prepares himself. 

 

“I am fine Jason”.

 

“Stay silent, Todd”.

 

Cassandra was already on her feet, rushing forward to meet her mother who was just as ready to receive her. “I knew you would get away if you must know”. Cassandra remains silent as she throws her punch, one that was aimed directly at Lady Shiva’s temple, clearly going for the knockout blow. 

 

It was nothing more than a feint. Her other hand? She balls it up into a fist and gets ready to slam it right into the woman’s stomach.

 

With the scum of Gotham City, and even quite a few others? This tactic worked well. She’d even used it to take down Copperhead once. But against such a caliber of fighter as Shiva? 

 

It was somewhat less successful.

 

Of course her mother focused first upon the blow being directed at her head, and again with inhuman speed reached out and arrested it by grasping her wrist, pausing it in midair. For a singular moment Cassandra thinks that she’d been able to do something, and that she’d soon wipe that smug look off of her mother’s face.

She’s disabused of that notion when the assassin, using her daughter’s own distraction, minute as it was, to reach out and grasp her other wrist with her free hand.

 

Sometimes, even the best of fighters could forget that their opponent had two hands.

 

“That was excellent Cassandra. Excellent”.

 

Sandra sounded proud, genuinely so, and Cassie knew her well enough to see that the slight smile on her lips was real, especially when coupled with the twinkle in her eye. But, as real as the praise was, it was also a lesson. One soon to be delivered. 

 

THUD!

“Urrrrgggh!”

 

It took everything within the young crimefighter not to vomit as Lady Shiva used the forward movement of Batgirl against her, holding onto her hands and steadying herself as she brought her knee right up into her gut. Even under the mask her facial expression could be seen, her eyes widening and her mouth making a large ‘oh’.

“But not perfect” Shiva adds, the smile disappearing.

 

Cassandra was just starting to recover when her mother used her grasp upon her wrists to pick her up off of the ground with such violence that her legs arched into the air over her. It was done so speedily that it was almost as if gravity didn’t have a chance to have an effect. 

 

“AHHHHH!”

She was tossed right as she reached the other end of the arc in the reverse backflip from before, as if Shiva was reversing such an action. Shiva lets go, and Cassandra finds herself flying through the air.

 

“No!”

Thud!

And right into a wall. Her trajectory violently stops as she slams into the brick, almost like a bug hitting a windshield, and quickly comes down, landing in a heap upon the floor. 

 

CRRRK!

At that moment, with assistance from the panic that watching what was happening yielded, Jason dislocates one of his wrists. “Urrrggh…” he grunts, though trying to hide it as best as he could. ‘Dammit Cass…just…just hold out. For a little longer’. His hand went limp, and with that limpness he began to work, pulling and trying to slide the appendage out of the bounds that held him.

But it was hard, and painful.

 

He knew he’d eventually be able to do it, but Shiva had tied them very, very tight. 

 

Meanwhile, the woman in question was advancing upon the pile of flesh that was her daughter purposefully, but slowly. As if she wasn’t facing off against a deadly, skilled opponent. And maybe to Shiva? She wasn’t.

 

“Your training with your father” she says simply as she stops four or five feet away from the girl who was getting up, extending her arm, palms down, to support herself and get up. She was breathing heavily, but otherwise her mask of stoicism was still in place. “He has trained you well. But your true skills have stagnated. You have not faced a real challenge in quite some time”.

 

In a bolt Cassandra was up, a testament to her deep reserves of willpower and her ability to dish out and take damage. 

 

‘Next time a lantern drops dead...urrrk, shouldn’t be surprised if it goes to her’ Jason thinks to himself, about halfway through getting his one hand free. The ropes were stuck around the widest part of the middle of his hand. ‘Come on…come…ON!’

 

There was a flurry of movement, so quick that most of it appeared like a blur. If this was a televised fighting event there definitely would’ve been complaints. 

 

Cassandra threw a chop to Shiva’s neck, which Shiva blocked just in time, though she narrowly missed Cassandra’s attendant leg sweep which would’ve sent her to the floor. For a glimmer of a second the skilled assassin looked surprised, though she covered it quickly.

 

In return she got up close, wanting to toss a haymaker into Cassie’s arm, neutralizing the appendage and preventing her from using it.

 

But Batgirl sidestepped it, turning, inadvertently exposing her back to the woman’s assault, almost like it was an invitation, one which Sandra on instinct took.

She lunged forward to pummel her daughter’s rear, forcing her to the ground, but this was exactly as Cassandra planned. 

 

As soon as Shiva got close she threw her head back with as much force as she could muster, slamming the back of her skull into Sandra’s jaw. It was with a sickening crack and thud that Lady Shiva was forced back, reeling, her feet scrambling as she searched for purpose, desperate to remain up.

 

Despite what Jason or Cassie might’ve wanted, she managed to do so, though unsteadily, her hand quickly going to her jawline as she studied it. ‘No fracture. No break. Sore. Irrelevant. Fight on’. That was how Shiva’s mind worked, how quickly she diagnosed the problem and what her reaction to it should be. 

 

‘Impressive attack’.

 

She smiled again as Cassie turned, her hands raised in the universal sign of wanting a fist fight.

“It appears my pride got the better of me, daughter. I was wrong. You are learning quite a few things that are useful for more than taking down gang bangers and thugs. Who taught you that?”

“Batman”.

 

“Ahh, your father. As expected. That surprises me” she says, the two women circling once more, each sporting bruises and cuts from their fight, though Cassandra’s were hidden marginally better due to the suit she wore, though there were tears in the fabric. “Then again, perhaps it shouldn’t”.

 

“It isn’t pride”.

 

“What is it then?” Sandra challenges, the smile never leaving her face. 

 

“Arrogance”.

It seemed almost as if Cassie had delivered a verbal slap to the women who went wide eyed and recoiled at it. It was a small victory…but one that was snatched as soon as Sandra smiled and threw her head back, laughing. “Hahahahahahah!”

 

Cassandra paused, and so did Jason, who was juuuust about to free his hand from its confines. 

 

“Ohh Cassandra. Arrogance is when you cannot back up your boastful words with action. Pride is when you know you can. Tell me, can either of us ever truly be described as arrogant with that in mind?”

“Yes” Cassie bites back in her monotone. “You are arrogant”.

“Perhaps by your definition of the word, yes” Shiva retorts, waving her hand in the air and relaxing, her pose less violent at the moment, though you’d be a fool to think that there was ever a point in time when Shiva was not dangerous. ‘She can kill a man while she’s naked in a bathtub with nothing more than a bar of soap’ Jason thinks, seesawing his limp hand back and forth with greater intensity now. 

 

‘She’s done it’.

He shivered at that.

 

“But now that our greetings to one another are concluded, let us get to the matter of why I am here”. Her face turned suddenly serious, like a stone. “Daughter…I am being merciful. You are to end this charade with Todd right here, right now. Forsake any and all ties other than those of fighting crime together”.

 

“No”.

“You do not seem to understand,” Shiva says, shaking her head, bringing her hand to her face. “It was not a request, nor was it an ultimatum. It was a command. One which you are to follow. I am your mother and your mentor, and-,”

“You abandoned me”.

 

The air seemed to pause in that moment, with even Jason looking up at his sort of girlfriend with compassion and care. She’d said those words in no way different than she’d said…well…anything! Stoic, reserved.

 

But for some reason? The pain behind them could still be heard.

And even Lady Shiva was not immune. Her face softened, if even only a little. 

 

“I did no such thing. You know as well as I do that you wanted this”. She raises her hands, gesturing at the area around her, seemingly just the restaurant but in reality all of Gotham. “You wanted to be with your father, to fight for justice, no matter how ridiculous that is. And I honored that request”.

“Because I was a disappointment” Cassie says while standing up straighter, her own fighting pose diminishing, though again Jason knew he’d be foolish to think that the woman wasn’t always dangerous as well. 

“You were glad to be rid of me”.

At that Shiva looked like she’d been slapped, and there was no ensuing laughter to soften the blow. Just pain in her eyes as she looked at her daughter, brown locking onto the general area of Cassie’s mask where her eyes were.

 

“Is that truly what you believe?”

There was no answer, which in and of itself was an answer. Shiva’s expression turns to rage once more, and Jason found himself surprised that she didn’t rush forward to try and kill Cassandra right then and there. 

 

“Then you are a fool. You leaving hurt me more than anything else ever has” Sandra begins, keeping her voice measured though there was a very slight tremor in her lips and words that Cassie picked up on.

As happened quite often when she read people words popped up into her mind that described what the other person was feeling at that moment. And from her mother? Quite a few words came up.

Regret.

Sadness.

 

Sorrow.

Anger.

 

“You. Abandoned. Me!”

Shiva punctuates her words by pointing at her chest, her words taking a sharp, bladelike turn in inflection at the end as she almost snarls. She seems to realize how that sounded though, and backs up, trying to collect herself.

“You left me. Your mother. Your mentor. Left the path I chose for you…and I need you to know that I always understood that”. At this she smiled, ever so slightly, tilting her head as she seemingly appraised her daughter, taking in the woman she’d become. “You are my blood and my flesh. How could I do anything other than understand the need to forge your own path? Your last name might be Cain by convention, Cassandra, but we both know that you are a Wu-san and a Wayne”.

 

‘Truth. She’s telling the truth’.

“And neither one of those bloodlines are used to being told what to do, or which path to walk. So, in the end? I let you go. Because I knew that this, even if I think it is a useless waste of time, is your destiny. You wished for things I could not grant. Family. Stability. Justice. But never make the mistake of thinking that I abandoned you” Shiva warns.

“Even now, a place remains at my side for you. Always daughter”.

“I wouldn’t take it”.

 

“I know” the woman says, batting that away as if it was a given. “But that does not change the fact that your space is forever open to you”. The softness that was there disappears just as quickly though, and Shiva returns to the important part of the conversation.

 

“My love for you is not in doubt. The purpose of this meeting is to correct your mistake. I allow you to fight crime. I allow you to dress up in that ridiculous outfit and dedicate yourself to preserving life. I allow you to have your family and fraternize with those harlots you call sisters…but this? This…I will not allow”.

 

She points back towards Jason, not even turning her head, which causes the man to freeze, going wide eyed in fear of being caught. Cassandra instantly catches onto what he was doing, and knows how she must assist.

 

‘Continue to distract her’.

 

Shiva was just about to turn around when Cassie steps forward, pulling her attention back onto her as if she was preparing for another fight. “You do not allow me to do anything. I’m my own person”.

“With one. Singular. Limit” Sandra enunciates. “This….man…no”.

She just shakes her head, indicating what she saw as Jason’s unsuitability as a partner. 

 

“If you wish for a…romantic partner, then I shall select one I believe to be suitable to you” she carries on. “Though I would prefer it if you remain celibate, and not allow your body to be tainted by such touch, I shall extend this courtesy to you”.

“No”.

“Again, you are acting as if you have a choice in this matter” Sandra says, raising an imperious eyebrow as she glares at the younger woman. “I shall extend yet another olive branch. I know that Wayne is not aware of this…dalliance between you two. If he was, it would be over. On this I know we would be allies”. 

 

“I do have a choice,” Cassandra says. “It is all my choice”.

 

“Ohh…how deluded you are Cassandra”.

 

“I like sex”.

 

Shiva froze again, her mouth having a tic as she heard that. Frustration and anger instantly bubbling up. “I like sex with Jason. He is good at it, and makes me feel good”.

“Daughter…cease”.

 

“You had sex” Cassandra carries on, her tone of voice somehow making her words even more biting. “Of course. How else would you have been conceived?” Sandra asks, not even seeing the hypocrisy of her own words and stance.

It must’ve dawned on her afterwards because she crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed.

“Any mother wants better for her daughter. You are special Cassandra. A perfect specimen, an example of what one person can accomplish. You are risking it all”.

“How?”

“Ohh daughter, my sweet innocent child. Already he has corrupted you if you cannot see how you are wasting your time with…him-”. She’d been about to turn and point at Jason again, whom she fully expected to still be in the chair. He was much closer though. Right behind her with a brick in his hand, heading right her way.

 

“YAAAH!”

CRNNNCH!

“AHHHH!”

Shiva screams in pain for the first time during this encounter as Jason brings the brick down onto her shoulder with as much force as his injured body could muster, which wasn’t much considering he was about to fall forward onto his face. Shiva’s hand went instantly to her shoulder, while the other came up and backhanded Jason harshly enough to toss him backwards instead of forward.

“Oooooof!”

 

Cassandra was not idle during all of this. As soon as the distraction that Jason had caused Shiva opened a path forward for her, she took it, and lunged at her mother like a jungle cat. She leapt through the air, coming down on Shiva before the injured woman could respond in total. 

 

“I. Am. Not. Your. COPY!”

It was an intense amount of emotion for Cassandra to let loose with, and it was coupled with a harsh punch right into the older woman’s face that sent her sprawling back. Her wounds were starting to have an effect, especially while being added up. 

 

“I WANT to be in love!”

Thwack!

“Oooff!”

Shiva was sent back further and further as Cassie sent a kick right into her midsection, forcing her mother to fold her arms across her midsection in an attempt to protect herself from the flurry of blows that Cassandra was letting loose with. 

 

‘Very good, my love. Very good. Don’t let up’.

Even in that moment, with Sandra trying to catch her breath and go on the offensive she had to critique and admire how her daughter was putting the lessons she’d taught into effect.

And all thoughts of such things were forced out of her mind as Cassandra slammed her fist into her already wounded shoulder.

 

It hurt so badly that Shiva almost saw stars.

But, through some miracle she was still on her feet, albeit being forced to give ground as she was forced back across the main floor of the restaurant. 

“I want to be normal!”

THWACK!

The blows were coming so rapidly, and from so many different locations that Shiva was only meeting about one out over three of them. The other two that made contact? They made contact, and Shiva felt them.

 

“I want to not be a freak!”

 

Thwack!

“Ooof!”

 

“I want to have someone close to me!”

 

Thud!

“Someone I can share things with that isn’t just a friend!”

Throughout the course of the fight Cassie had been pushing her mother towards an empty glass case that had once contained seafood, now? Shiva was a foot or so away from it, and as Cassandra pulled her fist back one final time, ready to let loose, she let what she was holding in out. 

 

“I. DON’T. WANT. TO. BE. YOU!”

Blam!

 

One final haymaker of a punch, delivered right into Shiva’s face. This time? She came off of her feet, and flew backwards, slamming into the glass case. The sounds of shattering glass accompanied her descent down to the floor, the bedding of metal and splintering of wood. She landed, her arms splayed out, alive but injured. 

 

And the fight?

Over. 

 

Cassandra was standing over her mother, her fists still clenched while Shiva glared up at her, slightly recovering, but still remaining in the ruins of the glass case. “Urrrgh…you had help…again daughter…aaaah!”

 

She tries to get up, but finds herself falling back down, her back sore.

 

“You told me to never fight fair”.

 

“Touche, daughter. Touche”.

Shiva takes a deep breath, trying to collect herself as she looks at her daughter, a glare still affixed to her face. “Last chance daughter. I am giving you one last chance. Leave Todd. End this…relationship between the two of you…or I will make you regret it”.

“I’ll keep fighting you then”.

“For him?”

“For me” Cassandra corrects. “Because I want to see him. I like him. And you cannot control me…..especially not with that. You have no say over if I d-date someone”. She faltered on the word ‘date’, unsure of how she could describe her and Jason. ‘Are we dating even before we have gone out on our first date?’ she ponders to herself, still confused by so much.

 

“No…say…”

Shiva was shocked by those words, and sounded them out as if she needed to extrapolate their meaning. “I have no say”. There was no questioning in the sentence. No, but no acceptance either. Just shock. 

And then? Anger.

“I have no say then, daughter? To my own flesh and blood…my word means nothing?”

“...”

Cassandra remained silent, unsure of what words to speak at that moment. Of course it wasn’t exactly true. Her mother’s words DID have value to her, though she often wished to pretend that they did not. 

 

‘I will not let her dictate every facet of my life’.

 

It was a resolution. Something the younger woman needed to put down for herself. A line not to be crossed, something to stick to. 

“Urrgggh…”

 

She turns her head towards the sound of Jason’s groan, almost having forgotten him despite the man being the center of this entire disagreement. He was getting up from the floor, trying to push off with his one good arm.

Instantly Cassandra forgets about Shiva, and rushes over towards Jason, needing to help the man. But her mother kept her eyes on her daughter’s retreating back, glaring angrily. Angry, of course, at being denied…but also proud. ‘She is digging her heels in. Pfft. And over a man? So pathetic. So weak. If she wanted, she could have kings kneeling before her! But she chooses…him?!!’

 

“Jason”.

She knelt down, sliding the rest of the way towards him, reaching out to try and stop him from hurting himself. 

 

“Are you alright?”

“Urrgh…yeah…peachy” he grunts out, getting onto his knees as he tries to rise up. His broken arm was still dangling uselessly at his side. Cassandra reached out, wrapping her arms around the man and turning him so that he was resting upon her lap and thighs. This was to ensure that he would be easier to inspect for injuries…but also to provide comfort. 

 

“Where are you hurt?”

“Hahah-owwww…fuuuuck…”

He laughs, though it was cut off quickly by the pain he felt that caused him to curl up. Cassandra brings her arm around his shoulder, trying to keep him stable. “Only…hurts when I…urrgh…”

“You have a broken arm, two bruised ribs, bruised jaw, hairline fracture in your talus as well as light blood loss from many cuts”.

 

“You’re a doctor now too?”

“You will be fine” she says, ignoring the man’s sarcastic question. She paused though, looking down at the man and tilting her head as she did so, her expression unreadable in that moment. Time seemed to slow for the two as she brought her other hand up. It falters in midair while heading towards him…but after a second regains its strength.

She brings her hand entirely to his face, and softly cups his cheek, caressing it while being careful to avoid the cut that her mother had carved into his flesh. Jason would’ve brought his own hand up to touch her, but…well…broken arm.

 

“Heh…first thing tonight that feels good” he says in response to her ministrations. 

 

“I am doing it right then?”

“Yeah. You’re doing great”.

She moves her hand further upwards, pushing a loose strand of his hair back into place on his scalp. “I was…scared”. It wasn’t easy for her to admit that. In fact? It was downright hard, but it was also the truth, and at that moment the woman didn’t know what else to say.

 

“Heh, don’t be babe. I have a habit of coming back from the dead, remember?”

“I do”.

She felt warm and tingly inside at being called babe. Especially by him. She liked it. She liked it a whole lot. 

All of this happened under the watchful eye of Shiva, who only felt her anger grow at seeing it. ‘Pfft. She’s convinced herself she’s in love with him…or perhaps he has done so. Cassandra is a slave to sensation. It is what makes her such a potent weapon…’

 

An idea, a nefarious one, slowly crystalized in her mind. A way to get Cassandra to understand the hurt that she’d caused with her words and actions as of late.

 

‘I have no say’.

 

It sounded out like a somber funeral dirge in her mind. Over and over again. Proof that when it came to Cassandra she was not the main figure in her life. Of course she had to have known that for herself for quite some time, but even still it was a difficult pill to swallow when faced with the facts and reality of it all.

 

‘Soon, Cassandra, you will know how that feels. And the truly marvelous part of it? Everything I shall do to teach you a lesson will be legal. You will be unable to do a single thing about it’. 

 

It was diabolical, truly. 

 

If Cassandra valued family so much? Then family would be the tool that Shiva would use to get back at her. And it was imminently clear who should be the target.

 

Her father.

 

Cassandra looks back over her shoulder for a moment, wishing to check up on her mother, ensuring that she was okay. To her complete lack of surprise, the woman was gone. Lady Shiva had vanished, and now there was nothing more than a destroyed case where she had once been. 

 

‘I will find her later’.

 

“Come on” she says, trying to help Jason get to his feet, something that the man was starting to do for himself anyways, albeit it with no small amount of pain. “Urrrggh…”. It was a moment or so, but he was up after a few seconds, standing, and leaning on her much smaller frame for support.

 

“I thought it was the girl’s father that a guy was supposed to be scared of,” he jokes.

 

“You should also be scared of David Cain” Cassandra says simply, even though she knew she’d never again call that man ‘father’.

“I really am screwed when it comes to the rest of your family, aren’t I?”

The reserved woman thinks it over for a moment, knowing that Jason was joking but herself unable to quite reach that level of humor. So instead? She says one single word that Jason would find hilarious despite her not having intended it that way.

 

“Yes”.

“Hahahahahah...ooooooh…shit…”

“Do not laugh. You’ll hurt yourself”.

 

“Noted” he says, the two limping along towards the door, wanting to exit the restaurant and get back to the batcave where, no doubt, they would have to have an explanation for what had occurred that night.

“You didn’t answer my question, I assume because of my mother”.

 

“Huh?”

“Our date” she reiterates, knowing that distraction was the best course of action for the next few moments. “What color dress would you like me to wear for our date?” It was surreal. Discussion on such run of the mill life topics right after such a near brush with death. But for the Bat Family? It wasn’t really all that weird.

In fact? It was relatively normal.

 

“Uhh…well…part of me, my ego, would’ve liked to see you in red. You know, my color, but I think black really suits you too” he muses, knowing what the woman was doing. “Either way, you should wear whatever you wan-,”

“I will wear red”.

She liked that idea. She liked it very much. 

 

‘Is dating always feeling warm like this? Am I feeling…butterflies in my stomach like Stephanie talked about?’

 

She didn’t have answers to those questions, and honestly? Maybe she didn’t want them. It might diminish the magic of what she was feeling. Jason had taken torture…for her. She assumed that wouldn’t be a ‘normal female experience’, but she also knew having Lady Shiva for a mother wasn’t normal. 

 

And speaking of Lady Shiva…she knew this wasn’t over.

 

Her mother wouldn’t stop until she’d gotten what she wanted, or was convinced, usually through being beaten, a near impossible proposition one on one, that she was wrong. ‘Mother could’ve kept going…but she left. Why?’

Now she had another feeling in her gut.

A sinking suspicion that this? Was only the beginning.

 

‘Mother…what are you planning?’

 

Across Gotham, The Diamond District

 

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

The roar of the Batmobile’s engine was usually something that Batman found soothing. Something that served as proof of his abilities, of his power to change the world around him. He could remember every turn of the wrench it took to get this modern marvel of engineering working right, and he couldn’t count the number of times it had saved his life. 

 

But at this point in time?

It didn’t do anything of the sort.

‘He better not have. He better not fucking have!’

He didn’t curse, not usually, but right now? It seemed like it was in order. The entire time since he’d gotten into the car, taking off across the city, he couldn’t get his mind off of what Harley had said.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The rubber of the tires squealed as he took a harsh turn, almost chopping up the asphalt of the, mercifully, empty roads. The snow caused him no issue whatsoever, in fact tonight it seemed to aid him a bit in getting people off of the streets.

 

‘I knew something was strange between them. I knew it!’

 

He kept driving, rocketing down the streets of Gotham, passing empty and shuttered shops and buildings, the lights on in the apartments above the only sign that life still continued on in Gotham City. 

 

Anyone who might’ve been watching the streets at that moment, or hell, even hearing the engines, would’ve assumed that there was something dreadfully wrong in Gotham. That perhaps the Joker or Killer Croc was on some sort of rampage. 

 

For Bruce?

That would have been preferable.

 

‘Why her?’ he asks himself, quieting in his mind at least somewhat while he glares, continuing to traverse the streets of his home city as he’d done thousands of times before. ‘Why her? It would’ve been fine if it was Barbara or Stephanie, but why Cassandra?’

He really couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t wrap his head around it, and mainly? It was because he didn’t want to.

 

Cassandra was…special to him.

 

Of course he loved Stephanie like a daughter as well, but it was different. They were diametrically opposed characters, and ever since he’d brought her into the fold she’d been a free spirit. Even the Spoiler motif that she’d adorned herself in had nothing to do with bats. She was independent.

 

Barbara?

She was a colleague. A close friend and ally. He didn’t have that sort of relationship with her. She’d needed a mentor and friend when they first met, and he’d provided that in spades. But when it came to a close pseudo father/daughter relationship, she did not require that. Jim Gordon was present in her life, always had been, always would be.

But Cassandra?

Out of all of them, she was the most lost when he found her, though sometimes he thought it was more akin to her finding him. She needed so much…because she’d been denied everything. Bruce couldn’t be called soft, or patient…but he did care, and with Cassandra? He was perhaps softer than with any of the others.

 

He took it upon himself to train her, nurture her to become what she herself wanted to be. 

 

Him.

 

He knew that wasn’t exactly healthy, but then again none of this could ever be described as ‘healthy’. It was necessary however. 

 

He turns once more, still thinking as he makes his way towards the East End.

 

‘She’s my successor’.

 

He spoke those words mentally with one hundred percent conviction. Out of all of them, she was the most skilled. The most intelligent, the most dedicated. Even against Dick she came out on top. He would never say it, but she had the skill and potential to be the greatest crimefighter that even lived.

 

Even better than he’d ever been.

And what was a father’s job but to ensure that his sons and daughters were greater than him? 

 

The others? He could see drifting away from this eventually. Starting families, hanging up the capes. But Cassandra? She’d never stop. Never. Gotham would be safe in her hands, and he’d be able to hand off everything to her. His empire. His life’s labor. He’d found contentment in that knowledge. That there would be another after him.

 

And he loved her for it.

 

Of course he would care for her just the same even if she didn’t want it, just like he loved the rest of his family, but again, that was what made Cassandra special.

 

‘And Jason is going to screw it all up!’

He couldn’t help it as he grit his teeth and hardened his jaw, removing one hand from the steering wheel and slamming it into the screen on the center console of the batmobile. It was a testament to his and Alfred’s work that the screen only cracked a little from the impact. 

 

“DAMN HIM!!!”

He could be heard even over the sound of the engine.

 

But so could another noise that came out of nowhere.

 

BOOOM!

PSSSSSSHHHH!

SCREEEEEEE!

The front left tire of the Batmobile suddenly exploded, and Bruce found all thoughts other than responding to this new event forced from his mind. He grasped the steering wheel hard, turning into the spin as the car, going at such high speeds, began to spin out of control. He’d been in this situation quite a few times before, so he wasn’t worried.

 

‘Have to get it under control’ he thinks, turning the wheel until the car is turned completely backwards. It was as if he was driving in reverse now!

 

BOOOM!

PSSSSSSSHHH!

SCREEEEE!

Another tire went out, this time to the rear. He abandoned any idea of the possibility of a malfunction, as slight as they already were, and quickly came to the only logical conclusion.

He was under attack.

 

The car was slowing now, which gave him the chance to pump on the brakes which, like everything else of his, was far beyond the capabilities of any other vehicle on Earth. Snow is kicked up, and steam emanated out from the street below, the car slowing from one hundred and twenty miles an hour to zero in four point five seconds.

 

Lucius felt that they could do better of course.

Three was the parameter they were trying to reach, but things took time. 

 

‘They wanted me stopped, whoever they are. They’re skilled to be able to take out the Batmobile’s tires at the speed I was going’. He scans his surroundings through the canopy, both with his eyes and with the Batmobile’s sensors. Infrared, everything.

He could see nothing.

 

‘Skilled enough to hide as well’.

 

His mind instantly goes down the list of possibilities. Who’d be able to do what was just done? ‘Deadshot. He has rounds that can go through nearly any surface. But so can Deathstroke’ he thinks, the two assassins being the first and foremost of possibilities in his mind. He wasn’t worried, not anymore.

 

He’d taken them both down before.

What he did want to know is who would’ve put a contract out on him big enough to bring either of them back to Gotham for another go.

 

With a single click of a button the harness that secured him in as tightly as if he were in a fighter jet slides across his chest and stomach, retracting once more into the seat, the red alarm emanating from the now cracked screen before him letting him know that two tires were flat and that reinflating procedures would take twenty seconds to get them back to full strength.

It also made him aware of what had actually done his tires in.

Knives.

Two of them, which were still sticking out of the military grade, nigh indestructible rubber. They looked small and ancient, but deadly. ‘Sharp enough to go through my tires’ he thinks, feeling a certain sense of unease now. ‘That puts Deadshot out of the running’.

 

He was good with knives…but not that good.

 

Besides, the Batmobile’s tires could withstand small arms fire up to a fifty caliber. Knives shouldn’t have even been an issue. But whoever had thrown them was able to do so at the perfect point to slip through the weak seams…while the car was going one hundred and twenty miles an hour.

That was hard, even for someone like Slade.

 

The canopy of the car opens, and Bruce quickly stands up, certain that whoever had done this simply wouldn’t kill him outright. They’d wanted a fight. Otherwise why would they go through the theatrics of getting him to stop?

The street was empty, and the snow was coming down heavily, the sound of wind blowing through the canyons formed by the buildings around him covering the slightest of sounds that might give his would-be assailant away.

 

He narrowed his eyes, looking around.

 

‘Tonight is not a good night to test me’.

 

He turns to the left, then to the right when-

 

THWICK!

“Ahhh!”

 

Something had come through the darkness right towards him at such a speed that he couldn’t have responded. If it had been a knife, a bullet, anything it would’ve killed him. Or, perhaps not considering the armor around his neck, the main point of impact for…whatever it was.

 

And what it was? Was worrying, as it had gotten through the kevlar armor of the cowl. 

 

He reached up and grasped something, yanking it out quickly and bringing it before him. When he opened his hand he saw a dart with a red plume at the end of it. Instantly his mind started setting off alarm bells.

‘Poison’.

 

He’d been poisoned. 

 

He began to run a self diagnostic, instantly thinking inwardly, searching for any sign in his body that something was wrong. And that’s when his foe revealed herself.

 

“Hello Batman”.

A figure stepped out from behind a brick chimney, her long coat flowing out behind her, though the front remained open to show off the red, mandarin collar dress she wore. A self satisfied smirk adorned her face, though that was normal and almost expected for the vigilante whenever he encountered the woman.

 

What wasn’t normal was the bruise under her left eye. 

 

“Shiva” Batman growled, anger coursing through him as he still could not pinpoint the effects of the toxin that was undoubtedly coursing through him. “It is a nice night for this” the Asian woman says, looking up at the snow which was coming down in a blizzard. “Is it not?”

“I’m not in the mood for this” he says simply, his mind already finding it odd that Lady Shiva would bring herself to Gotham right at the exact moment that he was having such an issue with her daughter.

 

‘It isn’t a coincidence. She knows’.

 

His anger at Jason dissipated, replaced by fear. 

 

‘She came to kill him’.

The question was if he was too late.

 

“You don’t even know what ‘this’ is yet, let alone if you are in the mood for it or not”. She jumps off of the roof, though jump wasn’t as good a term as step off of it. She came down, plummeting twenty feet, her coat flowing out behind her as she landed on the pile up of snow on the sidewalk with barely a sound.

 

He’d be impressed with her skill if he didn’t know how she’d gotten it.

 

“You poisoned me” he accuses as the woman rises up from her kneeling position, a smirk on her face and an arched eyebrow. “Poisoned? Hahahahahahahah!”.

She throws her head back and laughs uproariously. 

 

“Ohh Bruce…not exactly” she teases, keeping her voice low so as to ensure that nobody could hear her spill his secret identity. It was a point of pride for her. To know such a thing…and have him be unable to do a thing about it. “I will admit, there is a generous amount of pufferfish toxin present within that little cocktail in your hand”.

She points to the dart he was still holding.

“But with your exposure to such things, your grown immunity, that is child’s play. It was only meant to give it a bit of…how would Americans say it? Ooomf”.

“What did you do to me?” he demands.

 

Shiva just carries on, pretending she didn’t even hear him, standing only ten feet away from him now. There was no fear in her eyes or in her posture. There never was. Even if she was going to be killed she’d welcome it. Probably even die with a smile on her face, knowing she’d fallen to a worthy foe.

 

“The pufferfish toxin I carry on me. The other things I had to purchase quickly. Luckily there are so many twenty-four hour pharmacies and stores for the other items I require”. He began to feel…warm as she spoke. Almost…good.

 

“The saffron and ginseng were easy enough to find, but the maca root? That was tougher. It took me roughly ten minutes to find a local Hispanic deli that carried it”. She lowered her gaze, her smile downright nefarious as she licked her lips. 

 

“You’re starting to feel the effects, aren’t you?”

“Urrggh”.

His pants…they suddenly felt…tight, and as he looked down he understood exactly what was going on. He was getting an erection. It was harder to see through the armor he had in that area, but it was very clear to him, and undoubtedly Lady Shiva as well who brought one hand up to her chin, studying the effects. 

 

“Ohh, yes. I also added a special ingredient from Nanda Parbat. Ra’s…he likes to cultivate extinct flowers. The ancient Sumerians used a particular plant that was used for such things. Very, very potent”.

 

The warmth was getting worse and worse, almost to the point of pain as blood coursed into his cock. He was looking at Shiva in a mix of arousal and confusion, not understanding why she was doing this.

 

“He calls it vigor everlasting. I do not know why I snagged one for myself but it has come in handy, wouldn’t you agree?”

Bruce fell to his knees, panting, his shoulders rising and falling as he resisted, just barely, the urge to strip right then and there and start stroking himself. His mind, his entire body, was on fire! He was hornier than he had ever been before. 

 

‘It’s…even…worse than Ivy’s…toxins…gaaah…’

He looked up at Shiva, just in time to watch her open the uppermost portion of her half dress, revealing her tits to him in an instant. Round, succulent, not too large, not too small, with dark brown nipples hard atop her chest. 

 

With her other hand she takes another dart, the very same one that she’d hit Bruce with, and slams it into her own neck.

“Ahhhh…yesssssss…”

 

“Why…why are you doing this?”

 

“To prove a point to someone” she says simply, tossing the dart away as she begins to feel her own heat rising, though she doesn’t resist reaching down and lightly beginning to stroke the area of her crotch through the pants she wore. “Tell me Wayne. You have a nice bedroom we can do this in, don’t you?”

All reason was leaving both of their minds, animalistic desire overtaking them both. Within a minute the Batmobile was back on the road, roaring out of the city and heading back towards Wayne Manor instead of into the East End.

 

Funnily enough it was going just as fast as it was when it had been exiting the city.

 

There had been fierce, amorous kisses shared by the two enemies within, as well as excited, unrestrained touches. There was a first time for everything, and tonight was the first time Batman had ever been given a blowjob while driving the Batmobile.

 

For Shiva?

This was the beginning of her lesson.

 

‘Ohh Cassandra, I have no say do I? Well, neither do you, daughter. You have made me aware of that. Let us see how you feel after I fuck your father’.

As far as nefarious plans went?

This was one for the books. 

Chapter 8

The Batcave

 

Vrrrooom! Vrrrrrooooom!

The roar of a bike’s engines could be heard reverberating throughout the cave, bouncing off of the high ceilings, the acoustics coming back easily. The bats, the countless multitude that hung above, were scarcely disturbed. After so many years dealing with it it’d become nothing more than background noise, even to their sensitive ears.

It didn’t last too long however, the motorcycle coming to a stop as the black clad and masked figure came to the end of what amounted basically to a runway.

 

With one fluid motion the kickstand was engaged, and the woman driving the bike slowly leaned it to the side as the engine cut out, parked a good ten or twenty feet away from the batcomputer. 

 

‘Nobody is here’.

Cassie was grateful for that, her eyes scanning her surroundings and taking in everything, looking for someone, anyone, that might’ve been present in the cave. She expected to see Bruce, definitely someone she didn’t want to see at the moment because of the explanation that she would’ve had to give, or Alfred, someone who would be somewhat more patient and understanding, but still unwelcome.

 

‘We cannot hide this. Not now’ she reminds herself, slowly raising her leg off of the right side of the bike and sliding off, coming to a standing position besides the left side of the bike. 

 

She normally didn’t need to be that cautious about dismounting, but tonight was special. She had a passenger. A very wounded passenger at that.

“Aaaah…shit”.

Jason had managed to cling to her, one armed, all the way back to the manor, his one good arm wrapped around her midsection. She could tell that it was uncomfortable, riding on the back of her bike, ceding the dominant position in driving to her. But these were extraordinary circumstances.

 

‘His masculine pride has to take a back seat…like him’.

 

She almost smiled under her mask, idly wondering to herself if that could’ve counted as a joke, though her mind rapidly deduced that there would be no way for her to work it into something that would make sense outwardly.

 

‘An inside joke’ she corrects, feeling a need to categorize and itemize everything at all times. 

Now that she was standing, and her hands no longer needed to grasp the handlebars of the bike she reached out quickly, placing one of her hands upon Jason’s shoulder, and the other on his side.

“Don’t move”.

“Urrgh…trying…not to” he grunts out, his face, and the undoubtedly pained expression upon it, hidden by the eponymous Red Hood he wore. She’d found it in the restaurant and knew that he’d need to wear it on the ride back, not only for safety but for his identity.

“We need to get you off the bike. Can you-,”

“I’m not dead yet Cass” the man says, bristling a bit at being mothered as he forces his leg down onto the floor, feeling the assuring steel reinforced concrete platform upon which most of the workable portions of the batcave rested. “I can still-mmmfff!”

He let out a hiss of pain, no doubt from one of his wounds being affected by his movement. Regardless, the situation was helped as he disembarked the bike…but almost fell forward in the process.

Luckily Cassandra was there to catch him, ensuring he didn’t faceplant right then and there. She wraps both of her arms around him quickly, and holds him.

For a moment, strangely, it feels as if the entire world shrunk to just the two of them, with each aware of the other innately. His heartbeat was soothing to Cassandra. Especially in light of how close it had come to being snuffed out completely. 

 

“I have you”.

“Yeah…you do”.

 

It couldn’t last forever though. He needed medical treatment, and if she could Cassie would prefer to see to it herself. It would give her time to come up with…something, anything, to explain what had happened that night.

“Lean on me. Put your arm over my shoulder”.

Some quick repositioning allowed the smaller woman to move into his side and help drape his arm about her, allowing him to remain upright. Their eyes were fixed on the medical bay, a place that essentially every member of the Bat Family had spent a disordinate amount of time in, much to Alfred’s chagrin. 

 

“Hey…Bruce is back”.

 

The statement from Jason draws Cassandra’s attention to where the man was looking, which was off to their left. For a moment her heart drops in her chest. ‘No…not yet’ she thinks, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to cover up what had happened without time to think it over. Part of her wondered if she SHOULD cover it up.

Mother or not, Lady Shiva was a dangerous criminal who could kill you with her bare hands in a hundred different ways. Having her loose in Gotham, regardless of why she’d come, was something that couldn’t be allowed.

 

She half expected to see the man standing there, fully dressed in his batsuit, a disapproving frown upon his face as if…as if he’d already known.

Cassandra was frightened of that, though she’d never let anyone know that she was afraid. She’d even face down her mother again rather than take the one thing that she never could weather. Bruce’s disapproval. All she ever wanted was to make him proud, and the idea of doing the opposite? It was almost like a physical pain in her chest. 

 

Luckily though he wasn’t there.

That wasn’t what Jason was talking about. Instead he was pointing out the fact that the Batmobile was parked on the rounded platform off to the side of the main road into the cave. It was a sight that they’d both seen a thousand times before.

The Batmobile parked in its place.

It was a marvel of modern engineering, something that would’ve been beyond impressive even to the world’s best engineers and auto mechanics. It’s engine had more power than an F22 Raptor, and its armor? On par with a tank.

It had firefighting capabilities and anti missile technology, radar, sonar, anything!

It could be turned into a mobile medical station, or a roadblock and when it came down to it it was the best tool in Batman’s arsenal for intimidation. There wasn’t a single crook or criminal in Gotham who didn’t feel their hearts drop in their chest when they heard that engine roar. It was as if the hounds of hell themselves were coming down upon them.

But to Cassie and Jason, indeed to all of them? It was just the Batmobile. Something they’d often wanted to take for a joyride, but something over which the novelty had most certainly worn off as well.

Overexposure perhaps.

 

But overexposure implied something. Familiarity. Something that could only come from consistency. The Batmobile, when not in use or being repaired, was ALWAYS parked there, in the exact same position, and in the exact same way.

Bruce was a creature of habit, and more often than not would refuse to change if only because he felt change invited weakness, gaps in the armor so to speak. He did everything exactly the same way, every time.

Which is why Cassie felt her inner alarm bells going off at the fact that he’d left the canopy open, allowing you to see into the interior of the vehicle. ‘He never does that’. Already the calculations were coming, and she looks about the cave, into every dark recess and shadow that she could see, and waited.

Waits for the blow, the counterattack that was destined to come from her mother. What was once a place of safety, was now one of foreboding and worry.

Apparently she’d stiffened, and because of that Jason realized something was off too.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asks, keeping his voice low as he too turns his head this way and that, scanning the cave much like Cassandra was doing.

 

“Nothing”.

 

‘Act normal. Don’t give it away that you know she’s here’ the woman thinks, already having calculated the three most likely avenues of attack that her mother would take. She’d either come from above, using the system of lighting above them that was held aloft and together by steel girders implanted into the rock, rivers of cables running to and fro to supply the Batcave’s energy needs.

Or she’d come from below.

Yes, below. That would suit Shiva’s need for the dramatic. She could already mentally picture her there, clinging to the bottom of the platform, waiting, following every movement and being able to discern it perfectly. 

 

‘Wait for her to strike. To reveal herself’.

It was already a fifty-fifty chance in Cassandra’s mind that the woman knew she was onto her, but even still she had to take that chance. There wasn’t much else she could do. ‘Why can’t you just make things easy? Leave. We won. We beat you!’

Inwardly she was angry, though as usual she was an outward mask of calm, focused entirely on keeping the man who was leaning upon her moving forward, the duo heading towards the med bay and the gurney upon which Cassandra would have to help bind and treat the man’s wounds. 

 

‘Will she attack in the midst of that? Or will she wait and make this just between us?’

She was hoping that it was the latter.

“Agghh…sh-shit…fuck that hurts”.

“You will be fine”.

“I know I’ll be fine…shit…that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. Cass? Is it okay if I admit it?” he asks with a sigh, his head lolling down onto his chest, his breathing heavy, no doubt a mixture of exhaustion and pain. For Cassandra her stomach jumped into her throat, fear gripping her heart like an icy hand at what he would say.

 

‘N-no…please’.

She wouldn’t blame him. How could she? He’d been nearly killed…and all because of his closeness to her. Already the guilt wells up within her. ‘He never wanted this. He never wanted you’ she reminds herself, thinking back to the night that she’d blackmailed him into taking her virginity. 

 

‘He wants a normal woman. Not a robot. A living sword’.

“Your mom? She scares the shit out of me. Heh…heheh”.

He laughs though it sounds like it came from far away, no doubt a result of his weakness and the obstruction of the helmet across his face. He didn’t want to break up with her, or at least not yet. Cassandra lets out a breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding in, relief at this at least temporary reprieve washing over her.

 

“She scares everyone”.

“At least it’s not just me”.

 

“Definitely not”.

They keep making their way towards the gurney, wanting to alleviate at least some of Jason’s pain. For now that was all that mattered. Well…that and preparing for her mother’s next strike which she knew from experience was bound to come sooner rather than later.

 

‘Where are you?’ 

 

That was the genius of Lady Shiva though. The dangerous aspect of the woman lied not only in the skills she possessed. A good deal of her strength also lay in the fear she could inspire. Lady Shiva was a name that made one’s blood run cold. Hearing that she was after you had you checking every corner, desperate to find an escape, a way to delay or avoid the inevitable.

 

When she was hired to kill someone, she often sent the target a letter beforehand, explaining how she’d accomplish the task.

 

It wasn’t arrogance, or pride. Not when she could very easily carry out everything that she’d committed to ink. It was a challenge, a test, to see if anyone could make it interesting for her. Only a handful of times had she failed, and most of them involved Bruce.

Tonight?

It was definitely an outlier, and Cassandra was now, if she hadn’t been before, fully aware of the psychological torture that her mother could inflict. As she got Jason to the gurney, and started assisting him in removing his helmet, she thought over that, and felt even more pity for her mother’s victims.

“We need to get you undressed”.

“Ohh? Right here? Now?”

“You are able to have intercourse right now?”

She was genuinely surprised and it reflected in her tone and face. “You…you are able to make love right now?”

“Ha! Hell no” he says, laughing and then instantly wincing as the action caused him pain. “You’d kill me…hmm…you know what? Good way to go” he says after recovering and turning, giving her a smirk that the woman knew was there to try and trick her into believing that he was okay.

 

‘I know that he is not’.

 

“Alright, let’s get naked and-,”

“You were joking,” Cassandra says simply. Jason was surprised, the woman not usually able to easily pick up on humor or sarcasm. “You got me, yeah”.

“Recover. And then we can make love”.

“That might take weeks you know” he says as they get to the side of the gurney. Instantly a look of worry crossed over Cassandra’s face, though Jason wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact of how badly he was actually hurt, or that she would be cut off from her ‘new favorite pastime’ for as long as he was out of commission.

 

‘I never would’ve thought all those years ago when we first met that she’d be an absolute nympho. Or that I’d be her scratching post’.

 

“Aaaah!”

 

She aided him in lifting himself onto the gurney, staying in a sitting position for the moment. “It won’t take that long” she says, assuring him…and herself. “You have recovered from worse injuries in less time”.

 

“Sure, guess that’s true. Got a Lazarus Pit lying around?”

The Asian woman looked up at him, still wearing her mask which, without the eyes that all of the others had, was frightening. Slowly she reaches up and grasps at the hidden seam, yanking it free of the rest of her suit and exposing her pale flesh.

She pulls it up further and further until the mask detaches from her face entirely and she shakes out her jet black hair. The mask was quickly laid on the gurney beside him. ‘I like it a lot better when I can see her face’.

 

“Unfortunately not. That would come in handy, wouldn’t it?”

She was smiling, sure, a tiny little smile like the ones Bruce gave from time to time, but still a smile!

 

“Yeah, it really would”.

“Help me remove your shirt”.

 

It was right to business now, and Jason knew better than to keep making wisecracks when she was in that mode. Besides, there were other worries to keep his mind preoccupied. He too knew that Lady Shiva wasn’t just going to take a defeat like that lying down. She was gonna hit back, and hard. The trick was knowing where she would strike which, for all intents and purposes, was impossible to predict.

 

‘That crazy bitch. Fuck! How the hell do we defend ourselves against Lady Shiva WITHOUT involving Bruce and the others and WITHOUT letting them know that me and Cass are…well…intimate I guess’.

 

He was waiting for the counterattack, the devastating blow that would inevitably come.

 

Little did Cassandra or Jason know…

 

Shiva’s counterattack?

Was happening right that very moment.

 

Above in Wayne Manor, the Master Bedroom

 

Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap!

 

“Urrggh! Urrrrgh! Gnnnnf!”

“Mmmmmm! MMMMMMMMMM!”

The harsh, meaty impacts came so quickly that they almost seemed to come from an industrial machine rather than human flesh. It was a testament to the raw strength, the brute force, being utilized upon the woman atop the bed who, without a stitch of clothing on her body, was forced onto her chest, her pert, well rounded ass cheeks up in the air.

 

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

“You...urrggh…fucking bitch!”

 

Bruce Wayne rarely cursed. Very rarely, so when he did? You knew that the situation was serious. All Lady Shiva could do in response was groan, her eyes fluttering closed and then open again, twitching, almost independent of one another.

 

‘I…miscalculated’ she thinks, knowing that the only thing keeping her up at the moment was the fact that Wayne was grasping her hips, ensuring that her rump remained in the perfect position for him to thrust into.

 

‘I put…too much…so-something into his dosage’.

 

She couldn’t remember the exact formula, not as her pussy creamed all over the man’s cock once more, dripping down her thighs and onto the surprisingly soft covers of the bed they were on. She could tell too.

Considering her teeth were chomping down on them for dear life.

 

Even as her body shook with the aftermath of her orgasm, Bruce kept going, using her as nothing more than a toy, venting his rage, his frustration, upon her womanhood. ‘I am grateful I dosed myself as well’ the assassin thinks as she falls further onto the bed, her medium sized breasts pushing squishing up against it as her arms extend out, her fingers grasping the covers just as tightly as her teeth did.

 

PLAP!

Bruce had pulled his cock out of her just until only the tip remained inside of her, her walls, sopping wet and tight, desperately clinging to him, squeezing his cock as she tried to keep him inside of her.

It was a desperate fight, one that she needed to win.

Unfortunately in her lust addled mind she hadn’t seen that this was a tactic. Bruce slammed himself back inside of her, sheathing all eight inches of his uncut cock within her, like he was pushing a sword into its sheath.

He didn’t stop until he was swallowed up to the base of his cock, his waist pressed tightly against her ass cheek.

The response from Shiva was instant.

She threw her head back, her teeth releasing their hold on the blankets as she arched her back. Her wet, glove-like walls weren’t ready for the assault. They’d been so intent on squeezing and massaging, trying to keep him inside, that when he pushed forward like a battering ram they recoiled, quivering and shaking, unable to take it.

It had been a long time since Lady Shiva had lain with a man. Not since the sex required to make Cassandra with David Cain. She didn’t need it, she’d told herself.

Romantic entanglements with men were a distraction from her true goal. Unnecessary.

 

And she wasn’t someone who could detach sex from feeling. It was…a closely guarded secret for the woman, one she’d never let leave her lips even under torture, but she was afraid. Afraid that laying with a man would inevitably lead to feelings. Being naked was as vulnerable as you could be with another person.

Not physically, never physically. You’d be foolish to think that Lady Shiva was any less dangerous without clothes than with.

But, even still…

 

‘This…ugggh…is an exception’.

 

Bruce acts quickly as the woman arches herself, inadvertently raising on her knees, her body trying to escape from the overload of sensory pleasure instinctually. He didn’t allow it. Quickly he reached out and grasped her shoulders, lowering himself on his own knees and humping upwards. He held her tight, vice-like, keeping her from running away from his cock.

Making her take it.

Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap!

“Urrrggh! What are you planning, Shiva?”

“Guuh…aren’t you…p-paranoid?” she teases, trying to stay sane, trying to stay rational, hell even trying to focus on the whole initial reason for this rendezvous in the first place. It was even harder now as she was fucked like a ragdoll, having even less say than she did before. Her tits were bouncing now, impacting against one another with each upward thrust of Bruce’s cock. 

“T-tell me” she continues, forcing herself to speak as she leaked like a faucet over the bed. “Have any of your other sluts had your cock in their mouth in the Batmobile?” she asks, licking her lips, still able to bring to mind the salty taste of the man’s member.

 

Vrrrrrrroooooooooom!

“Mmmff…mmm…mmmm…spppt! Mmmm!”

 

She twisted her gloved hand up and down, gliding along the slick member, feeling the veins that popped up along his length throbbing even through the leather. Up and down, rhythmic, constant, all while she dabbed her tongue out over his sopping wet cock head.

She pulls back for a moment, swishing her tongue around her mouth and the man’s uncut tip, collecting just enough saliva up to suit her purposes.

“Spppt!”

Removing her mouth completely from his cock she spits, allowing the man to hear, and see, what she was doing. The globule of warm, wet spit, so contrasting to the cold that whipped by outside the canopy of the Batmobile, landed on Bruce’s cock, and due to gravity began to travel downwards.

“I always knew you’d be big, Wayne”.

 

Her voice was teasing, mocking as always, but also with a tone of genuine surprise and appreciation. Her hand moved a bit further up, teasing over the man’s glans and collecting some of the saliva and pre-cum which was then spread along his shaft.

“Urrrggh”.

He grunted, the only type of noise he’d allow himself to get out since getting into the car.

He focused on the road, or at least gave the appearance of focusing on the road.

 

‘So responsible’ Shiva smirks, though its instantly wiped off her face as she grits her teeth and lets out a grunt of her own. Her lips were smeared with his fluids mingling with her own, and as she kneeled over the center console, her legs in the passenger seat, her hips swayed back and forth, showcasing her ass in the skin tight leather pants she wore.

 

‘I should’ve waited’ she reprimanded herself. ‘Waited to dose myself. The sight…the smell! It’s too much’.

She’d thought she’d be able to handle it, that her inbuilt immunity to soooo many different toxins and poisons, both natural and cultivated, would aid her. But it wasn’t. Under her pants? She was soaking wet.  

 

She keeps jerking it, biting her lip as she takes in the sight of it even in the dark confines of the batmobile. 

 

“Don’t stop”.

“What?”

She turns her head, looking up at the man, a bit surprised he’d spoken. He just grits his teeth, snarling as one of his hands moves off of the wheel and onto the back of her head, grasping it intently as he wrapped tendrils of her dark hair in his fingers. He yanked her head back…roughly.

Very roughly.

 

“Ahhh!”

She hissed in pain.

“I said…”

He pushed her head, and more particularly her mouth, onto his cock, forcing it past her lips with ease, burying it in her throat and forcing the woman’s nose up against his pubic hair. Shiva’s eyes went wide, and spittle and pre-cum flew out about the edges of her lips as she was made to start deepthroating the man.

“GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK!”

She was forced to release her hold on his cock, and instead brought her hands, palms down, onto his thighs. Batman kept a steady grip on her head, pulling her up and then slamming her down. He turned the wheel, one handed now, and the sound of the batmobile’s tires screeching on the pavement could be heard.

“Don’t. Stop”.

It was more of a guttural, rage filled growl than words, and it caused something deep in Shiva’s core to acquiesce as her entire body shivered in anticipation. Any other man would have been worried about putting his manhood anywhere near Lady Shiva’s teeth, let alone manhandling her like a fleshlight.

 

She puffed her cheeks out, trying to make space as her eyes watered, the assassin’s access to air suddenly cut off by a very thick shaft. Batman was fucking Lady Shiva’s face…and she was letting him!

 

‘Ohh Cassandra, and here you thought your father was such a good, upstanding man’.

 

“Urrrgh”.

The vigilante grunts, forcing his hips upwards, humping against her mouth even as his gloved hand tightens its grasp on her hair. ‘And here he is, being an absolute brute…and me…a slut who’s sucking a man’s cock in his car. This is what you have reduced me to Cassandra! This is what is required to teach you the error of your ways!’

 

“Mmmmff! Mmmm! Mmm!”

She taps against his thigh, signalling her need for air. It was hard to even breathe through your nose when your windpipe was completely blocked off.

 

‘Yes…th-this will…te-teach you…’

She wasn’t exactly sure of HOW exactly her plan would make Cassandra respect her wishes. She was sure it would of course, or at least…she had been before plunging that dart into herself. It was hard to remember plans when you were being face fucked. That much Lady Shiva was learning that night.

Batman looked down in disgust as she continued to tap on his thigh, getting more and more intense, more desperate. He forced her down further, seemingly trying to even get his ballsack in her mouth.

“AAAAAACCCCCK!”

Shiva gagged, loudly, and Bruce decided to show mercy.

He yanked her off of his cock harshly, inch by inch being freed from the Asian woman’s maw as he pulled her up into an almost sitting position. She gasped for breath as soon as she was off of his cock, when the spit slick member swayed in the air, throbbing, no doubt angered by its release from such a warm, comfortable place.

“Huuuuuuh! Huuuuuh! Huuuuh! Accck! Accck! Accckkk!”

She took deep, gasping breaths before descending into a coughing fit, swaying on her knees while Bruce kept hold of the back of her head, refusing to let her go. It was getting harder to concentrate on the mission at hand, i.e driving, but he was able to do it.

“Pathetic”.

“Ack…ack…mmmm…good men aren’t supposed to tell lies” Shiva chastises, her hand moving quickly into her own pants, slipping past the upper hem and going lower. Due to the tightness of the material he could see what she was doing. Casting a side eye off of the road, which was maddeningly close, yet so far to the offramp he’d have to take to get to Wayne Manor, he could see that she was plunging her fingers into herself. 

“Guhhh…”

“You’re an assassin” he snarls. “One of the world’s greatest fighters. And you’re debasing yourself like this”.

It was such a strange sentiment to voice at a moment like this, but even with the hardest erection of his life it was hard for Bruce Wayne not to see this woman as he had in the past. A human predator. An assassin. One of, if not the most, dangerous foe he’d ever faced. 

 

“S-say it” she mocks, licking her lips as she comes closer, distracting the hero further from the road. She was almost right in his face, like she didn’t care at all about the fact that he was driving.

“You know you want to. You’re shocked to see Lady Shiva acting like a filthy…”

“Grrrr!”

 

She’d punctuated her words by reaching down and grasping his ballsack, squeezing the orbs and kneading the sack with her fingers, caressing the balls within. The Batmobile swerved and the sound of crunching metal could be heard as a stop sign was sheered out of the concrete, clattering to the snow covered ground.

 

‘I’ll pay to have that fixed’.

 

“Dirty…”

Her other hand goes down to his shaft, staying near the head where she caresses it with her thumb, causing his legs to buckle as he humps upwards, desperate for her further touch.

 

“Slut”.

 

She’d punctuated every word with an action, all the while coming closer to his mouth. She wasn’t using her hands to free herself from his grasp upon her head, no. She was using them for pleasure rather than pain. “You’ve always wanted this, haven’t you Wayne?”

 

Before he could answer, if he even was going to answer, she closes the gap between them and attaches her sopping wet lips to his. He knew where her mouth had just been, but at that moment, neither of them seemed to care.

“Mmmmm!”

His eyes were blocked off completely from the road now, something he had to rectify…in a second or so. ‘She tastes…’ He held off there, not wanting to say good, though the words his mind was conjuring up were more along the line of amazing. Her tongue was just about to snake into his mouth when he heard.

“HONK! HOOOOOOONK!”

“GAAAH!”

She screamed, half in pleasure, half in pain, as he yanks her head away from him by her hair, snapping her neck back again while he turns the wheel, just in time to avoid one of the city’s plows which, at that moment, was coming by to clear the street.

Its lights were like beacons, shining down on his shame, and the Batmobile just barely missed the side of the sharpened plow.

The two vehicles roared by one another, and Bruce felt his heart rate calm down.

 

“Mmmm…that was close”.

He still held Shiva’s head in a death grip, her throat exposed to him as he held it backwards, her hands still on his shaft and balls, not having ceased in their labor. She was smiling, and at that moment he wanted to reach out and latch onto her neck, bite down and leave a mark like some horny teenage boy.

He wanted to taste her, run his tongue up and down her flesh. 

 

‘Stop. Focus’.

“Shut. Up”.

 

“Oooof! So rough”.

He slams her back down into a kneeling position, her tits pressed up against the center console that separates the driver and passenger seats. “Suck”.

“Your mother should’ve taught you some manners, Wayne. You’re supposed to say-GLLLK!”

With his hold on her and how close she was already to his member it was easy to get her to start deepthroating him once. “GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK! GLLLK!” Again he was face fucking her, and this time? He wouldn’t show her any mercy. 

 

“I wasn’t asking” he growled, getting closer and closer to Wayne Manor.

 

‘Just hold out…a little longer. There has to be a cure, an antitoxin in the cave’.

 

That’s what he’d convinced himself of, anyways. And maybe, just maybe it was partially true. But if he was trying to find the racks of frozen serums and cures, antitoxins and poisons, then he was taking the long route through his bedroom.

 

A trail of clothes, his batsuit and Lady Shiva’s vestments, lined the path to the bed as well. Apparently he’d forgotten about his original mission.

 

“They haven’t, have they?” Shiva asks, still mouthing off while being fucked so roughly. In the back of her mind her warrior spirit was screaming that she was being absolutely dominated, that she was ceding the battle without a fight and needed to do something to fight back!

 

The part of her mind that was all woman, however, told the warrior spirit within her to shut up and enjoy it. 

 

“Kyle” the Asian woman says, spitting the cat burglar’s name with bile and venom. “She isn’t nearly as adventurous as she likes to pretend, is she?” the assassin asks, turning her head over her shoulder and looking back at the man who was fucking her.

Bruce glares at her, saying nothing, continuing to thrust deep inside of her. 

 

“Ha! You are-guhhh! So easy to read…mmm…yessss the only ones who’d do such a naughty thing with you are the Amazon or Quinzel…mmmff…perhaps the sorceress as well. But the embers of those loves burned out too quickly, didn’t they?”

“You made me do this. Why?!”

There was a growl in his voice, a demand, and it’s punctuated by him reaching forward and grasping her throat, releasing one of her shoulders. “Grrrk!” She felt like she was about to cum again, right then and there.

“WHY?!”

“Heh…heh…m-made you?” she mocks, almost urging him to go harder on her throat with her eyes. “I didn’t MAKE you do anything Wayne. D-did you think you were dosed with some sort of-guhhh! Ohh you fat cocked bastard!” she suddenly roars, her body buckling as Bruce hits a certain spot in her pussy, and her entire body spasms.

“TALK!!!”

It was like an interrogation to him, right in the midst of sex. He was treating her in much the same way that he would a goon who had information on where Two Face was hiding, or where Penguin’s arms were stored. 

 

‘I doubt any of them ever orgasmed from his touch’ the woman thinks to herself though, continuing to smile, letting out harsh little breaths as a blush colors her face. “As I was, unnf…saying”.

PLAP!PLAP!PLAP!PLAP!

“I didn’t mind control you. I dosed myself with the same thing, d-didn’t I?”

It was so hard to talk while you were having the best sex of your life, and it was especially harder to explain plans and such, but Shiva was doing a relatively good job of it, all things considered. “N-no. I just made us aroused. Incredibly aroused” she continues on. 

 

“You made this hap-,”

“You really expect me to believe that the man who has trained himself to resist Pamela Isley’s pheromones, or Jonathan Crane’s fear toxin, couldn’t fight off an erection?”

Thud!

She raised herself backwards even more, slamming her back into his chest, her hand coming up to latch onto his wrist ensuring that his hand remained on her throat. She was quite literally throwing her ass back, the cheeks jiggling as they made impact against his waist. He was in control, but Lady Shiva was fucking him back.

“Admit it!”

Her tone had a gaspy, breathy air to it, and she turned her head, her cheek brushing up against her nose as she reached back and grasped the back of his head, forcing him in. “You wanted this”. He doesn’t say anything, glaring ahead instead as he focuses on fucking the assassin. “You weren’t forced. You could’ve called any of your sluts to handle this, but you didn’t. The truth is, Wayne…you wanted me”.

She was getting closer and closer to his lips yet again, and this time Bruce knew exactly what was coming.

 

‘Why aren’t I stopping her? Why aren’t I pulling away?’

 

“I just gave us the permission we needed to do this”.

 

“Go to hell”.

“After you give me another orgasm. Now”.

“Grrr!”

She grasps his hair tightly, mimicking what he’d done in the car, her nails scraping through his scalp and drawing blood. “Kiss me like you love me”. She didn’t give him a second to protest as she lunged forward, or rather backwards, and locked lips with the man who continued to thrust his manhood into her from behind.

“Mmmm…mmmmm”.

Both savored one another, moaning into each other’s mouths while Bruce’s hand, the one not holding a death grip upon her throat, clamps down on her tit, stopping the one from bouncing like the other. They twisted and turned, their lips melding one against the other, but this time without the distraction of traffic. 

He kneaded her breast, feeling her hardened nipple under his palm. 

 

‘She’s right’ he thinks to himself, thinking back on all the times they’d fought, the palpable sexual tension in the air that he’d always denied. She was a criminal. A killer. Nothing more. But she was more…

 

She was, in many ways, his one true equal. The only woman he knew for a fact that was as dedicated to her cause as he was to his. Who’d pushed herself as far as he had to obtain his goals.

As her tongue probed his mouth, brushing over his molars, seemingly attempting to get into his throat, he realized this. 

 

Creeeeeeak!

“Master Bruce, are you home? I heard-BLOODY HELL!!!”

The door opened and a familiar figure in Wayne Manor stepped in, so used to simply entering and not thinking that tonight would be any different. But Alfred Pennyworth found that tonight was extremely different. He stood there, eyes wide, a look of horror on his face as he took in the sight of his employer, the man he’d raised as a son, locked in a VERY passionate embrace with none other than Lady Shiva.

He was stuck, rooted to the spot, watching as the two became aware of his presence, their lust addled expressions quickly turning to rage.

“GET OUT!” 

They both roared at the same time, though the old Englishman would have to hazard a guess that Shiva was filled with more visceral rage than Bruce, who was already sporting a look of regret for snapping. When Alfred didn’t immediately move, his eyes still trying to make sense of what he was seeing, the woman broke free of the man’ grasp, but didn’t force his cock from her.

She made for her duster, which was slung over the bed, and inside the pocket of which he could see the hilt of a blade.

“GET OUT!”

She repeats the sentiment, shocking Alfred into action as he grasps the door and begins to yank it backwards, wanting to shut it on the whole sordid affair. But as Lady Shiva drew the knife it took on an urgency beyond wishing to spare his eyes.

The door just closed before the knife made impact.

THUD!

The tip of the blade imbedded itself into the door, and would have struck a killing blow upon the butler if he wasn’t fast enough. Alfred steps back, his shoulders rising and falling with the deep, gasping breaths he took, continuing to look at the door.

 

‘That…that didn’t happen. I didn’t see that. It…it’s simply impossible!’

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

“GAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The sounds were muted now due to the barrier of the door, but he could still hear them, slightly, from the other side. Soon the butler was rushing away, unsure of what to do, but sure that he had to get to the Batcave.

 

If only to get away from the infernal howling.

 

The Batcave, Medical Bay

 

“Ahh”.

“I’m sorry”.

“Don’t be. Has to be tight”.

Jason had winced when she tied the sling tight, securing his broken, and now expertly casted arm, in place. ‘Hurt more when she snapped it back into place anyways’. He sat, naked from the waist up, atop the gurney, while Cassandra stood before him, working diligently.

She’d removed her mask and cape, but the rest of her suit remained on, the two discarded items resting on a chair alongside Jason’s clothes. 

“You know, you’re really good at this” he says, gesturing with his chin towards the cast before looking down at the stitches that had been cleaned and sutured in a matter of minutes each. “You could be a doctor if you wanted to”.

The Asian girl looks up at him, a strange expression coloring her face, a light blush teasing across her cheeks.

“Thank you” she said quietly, uncertainty coloring her voice.

“Heh, that’s right. Not really used to compliments huh?” he says, instantly understanding why she’d reacted in such a way. “None of us are, but you especially”. The light smile she’d started to develop disappeared, almost as if she was offended by what he’d said.

“I do not need compliments. It’s my job”.

 

“Sure” the man says with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve them. I’ll try to remember that going forward. That you like compliments. It’s okay. It’ll be our little secret”. He adds a teasing wink to his words, trying to lighten the mood which had been dour ever since they’d gotten back to the Batcave. 

“Speaking of compliments? You…are the most badass woman I know. Seriously” the man says, chuckling to himself and shaking his head in disbelief as Cassandra remained still, her breath hitching as she began to feel…warm.

“You know many strong women” she counters, trying to brush it off, though a small part of her that she didn’t even know existed within her was reaching out, wanting more of his sweet words.

“Yeah, tons. But all of the ones I know, without powers at least, would’ve gotten their asses kicked by Lady Shiva. Seriously, I even saw her feed Talia Al Ghul her teeth once. Rose Wilson? She can see seconds into the future in any fight and she STILL lost. You? Pfft…you’re something else Cass. Definitely the best Batgirl”.

“It…it isn’t a contest” she says, uncomfortable with that sentiment being voiced by Jason and Stephanie now. 

“Duh. You’d win hands down…shit…”

He looks down, shaking his head to himself before he looks up and smiles a little sadly at her. “Still…kinda hurt my manly pride a bit”.

 

“Why?”

She tilted her head as she looked at him, genuinely confused by his words. 

 

“Why? Because I was the damsel in distress that had to get my ass saved. Your mom wiped the floor with me in case you’ve forgotten” he says, using his good arm to gesture at his broken one. ‘Ohh yeah, great. Gonna have to find a way to explain this so Dick and Tim don’t give me shit…yeah not gonna be able to do that, am I?’

“You don’t need to feel that way” Cass consoles him, reaching out for his side and gently tracing her bare hands over his ribcage, gingerly checking over her work. She knew it was fine, that her handiwork was perfect. She was doing it more to lower her gaze, ensuring he didn’t see her massive blush. “My mother is the world’s best fighter. She has beaten the likes of Deathstroke, Talia Al Ghul and Bronze Tiger”.

 

“So what chance would Red Hood have against her, huh?”

He was teasing, being self deprecating, but Cassandra’s head instantly snapped upwards, and her brown, almond shaped eyes locked on his deep blue ones. “You are one of the world’s best fighters as well. Within the top ten”.

“How do you figure that?”

“You have beaten Nightwing many times” she says, reminding him of when the Red Hood first showed up on the scene again, as a villain intent on controlling crime. “And Batman. Deathstroke. Many. You are one of the best fighters the world has seen”.

“Coming from you? That means a lot. Still…any day of the week? I’d bet on you over me”.

 

“I have unfair advantages” she says, trying to soften the blow of the fact that she couldn’t disagree with her lover. “And it would not be an easy fight”.

 

“Heh…I guess it wouldn’t. I’d never fight you anyways” he says. “One I know I’d lose and two? You’re too hot. I’d be distracted”. Her heart was going like a speeding train in chest, and her blush only grew more intense.

“You’re flirting with me”.

“I guess, yeah. Sorry. I add humor to uncomfortable situations, and flirting with you is better than thinking about the fact that Lady Shiva is loose in Gotham City. You don’t mind do you?”

“I just do not see the point in it” she explains. “You already have me sexually. I will do anything you want me to do. Why keep trying to seduce me?” She was so honest, so blunt, that now it was Jason’s turn to blush as he rubs the back of his head and turns away, coughing. ‘Do anything I want you to do, huh?’

He still felt lingering guilt over being with her. Mostly because of his original points as to why it would be wrong but it was going away, rapidly.

“I…just because you got a girl, doesn’t mean you stop…you know, letting her know how pretty she is. Or, in your case, pretty and badass”. He stops rubbing his head and reaches out for Cass, almost tentatively, that lingering resistance still in his mind. But with how she was looking at him it was impossible to still feel those reservations.

 

He gently cupped her cheek, and Cassandra quickly leaned into it, bringing her own hand up over his.

“So you will continue to flirt with me?”

“Yeah, I guess” he says, spreading his legs a bit more and opening up a space for Cassandra to slide into, allowing the woman even closer. “For as long as we’re together”.

 

“How long will that be?”

“Shit I…Cass uhhh…I don’t know” he admits, flustered by that question and the honest naivete with which it was asked. “However long we’re together. Could be…a week from now, a month…twenty years. You don’t know those things when you…you know, start”.

 

She nodded, seeming to understand while Jason turned into a tomato, his face flushed bright red. 

“So you will still flirt and seduce me if we are together twenty years from now?”

She seemed genuinely curious, as if she had absolutely zero clue what them being together twenty years from now would imply. She was talking about decades like they were nothing! ‘And we didn’t even go out on an official date yet!’

 

“Y-yeah…yeah…I mean, if we get to that point, Cass, it’s waaay too early to start talking like that” he says, trying to put an end to at least THIS specific part of their conversation. He should’ve known however that Cassandra wouldn’t let it drop, and that her ever inquisitive mind was only going to come back with more questions as a result. 

 

“Does it embarrass you?”

“What?”

“The idea of…commitment?” she pauses, trying to suss out the right word for the situation.

 

“Of course not! It’s just…you know…it’s…it’s too early”.

“Are we monogamous?”

“You mean as…a species or…something?” he asked, taken off balance by that question. Cassandra shakes her head, somewhat remaining stoic and expressionless in that moment. “No. As in the two of us. I am only making love to you, and plan to only make love to you for the foreseeable future. Are you…only making love to me?”

There was a flash of emotion behind her eyes, a twitch of her lips downwards into a scowl. Anger, jealousy. All of it, right there as clear as day for the man to see. ‘Fuck, even when women don’t know anything about men, romance, dating, any of that, talking to them is like walking in a minefield!’

 

“Yeah, Cass I promise. Not that type of guy. It’s only you”.

 

She relaxed, at least a little.

 

“I understand. I only asked because Stephanie and Barbara have ‘fuck buddies’, men they only call for sex. I wanted to see if that’s what we were. I’m…happy that we aren’t only that”. Jason had to roll his eyes.

 

‘Not the first time those two got me into trouble with Cass’.

 

“We are Cass. Like I already said, I’m not the kinda guy to do that”.

“I know” she replies softly, caressing his hand as he continues to touch her. “So we are, by definition, in a committed relationship?” He sighed at that, having hoped that they could bypass that. “Yeah…I guess you can say that, yeah”.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“What? No”.

“You are” she says, though not teasingly. Just concerned. “If you do not wish to continue this you don’t have to”.

“That’s not what I’m saying. I do wanna…continue”. He stops, clearing his throat.

“Then why are you uncomfortable with the idea of us being in a long term, committed relationship?”

“I’m not!”

 

‘Okay, you definitely came off too defensively there’ he thinks to himself, trying to collect his thoughts as he takes a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the thing. Guys? We do want to be committed, or at least most of us do. I guess we’re just uncomfortable saying it at first”.

“That’s ridiculous”.

“Yeah well…”

He stops, finding that he agreed.

“I guess it is. There’s a lot of things about me, men in general, you’re gonna find ridiculous. And vice versa. Not with you but women in general. Like the fact that I’m still a little embarrassed by the fact you had to save me”. It took a lot to admit that, and if he was in any position to do so he would’ve given himself a pat on the back.

Cassandra though responds by looking down, seemingly ashamed.

“It was my fault that you needed to be saved”.

“Pfft, no it wasn’t. It was your crazy bitch of a mother’s fault” he consoles, raising her face again via his grip on her cheek. She looks up, but the sadness was still present in her eyes. The guilt. “Seriously, don’t play the blame game. You know it’s not your fault”.

 

“She’s still out there”.

“I know”.

“She won’t stop” Cassandra continues, turning back to the mission, something that was easier for her to talk about. ‘So much like Bruce’.

“And she gave up too easily. She’s planning something else”.

 

“Yeah, I get that but…honestly? What can we do except wait…and…as much as I hate to say it, I think we have to tell Bruce. We have to tell all of them. And maybe that includes telling them about us” he admits, finding it hard to get those words out. Cassandra was genuinely surprised by that sentiment, especially as Jason had been so set on keeping them a secret. Then again, she understood.

 

‘The situation has changed’.

“Sure, I’ll get some shit at first but hey, we’re both adults and you better stick up for me and tell them that you asked me” he adds, raising his hand and one extended finger as she gets even closer, her hands going to his chest. “I will” she says, nodding her head as his own went behind the woman, landing first upon her lower back…and then traveling lower.

 

SMACK!

He grasped her ass cheek, squeezing it hard through the suit, and Cassie let out an adorable little sound, though she tensed, almost readying herself to go on the attack. Jason kept squeezing, kneading the orb through the suit. “Keep this between us, alright? But…maybe I’m not too upset about you saving my ass. It was…really hot in a way”.

 

“It was?” she asked, shifting her hips side to side as her blush returns and she wants to feel more of his touch.

“Yeah. I mean, how many guys can say a girl would literally fight her own mother for them? And how many of those guys can say that their girl can mop the floor with practically anyone? Sure it hurts my ego a little but…it’s still hot as hell”.

He got closer and closer to her, his hand shifting on her face, cupping her jawline while his thumb comes out and caresses over her lips, seemingly preparing her for a kiss. She knew what was coming, and on this point? She’d become well seasoned.

“I…I like being…hot”.

She was trying out the word, finding it foreign on her lips.

 

“You definitely are. Hot enough for me to take a beating from your mom any day of the week”.

 

“That…that must mean I am very hot, right?”

She was like a shy puppy, eager for love and affection but afraid at the same time. Jason found it adorable. “Yeah. I’m gonna keep groping your ass and kiss you. Alright? Don’t instinctually start ripping me apart, okay?”

 

“I won’t”.

She tilted her head upwards every so invitingly, those pouty, usually straight lined lips just begging to be kissed. And Jason was more than happy to oblige. He came in and melded his to hers, slotting his upper lip between her two, gently starting to massage them as she, gently, caressed his chest.

Her hands moved over scarred flesh, remnants of old battle wounds, and the fresh dressings that she’d applied. 

 

For a moment she was able to forget her fears, her worries about her mother. She’d be ready for her. ‘I don’t have a choice’. And with the others in the loop? She knew their chances were much better. She’d never believed that Jason would suffer their anger for being with her, but with the possibility opened she found herself…excited at the prospect. 

‘We don’t need to hide anymore,’ she groaned as he squeezed her asscheek even harder, causing her suit to wedge uncomfortably, and the warmth that was there prior, coming from being complimented and wooed, was quickly turning to arousal.

 

She hadn’t been lying when she’d told her mother that sex with Jason was her favorite activity. 

 

‘If I am gentle, and am on top, maybe-’

 

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

 

The two were so enraptured by their embrace that they didn’t hear someone entering the cave, rushing headlong down the stairs, constantly looking back over his shoulder at the entrance into the manor, half expecting the assassin to be on his heels. ‘Bloody hell! Bloody hell! I…I need help! Something is wrong! Dreadfully wrong!’

 

His heart soared when he saw that someone was in the cave, identifying quickly Cassandra and Jason. 

 

‘Ohh thank god, Miss Cassandra!’

The butler was so shocked and afraid that he didn’t immediately identify what the two were doing. “Miss Cassandra!” he shouted, getting closer to the medical bay. “Master Jason! Lady Shiva is in the manor! She-sh-”

He stopped dead in his tracks.

For two reasons.

One being that he’d just alerted the woman’s daughter to her presence…when she was most definitely not there for a fight…at least at the moment. It only dawned on Alfred at the moment that informing her while Shiva and Bruce were doing THAT was most certainly not the best idea.

The second reason?

He was now fully aware of what they were doing, and got the second surprise of the night.

“B…BLOODY HELL!”

The two vigilantes were only just pulling away from one another, though Jason did it faster. Not fast enough to hide what they were doing. Especially not with his hand still latched onto her ass cheek.

Cassandra was calmer, more collected, but still surprised as she turned to face the butler.

 

“Alfred”.

 

‘We agreed to tell them’.

“Don’t be upset. Jason and I are dating”.

It came out so fluidly, so easily that it almost felt like a physical punch into the aged butler’s gut, the woman’s excitement over being able to tell someone, anyone in their family outside of Stephanie, pushing her past the point of thinking how Alfred would react.

“I…Alfred uh…shit…yeah! Yeah, screw it! Out in the open now! Just like that then!”

 

‘I agreed to tell everyone but…NOT LIKE THAT!’

 

“I…thi-this…well…”

Alfred was absolutely tongue tied, the old man having thought that he’d seen everything. ‘Decades of service for her majesty and the Waynes, FOR BATMAN!!! And I still have not seen everything’. He couldn’t believe it. He was so shocked that he didn’t know what to feel, think, or say at the moment.

But Cassandra?

She did.

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Alfred, though she clearly wasn’t angry with the man. “My mother”. Her fists clenched. “She is here”. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Cassandra was ready for war. 

“I…I didn’t say…I…I did…but Miss Cassandra” the butler says, stepping forward diplomatically. “Perhaps now is not the best time to-”. His words fell on deaf ears, and a black shape darted past him, heading towards the stairs. Alfred tried to leap after her, prevent her from going, but she was far too fast.

“Miss Cain, no!”

“Alfred, what the hell’s going on? Lady Shiva’s here?” Jason asks, jumping off the gurney as the butler turns and looks at him, the fear present and evident on his face. He lunges towards the wounded vigilante, grabbing his uninjured upper arm.

“We must go! We have to stop her!” he shouts, desperation seeping into his voice. He didn’t even have time to ask if Jason was okay…or to begin chewing into him. Something that Jason was grateful for.

 

‘Ohh it’s coming, don’t trick yourself’.

His training kicked in though, and soon enough he was running, chasing after Cassandra with Alfred at his side. “We have to prevent her from getting to Master Bruce’s room!” the butler shouts.

“What? Why? Is she fighting him in his room?”

“Ohh if only it were that bloody simple!!!!!” he answers back, anger seeping into his voice now. “IF ONLY ANYTHING IN OUR LIVES WERE THAT BLOODY SIMPLE!!! Whatever is happening, whatever we do, Miss Cassandra must not reach that room! For her own sake!”

 

It was a race against time now.

One Jason knew that they’d lose, but wasn’t aware of the consequences yet. 

 

‘Shit. What the fuck is going on that he didn’t even say anything about me and Cass?’

 

It was serious. It had to be.

 

Wayne Manor

 

“Urrrggh!”

 

“It’s coming, isn’t it?”

Her voice travelled up to his ears from below, the woman having released his testicle from her mouth, a loud, wet pop emanating throughout the room as she did so. She’d been sucking on his shaft and sack for two minutes, having insisted that she couldn’t take any more penetration.

 

And she seemed like she was telling the truth.

She was a shaking, quivering mess, her pussy red from the constant, harsh impacts of Bruce’s member. He was about to ignore her, keep plunging into her depths and make her suffer another orgasm when she removed him from herself and got off the bed.

She knelt down at the foot, and invited him to stand before her. 

 

That’s how she wanted to end this.

He raised and lowered on the heels of his feet, the woman expertly working his shaft, desperate to get his own climax out, the visible proof that she was able to please him as much as he pleased her. It wouldn’t be long either. He could feel it, and even Batman’s training could no longer stave it off.

She wasn’t using her mouth, not anymore, and much to his chagrin she released her hold on his cock. 

 

“Do it” she orders, bringing her hands to her thighs, pushing her arms against the side of her breasts as she arches her back, allowing him to lay eyes not only upon her emphasized tits, but also her ass. “Masturbate for me. Make yourself cum”.

Instantly his hand was on his cock, pistoning up and down it, jerking off right in front of the woman who was practically eye level with it, watching as his movements pulled the foreskin forward and then back. 

 

“Mmmm…yesss, such a delightful sight” she coos out, her voice practically a purr as she bites her lip and gets closer…putting her face right in the line of fire. She makes eye contact with the man, looking up in the most submissive position a woman could assume for a man.

 

“I see how it throbs. It’s starting to become painful, isn’t it?” she teases. “It is okay. I give you permission. Cum, Wayne. Cum all over my face. Cum on me, like I’m a slut. Shoot that warm…tasty seed all over my-”

“GAAAAAAH!”

Bruce’s back crunched as his entire body shook, the aphrodisiac coursing through his vein only making his orgasm more intense. Shiva wasn’t able to finish her sentence before the first spurt of cum erupted from his cock, a thick, manly smelling rope instantly landing upon her face, making a line from her cheek across her eye socket. She quickly closed her eye, wishing to avoid getting the life-giving substance in her eye. It was hard to impress Lady Shiva.

But Bruce Wayne?

He impressed her alright.

“Wayne! You brute!”

Another spurt, this time across the middle of her face, the man swaying on his feet as his balls emptied further, his hand stuck on the end of his cock, angling it so it was pointed directly at the woman. She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, prepared for the third that she knew was coming. It came, and landed on her tongue, though the rest of it continued across her lips and her opposite cheek.

“Urrrrgggh! Urrrgh!”

 

‘Wayne…mmmmffff…’

Instantly her senses were overwhelmed by his cum, and if it wasn’t for the number of orgasms she’d already experienced she might’ve cum again, right then and there. David Cain had insisted on her giving him a blowjob, but she hadn’t enjoyed it. Nor the taste.

 

‘I never even knew it could taste different’ she thinks idly, feeling the warmth of his seed upon her flesh, smelling the unique, masculine scent, and tasting salty, virile cum.

“Gaaah!”

 

Bruce gasped and released his cock, a final, weaker spurt coming from his tip as he releases his cock, no doubt having reached the point of sensitivity where pleasure turned to pain. He kept breathing heavily, looking down at his handiwork, seeing the cum that he’d painted Shiva’s face with starting to run down, the gooey white substance seemingly everywhere. 

 

And Sandra? She brought her tongue into her mouth, smiling like the cat that ate the canary, savoring his taste as she swished her tongue this way and that, tasting the cum he’d deposited in her mouth.

She drew herself up, kneeling straighter, bringing her hands up to the side of her breasts and allowing Bruce to see them just as a droplet of cum dripped down from her chin, where his last spurt had landed, and landed on her tit.

“Mmmm”.

She made a show of swallowing, as if to communicate to the man that she was willingly taking his essence into her. She opens her mouth, showcasing the fact that it was empty right after, while Bruce, unable to stand any longer, falls back onto his bed, his softening cock still dripping remnants of his cum. 

 

‘What did I just do?’

 

“Your semen is…more than acceptable Wayne” the woman assassin compliments, bringing one of her hands to her tit to scoop up the cum that had landed there before she brought it to her mouth, sucking it off the digit. “We shall be doing more of thi-”

BLAM!

The door to his bedroom shoots open, coming off of the hinges and landing on the floor a few feet away. He jumps up, ready to fight, but Shiva? She remained where she was, smiling evilly as she turns, slowly, to face the intruder.

“Bruce! My mother is-”

Cassandra stops right at the door, her eyes wide as she takes in everything there was to see in an instant, the information going to her brain, but the organ unable to process it. Bruce was instantly brought out of his post-orgasm stupor though, and brought his hand over his crotch, hiding his member.

“Cassandra…”

 

He was wide eyed and petrified, unable to think of anything to say to the woman he’d raised like a daughter…and who’d just walked in on the aftermath of him coating her mother’s face with his cum. More footsteps could be heard from the hallway, two people running.

“Cass! Cass stop!”

“Miss Cassandra you must-!”

Two men skid into view, stopping behind the woman who was taking up the middle of the now open entryway, still clad in her batsuit as her mother continued to smirk at her, making no effort to cover up the fact of what had just been done. This…this was Shiva’s plan. Jason and Alfred both saw now, and were as frozen as Cassandra was.

“HOLY SHIT! BRUCE!!!” Jason shouts, recovering the quickest while Alfred? He begins to fall backwards, and before long a thud could be heard on the floor. The impossible had been done. Alfred Pennyworth had finally seen too much and fainted. In other situations, perhaps the others would’ve been able to respond.

 

But not then. 

 

“It seems your father and I have reached an accord, dear daughter” Shiva teases, Cassandra seemingly frozen in time save for a single twitch forming at the corner of her right eye. “Ohh do not be angry, Cassandra”.

“C-Cass…I…I think you should…get out of this room. Now. Like…right now” Jason says, starting to reach forward for her shoulder. But Cassandra Cain wouldn’t be doing that. Not tonight.

“After all, we are both adults. Me especially…and you have no say”.

There it was.

The blade right into her heart, her own words thrown back at her, wielded like a weapon. ‘Let us see how you feel about that sentiment now’ Shiva thinks, beyond proud of herself for the blow she’d been able to strike…literally and figuratively. 

 

As Bruce sat on the bed, head in hand, and Alfred lay passed out on the floor, Jason reaching for an almost catatonic Cassandra, whose only movement was an ever increasingly blinking eye, Lady Shiva proved without a shadow of a doubt tonight, that she truly was an apex predator. 

 

You didn’t need to beat someone into the ground to get their submission. 

 

No.

 

Sometimes it was about knowing where to strike. 

Chapter 9

Notes:

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out. Honestly I'm not doing well right now and I've been forcing myself to write. I hope it's still good.

Wayne Manor, Kitchen, The Next Morning

 

Creeeeak!

No matter how new or old a house was, there would be forever one constant. Creaky hinges and doors, and in the kitchen of Wayne Manor, the cabinets were no exception. This kitchen had served the Wayne Family for generations, centuries at this point. Even when the Waynes themselves didn’t eat within its walls, when the only ones allowed entry were servants, it served the needs of their pallets and stomachs at practically any hour of the day.

It had, of course, been remodeled, the ancient wood floors replaced by marble imported directly from Italy. 

The small benches that lined the walls that were utilized for cutting up only the choicest cuts of meat and the freshest of vegetables had been removed, stored in the attic. 

 

Only the large stove built into the wall with an attendant chimney, its aged brick visible at certain portions where the plaster had fallen away, and had been left visible for aesthetic reasons, remained from the original construction, a reminder of years past.

 

Well, that and the cabinets that lined the upper portions of the walls above the counter that housed all the modern amenities and tools such as a can opener, juicer, microwave and blender, all top of the line of course.

General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne, who was a distant uncle of Bruce’s and who lived in these storied halls when he wasn’t on campaign, had them crafted from the gun carriages of British guns abandoned in the pell mell retreat of the Fourth Regiment of Foot from Gotham.

 

He’d laughed uproariously as they were installed, watching the craftsmen work ever so diligently while his brother, Nathaniel Wayne and his new wife, Margaret, looked on. It was a ‘wedding present’ the continental army general had said, and what a present indeed.

 

But the last thing on Alfred Pennyworth’s mind that morning was history, let alone history that didn’t quite look so good for his native nation’s pride.

 

The butler stood on his tip toes, looking into the confines of the cabinet, his gloved hand holding the door open while his other reached inwards, grabbing something. Jason Todd and Cassandra Cain quickly saw that it was a container of cinnamon. 

 

THUNK!

The cabinet door was closed as quickly as it had opened, the locking mechanism trigger to ensure that it remained shut when it wasn’t in use, and the butler turned away from the counter, container of cinnamon still in hand.

 

He looked like he did almost every morning. Perfectly put together, dressed, and ready to attend to any of the needs of the large, and extended, crime fighting family. Cufflinks. Vest. Dress shoes. All of it.

The only thing off was the white cloth wrapped around the uppermost portion of his head, wrapping around and tied tightly at the front, ensuring that it remained where it was. 

 

‘I hope it’s better this morning than it was last night’. 

That was all Jason could think as he sat at the island that had been installed in the middle of the kitchen, his broken arm still in a sling, his own body covered in numerous bandages and markings of treated injury. He couldn’t meet Alfred’s eyes, not right then. 

 

But neither could Cassandra who sat next to him, her eyes cast down at the tabletop with her hands folded out before her. She was as still as a rock, saying nothing, doing nothing. For a moment it almost seemed as if she wasn’t even breathing.

But Jason knew better.

She was in shock. After last night? They all were, and sleep, as fitful as it was, hadn’t done much to help any of them, or at least the three in this room. While Alfred was, despite his injury, perfectly dressed and put together, Jason and Cassandra were the polar opposite. Both wore T-shirts and pajama pants. Oddly enough both shirts belonged to Jason.

Cassandra had insisted that wearing an article of his clothing would help her relax. He didn’t understand it but it wasn’t like he was going to tell her no. 

 

‘What a mess. What an absolute fucking mess. I knew it’d end like this…okay, Shiva screwing Bruce as revenge? I didn’t see that coming’ the second Robin admits to himself, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat, just…knowing that Alfred was looking at him.

Indeed the butler was.

His eyes were affixed to the two seated at the table, though if either one of them would look at the man closer they’d see that his gaze was filled with none of the anger or disappointment they expected to see there.

 

Instead?

The butler just looked shocked.

 

If they hadn’t already taken him down to the Bat cave the night before and ensured that he didn’t have a concussion, that might’ve been a logical conclusion to be made. However, he was fine…save for the large welt that formed on the back of his head from where his skull made contact with the wood of the second story hallway. Right outside of Bruce’s door…

 

After he’d…

 

Well…after he’d done something no employee should see their employer doing, or their in all but law adopted son, doing to a woman that he should have never been in such…proximity with in the first place.

 

“Miss Cassandra?”

The young Asian woman’s head snaps upwards as her name is called, her expression much akin to a child who’d been caught doing something wrong, and was now afraid of punishment. She locked onto Alfred who remained where he was standing, still holding the can of cinnamon. He raises it, his expression unchanging. 

It was like he was a robot, simply going through the motions. 

 

‘Grow up!’ he thinks, trying to snap himself out of his stupor. ‘You are no stranger to carnality! You were young once yourself. You engaged in…umm…many of those activities with women. And aside from that you have caught Master Bruce locked in a passionate embrace bef-’

 

He pauses, suppressing the urge to vomit at the moment.

 

Yes, he had caught Master Bruce in bed with many women. It was, after all, the lot of a servant to know much more than he wished to about the private life of his employer. However, in all those times past the unwelcomed glances he’d got were stymied by blankets and embarrassment. 

 

Last night had been…somewhat different.

 

‘Ohh good lord…I…I must contact Doctor Tompkins. I…I may need therapy’.

 

It was impossible to believe, but watching Bruce shoot a load of semen across Lady Shiva’s face had broken Alfred in ways that seeing him come back almost bitten in half by the likes of Killer Croc had not.

 

“A-Alfred”.

 

“Huh?”

He snapped out of it at hearing his name, turning back onto Cassandra who had herself, in her worry, faltered. “Y-you called my name”.

 

“Ohh…yes, I did. I…I wished to inquire if you would like your signature cinnamon-banana pancakes this morning” the butler asks, holding up the cinnamon a bit higher as if to showcase exactly what he was referencing. ‘Focus on your work old chap. Focus on your work’.

 

“Alfred, you really don’t have to do-,”

“And you, Master Jason” the man says quickly, cutting the younger man off. He appreciated the sentiment he knew was about to be voiced. For him to sit down, relax. Not worry. Well he would not, not now, not ever, sit down, relax or not worry. ‘Especially not now when I must distract my mind from-’

The memory flashed across his brain again and he winced, trying to turn away but failing. He still saw it. Master Bruce’s seed coating the smiling and all too eager face of one of his greatest foes. 

 

He suddenly remembered that everyone in the room had seen the same thing.

 

‘Ohh Miss Cassandra…what I would have done to spare you from…that’.

 

“Your usual as well, sir? Sausage and hashbrowns? Served with eggs over easy?”

Jason understood, and so did Cassie, both picking up on far more than they were ever really given credit for. ‘He wants to keep busy…I wish I could too. Damn…’

 

“Sure, Alfred. Thank you”.

 

“Very good sir and madam”.

Just like that Alfred moves off, heading towards the fridge to retrieve whatever else he would need to summon them up a meal. The refrigerator door opens and he reaches in, retrieving the milk, butter and then the frozen sausage patties from the lower drawers where the cold was greater.

 

‘Now to retrieve the eggs, bananas and-’

“Alfred”.

There was an urgency in Jason’s voice as he stepped off of the stool and onto the floor, the legs of the piece of furniture scraping against the tile. Instantly the butler turned in worry at the sound of Jason’s voice.

 

The young man seemed nervous, guilty almost, and Alfred turned to face him, tilting his head slightly to the side as Cassandra rose herself, standing at Jason’s side.

“About…last night…you know….before what we saw upstairs…down in the cave…”

Again, flashes of the coitus that Bruce and Shiva had engaged in with one another flashed into Alfred’s mind, and the man almost vomited as he, once again, was forced to relive that moment. “Master Jason, please” he says quickly, recovering just in time. “It is…already ingrained into my mind for the foreseeable future. I do not wish to discuss it any further”.

 

“Yeah…I get it” the younger man says while casting a quick, furtive glance towards Cassie, wanting to make sure that she was alright. Her expression gave away little, but it was clear to him that she too was worried.

 

Disappointing Alfred?

That was far, far worse than angering him in both of their minds.

 

“We…we didn’t mean for you to see. We wanted to tell you…okay, maybe I didn’t want to say anything but it wasn’t supposed to be more than what it was, it just…” 

 

He pauses, lingering as he turns his head to look at Cassie, unable to stop the little smile that crosses his lips at the sight of her.

 

She fought to return that smile, though the stoic Asian woman found it harder to achieve in that moment.

She really was dealing with a lot.

 

Slowly Jason snakes his hand down to the side, reaching out gently for her own, taking it in his grasp. She seemed startled for a moment, but responded in turn, repositioning her own fingers so as to slide into his grasp as well.

They were holding hands now, and Cassandra found herself, at least momentarily, distracted enough to think of anything other than her mother…kneeling before Bruce.

The Asian woman’s eyebrow twitched and she quickly brought her hand not currently engaged in holding Jason’s up to brush a few loose strands of her dark hair out of her eyes. 

 

“It…turned into more”.

“Master Jason, Miss Cassandra” the butler begins, closing the refrigerator after retrieving what he needed and placing the items on the counter. There was a…hardness to his tone, almost like a warning, and when the butler turned his arms were crossed over his chest and he looked stern.

 

‘Been a while since I got that look’.

 

He cast his eyes back and forth over the two, the newly revealed couple.

 

“You are speaking of the embrace I captured the both of you in last night within the batcave, are you not?” He knew that they were but he was making sure that they were going to be truthful with him.

 

“Yes” Cassandra replies simply.

“Indeed. Yes. That was quite…unexpected”.

His gaze didn’t soften, nor did he stop looking back and forth between the both of them, looking deeply into each of their eyes as if he could extract some hidden truth from looks alone. Jason felt the beads of sweat break out upon his forehead, and even Cassandra, normally so unbothered, looked like a fish out of water.

 

‘Please do not be angry with us Alfred’.

She would’ve openly pleaded for such a thing if she’d thought it would get them anywhere. Seconds turned into a minute of unrelenting, ominous silence in which Alfred gave away precious little even to the woman gifted in the art of reading body language.

 

But then?

He smiled, and his entire mood seemed to change.

“Might I inquire how long this has been kept secret?”

The couple was surprised, and quickly looked at one another as if they needed to get their stories straight. But it was clear they wouldn’t be able to keep the butler waiting for long. “Maybe a month or so? A little more, a little less”.

“Yes” Cassie quickly concurs as she locks onto Alfred, feeling emboldened a bit more by the man’s seeming softening towards them. “I initiated”.

 

“Hahahaha!”

 

Alfred surprises them yet again as he throws his head back and laughs before wincing and bringing his hand to the welt at the back of his head, doubling over a bit. “Bloody hell that hurts” he says under his breath before blushing, remembering that he was standing before two members of his family that he was meant to be a role model to.

 

He straightens himself out and recovers, but the smile doesn’t leave his face.

“That does not surprise me at all Miss Cassandra. I had always assumed that when you were…ready for forays of the romantic variety that you would be insistent upon being the one to make the object of your affections aware first”.

The Asian girl said nothing, but she did start to blush a bit, though to her credit she didn’t turn away from Alfred.

The butler quickly locks onto Jason after that, causing the second Robin to go ramrod straight as if he was on parade at some sort of military inspection. “And while I admit I am a bit surprised at who it turns out is the recipient of said affections, you will not find me against them at all”.

 

His smile seemed to only get larger, wider somehow.

“As a matter of fact? I find myself quite…happy that you two are romantically linked”.

“You…what?”

Jason found himself in a state of shock at hearing those words exit the butler’s mouth, and the same sort of expression was mirrored on Cassandra’s face. After all of Jason’s worries and concerns, at least when it came to Alfred, she had herself begun to believe them.

 

Only to now find that the opposite seemed to be true.

 

“Yes. Haha”.

Alfred laughed as he nodded his head to support his original statement. 

 

“I must admit, at first? I was beyond puzzled when I saw you two in the cave but, and this may well be because of other…extenuating circumstances within the manor at the moment, I quickly came to realize that it was the best possible outcome”.

He turns, heading back towards the counter as he continues to speak, working on assembling the couple’s breakfast order.

 

“For years, Master Jason, I was worried about you”.

“I can handle myself Alfred”.

“Of course” the butler agrees, taking a pan off of the wall and quickly moving to place it atop the stove, which bursts into life with the turning of a knob. “In the field. Against the hardened criminals of Gotham City and the world at large I do not doubt your abilities whatsoever. It is in matters of the heart that I grew…concerned”.

HSSSSSSS!

Butter was dropped into the pain so quickly by the older man who’d become so practiced at this that it was practically second nature, and was quickly followed up by an egg being brought down onto the side of the metal surface.

CRRRRK!

The gooey contents of the white, oblong shape slid into the pan, and instantly began to sizzle.

“Jason was worried that you and the others would be angry” Cassie supplies, needing to continue the conversation. ‘He has more to say’. 

 

“Me? Oh heavens no, no. Not at all. As I was saying I have always worried about the men of this little family and their choices in…well…partner I suppose would be the best world” the butler grimaces, throwing a hand towel over his shoulder as he moves off to grab another pan, also taking up the pancake mix and milk.

All of it was deposited atop the counter near the stove, ready for use.

 

“Master Bruce certainly does not set the best example for what should be sought after in a woman. As last night shows very, very clearly…my apologies Miss Cassandra”. He adds that after thought as an aside, peering back over his shoulder at the woman. He was speaking about her mother after all.

 

“No. You’re right”.

Gently Cassandra takes Jason’s arm and leads him back towards the table, clearly wanting him to sit down. He took the hint, and was quickly back on the stool he’d vacated while Cassandra did the same.

 

“My mother is a terrible choice”.

 

“That is not to say that she isn’t quite beautiful,” Alfred says, quickly juggling eight different things at once seamlessly, cooking up, as usual, the perfect breakfast. “But…I digress. Selina Kyle, Jezebel Jet, Miss Ghul…even Miss Quinzel...it seems he has a…type, and dare I say that type is not good for him”.

The pancake mix was being deposited into a bowl right alongside the butter, eggs and milk. Alfred takes the bowl into the crook of his arm and begins to whisk it.

“More than any of the others I was worried that Master Jason had gotten his taste in women from Master Bruce”.

 

“I…I’m definitely not that bad” the man tries to defend himself, though Alfred turns, bowls still in his clutches, and raises a singular eyebrow while looking at the man. “Essence. Ravager. Those are two of the four women you’ve been romantically linked to, and each one was, and continues to be, a criminal”.

 

“Okay well…fifty percent is still waaaaay better than Bruce’s. But that…that doesn’t matter here, does it?”.

 

“No, perhaps not” Alfred consoles, understanding the man’s emotions at the moment as he becomes aware of the fact that the mixture was ready, and begins to deposit it into the pan, the bottom already buttered so as to allow the mixture to not stick to the bottom. “What matters is what is the best for you two, and I do believe, after deep thinking on the matter, that you are good choices of romantic partners for one another”.

 

He finishes pouring the pancake mix into the pan, and quickly sets about adding the cinnamon, wanting the spice to seep in, just how Cassandra liked it.

 

“Master Jason? You are, despite your harsh outer shell, understanding and empathetic. And perhaps you have the ability to be patient as well. These are qualities that Miss Cassandra shall need from a man”.

The Asian woman looked towards Alfred.

 

“He has been all of those things to me and more. An excellent teacher”.

 

‘Yeah, just don’t tell him WHAT I’ve been teaching you’.

 

He felt fear grip his heart as he knew that Cassie had a habit of being a bit too open with what was on her mind sometimes. And now that the cat was out of the bag so to speak about their relationship, or at least would be fully soon, she might just take that as permission to spill every bean they had.

 

“And Miss Cassandra has many qualities that would keep you grounded as well. For one? She is resolute, stout. She does not waver from the path she feels is just while…well…Master Jason to be perfectly honest? You take shortcuts”.

 

“Guilty as charged”.

 

He wasn’t even going to fight that accusation.

 

“And are often gloomy”.

 

“I…yeah…yeah, that’s fair”.

 

“I believe that Miss Cassandra’s…I won’t say naivete but, perhaps newness to the realm of romantic feelings will break you of some of that jaded attitude you carry with you”. He finished cooking, and was now in the process of preparing their plates.

Cassandra’s pancakes with bananas and cinnamon slid into one, while Jason’s eggs, sausage and hashbrowns, which he’d juggled the cooking of with his usual aplomb, went into the other

He turned back towards the table, and set the plates down before the two, still smiling, happy despite everything that had happened last night. 

Cassandra looks at the plate slid before her for a moment though it was clear from her expression that she was thinking of something else. Alfred patiently waited by the table to hear what it was that he knew she had to say.

When she looked up she locked eyes with Alfred, remaining fixed on the older man that she looked at as a grandfather.

 

“Jason makes me very happy”.

 

“I’m glad to hear that Miss Cassandra. I believe that he shall continue to do so” the butler replies. Conversation between the two of them had always been simple. Quick, to the point, and honest to a fault. “I wanted to experience it. Dating and being with a man. Barbara and Stephanie always-,”

“Cass? We really don’t need to share everything, okay?”

“I am not” the woman defends without raising her tone. “I am just saying that they were always talking about sex and-,”

“Cass!”

Jason was breathing heavily now, and the reason why became very clear as Alfred’s smile fell ever so slightly. ‘He doesn’t want to hear about that’ the younger vigilante thinks to herself, quickly reading the discomfort that splayed out over Alfred’s body like a blanket. The butler brought his balled up fist to his mouth and coughed.

 

“Yes, well…I must commend you on that as well. It is not often that anything escapes my notice in these halls, so the fact that you two were able to hide this…relationship of yours, is a further credit to your couth. Please, continue to do so”.

 

“I want us to share a room”.

Jason had been about to bring a sausage into his mouth when Cassandra said that, and was stopped instantly when he heard those words. 

 

“Woah…uhh…well…”. Even Alfred seemed a bit taken aback.

 

But Cassandra?

Nonplussed as usual.

 

“It isn’t a secret anymore Jason” she says quickly, wanting to make her reasoning clear to the man. “We don’t need to hide our relationship any longer”.

“Yeah but…still…sharing a room? That’s a big step you know?”.

 

It was crazy really. To be having this conversation right in the midst of everything that was going on. ‘Shiva’s still upstairs! Probably still naked…IN BRUCE’S BED!!! DID WE ALL FORGET THAT FACT??!!’

 

“I must concur with Master Jason on this Miss Cassandra. I am not sure that-,”

“We’ve already shared a bed many times,” the woman calmly retorted. “It would be no different than that we would do so when we are making love and when we are not making love. I have more than enough room to share”.

She was digging in on this, that much Jason could feel, and he already got the feeling that he was going to lose this battle. 

 

“Barbara and Dick were able to share a room when they were together”.

“And that was much against Master Bruce’s wishes and I very much doubt that he would be amenable to you doing the same with-,”

 

“We will be sharing a room now”.

It was rare, very rare, that Cassie dug in like that. Especially with Alfred. But apparently now? This morning? That was one of those rare moments that she’d be willing to do that. Both men were silent, though it wasn’t only because of what Cassandra had said.

Someone had entered the kitchen, and instantly drawn all eyes to her.

 

“Good morning”.

She strolled in so easily, as if she was here enough to be comfortable. From her appearance that morning? You’d definitely think so.

Lady Shiva, one of the most feared women in the world, a woman who had gone toe to toe with the very best and come out on top, was wearing Bruce’s Wayne’s bathrobe and, if either of them had to guess, nothing else.

It was large on her, covering her entire body, hanging loosely on her shoulders, and only kept on by the fact that she’d tied it tightly about her waist with the sash. Her long, dark tresses were mussed up, and her overall demeanor was strangely jovial.

Cassandra went as firm as a board, unmoving as she glared at her mother from the table, her eyes locked on like a homing beacon.

Alfred and Jason?

Well…they were more wary than anything else.

 

‘Ohh shit…oh shit…shit…fuck…’

 

That was all that came to Jason’s mind as the assassin went to the fridge and opened it, thinking nothing of reaching in and grasping the container of orange juice. The next logical step for her to have taken would’ve been to get a glass, but the older woman smirked back at the trio and smiled.

“Good morning my beloved daughter. How did you sleep last night?” she asks, unscrewing the top of the container while standing before the still open fridge. “Was it well? I hope it was”. Cassandra said nothing, but the fact that her nostrils were flaring with the deep, intense breaths she was taking was proof enough. 

 

“Cass? Cassie? Don’t let her get to you” Jason says while gulping, afraid to take his eyes off of the woman who was a weapon in human form. 

 

‘And she damn well proved it last night’ he thinks back.

 

Alfred was also watching the woman closely, though in that moment it was for completely different reasons than normal, run of the mill fear. Lady Shiva was bringing the carton of orange juice up towards her lips.

 

“Miss Woosan! Let me get you a glas-”

It was too late. 

 

Her lips were now tightly wrapped around the opening of the orange juice bottle, her head tilted back to allow the orange, vitamin C rich liquid, into her mouth and down her throat. She seemed to be taking great pleasure in this act of defiance, of letting everyone in the room know that she’d do what she wanted, when she wanted.

 

Alfred deflated, his ire raised as he watched the woman drink straight from what was meant to be a communal drink. It only became worse when he remembered exactly where her mouth had been last night.

His hand goes to his face and he turns away, trying once more to get the memory out of his mind.

 

‘I shall just have to get a new carton then’.

 

“Glllp! Glllp! Glllp! Glllp! Ahhhh”.

Shiva brings the carton away from her mouth and smiles at her daughter and her boyfriend, bringing her hand up to use the back of it to wipe the remnants of the juice away from where it had coagulated upon her lips and chin.

 

“I must say that was exactly what I needed this morning”.

She closes the fridge door after replacing the orange juice and turns to Alfred, her smile softening just a bit.

 

“Pennyworth, is it?”

Alfred doesn’t turn around to face the woman who’d spoken to him, still unable to look at her without seeing her face coated in semen. “Yes, Miss Woosan. That is correct…” he answers on instinct. “Alfred Pennyworth at your service”. It was instinct to say that, but he didn’t say it eagerly or happily. Not this time. 

 

“Good. I shall have eggs and bacon please. Perhaps a cup of coffee. I need to replenish the energy I expended last night”.

She cast a side eye towards Cassandra, who was breathing heavily now.

Very heavily.

 

Her fork was clutched tightly in her hand, so tightly that her entire arm was beginning to shake, a fact that Jason instantly took notice of. “Umm…let me just…”. He reaches forward, and closes his fingers around the end of the fork, gently trying to extricate it from Cassie’s grasp. When he first tugged it there was no give, the Asian woman holding onto it very, very tightly.

 

“Cass…not in the kitchen” he whispers.

 

That seemed to be enough, and Cassandra relents, releasing her hold on the utensil while Shiva raises a single eyebrow, still watching her own daughter with that infuriating smirk of hers. The fork slides through the younger woman’s hand, and both Alfred and Jason heave a sigh of relief.

“There we go”.

 

He puts the fork down on the table, and tries to think of ways to deescalate the situation. ‘Great. The psycho bitch almost kills me last night and now I’m trying to save her from a possible beatdown. Great’.

 

“Is something wrong Cassandra? My dear daughter? Most beloved of all my accomplishments?”

The faux sweetness in Shiva’s voice was poisonous enough to kill, and Cassandra’s entire face seemed to twitch in response to it, her lips twisting into a scowl. At that moment it could definitely be seen that she was Shiva’s daughter. 

 

Sandra continued to smile at her innocently, her head tilted to the side.

“You are to leave…and never come back”.

“Daughter! How could you say such a cruel, hateful thing to me?”

Shiva responded as if she’d been struck, bringing her hand to her heart in a mimicry of offense. A gifted actress she was not, though it hadn’t been her intent to be one. She wanted to be over the top and sarcastic, something that drove the knife in deeper for her daughter.

She followed it up with proof of that fact by smiling. 

 

“Are you truly that upset by the fact that your father and I made love last night?”

Instantly Cassandra’s hands clutched at the sides of the table, squeezing hard just as she’d done with the fork. To her credit she maintained eye contact with her mother. “That. Was. Not. Love” she intones, each word like the thrust of a knife.

 

“Perhaps you’re right, daughter. It was much more…primal than that”.

 

“Eww…”

Shiva instantly snapped her gaze onto Jason, and the younger man involuntarily flinched, still remembering what the woman had done to him the night before. ‘Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact’.

 

Shiva remained silent for a moment, her intensity growing with each passing second she spent glaring at Jason, as if willing him to turn back to face her. 

“As if the defiler of my daughter has any room to speak on what is or is not disgusting”.

“He did not defile me!”

 

Cassandra stands, roaring as she slams her palms down onto the table, throwing down the gauntlet so to speak. “Everything he has done to me, I have asked him to do. I enjoyed it. Every single second of it”.

“Good lord” Alfred gasps, bringing his hand up to his mouth as if he was about to vomit, causing the younger woman to remember his presence. Guilt overtakes her at that fact, and that fact alone, her mother’s falling face something of a boon at that moment however.

 

‘Alfred should not be subjected to this’.

 

“You are making the help sick with your crassness, Cassandra. But yes, I am quite sure that he was able to convince you that that is what you wished for” she says, moving off of the counter and heading towards the table, putting herself in reach of Cassandra.

It wasn’t the wisest course of action, but then again it would be hard to convince Lady Shiva that she had anything at all to fear regardless. 

 

“Hey, hey! I really didn’t do anything to-,”

 

“Be silent, lest you lose your tongue”.

“No, fuck that, and fuck you!” Jason says, standing up now to face off against the woman, leaving behind his fear as he puts himself between her and Cassie. His face was marred by rage, and even in the state he was in, that was something to be wary of. “When are you going to get it through your thick fucking skull that you don’t own her?”.

 

Shiva’s eyes narrowed into slits.

“Watch yourself Todd. You are dangerously close to wiping away what little respect I have for you”.

“Ohh, great, I’m about to get spoken down to by the deadbeat mother who took off to pursue a life of murder. Yeah, reaaaally needed your respect”. Cassandra rose herself, but oddly enough remained behind Jason, her eyes locked onto him in something akin to surprise and perhaps awe.

 

‘He is standing up for me’.

 

It was an easy enough concept to grasp of course. He’d done it before. Against numerous criminals and even against other members of the bat family at times when he felt the teasing had gone too far. He’d even taken a beating last night for her. 

 

She’d been attracted to that fact last night and remembered the feeling well. It was very close to what she was feeling right at that moment. 

 

‘He is standing up for me’.

 

She repeats the sentiment in her mind as her hand goes up to her chest, her heart beating rapidly within the confines of her ribs. Her face remained surprisingly stoic, given the situation, but the light blush could be seen by both Alfred and Shiva.

The former?

He smiled slightly at the realization of it.

 

‘Whatever transpired under our noses, I truly believe has the chance to perhaps be something quite…magical’ the butler thinks to himself. This was in direct contradiction to Shiva, who noted her daughter’s reaction to the man’s words.

 

But she was also smart enough to know it limited her options.

 

‘I cannot kill him. That will only make him a martyr in her eyes. Pathetic! My daughter, turned into a moonstruck little lamb…Todd…you have made a very grave mistake’.

 

“She requested that I do so” she defends, though even she found that weak.

 

“Pfft, really? And you listened? What kind of mother are you? What the fuck are you even doing here?” he demands further, moving side to side, his own anger bubbling over. “You come to back to Gotham after years of letting everyone else do your job for you. Spy on her. On us. Get pissed at what you see and then think you can dictate to her?”

“She is my daughter”.

“Like hell she is. Bruce goddamn Wayne raised her, not you. You didn’t do shit for her”.

“I gave her life. Skills. I-,”

“Wanted to turn her into a weapon. Into a clone of yourself. The last person, on this entire planet, who has any right to tell her shit about shit, is you”. He was getting himself amped up, and Cassandra finally responds, reaching out for his arm, gently laying her fingers upon it. The angrier he got, the calmer she got, and the more her focus shifted off of her mother and onto him.

 

“Jason, don’t-,”

“No, Cass. No. Needs to be said” he retorts, though much more calmly for Cassandra before turning back on Shiva and glaring. “Why do you keep trying to fuck up her life?”

“What?”

Shiva recoiled as if slapped, and this time it felt much more like a genuine reaction from her. Even Alfred was taken aback, though he quickly nodded in appreciation of what the man was saying. ‘Bloody good show Master Jason. Bloody good show’.

 

“She’s really coming into her own as Batgirl. You know that right? Ohh wait, no you don’t, because you don’t give a shit about what she accomplishes if YOU’RE not the one in charge of it. You didn’t wanna congratulate her for all she’s done. You just got pissed she was doing something you didn’t like. Being with me”.

 

“She is not yours to have, Todd” Shiva growls.

“That’s not up to you. That’s up to her. And honestly? I’m not letting you, Bruce, Alfred, sorry Alfred” he says quickly, casting a glance towards the butler in apology. Alfred simply raises his hand and waves him off. “No apology needed Master Todd. Please, do carry on”.

 

He does.

He most certainly does.

 

“The Justice League or anyone else, tell us what we can and can’t do. It’s up to Cassie. Not you. Hell, maybe you’re just pissed because this is the second time she’s made a big decision in her life without you. Shit, first time she’s made a decision without even Bruce’s input”.

“And what do you think he will do to you when he finds out you’ve been fucking his favorite?” she seethes snakelike, getting right up into Jason’s face as he did so. 

 

“I…okay…yeah…haven’t…really…thought that far ahead, and-,”

“Because even he knows it’s wrong”.

“Why did you sleep with him?” Cassandra demands, injecting herself into the conversation once again as Jason falters, his mind clouded with fear over exactly what Bruce would say when he found out what they’d been up to, clearly a tactic by Shiva to get him off her trail.

 

‘Oh God…Bruce. I’d almost forgotten about him. Shit…he’s going to kill me’.

The fact that Alfred had been seemingly okay with their relationship, even happy about it, didn’t mean that Bruce was going to act the same way. Meanwhile though, Cassandra took her turn at sparring with her mother. 

And Shiva leaned right into it.

 

“Why not? There has always been a certain…attraction between us”.

Shiva crosses her arms over her chest, staring down her daughter, happy to be on the offensive once again. “That’s a lie. He would never-,”

“Ahh, but he did, didn’t he? Last night, remember? Unfortunately you were made witness to just what your father wants to do with me. I’m sorry Cassandra. Truly. It is always a travesty when a little girl finds out exactly what her parents get up to”.

 

Shiva’s tone of voice told everyone in the room that she was anything but sorry.

 

“I am not a little girl” Cassandra seethes quietly, her hand clutching onto Jason, this time for comfort of herself rather than him. “And you will stop what you are doing with hi-,”

“Ohh Cassandra. Hahaha!”

Shiva throws her head back and laughs, moving her arms off of her chest as she heads towards the couple. Without even turning towards the man she reaches out and clutches Jason’s shoulder, shoving him away.

“Hey!”

 

She clearly wanted him away from Cassandra, and in his current state it was easily accomplished. He stumbles two or three feet away from his girlfriend, but remains where he was, glowering at the woman. Cassie herself made no moves…yet. But she was tense like a spring ready to be released.

 

“My dear, beloved Cassandra. My love life, and your father’s for that matter, are none of your business. We are both grown adults and…well….you have no say”.

There it was.

The coup de grace, the final barb. She’d effectively thrown Cassandra’s words from the night prior right back into her face, and the choice of words was not lost whatsoever upon the younger woman who goes wide eyed for a moment.

 

“You…you…that…that is completely different” Cassandra whispers, her own voice faltering slightly as she didn’t even believe in the words she was speaking. 

“Is it? How so?”

Shiva pretended to humor her daughter, raising her chin triumphantly all while reaching out to gently stroke her daughter’s cheek, mixing love and affection, or maybe her version of love and affection, with mockery and pride at her own victory.

“You are using him to hurt me” Cassandra accuses.

 

“Hurt you? Cassandra I am above such petty, ridiculous things as that” Shiva says, easily sidestepping the accusation and avoiding showing the hurt, albeit slight, she felt at her daughter’s words. ‘I am doing this for your own good Cassandra. One day you will thank me. Men come and go. You must learn this if you are to be truly great’.

Thus buoyed and assured of herself, the woman carries on. 

 

“I am seeking to instruct you. That is all”.

She brushes her thumb across her daughter’s cheek, going from right under her beautiful blue eye to right above her lip. She isn’t rebuffed, so she keeps doing it. “What is the saying? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander? And as for using him? I am, in so many pleasurable ways”.

She pushes Cassandra’s face away mockingly, still smiling wide as Cassie allows her head to be turned. 

 

“Besides. I think I’d like to stay for a while. Enjoy being with you a bit more. You missed out on that yes? It’s one of your major complaints about my style of mothering?” She turns slowly and looks towards Jason. “It will also allow me to watch Todd. You don’t mind that, do you Jason?”

“Fuck. You”.

 

Shiva smiles, but is cut off as Cassandra was glaring intently at her.

“Leave. This is your final warning, mother. Leave Gotham. Today. Or you will face the consequences”.

Her threat would’ve been ominous and more than threatening enough to send anyone rushing from the room. But to Sandra it was nothing more than idle chatter. Maybe part of her even looked forward to her trying to get her to leave.

“I see this is confusing for you. Perhaps uncomfortable. I will give you time to adjust to this changing of circumstances Cassandra. Understand that I am your mother, and shall be here for you to work through it”.

She grasps both sides of Cassandra’s face and leans in, pressing her lips to the stock still woman’s forehead, lingering there as she partakes in a very motherly action possibly for the first time ever. 

 

When she pulls back she remains where she was, looking down at her daughter with mockery dancing within her eyes. Cassandra was like a statue, her hands at her sides, balled up into shaking fists. “He won’t allow you to stay. He knows what you are. He’ll fight you”.

“Will he?”

Cassandra didn’t answer. She didn’t have one. 

 

‘Last night…what caused him to do that? He despises everything she stands for. Why would he do that with…her?’ It was disgusting beyond words and thoughts, and even though she herself loved engaging in such activities with Jason, it was something entirely different to think of Shiva and Bruce doing…that.

 

Sandra was still smiling wide.

 

“Alfred? I’ll take my meal upstairs. Undoubtedly so shall Wayne” she says, not even looking over her shoulder at the ever servile man. She sighed loudly, her nostrils constricting as she brought her hand to Sandra’s shoulder and patted it moving to the side. She leaned in, bringing her mouth to Cassandra’s ear as she remained still.

 

“I’m going to go fuck your father”.

 

She said that drily, as if it was just a fact of life, and followed up by patting Cassandra’s shoulder again. Cassie’s lips curled in disgust and her eyes widened in shock while her mother released her and moved off, ensuring that she put a little extra swagger into the sway of her hips. She exited the kitchen, an evil smile seemingly permanently affixed to her face at the moment, though none of them saw it.

 

Jason and Alfred couldn’t help but let their eyes be drawn to the assassin’s backside, the perfect curvature of her rear end framed by the robe clinging to her body. Both blushed and looked away quickly, though for different reasons.

 

‘Decorum Pennyworth. Decorum’.

 

‘Damn! She’s an evil psychotic bitch but…I’m really happy Cass took after her…LOOKS WISE!! I mean…gaaaah! Fuck this shit!’

 

He was happy for the fact that Cassandra was near catatonic for the moment as she hadn’t seen him looking at what her mother so clearly wanted everyone to look at. It didn’t last long though, and he moves in, wanting to help his girlfriend…though how exactly? He wasn’t sure.

 

“Cass? Are you-?”

BLAM!

He hadn’t gotten an answer as Cassandra didn’t use her words to respond. Instead she brought her balled up fist to the side and slammed it down atop the marble countertop to her side, hard enough that the entire structure shook.

And yet she looked completely unaffected as she continued to look forward, her fist undoubtedly throbbing from the massive impact she’d forced it to suffer through. Jason and Alfred both jumped at first, but then quickly reacted.

“Miss Cassandra! Your hand!”

 

“Cass! Come on!”

 

Both men advanced on the woman whose eye began to twitch as she brought her fist up and down again atop the marble, sending plates and utensils jumping.

 

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

“CASS STOP!”

BLAM!

“MISS CASSANDRA! YOU WILL BREAK YOUR HAND!”

It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so terrifying. Cassandra’s eye was twitching even more as her mouth opened, her lips curling into a look of abject disgust, both Alfred and Jason fighting desperately against the machine like up and down movement of her arm atop the table.

 

“CASS! CASS!”

She couldn’t be reached at that moment. If she could’ve responded it might’ve been in that machine like voice you got when you called a number that wasn’t in use any longer. Lady Shiva hadn’t been able to beat her daughter on the field of battle. She was too strong for that. She always rose, and her family?

They only made her stronger.

Nor could she bend her to her will, as was evidenced by the existence of the man who she now claimed as her own. But Lady Shiva was a master of all kinds of warfare, and eventually? She would find where to strike her target at her weakest.

She’d done what nobody else was able to do.

She’d broken Cassandra Cain.

But the war wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. 

Chapter 10

Apartment of Stephanie Brown, The Bowery

 

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEP!

“Dammit I heard you! I’m coming! I’m coming!”

THUD!

“Ahhh! Fucker!”

Stephanie Brown recoiled, bringing her foot away from the edge of the wall that she’d just bumped her toe into, reaching down to grasp her foot as if that would be anything to calm the thrumming pain that was quickly making its way throughout her body.

 

‘Fucker! Mmmmmfffff!!!! Damn that hurt!’

She pursed her lips as she leaned against the very same wall that had done her such damage, her eyes clenched shut as tears welled up behind her eyelids. She grabbed her foot, still rubbing it, desperate for the pain to go away, or at least subside a bit. Apparently being a hardened vigilante didn’t exactly mean you didn’t have weaknesses.

Superman had kryptonite.

 

Green Lantern had the color yellow.

Wonder Woman her own lasso.

And Stephanie?

Apparently stubbing her toe came really close to putting her down for the count.

BEEEP! BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP!

Whoever was on the other side of the door didn’t know what had happened however, and they weren’t lightening up on the buzzer in the slightest. Whoever they were they were pressing it haphazardly and unevenly, causing the electrical, high pitched blasts that reached the disheveled blonde’s ears to be uneven.

 

‘I’m gonna kill whoever that is’.

Slowly she puts her foot back down, allowing the bare flesh to touch the carpet that lined the floor of the front entrance to her apartment. Her toe was still killing her, but it was manageable now.

 

‘My fault for not putting on my bunny slippers’ she thinks, shambling forth with her large pajama pant legs swaying back and forth like curtains in the wind.

BEEEP! BEEEEEP!

“I SAID I’M COMING! Jeeez!”.

 

She reaches the door, her mind already rushing with different possibilities for who it would be. She was sobered quite quickly by a few of them. ‘What if it's an emergency? Shit…but why wouldn’t they have…no. Our comms have been hacked, haven’t they? They know who we are! Shit! Shit! Shit! Who could it be? Riddler? Deathstroke? Penguin? Hell, maybe it’s Brainiac!’

She pauses at the door, her hand going out to the deadbolt as the buzzer still goes off, providing an annoying backdrop to an even more annoying wake up.

 

‘What if they’re outside right now?’

 

The thought was a sobering one. If one of the Bat Family’s greatest villains was directly on the other side of the door at that very moment there was precious little she’d be able to do in her bathrobe and pajama pants.

 

‘Ohh, and my stubbed toe!’ she seethes inwardly, feeling her adrenaline start to spike as she mentally prepared herself for a fight. ‘Alright Steph. Show time’ she thinks, moving her face towards the peephole, wanting to see who it was outside her door.

 

She expected quite a few different things.

In this line of work? You had to.

 

A green bowler hat. A half black, half orange mask. Even a sinister, evil looking smile. But what she got? Was something far more familiar.

BEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP!

The buzzer kept going, the unwelcome guest on the other side being none other than Stephanie’s own best friend, Cassandra Cain. She was standing right outside of her door, looking ahead with an utterly blank expression, her hand raised and her finger pressing forward, triggering the doorbell again and again.

 

“Cass?”

BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEE!”

 

The blonde reaches up for the deadbolt, disengaging it, wanting to open the door and speak to the woman, if only to stop that incessant sound which was really beginning to get on her nerves. “CASS I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T KNOCK THAT OFF-!!!”

She lets the threat fall away mainly because she didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t. There wasn’t exactly anything she could do to the woman, as had been established for a very, very long time.

 

She undoes the latch and the chain, finally reaching for the doorknob and twisting it.

“What? What? What? WHAAAAAT?!”

BEEEEP! BEEEEEP!

Cassandra apparently wasn’t immediately aware of the fact that Stephanie had opened the door, as she continued to press the buzzer three more times even after Stephanie had opened it. But at the shouts? She slowly turned her head, and locked onto Stephanie’s.

 

She dropped her hand away from the buzzer, finally freeing Stephanie from its torture.

“I need your help”.

The Asian woman marched forward, advancing right past Stephanie as if she wasn’t even there, moving into the apartment that she had been inside dozens, if not hundreds of times. Stephanie was left in her wake, standing at the door and looking out into the hallway, breathing heavily out of frustration.

 

“Come on in then I guess”.

THUD!

She slams the door shut, not afraid of any further noise after the utter cacophony caused by Cassandra. She turns, beginning to follow the most logical path that her best friend would’ve taken, heading towards the living room as she brings her hand to her face, trying to rub the all too lingering sleep that she’d been disturbed from out of her eyes.

 

She was careful this time, avoiding the wall that she’d stubbed her toe on. 

 

‘If you weren’t load bearing I’d tear you out’ she thinks to herself, venting her rage at the inanimate piece of construction. She remains at the precipice of the hallway and her living room, continuing to rub her face.

 

After a few seconds of this she removes her hand, and restores her sight, allowing her to take in her friend without the omnipresent and annoying sound of the buzzer. Stephanie’s living room wasn’t exactly the most neat and tidy of places. The couch was positioned in the middle of the room in front of a large flat screen television mounted to the wall.

Her laundry, which she could’ve swore she was supposed to put away yesterday, was strewn over the back of it, her jeans hanging over one of the cushions while a pair of panties were in danger of being swallowed up by the couch itself.

 

A pile of her clothes, she couldn’t remember if they were clean or dirty, were off to the side, and probably had been strewn over the whole couch before Cassandra, all too used to doing so, had pushed them entirely to one side.

 

There she sat now on one side of the couch, her back ramrod straight, her knees clutched together and her hands resting atop them. 

 

It took Stephanie a few more seconds to take in the fact that she was squeezing her own kneecaps, opening and closing her digits around them. She was looking ahead, her eyes wide, taking in everything and nothing all at once.

 

“Cass…did you…did you go out in that?” the blonde asks, looking towards her windows which looked out over the street, showcasing the blizzard that was overtaking Gotham that morning, and the fact that Cassandra was only wearing boots, sweat pants, and a coat thrown hastily over her shoulders.

“Yes”.

 

“Shit…you must be freezing”.

Stephanie instantly went into mother mode, awakening in an instant as she rushed towards the other side of the room where a dresser was, its drawers at odd angles and stuffed haphazardly with clothes. On top of it however, neatly folded and arranged in a stack, were blankets, the uppermost of which Stephanie seizes and yanks off of its perch.

 

She lets it unfurl like a flag, revealing the kitten that had been embroidered into the fabric as a design. 

 

‘At least it’s clean’ she thinks to herself, rushing towards the couch, wanting to throw it around the other woman and ensure she gets warm. Cassandra didn’t even flinch as the fabric fell around her, Stephanie fastening it around her neck tightly.

 

“It’s like ten below out there. Are you crazy? What the hell is going on? What’s the emergency?”

Now that the confusion had somewhat passed there were questions that needed to be asked and answered in turn. Stephanie backed away, standing up straight once more as she moved to the front of the couch, getting ready to sit down besides her best friend…except the clothing that Cass had moved was now an obstacle.

 

‘Shit…’

 

Her go to method was to push it to whatever side was open, but with Cass on the couch that wasn’t an option. ‘Eh. I’ll do another load of laundry. That’s alright’. She brings her hand to the back of the pile and scoops it onto the floor, the clothes tumbling into a pile atop the carpet, opening a space for her.

She sets herself down and turns her body to face Cass, her hand reaching out for her shoulder. 

“What’s-?”

 

“Why don’t you put your clothes away?”

“Can we focus on the important issue here? Alright? What the hell is going o-,”

 

“How do so many men spend so much time here?” Cass asks, looking around at the state of the apartment, taking in Stephanie’s rather…well…slobbish ways. The garbage can in the kitchen was close to spilling over, while the sink was filled with dishes. Clothes were everywhere and the table, which Cass had always tried to take her to task for.

“Tsk, bitch. They aren’t going to waste time looking around when they’ve got me to look at, ‘kay?”.

Stephanie tilts her head as she looks askance at the other woman, reaching out and grasping her chin and forcing her to look back at her instead of the apartment. Cass does as she wishes, and looks directly at her, Stephanie keeping her hand upon her chin.

“What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?” the blonde asks. “You didn’t come all this way in an almost blizzard to critique my cleaning-,”

“Lack of cleaning”.

“Shut. Up” Stepahanie says, growing more and more worried by the second which must’ve shown on her face as Cassandra suddenly seemed to grasp how worried she was. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Cassandra remains silent, unsure of what to say.

 

‘My mother is having intercourse with Bruce. I…I am not okay! None of this is okay!’

 

“I…I do not know”.

 

“Okay…alright” Stephanie consoles, nodding her head and removing her hand, taking a deep breath. She was more than used to moments like this, and recognized it for what it was. ‘Something’s got her overwhelmed. Something she hasn’t ever dealt with before’ she thinks to herself, knowing that when that happened Cassandra usually found that her limited vocabulary failed her. 

 

“Is it…is it something with Jason?” she asks, an eyebrow raised and skepticism lacing her words.

 

‘She doesn’t have like any relationship experience…it could be that but…I just…I don’t know, I don’t think he’d do something to get her like this, would he?’ If that was the case? She’d geld him. That was already a given in her mind.

 

Cassandra quickly shook her head back and forth like a child denying a crime they were accused of adamantly.

 

“No”.

“Alright, cool. I figured”.

Stephanie heaved a sigh of relief, bringing her hand to her forehead and nodding. “It’s waaaaaay too early for you guys to be having issues. You’re still supposed to be in the honeymoon phase”.

“Honeymoon phase? Stephanie…Jason has not asked me to marry him yet. We haven’t-,”

“It’s an expression” Stephanie explains quickly, cutting Cassandra off with a smile as she reaches for her hand which was poking out between the slight gap allowed in the blanket folded around her shoulders. “Means like…the relationship is still too new and you guys are all warm and giddy over each other to have fights and problems”.

“Ohh”.

Cassandra looked down, turning her face away from the other woman as she looked into her own lap. For a second Stephanie thought that she was sad, but the slight smile that crossed her features quickly disabused her of that notion.

Stephanie grimaced, but forced it into a smile, something that Cassandra took note of when she raised her head to look at her once more. 

“So uhh…still got those butterflies in your stomach over him, huh?”

“Do you mean the strange feeling in my stomach whenever I think about him?”

“Mmhmmmm”.

 

Cassandra’s smile gets a little wider, which for the usually so stoic, almost frigid woman, was really saying something. “Yes. I do. He makes me feel warm and very often arouse-,”

 

“Ehehehehe! Ummm…yeah…I get it…I do”.

 

The smile disappears from Cass’ face as concern for her friend overtakes her, and she squeezes her hand, trying to be comforting. “I am sorry. I keep forgetting how close you are to him, and that me speaking of our sexual relationship is uncomfortable for you”.

 

“No, no…okay? Don’t apologize. It’s…me, you know? A hangup I’m gonna have to get over myself” Stephanie says, taking a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling as she did so. “You should be able to talk to your best friend about sex…even if it’s with…him. I’m here for you. But again, this isn’t why you’re here, is it?”

“No”.

The mood plummeted once more, almost as icy as it was outside, and a harsh quality took over Cass’ eyes. She was building up the courage, or maybe it was just anger, she needed to tell Stephanie what was going on.

 

For Stephanie it was like watching a tea pot get hotter and hotter, ready to blow.

 

‘Uh ohh…’

 

She was beyond glad that she hadn’t passed out at the Clocktower last night and had taxi’d home. ‘Pfft, Babs isn’t great with helping her when she isn’t hungover and pissed’ the blonde thinks, a little angry in the moment at her redheaded friend. ‘She was fricking intolerable last night. Damn’.

 

Patience was what was needed when dealing with Cass. In spades. And Babs? She had none. 

 

“Okay…whoever it is, you’re pissed at them. Got it…uhh…squeeze my hand when I get to the right one, alright?”

Cass was breathing heavily, her lip quivering as her eye twitched, dead giveaways that she was at the absolute edge of what she could take. If she was anyone else? She would’ve started running by now. But she wasn’t anyone else. She was Stephanie Brown, a.k.a the Spoiler, and if there was anything she knew how to handle, it was Cassandra Cain.

 

“Okay…Alfred?”

Nothing. As expected. More a process of elimination than anything else. Cassandra just kept staring ahead at her, though through her was more accurate. ‘Seriously, who’d ever be mad at Alfred?’ Stephanie asks herself, almost laughing at the idea.

 

“Dick? Tim? Damian?”

Nothing. No response to each of the names being rattled off. She hadn’t expected any of them would be the culprits, Cass not really having all that much contact with any of them, but even still. ‘Now we’re close to figuring it out’.

 

“Sooooo…none of them. Okay…is it Bruce?”

For a second nothing happened, and Stephanie found herself confused. ‘That’s like everyone in the house. And Babs was with me all night, so who the hell could it-.’

A squeeze.

A very light one, as if Cassandra was nervous to let on that Bruce was involved in this somehow, though it also communicated to Stephanie, somehow, that whatever was going on, Bruce wasn’t the main issue. 

 

“Okay…okay…so it has to do with Bruce”.

 

“Yes” Cassandra gets out.

 

“Is he…okay?”

Another uncomfortable pause, the silence weighing down on the two women like a vice. Omnipresent and all encompassing. Cassandra’s eyes darted left to right as if she could find the answer there. “Physically yes”.

 

“Cryptic…and not reassuring”.

 

“I…I am not in a very reassuring mood right now”.

“Okay”.

Stephanie pauses, taking another deep breath, pursing her lips as she blows the air out of her mouth. “So he isn’t hurt…buuut something’s going on with him mentally right?”

A nod.

 

“Scarecrow fear toxin?”

A shake of the head. No. That wasn’t the answer.

“Doctor Strange?”

Again, no. 

 

‘Damn…those are like the two other things I could’ve come up with. Bruce have any other mind screwer-uper villains? Mad Hatter? Naaaaah, Bruce feeds that guy his hat whenever they fight. Still, I haven’t seen Cass even close to this since Bruce started dating Har-’

That was it. Stephanie wasn’t certain, but she had a strange feeling that whatever this was, it was somehow linked to Bruce’s romantic life. ‘Cass always acts weird when that happens, though…never this weird. And that’s saying something’.

 

“He got a new girlfrien-?”

“SHE’S NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!!!!”

With an explosion of energy Cassandra launches herself upwards into a standing position, the blanket somehow managing to remain upon her shoulder, but opening towards the front, showing her fists balled up, shaking with rage.

“SHE ISN’T! AND SHE WILL NEVER BE! SHE…SHE…SHE WON’T!!!”

“Woah! Woah! Cass! Calm down!”

 

Stephanie was scared. Actually scared, and it showed as she raised her hands, palms out towards the other woman as if to defend herself from a blow, her legs being pulled up onto the couch. She knew Cass would never hurt her, but even still.

 

“She…she…she’ll never leave me alone” the Asian woman pants, the blanket falling off of her shoulders completely this time, crumpling to the floor at her feet. “She won’t let me live my own life”.

Cassandra started pacing, her nostrils flaring like a caged animal desperate for an escape, or at least something to take out her rage upon. She found it at Stephanie’s desk, atop which was stacked numerous old college textbooks. In an explosion of energy she kicks her leg out and slams into them, sending the books scattering everywhere, and breaking a long unused lamp in the process.

“Hey! Easy on the demolition derby!” Stephanie shouts, rising to her feet as she glares at Cass, who quickly turns on her, eyes wide and nostrils still flaring, her lips set into a straight line across her mouth.

 

The look itself was enough to make Stephanie regret speaking up.

 

“Heh, you know what? Doesn’t matter. Place is a wreck anyways. Go nuts”.

The words that Cassandra had spoken reverberated within her brain, bouncing around and further awakening the gray matter that still been suffering from the early awakening. ‘Wait…she won’t let me live my own li-oh shit…’

 

“Y-your mom?”

Cassandra pauses at the question, having been in the midst of looking for something else to destroy in her rage, but not finding anything suitable, especially as she was trying to hold herself back from damaging too much of Stephanie’s things. She grunted, animalistically, and locked eyes with the blonde.

 

‘Yeah, it’s definitely her mom, but how does that link up with-?’

 

It was all starting to click together, the pieces starting to be pulled towards one another as if by magnets, all painting a horrifying picture. One that was so terrible to consider, so awful, that Stephanie refused to believe it.

 

“She knows. About Jason and I”.

 

“And…she’s…she’s pissed right?” Stephanie asks, starting to pace just as Cass had steadied herself, gaining some semblance of control once more it seemed, attempting to school her emotions into something akin to stoicism. She’d been so affected by everything though, so…Stephanie didn’t have the right words for it.

 

But whatever had brought Cass here had been so monumental that it almost broke the woman, a woman who had little experience in letting her emotions out even after all this time. 

 

“Yes” Cass answers quickly. “She tried to kill Jason”.

“Shit…he’s okay, right? I mean, you stopped her?”

“I did. He will recover”.

“Fucking bitch”.

“Yes”.

 

Cassandra was calming down more and more, and Stephanie had a feeling that she knew what was going on in her head. She was planning something, formulating a path forward, a strategy That was when she was her most dangerous. She could see ALL the angles, and knew where they’d end up. Contingencies and counter-contingencies. All of them running through her brain like a supercomputer.

 

“But…you said…something about…Bruce…too”.

 

‘Don’t. Don’t ask. Whatever it is, you don’t want to know’.

Cassandra flinched slightly, as if the reminder was too much for her, but to her credit kept her cool this time, remaining calm. “Yes. When she realized she wouldn’t be able to separate me from Jason, she found a way to strike back without her fists. I said that she had no say in my life. She didn’t like that”.

“Pfft, you think? A massive control freak psycho bitch like her? Dammit Cass, what did she do?!”

Now she was worried. Truly worried and it wasn’t helped by the look in Cass’ eyes as she turned to look at her. “She had sex with him”. There it was. Five words, so simple and discernible in meaning, and yet so utterly implausible as if to be ridiculous. 

 

‘Bruce…and Shiva?’

 

Stephanie’s brain had been thinking that’s what Cassandra was leading up to, but now that it was out there, with all its ridiculousness, she refused to believe it. A smile slowly split her lips, spreading until it was all encompassing across her features. “Hahahah…really? Really Cass? Hahahahahah!”

 

Cassandra clearly didn’t find it funny, and while her mouth didn’t move the straight line between her lips creased ever so little, becoming more and more severe, her eyes narrowing as she glared at her friend.

 

“Mass murderer Shiva? The woman who lives to kill? Hahaha! With Bruce? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahhh shit, Cass. Seriously, that’s a good one. Jason HAD to have put you up to that, didn’t he? This has him written allllll over it”.

“I. Am. Not. Joking”.

 

“Heh…heh…heh…”

Stephanie’s laughter was a bit more nervous after that, her smile falling but not completely yet. “C-come on Cass. Those two? There’s no way…I-,”

“We came home and rushed up into the manor after Alfred summoned us” Cassie cuts her off, a far away look in her eyes as if she had to detach herself from her body in order to relay the story at all. “We thought Bruce was under attack. We opened the door to his bedroom. He was ej-”

 

She pauses, turning her head to the side as she closed her eyes and pursed her lips, swallowing in all too out of character shock. Stephanie had gone open mouth and slack jawed though, her eyes widening.

 

‘Don’t you finish that sentence you bitch. Don’t you-’

 

“E-ejaculating on my mother’s face. Jason, Alfred and I all saw it”.

 

Silence fell with all the power and strength of the atom bomb, the information needing to be drip fed into Stephanie’s brain like an IV. Her eye twitched as she looked at her best friend, not able to detect any lying, all while knowing that the woman wasn’t given to exaggeration or joking in the best of situations. 

 

“Ohh…my god…”

She was able to gasp those words out in a tone barely above a whisper as Cassandra’s lip quivers. More silence followed on the tail of it, the blonde now fully aware that this wasn’t some sick joke. The shockwave of her first response came soon after, and with expectedly more force.

“EWWWWWWWWW!”

“I am aware” Cassandra whispers, nodding her head in agreement, keeping her eyes closed as she lives with the mental image of her mother’s mocking expression, that sick, twisted smile as her father’s semen dripped down the woman’s facial features.

Stephanie ran her hand through her long locks of disheveled blonde hair, turning as if to walk away but looking towards Cassandra. She stops when she reaches the couch, one hand going down to the back of it.

“EWWWWWWWW! Oh God ewwwwwwww!”

 

“You yourself have…had a facial” Cassandra says, knowing that now SHE was also part of that club. ‘I even told Jason I enjoyed it’ she remembers. She knew that both she and Stephanie were being hypocritical. They both liked such…activities. But perhaps that’s what made it disgusting. Knowing how such a thing felt, knowing the emotions and thoughts that went through Lady Shiva’s mind as it was done to her…

 

“Yeah but your mom????!! She’s only supposed to kill people! Not…not…THAT!!!”

 

She extends her hand into the empty air in front of her, as if sex was a physical concept being manifested right before her. She turns her back again, still disgusted it seemed. “And with Bruce? Double ewww!”

 

“You said you’d have sex with Bruce your-,”

“DON’T TRY TO DEFEND YOUR MOM WITH THAT!!!” Stephanie roars, grasping the back of the couch with both of her hands now, a slight blush coloring her features now. “I was half drunk and horny! I would’ve said anything for the shock value!”

 

Cassandra didn’t exactly fully believe this but there wasn’t exactly enough evidence to make her not believe it either. 

 

“Your mom fucked your dad…that…that shouldn’t be gross! It…it should be normal right to know that?! Right? But…but…”

Stephanie was breathing heavily now, not knowing how to process all of this information. When she raised her head again her gaze was angry. “And what the fuck Bruce???!!! The guy is supposed to have like…master jedi levels of self control…WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE CUM ON HER OF ALL WOMEN’S FACES???!!!”

“I do not know”.

 

The truth was that Cassandra had been thinking about that deeply. Of course she hadn’t spoken directly to Bruce, not yet. She wasn’t ready…maybe she never would be again. ‘Running away with Jason is an option’ she thinks to herself, knowing that that would save her from having to confront him about it.

 

She didn’t think she’d be able to look at him without remembering-

 

“Ohh do not be angry, Cassandra. After all, we are both adults…and you have no say”.

 

She almost vomited at the memory of her mother’s words. Of the victory she’d been able to gain for herself with them. 

 

“You…you don’t think he actually like…wanted to, right? H-he doesn’t have a thing with your mom like he does with Selina, right? Bad girls attracting the…ohh…ohh shit…that’s it, isn’t it?”

“Stop”.

“It…it makes sense” Stephanie says, as if she was the main character in some H.P Lovecraft novel who’d just comprehended the incomprehensible. “Catwoman, Harley, Talia…your mom…he…he wanted to, didn’t he?”

“No. I refuse to even consider that”.

 

“My god…oh my god…I…I…I need coffee” Stephanie says, bringing her hand to her face and closing her eyes, trying her best to recover. “I might put vodka in it too…holy shit…I…I…”

“I need your help”.

 

Those words cause Stephanie to pause right in the middle of her stride towards the kitchen, turning her head over her shoulder to look back at her friend who seemed utterly and completely resolved to whatever it was she was about to ask of her.

“With what?”.

 

“My mother is only doing this because she wants to get back at me” Cassie says simply, outlining an undeniable fact. “Because she is angry that I am with Jason”.

Stephanie sighs, shaking her head as she places her hand upon her face again.

 

“I’m still major uncomfy with hearing that Cass”.

The Asian woman ignores the blonde and pushes forward, locked onto her mission like a bloodhound. When Cassandra Cain wanted something, or wanted to accomplish something, she didn’t stop until she got it. 

 

But that didn’t mean she was completely blind to the effect it had on those around her.

 

“I am sorry”.

 

“Don’t be. I’m being a bitch” Stephanie responds with a sigh, bringing her hands out to the side and openly unclenching them, closing her eyes to take a deep breath. “Getting over it. Getting over it. Forcing it out of my systemmmmmm…now”.

She opens her eyes and shakes her head out, as if to loosen something that was atop it, and relaxes.

“Okay. You’re with Jason. You and Jason. Together. A couple…God it’s still so weird to me”.

“Will you help me or not?”

Cassie was growing impatient, and while her voice still carried her signature monotone you could tell if you knew her well enough. “Yeah! Yeah! Whatever you need Cass, though I’m really not sure if I can help you with your mom fucking Bruce. Or keeping the secret about you and Jason more than just not saying anything, you know?”

“We are no longer a secret”.

 

‘Perhaps that will make some things easier’.

Cassandra felt hope in the pit of her stomach, but she had a feeling that that hope was premature at best. Foolish at worst.

 

“Ohh…huh…okay. What uh-?”

 

“Alfred caught us kissing in the cave”.

 

“Ooof…yeaaaaah that’ll do it. Okay so you’re not gonna need my help with that and again, there’s really nothing I can do about Shiva and Bruce, soooo…what?”

“You are an expert at being sexy”.

 

Stephanie was taken aback by that, and it showed on her face as she tilted her head to look at her closest friend, a light blush coloring her cheeks. “Yeah, well….you know, I know a few things. Tricks and stuff” she says, wanting to be outwardly humble…while soaking up the praise nonetheless. 

 

She throws some of her hair over her shoulder, chin upturned and smiling 

 

Cassandra took note of it all and if the situation were any less tense she would’ve smiled. 

 

“Men desire you and you have many”.

“Alright, alright, cool it. Getting really close to calling me a slut” Stephanie says with a half chuckle, a nervous one. ‘I…guess I can be a little…slutty’. She felt guilt about that sometimes. She truly did. She really couldn’t even explain it either.

 

It was just like…everything that had happened with Tim…it left her broken inside, and she kept trying to fill it with flings and wild sexual escapades. 

 

‘And it isn’t working. Gaaah! Dammit! You keep doing crap like that and expecting that someday it’ll work’.

 

“That is what I need from you”.

 

“...What?”

Stephanie was taken even further aback by that statement, and she blinked a few times as she looked across at her friend, trying to ascertain the meaning of her words. When Cassandra spoke every word was premeditated, thought over. Like a battle almost. The issue was trying to figure out the strategy behind her syllables sometimes.

 

Cassie remained locked onto Stephanie, not tearing her eyes away despite being in the midst of an embarrassing conversation.

“A slut is a woman who is sexy. Who has a lot of sex. My understanding of the word is correct?”

“Umm…kinda? I-I guess? I mean, well…a slut also has sex with a lot of different men” the blonde adds uncomfortably, shuffling on her feet as she turns away from the woman. “So…as slutty as your mom is acting right now? She doesn’t exactly fit the bill if that’s what you’re going for”.

 

Cassandra almost vomits at that, the memory, once again, of her mother’s semen soaked face entering her mind. 

 

‘Stop. Focus’.

 

“My mother is…evil. But that is not what I am asking. The reason my mother is doing this is because she is angry I am not acting how she believes I should. Doing what she believes I should. She is trying to upset me and shock me into no longer seeing Jason”.

 

‘She has succeeded in the first part. I am very upset’.

She takes a deep breath, reminding herself of what Doctor Leslie Tompkins had taught her. 

 

“Also speak about how you’re feeling sweetheart. Even if it’s just to yourself. Acknowledge it. Don’t push it down. Please…”

 

‘Yes. I…I am upset’ she adds once more before turning her heart to steel once more. ‘But I am also angry. I will not stop seeing Jason’.

 

“Yeah, I get that part. So she’s screwing Bruce to make you stop screwing Jason? That bitch is crazy!”

 

“No. She is sane”.

 

“It’s an expression Cass…or maybe just me being insulting. Uggh, whatever. What do you need from me?” Stephanie appeared all in on the idea now, moving in conspiratorially, a wide, cheshire like grin crossing her lips. “How we getting her out of your life again?”

“By rising to her challenge. I must escalate the situation. She knows she cannot win through strength alone so I must show her that she has failed”.

 

“Wha-?”

“I need you to turn me into a slut. Jason’s slut” Cassie says simply, seemingly without any understanding whatsoever of what she was saying. “I need you to teach me to be sexy. What clothes to wear. How to wear makeup. What I can do to him in bed that is pleasurable and humiliating to the woman my mother believes I should be”.

 

There it was. All of it out there, right at that moment, and Stephanie found her jaw falling open wide, her eyes turning into saucers.  Cassandra was sure that she’d just obtained her greatest ally in her fight against her mother.

 

‘I will do as you taught me mother. Fight fire with fire. You will see that-,’

“ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY????!!!!”

Cassandra had to admit she was a little taken aback by that, unsure of why Stephanie was reacting in such a way. ‘I…I asked everything correctly. I explained to her the tactical reasoning behind my decisions. Why is she yelling at me?’

 

Cassandra apparently had a lot to think about now. Things to consider. 

 

But the fact remained that she knew how to strike back at her mother. And if Stephanie wouldn’t help her? She had a short list of candidates who would. She would go to practically anyone she thought would be able to help her at that moment. That is how desperate she had become.

 

Wayne Manor Library

 

“Ahhh…shit…”

 

Jason reached upwards but winced as soon as he did, the movement twisting something in his broken, injured body that didn’t want to be moved. That was the nature of injuries, he supposed. Even when you weren’t moving a specifically injured part, it hurt. 

 

‘Breathe…breathe…breathe…shit that still hurts’.

The pain in his leg subsides, the man exhaling deeply after it does, leaning against the massive book case to further support himself. ‘Relax. Don’t tense. Makes it worse’. He tries to go through the litany of lessons he’d been taught through the years by so many masters, but finds none of them really working.

 

This pain? It’d just have to sort itself out.

 

It takes a few more seconds, but his cast covered leg stops pulsating, and he’s able to carry on with what he was doing. It was quiet in the library, just as it always was. But even then there was a certain…tension in the air.

 

‘I shouldn’t have left Alfred’ he thinks, remembering that the butler was on the opposite side of the manor entirely, vacuuming, cleaning out one of the many rooms on the first floor. He’d been sitting on the couch, watching the man, as let’s face it he hadn’t been able to do much else. He told himself it was out of boredom, but the truth?

The truth was more terrifying.

He was safe at Alfred’s side.

 

‘I shouldn’t be alone here’ he adds, plucking out a book that had seemed interesting enough to him when he walked, or rather hobbled, by this particular case. A history of Gotham during the American Revolution.

 

It was a little known fact but Jason Todd was a bit of a bookworm. He kept it hidden of course, not wanting it to affect his loose cannon, bad boy persona…nor to get teased mercilessly by Dick and the others for it, but it was true.

 

His favorite subject had always been history, and in the past, when he was Robin and things turned into an argument with Bruce, which they often did, the library became his sanctuary. 

 

As it remained to this day.

 

“Hmm”.

He held the book in one hand, his other occupied by the crutch which was nestled under his opposite shoulder. It was old, leatherbound, and moth eaten around the corners though he knew for a fact that the damage hadn’t been done here. He smiles to himself as he continues looking at the book.

 

‘Alfred never would allow that. Probably got it out of some sal-’

Creeeeeaaaaak!

Jason’s head snapped up like a gazelle that had just caught something on the wind while at the watering hole, his senses instantly turned up to eleven, his eyes scanning back and forth. Something…or someone, had moved within the library.

 

But to the blind eye? There was nothing out of place.

 

Nobody stood before him, and both the ground floor and the second floor of the library, walkways lining the very high shelves, clinging to the side, were empty. A few tableside lamps were lit, illuminating the area separate from the large candelabra that hung from above. 

 

Nothing. Nobody.

 

Jason wasn’t anywhere near foolish enough to believe that. 

 

‘Shit…shit! Shit! Shit! Shiiiiit! Not now! Please for the love of God not now!’

 

“B-Bruce? I know you’re out there!” he shouts, his words echoing through the empty walls of the large room, bouncing off of the shelves and other assorted objects. The echo somehow sounded even more ominous than the previous silence. Jason’s eyes instinctively go up to the corners of the room, where wooden gargoyles were positioned, built into the bones of the manor with the superstitious belief that they would look out for those within.

 

They were covered in shadow, their shapes leering and menacing. He couldn’t see much more than that.

 

‘I should’ve stayed with Alfred watching him vacuum but noooooo you were bored! Fucking asshole!’

 

It was all so familiar, so…overdone, but none the less frightening for it. It brought him back to the first days as Red Hood, when he’d returned to Gotham to size control of its criminal element. He’d tried to kill Bruce many, many times throughout that little Lazarus Pit induced manic episode, and quite a few times had started just like this.

 

Him, being stalked by the man he’d been certain he’d outgrown, getting his ass kicked when he found that not to be the case, and retreating to fight another day. Of course those times? He’d been able to fight back, and gave a damn good account of himself if you asked him.

 

But with a busted leg and a bruised body?

A repeat wasn’t going to be possible.

 

Thwick! Thwick! Thwick! Thwick!

The bottom of the cane made impact with the rugged floor behind him as he backed away, his mind desperately looking for a ‘safe’ location, somewhere he would be able to see Bruce coming from and respond, if not at least get out of the way. He was thinking tactically, just as he’d been taught by the man.

 

And all the tactics he could think up at that moment told him the same thing.

 

He was screwed.

 

‘He can come down on me from above’ he thinks first and foremost, imagining a civilian clothes clad Bruce, or would he have gotten into the batsuit to deliver this beatdown? Yeah…Jason could very well see that. ‘Besides, hard to imagine him doing it in anything OTHER than the batsuit’ he adds mentally, his mind reconjuring Bruce into Batman as he jumps from one of the gargoyles above.

 

‘And it’s an elbow from the top of the ring delivered right to Jason’s spine! Ahhhhh! Ahhhh! The crowd goes wild!’

 

Pretending to be a wrestling announcer within his own mind, commenting on what was happening, helped a little. Humor in general helped him when he got into situations like this. He kept backing up, continuing to retreat, taking some comfort from the closeness of the stacked bookshelves to the right of him, and the tables to the left.

 

‘Wait…I definitely shouldn’t’.

 

In his mind two gauntlet clad arms slam through the books and reach out for him, grabbing him by the side and yanking him into the bookcase, his head bouncing right off of the wood. Bruce didn’t kill. He knew that well enough. But life altering concussions? He gave those out like candy on Halloween.

 

‘Okay, so we’ve got the gargoyles, the bookshelves or the-’

A glint from below catches his attention as the tip of the cane impacts against bare wood in place of the carpet, and he releases that he was now standing above a metal grate. The grate led into the air ducts beneath, a rather strange design for the manor but something he’d never really thought otherwise of.

 

They were empty….or so they appeared.

 

‘Okay…and he can come up from below too. Great. Casssss! Baby, where the hell are you?’ 

 

He hadn’t gotten an appropriate answer to that question when she’d left. She’d only told him that she was going out…and then she’d pecked him on the cheek. It was…cute. Beyond cute really. She seemed so affected by even such a small thing, a blush coloring her cheeks while the rest of her face remained stoic, the scarf helping her to hide it as she left Wayne Manor.

He let her go despite the turmoil she was undoubtedly feeling. Things with her mother were always complicated. And this? Made it doubly so. He really didn’t blame her for needing time to herself.

 

‘What I do blame her for, IS LEAVING ME IN THE MANOR WITH SHIVA AND BRUCE!!!!!”

 

He kept backing up, not even realizing that he was getting closer to the end of the book shelf, and thus the cover it provided. He hadn’t checked his rear yet, which was only just starting to dawn on him as a major mistake.

 

‘It could be Shiva too. She might’ve decided to off me with Cass out of the manor. Fuckkkkkk! It was just sex! How the hell can it lead to all of this?’

 

Except…well…it wasn’t just sex. Definitely not anymore. Even still, despite the fact that making love with Cassandra had given him more problems than any other woman in his life, and in such a shorter time? He wouldn’t change it now.

 

‘I guess I’ll just take whatever is coming my way and-’

THUD!

He had taken one more step back, and made impact with something solid. Something a little…too solid, and more importantly? Something that shouldn’t have been there at all. His eyes go wide as he stands still, not moving as he hears the very light breathing behind him. Then? He lets his shock leave him, and he nods.

 

‘Well…here it goes’.

 

He steps forward, putting some space between him and the figure that was standing behind him. Many would’ve ran out of pure instinct, but Jason wasn’t able to run. ‘Not that it would’ve done any good if I could…gotta face the music’.

 

“Hey Bruce” he says, turning fully on the crutch, and coming face to face with the man whose name was attached to the building they were inside of. “How’s it going?”

The man said nothing in response, and Jason took him all in, his own expression hardening. It was funny actually. Now that he was face to face with the man, he wasn’t scared, and he was going to dig his heels in no matter.

 

He kept thinking of Cass, pecking his cheek before she left.

 

That gave him all the strength he needed.

 

Bruce, meanwhile, was standing mere feet from him, wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, neither of which did anything at all to hide his near superhuman physique. His fists were clenched at his side, shaking lightly from the intensity with which he was clenching them, and his nostrils flared, his wide, blue eyes locked onto him with anger and disappointment. 

 

“We need to talk”.

 

His voice was like a bullet, cutting through the air and slamming into Jason, though the younger vigilante doesn’t even register it. He remains standing, right where he was.

 

“Not yet”.

 

Bruce closes the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and despite their rough parity in height it almost felt like Bruce was blaring down at him, ready to beat him into submission with just his gaze. Jason wasn’t one of the thugs Gotham churned out like an assembly line however. He wasn’t going to be cowed by something he’d experienced hundreds of times before.

 

“No. Now”.

 

Jason’s eyes narrow and he glares back, having a mean bat glare of his own.

 

“Not until Cassie gets back. You’re not gonna make decisions for her without her being able to speak a single fucking word like you always do”.

 

“I’m warning you Jason. I’m warning you…”

 

“Or what? You’ll fuck her mom again?”

That gave Bruce…pause, and that’s all Jason wanted. A chink in the armor for him to exploit. It was his only chance. “Seriously Bruce? Seriously? Lady Shiva?”

“She…she attacked me”.

 

“Yeah, so does Scarecrow. That how you’re gonna start fighting your bad guys?”

Jason smirked, enjoying this a bit. How often did someone, anyone, get the Batman on the back foot? It was rare. A very small club indeed, one in which he was part of. ‘Right alongside the Joker…ugggh, I don’t wanna even think about that’. The idea of sharing something with the Clown Prince of Crime was rage inducing at the best of times. Now?

Downright maddening.

 

Bruce’s cheeks scrunch up as his frown deepens at the homoerotic insinuation, the man not being above playground level taunts at the moment it seemed. Jason understood why. For Bruce? This was world threatening. Everything he’d built, everything he wanted to pass onto the next generation…

 

So yeah, he got it.

 

“She dosed me with a powerful aphrodisiac,” Batman defends. “I wouldn’t have under normal-,”

 

“And all the times you resisted Ivy?”

Batman was, again, silenced, the accusation being far too on the nose. Jason knew that if there was any hope of him extricating himself from this situation? This was it. “Yeah, you WANTED to fuck Shiva. So guess what? I’m not hearing your shit until Cass is here, when she gets to speak for herself…and tear into your ass for what you did. So, nice talk, but, see you later”.

He turned and began hobbling away, working hard to not rush from the room, wanting to hide his worry that an attack would come from the rear. But it didn’t. Bruce was left alone, in the dust, dealing with the mental implications left over from what the man had said, a new worry filling him over what Cassandra would say to him when they next spoke.

 

Red Hood had escaped the Batman…for now.

 

The Shamrock Bar, East End

 

“I need your help”.

 

“Yeah? Well you’ve got it kiddo. Whatever it is. Like I always told you”.

The woman popped the top off of the whiskey bottle like it was nothing, bringing the bottle to her lips as she sat atop the stool in front of the bar, guzzling down the dark liquid like it was water. Cassandra watched, knowing that it was unhealthy to be drinking in such quantities at such an hour.

 

She would’ve said something were it not for the fact that she wished to enlist this woman’s aid.

 

Well, that and the bar full of broken men tossed over destroyed furniture, groaning and clutching at their myriad injuries.

 

The woman releases the bottle with a wet pop, bringing her hand up to wipe the remnants of the whiskey off of her lips with the back of her hand. She looked…well…she didn’t look how Cassandra always thought she did.

 

Put together. In control. Calm.

 

Her hair was mussed, which considering the fight she’d obviously just been through wasn’t surprising but the fact was that Cassie had seen her get through worse without a single blonde lock being out of place.

 

Her jacket that she wore practically always was off, tossed onto a chair to the side, and her large breasts were shown off, pushed up by the tight black corset she wore. The older woman turns and smiles at her, swaying a bit, obviously drunk.

 

“You know” she slurs, her hand still grasping the now half empty whiskey bottle. “You always were one of my, hic, favorite birds. You know that?”

“I…I did not”.

 

‘Her drinking is getting out of hand’. 

Cassie had already known that of course, and had tried to help in the past, but she, like the others, had been rebuffed. She hadn’t known what to do beyond that. ‘Perhaps this is my chance to help her as well’ she thinks hopefully.

 

Thud!

She slams the bottle onto the bar and nods, seemingly to herself, forgetting the world around her. “Yeaaaaah…you and Helena? Great. Zinda? Ehhhhh!”. She raises her arm, extending her hand flat out before her and shaking it sideways back and forth. “She was okay…don’t wanna speak badly about the dead you know but…yeah…and Babs? Pfft”.

 

She waves her hand dismissively as if the red head was right there before she raises her middle finger.

 

“She can go fuck herself!”

 

“I understand things are tense between the two of you”.

“Tense? Tense ain’t the word. I…I fucking hate her”. She brings a hand up to her head, balancing it on her elbow as she shakes it back and forth, her eyes clenched shut, seemingly about to begin crying. “Snnff…I needed her. You know? I needed…my friend….and what does she do? She benches me. SHE FUCKING BENCHES ME!!!”

Blam!

She slams her closed fist on the bar with such violence that the entire structure shakes. Cassandra doesn’t react. She just…she remains close, as close as she could. Comfort? She wasn’t good at it, but…she tries, and moves forward, extending her hand outwards, and placing it on the woman’s shoulders.

Her own instantly comes up, clasping over it, clamping down. She needed the human connection now more than anything else it seemed, and she’d settle for even a closed off human weapon. “Me…hic…embarrassed. On the international fucking stage…Ollie…leaving me for…I…I forget which slut it was!” she seethes, remarkably resilient despite how much alcohol she’d drank.

 

“And Babs? She throws me out…like…like…garbage”.

 

“You. Are. Not. Garbage”.

 

“Thanks kid…thanks” she says, meaning it. Slowly the woman turns and looks back at her younger comrade, wiping her eyes as she swivels on the stool. Cassandra’s hand falls away, and she watches as one of her other mentors, leans back against the bar, and forces a smile onto her face.

 

“You…Helena…Bruce…you’re my only friends now, aren’t you?”

“No. You have many friends”.

“Pfttt…where are they?”

She gestures around at the empty bar as if in mockery as she asks that question, and Cassandra, despite knowing better, looks as well, seeing nothing but the detritus left behind in this incredibly dangerous woman’s wake. ‘Perhaps she has a point…’

 

“Anyways…what did you need help with Cassie? I’m here for you girl. No matter what”.

 

“I need you to promise you will help me”.

The woman seemed taken aback by that, surprised, though Cass quickly comes in with an explanation. “Stephanie refused to help once she found out what I asked of her”.

“Ahh…I get it, I get it. Snuff…yeah, I promise. No matter what. As long as it isn’t killing anybody”. With the go ahead and vow secured, the younger Asian woman simply leans into it. “I have a boyfriend. My mother disapproves and in attempt to get me to do as she wishes has taken to having sex with Bruce. I need your assistance to make me sexy for him so that I may show my mother that I am my own woman, and that she cannot control me”.

 

Silence.

Blinks.

The woman blinks a lot in response to that overload of information, and she exhales deeply, pursing her lips while bringing the bottle back to them, taking another gulp. Cassandra waits, patiently, for her to finish, which she does quickly, putting the bottle back down.

 

“Your mother?” she asks simply and quietly. Nodding to herself.

 

“Yes” Cassandra answers. “I know that you have a rivalry wit-,”

“That bitch…destroyed. My. Fucking. Life”.

She brushes a loose strand of hair out of her face, back behind her ear, her gaze suddenly feral it seemed. “I take it back. You wanna kill the bitch? I’ll help you no questions asked. Yeah, I’ll help you Cass”.

She rises, only stumbling slightly, and revealing herself in her entirely impressive form and physique which had only seemed to harden since…well…the events of the past year.

 

“Now. Tell me. Who’s the lucky guy?”

Black Canary smiled for the first time in quite a while. It was strange really. How one single conversation had filled her with purpose once more. She could still feel the sting of her cheek hitting the floor of the ring, the boos and cheers as SHE stood over her, triumphant, that arrogant smirk on her face, always having been so damn certain she’d win.

 

‘Get ready for round two bitch’.

Lady Shiva wasn’t the only one willing to fight dirty it seemed.

 

Notes:

So many of you guys seemed to dislike Shiva as a love interest for this story so I added a possible other one drama's sake and because she and Shiva actually have overlap in a new Tom King miniseries. I tend to like Tom King's stuff aside from his mainline Batman run. Human Target and Supergirl:Woman of Tommorrow, were peak writing

Chapter 11

Wayne Manor, Master Bedroom

 

“Mmmmmmm”.

 

A contented moan escaped the woman’s lips as she tossed and turned atop the bed, nuzzling her cheek into the silken sheets beneath her, making sure to savor every single second that they pressed against her skin.

 

‘This…is heavenly’.

She closed her eyes as she breathed in deeply, taking in everything. The scents, the softness, the relative silence of the house. It was all so…well, she couldn’t exactly put a word on it. The woman opened her eyes, blinking a few times as she looked up towards the canopy that existed over the bed, which had granted her, and its normal occupant, even further comfort the night before.

 

‘Beyond heavenly. Hmmm…perhaps I could even get used to it’.

Lady Shiva smiled at that, slowly opening her eyes with all the languid self assurance of an apex predator. She continued to lay there atop Bruce’s bed, splayed out almost kittenishly. Nearly every single person that knew her, or even knew of her, would be shocked beyond words to see this woman in such a position. So relaxed.

So calm.

 

…So sexy.

 

Of course Lady Shiva was an attractive woman, and there was nothing that anyone could really do to hide such a fact but it had to be said that whenever she was seen she was usually fully covered, only her arms left open to be viewed. But now?

Well, a whole lot more was on display.

Her long, toned legs, practically up to her thighs, the view cut off only by the robe which had ridden up a bit over her body as she laid down. It was large on her, very large, hinting at the fact that it hadn’t been purchased with her size in mind.

The sash tied around the middle did the bare minimum in keeping it together. Much of the valley between her breasts was visible, as were the supple curves of her tits, which were perky and full enough to fight against the force of gravity that would’ve prevailed upon her otherwise.

 

“Mmmm”.

She groans again, stretching forward, arching her back like a cat as she moves over the bed again, turning until she is facing the right, looking out over the side of the room. Some of the robe fell off her shoulder, leaving it bare in a seductive manner.

 

She fell into the movement naturally, falling forward, chest first, on the bed, her hand quickly coming up under her chin to support it as her legs idly curled upwards, bending at the knee.

Her long, disheveled black hair hung loosely over her shoulders and face, framing it in an alluring way, and her eyes? They shined with excitement, and a light smile cracked across her lips.

 

It was silent in the room, and as far as anyone would’ve guessed she was the only occupant. But Lady Shiva knew better.

She knew when an opponent entered the ring against her. 

“Doesn’t it ever get boring to you?”

She tilted her head in her grasp, keeping her head focused on the large window that stood on the opposite side of the room, letting in the last, lingering light from the dying winter day. “Sneaking around in your own home even? I knew you had a problem turning off the Batman, but I didn’t realize it was that serious”.

 

Silence, again.

Nobody responded to her words, and the room still seemed…empty. Lesser beings might’ve acknowledged that they were wrong, that the micro signs that the assassin used as the tools of her trade had finally led her wrong, failed her. But no, not Sandra Woosan. No.

 

She was far too good for that.

 

She continued to smile, waiting for the man to respond in earnest to her words, continuing to lightly kick her legs up and down atop his bed like a teenage girl on her phone. After a few more seconds of this her smile disappeared and she rolled her eyes, letting out an exhale of air.

 

“Stop. I know you are there, and you know I know you are there. We do not need to continue these useless games”.

Silence…again, but not for as long this time.

 

A footstep could be heard, and Lady Shiva has to fight back her surprise as the man exits from the shadows to the left of the room. ‘What? I could’ve sworn he was behind me…hmmph…whatever’.

 

She was embarrassed, but she’d be damned before she admitted that she’d been wrong, especially when she’d already come out of this initial engagement with a strong hand…at least outwardly. 

 

She turned her head onto Bruce Wayne quickly, not wanting to give him any inkling that she didn’t know exactly where he was the whole time. She smiles again, not having to force it as much as she saw him.

 

“So good of you to join me Wayne. It’s very rude to leave me here all day as you have. Especially after having deposited me here last night”. She lets a teasing, mocking tone into her voice, one that she knew would get to him, just as it always did. 

 

His eyes narrowed as he glared at her, still wearing his ‘civilian’ clothes in place of what he felt most comfortable in.

 

‘It’s most definitely working’.

 

She felt warmth and arousal flush through her system once more as she looked at the man, memories of last night flashing through her brain. She wasn’t anywhere near self deluded enough to believe that it was a result of the lingering toxin within her system. ‘There’s always been a heat between us’ she thinks, remembering all the times that they’d fought, how they’d gotten close and put hands on one another.

 

‘In fact? I’m surprised that it took us this long to act upon it. Especially considering how many of his rogues he has bedded’.

The smile freezes and then dies upon her face as a thought comes to her mind. 

 

‘Kyle. Quinzel…what made them so worthy of his attention? Of his romantic pursuits? Why would he have even attempted such a thing with them before me? I am clearly his equa-no! His better!’

 

“You…you made me”.

 

The faltering behind his words gave proof to the fact that even he didn’t believe that lie. He didn’t meet her gaze as he said it either, quickly shifting away, as if afraid that she’d be able to see that he wasn’t telling the truth just from looking into his eyes.

Which of course she could.

 

‘Cassandra got her mastery of body language from someone, of course’.

 

Lady Shiva felt her pride rise within her chest, distracting her from the momentary jealousy that was aroused by her thoughts of Wayne with Harley Quinn and Catwoman of all people, and focused her back on the mission at hand.

 

“Right” she faux agrees, cupping her hand under her chin as she looks straight at the man, raising her legs upwards once more. “I am sure that’s what you’ll tell yourself going forward. Is that why you’ve been hiding from me all day?”

“I haven’t been hiding” he snaps quickly, too quickly, covering whatever else was going on within his mind with anger. He advances towards the bed, his form so large, so hulking that he no doubt was trying to intimidate her like she was some two bit Gotham goon. He closed the distance between them, and only further heightened the disadvantage, or supposed disadvantage, that she had from her position.

 

But Lady Shiva wasn’t cowed. Nor was she afraid.

She just inclined her head upwards, and continued to smile. 

“I’ve been trying to protect my family”.

 

“Ohh? From what?”

 

She was playing the tease, knowing exactly what the man felt he had to protect his family from. Or rather from ’who’ he needed to protect his family from. “You know what I’m talking about”.

“Are you speaking about the lovetaps I gave Todd?” she asked with an exaggerated sigh while turning onto her back while staying in, relatively, the same position, now able to look upwards at the man. In the process though her robe, or rather his robe, had fallen further loose, exposing a singular breast.

 

Of course Shiva knew her tit was out, and topped by an erect, brown nipple which contrasted nicely against her pale skin. 

 

It didn’t escape Bruce’s notice, and his eyes locked right onto it, instantly feeling a desire to lean down and capture that sensitive bud in his mouth. ‘It’d be so easy’ he thinks, remembering the night prior. ‘To get her to submit. She’s so sensitive there that-stop’.

 

He shakes the thoughts away, or at least he tries to, finding it much harder to do than it should have been. 

 

‘It’s the toxins. She drugged you. That’s it’.

 

He didn’t buy his own explanation either, but was scrambling, desperately for anything to explain why he wasn’t fighting like hell to stop this woman right here, right now. She flexed and squirmed, no doubt wanting to further showcase herself to the man as she let out a sensual sounding moan.

 

“Mmmmmm…he’s had far worse. Some beatings that you delivered yourself if I recall. He’ll be fine in no time…unfortunately”. 

 

She lets some of her anger and bitterness out at that last bit, indeed lamenting the fact that she hadn’t killed him already. ‘I knew I was being sentimental and foolish. I am far, far too indulgent as a mother’.

 

“Whatever correction Jason needs is up to me” Bruce growls, narrowing his gaze as he looks down at the woman. Shiva lights up at that. “Ahhhh, so we are in agreement over the fact that he has done something wrong then. Good. I am glad you haven’t completely lost your senses”.

She moves again, this time sitting up, twisting into a seated position atop the bed, her hand coming up to bring the fallen robe back over her shoulder. She was glaring at him, and in a much more familiar way.

 

“After all, I was beginning to grow worried that you…approved of this carnal relationship between them”.

 

“I don’t” he confirms, hardness still lining his voice.

 

“And yet you are powerless to stop it. In fact, you weren’t even aware of it” the woman hisses, suddenly vindictive as she rises off of the bed and stands, advancing upon him in one fluid motion. She was face to face with him, or rather, nearly face to face with him. He was a head taller than her after all.

 

To his credit, Bruce didn’t back down, didn’t cede an inch to the woman, and remained right where he was, glaring back down at her.

 

He was one of the very few people on this planet who’d dare do such a thing.

 

“You are pathetic Wayne. Truly. To not know that your daughter, your protege, the one destined to bear your mantle, was being led astray. A sheep herder who allowed the wolves to get close”.

 

Bruce clenches his fists tightly, so tightly that they begin to shake with unmitigated rage. His jaw tensed even further, and he had to fight to keep his teeth from gritting against one another.

 

“Coming from you? That’s hilarious”.

 

There wasn’t a hint of humor on either one of their faces at the moment, their nostrils flaring as they glared at one another, as if their eyes were doing the battle that their hands usually engaged in. Shiva was given pause by that statement however, and her lip curled in disdain.

 

“What are you implying Wayne?”

She was giving him a chance to take back what he said, or even course correct if he really needed to save face. ‘For his sake, I hope he takes it’.

 

“That you’re a terrible mother who abandoned her daughter and only shows up when it's convenient for yourself”. Bruce didn’t back off. In fact, he doubled down, and Shiva’s eyes widened as if she’d been struck. Now it was her turn to clench her fists, doing so so tightly that the nails she was pressing into her own palms threatened to draw blood.

 

“That…is the second time I have had to hear such foolishness” she begins, her voice practically dripping with venom and warning. “If you wish to remain alive, I suggest you not repeat it Wayne”.

 

“We both know it’s true. And that’s why you’ve had to hear it twice apparently. Go ahead. Ask me again. I’ll tell you the same thing”.

 

There it was. A challenge. The most irresistible of things for Lady Shiva. 

 

She bared her teeth as her lips quivered, her hands moving upwards and opening as if to reach out and grasp for the man’s throat, wanting more than anything to choke the life out of him at that very moment. She was breathing heavily, her nostrils flaring, and looked very much like a lioness ready to maul her prey to death.

 

Bruce, on the other hand, seemed calm, even with Lady Shiva’s extended fingers mere inches from his neck.

 

‘Stop. This does not accomplish your objective of chastening Cassandra’. 

 

Even in the midst of battle rage, teetering right on the edge of losing it completely, Sandra was first and foremost a tactician. Some said that it was her mastery of every martial arts style known to man that made her so deadly. Her knowledge of esoteric and lost scripts, of methods to end a life in the most painful of ways. 

But she knew that that was only half the truth.

There were not many, but enough who knew much of what she knew. Men and women who had practiced every day of their lives to become the best at what they did. But Lady Shiva? She was still at the head of the pack.

Why?

Because she was the one possessed of such a singular focus and mastery of strategy that she could best utilize the knowledge she had. She would set a goal, and then knew each and every single step it would take to accomplish that goal, knew everything that she had to do to get it.

 

It left her single minded, able to suffer through any pain, indignity, or humiliation to succeed.

 

In that? There were few who could match her…save perhaps for the man standing right in front of her, who clearly was not afraid of fighting her. She relaxed, the tension leaving her body as she brought her hands back down to her side, letting the snarl recede back to be replaced once more by a smile.

 

‘There are other tools that will better win this war’ she thinks to herself, watching the man’s eyes narrow, a flicker of surprise passing over his irises. 

 

“Perhaps it is true” she begins, shrugging while bringing her cheek to the side, pressing it against her raised shoulder and presenting an image of submissive vulnerability that would NEVER be true in her case. “I am not a traditional mother”.

“You’re barely a mother at all”.

 

Another spike of anger, of white hot rage that almost sent her hand chopping into his neck. ‘HE KNOWS NOTHING OF THE DEPTH OF MY DEVOTION TO HER! OUR DAUGHTER!’ she seethes inwardly before closing her eyes and forcing a faux smile.

 

‘Which is why I must stay focused’ she reminds herself.

 

“And that must be eating away at you the most, doesn’t it?” she asks, suddenly shifting the conversation from the defensive to the offensive, which is where Lady Shiva excelled the most. “What are you-?”

 

“By your own admission, you believe I am a terrible mother, yet it is my very own womb and my instructions which have given you your true heir”.

She cocked out a hip, placing a hand upon it in a sexy manner, still looking up at the man, but threatening in a whole different way than what might’ve originally been assumed. “You didn’t have anything to do with that. I trained her. I took her under my wing”.

 

“Ahhh, but you did the same with so many others” she says, waving her finger in the air back and forth as if she were a teacher chastising a naughty student. “Grayson. Drake. Gordon…even Todd himself” she says, spitting out that last name with a bit more disdain.

 

‘I will settle my anger with him after I detach my daughter from his hip’ she vows, already wanting to make the pain he’d already experienced feel like child’s play in comparison. 

 

“And yet, none of them will inherit the cowl. Not even the brat that Talia Al Ghul was able to coax from you. Not even he, your own blood, is considered worthy to wear the cowl”.

 

“Damian is still a child. He-”.

 

“Pffft. Don’t pretend. You already know” she interrupts, halting him in the midst of his denial, a smirk on her lips that tells the man she already knew he didn’t believe that. “He has too much of his mother in him. Unearned pride. He aspires to much, but at the end of their lives, when he is compared to Cassandra? He will be little more than a foot note”.

 

Bruce says nothing to this, his discomfort with the woman’s words growing with each one she spoke. And Sandra was all too eager to capitalize on it.

 

“You can lie to yourself, but you know it’s true. You trained all of them, and they’re amazing fighters. Heroes. A testament to your skill”. She seemed to genuinely mean that, her eyes softening as she said it, respect clearly visible for what Bruce had been able to accomplish.

“......Thank you”.

 

Shiva smiles wider at that, but quickly continues on, not wanting to grant the man a chance to escape the linguistic trap that she was so expertly setting for him. “But as I said…we both know that none of them are a match for our daughter”.

She made sure to twist the knife in a little deeper with those last two words, and from the curling of his nose, as if in physical distaste at the idea, she knew it worked.

 

“I…she…she was trained and-,”

 

“It was me, Wayne. Me”.

 

She moves forward again with an explosion of violent energy, closing the distance between the two of them to mere inches. She reaches out and places a hand upon his chest, grasping the fabric, securing him there as she looks up into his eyes intently.

They were both breathing heavily, their breaths meeting in the middle space between them. If somebody who didn’t know them were to walk in on them, they’d say that they were about to kiss.

But, then again, there were quite a few people who did know them who now might assume they were getting ready to do just that.

 

“It was my training that turned her into what you needed” Shiva hisses, her voice colored by anger…or…maybe it was…desire? Even she wasn’t sure at that moment. “I honed her skills, made her body into a blade of pure instinct and precision. I gave her the skills to make her single minded, to be dedicated to one goal. One purpose”.

 

“You tried to turn her into a killer” he accuses, not able to find anything exactly ‘wrong’ about that statement of fact.

 

“Yes,” Shiva agreed readily, licking her lips. “And she would’ve been perfect. She would’ve surpassed even me. But instead? She dedicated herself to YOUR ideals, and it is you that she will one day surpass”.

Again, Bruce didn’t correct her because she was right about that. 

 

‘You’ve known that for a while. Why is she so close?’

 

It suddenly occurred to him to take stock of their closeness, and to grow concerned over it. When had Lady Shiva remained this close to anyone without taking their life?

If he had to hazard a guess, he would say never. 

 

It was all the more reason for him to remain alert. 

 

“But it is only that way because of the single mindedness I gifted her with. The skills I imparted upon her. You were not granted a blank slate Wayne, as much as you might wish to imagine it to be so, and there is far, far more of me in our darling Cassandra than you are comfortable with”.

 

“She’s nothing like you”.

Sandra just smiles at that, saying nothing to countermand him. She didn’t need to. She did more than enough with her eyes. ‘Ohh Wayne, even when deluding yourself, you can scarcely force your own mind to believe it’.

 

“Last night...it was the culmination of so much, wasn’t it?” she teases.

 

“It was nothing” he retorts quickly, too quickly, and if the trained assassin before him was still as good at reading body language as she had been in the past, she was certain she could see a blush slowly growing on his face. “A mistake”.

 

“No” she shakes her head back and forth very slowly. “You wanted it. More than anything else, and it’s because deep down…”. She pauses, letting her words carry a breathy, airy tone to them as she uses her handhold on his chest to push him back.

 

To the man’s surprise he actually gave way, stepping back as Shiva pushed him, putting very little effort into it at all.

 

‘Stop dammit!’

 

She managed to get him a few steps away from the bed when he finally stopped, but at that point it was too late. Lady Shiva had well and truly seized the initiative so completely that it would be almost impossible for him to get it back.

 

“You know. You. And I. We created perfection. A mastery of human will. That is why we are having so many problems today, aren’t we?” she chides lightly, beginning to actually caress his chest now, moving her hand up and down over it. 

 

“David Cain provided the material. But even still, you are her true father. And I am her mother. That connects us, Wayne. And I would wager that that tears you up inside more than anything else. Hehe”.

She lets out a giggle…well…no. Not a giggle. That word? It would never be able to describe any noise that Lady Shiva made. It was low, ominous…threatening…arousing. A chuckle. Yes. That was more accurate as a description.

Lady Shiva had chuckled.

“I wonder if what we could’ve made together if what happened last night would’ve happened sooner would have been even more perfect than what we did make, Wayne”.

 

“Shut up”.

 

“Ohhh…I’ve touched a nerve, haven’t I?” she teased, not afraid of his anger and in fact welcoming it. “You must’ve always thought of it, haven’t you? All men secretly do. Even you, the great Batman, is little more than a monkey brain behind a facade of civilization”. Her hand darted up to his face, quickly capturing his cheek as she stroked her thumb across his jawline. Bruce was just as quick, his own hand coming up to grasp her wrist as if to stop her.

 

She made no moves to do so, but it didn’t matter.

He was right where she wanted him.

 

“Legacies. Heirs. Wars have been fought over such things. And a man such as the Batman? No doubt you have thought long and hard over it as well”. She keeps stroking, lightly digging her nail into his flesh as she did, drawing a hiss of half pain, half pleasure, from the billionaire’s lips. He glared at her through such an honest and involuntary reaction though.

 

“Go to hell”. 

 

“Assuredly” she responds deftly, staying on her original target. “So many women around you. None worthy. Perhaps you should have asked me. I might’ve been amenable in the past. A moot point now though, considering I have given you an heir regardless…still…truly…we could’ve made something beautiful”.

 

“You’re leaving”.

“Am I?”

She smirked at that, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow at the now heavily breathing man’s words.

“Yes”.

His grasp on her wrist tightens, and with a quick expulsion of energy he pulls her hand away from her, but keeps his grasp upon her wrist. “You are. Go. Leave Gotham. None of us will follow. You have my word”.

 

“Mmmm…I do not think I will. Not yet, Wayne. You see I am such a terrible mother” she says, pouting her lips in a sarcastic, but not unappealing way. “And I am going to work to rectify that. Be in my daughter’s life. Assist her as you believe I should”.

“There’s nothing she needs from-urrrgggh!”

 

He was cut off quickly, grunting in pleasure as the woman reached out with her other hand, and cups it around his crotch, squeezing the member that was hidden beneath a thin layer of fabric. She was able to expertly find his testicle sack, and grasped it in such a way as to be pleasurable, but also a warning.

 

‘Don’t pull back’ Shiva thinks, knowing that the man was reading her loud and clear despite the fact that she hadn’t spoken a word. ‘Or I’ll rip it off’.

She could do it too.

There were at least four separate ways of emasculating a man from this position, and Shiva knew all four.

“Mmmm…I do not think your friend wishes for me to go” she says, using her thumb to rub up and down the every growing shaft beneath the man’s dress pants, all while kneading his balls as if they were a lump of dough. 

 

“S-stop”.

“Make me”.

 

Sandra lowers herself to her knees, still smiling as Bruce releases his hold on her wrist, freeing up her other hand, which instantly goes to the button that secured the two sides of the material together.

 

“I admit, I’ve been a bit tired today” she says, a blush coloring her own features now as the button gives way, leaving the zipper open to her ministrations. “Last night…I have enjoyed far too little in the way of carnal delights”.

 

Zzzzzzzzzzip!

 

The zipper was slowly and expertly brought down, almost as if she had gauged the perfect speed to do it to maximize the arousal it gave the man. It was clearly working too, as Bruce grew harder and harder, his shaft exposed to her, the base thick and hairy. “We can’t…do this…”

“We already have” she teases, letting go of the man’s prick only to allow the rigid member to burst forth, so hard now that the separated and unsecured pieces of pants did nothing to stop it. It came swaying out, the foreskin pulled taut over the head as it exposed itself to Lady Shiva once more.

She smiled and bit her lip, reaching out to grasp it now, skin to skin, completely unobstructed. Her hand begins to pump up and down it as Bruce groans and closes his eyes, leaning his head backwards.

 

“You’ve already crossed the line” she mocks, leaning in to quickly drag her tongue across the head. It was like heaven for Bruce, feeling the wet and warm organ slither over him so expertly, the woman able to work it as if it was a snake.

 

‘Whe-where did she learn that?’

 

“Consider this….just a little bit of extra fun”.

 

“You’re. Leaving, Woosan” he says, trying to be firm, trying to be resolute, but failing to extricate his own penis from her hand. She looked so…so…he didn’t have a word for it. Raw? Primal? Sexy? Evil? All of them? Kneeling in front of him like that…it was just too much. “Or you’re going to Blackgate. Your choice”.

 

“Hmmm…of course, of course”.

 

She pursed her lips and gathered up saliva right as she spit it out over the head of his cock, clearly getting it ready for a repeat of last night. The man clearly felt that and shivered, the woman’s hand quickly working the natural lubricant over his shaft.

 

“Spppt…but before I do, let me handle this. Ohh, and after you cum, this time in my mouth, call Pennyworth. Have him made aware that I wish for eggplant in garlic sauce tonight…it’s also one of Cassandra’s favorites as well…mmmph”.

She moves forward, her mouth open, and captures the cock before her between her lips. He fills her almost instantly, and she has to hollow out her cheeks to accommodate the not at all unwelcome intruder.

 

“Spppt…mmmmph…mmmm…spprt…glllk…”

She twists and tilts her head, liberally using her tongue to pleasure the man. Bruce just groans, most all thoughts leaving his mind at that very moment as he begins to hump forward, reaching down and grasping up a handful of the woman’s hair.

“I mean it…”

 

“Glllk! Glllk! Glllk! Glllk!”

 

“You’re leaving…urrggh…tonight…”

 

“Mmmfff…”

 

‘Of course I am Wayne. Of course I’m leaving,’ she thinks sarcastically, bringing her hand lower, slipping it into her…sorry, his robe to press it against her already slick mound. ‘There are more pleasurable ways to get what I want than fighting you, Bruce. Don’t worry. We shall be more subtle now. Cassandra knows enough’.

 

Bruce soon found himself with very little energy left to press the issue. 

 

Front Atrium of Wayne Manor, Three Hours Later

 

The door opened with very little in the way of noise, the woman who’d done the opening having done so silently. She slips in, like a shadow, and quickly turns, closing the door behind her. Her hat, gloves and finally her jacket are quickly removed and placed on their intended positions on the coat rack.

 

It was quiet, very quiet within the confines of Wayne Manor, and as Cassandra Cain took that fact in she looked around, and narrowed her eyes.

 

‘Where is she?’

It was a question she had gotten used to not having to ask herself. Years of being away from the woman, with minimal contact, had almost convinced her that she was safe. The past few days had proven just how wrong she was.

Thud! Thud!

 

The sound of her footsteps were almost akin to explosions as she stepped forward, further into the main hall of Wayne Manor. She kept her eyes trained upwards, towards the second story walkways that lined this section of the manor. Nobody was visible there.

 

‘Just because you cannot see her, does not mean that she is not there’.

That was an axiom that Cassandra had learned to live by when it came to her mother, and she kept training her eyes, running the odds and thinking up a solution to the challenge she clearly felt was laid out before her.

 

As the seconds ticked on however, turning into minutes, she began to relax, only slightly, and with that relaxation came disappointment. 

 

‘She is not attacking me’.

Cassandra sounded disappointed within the confines of her own mind, and it showed in her body language, how her shoulders drooped and her fists unclenched. She would’ve preferred if her mother had attacked her, just like back in the restaurant. That would be something she could handle, something she could respond to. 

 

‘Which is why she won’t do it’.

 

She clenched her fists again, her anger returning to her as she raised her head, her right eye twitching uncontrollably as she remembered…the event. ‘She knows it is effective. That it bothers you’ she reminds herself, trying to summon up the strength of will to beat back the thoughts she had. ‘She won’t attack you. She is in Bruce’s room right-’.

 

“Miss Cassandra. You are home”.

Alfred approached from behind, the man’s footfalls having been heard mere nanoseconds before he’d reached her, the younger woman on the very cusp of turning and slamming her hand into what she would’ve thought to be an intruder’s solar plexus.

But, like a human super computer, she recalibrated and forced her body to relax, to stand down. 

 

‘Friend. Not foe’.

 

“Hello Alfred”.

The butler stood behind her, a slight smile on his face with his arms folded behind his back. “I trust you had a pleasant trip, and that you accomplished whatever it was you set out to accomplish?”

“Yes. Thank you” she says simply in response, turning to face the man. ‘I wonder if he knows how close he comes to being injured when he does that?’ It came with the territory, she would have to suppose. Being the Bat Family’s butler/surrogate grandfather. 

 

In some ways he was almost as good as any one of them at moving quietly.

 

‘He knows’ she thinks, quickly reading the man. ‘And he enjoys it’.

 

That thought surprised her, at least a little bit. Alfred Pennyworth, stoic, conservative, ever servile Alfred Pennyworth. Enjoying being so near danger at practically all times. Perhaps he was even better suited to this family than anyone would have ever thought. 

 

“Indeed”.

He wouldn’t pry further, though there was always this look in his eye that told her he wished to. It also had the added effect of making her, and many other members of the Bat Family, want to tell him regardless. This time was no different. 

 

“I…went to Stephanie. To ask her for assistance”.

 

“And did she acquiesce to your request?” Alfred asks, unperturbed. Cassandra, without missing a beat, shook her head in the negative. “No. She was upset and embarrassed that I would ask her. I do not understand. I simply want her to help me be sexy. For Jason”.

 

At this Alfred blanched, the facade of imperturbability breaking away for a second as he turned and cleared his throat. “Hmmm…well…perhaps Miss Stephanie’s sensibilities…preclude her from viewing you in…that light”.

 

“Maybe” Cassandra says, giving a noncommittal answer. “But I did receive an assurance of assistance from someone else…after she sobers up”.

 

“Sobers up? Oh my…Miss Cassandra, I worry that-,”

 

“My mother must be fought, Alfred. And if I have to do it on the battlefield of her choosing, then I will do what she wants. I won’t let her control my life anymore” the younger woman says darkly, her words taking on the strength of a vow. “And I will not let her hurt Bruce”.

 

“Yes…well…an admirable goal Miss Cassandra. Admirable indeed” the butler says, still uncertain but equally parts unsure of how to solve any of this problem whatsoever. ‘You’ve really stuck your foot in it now Bruce’.

 

“Who, may I ask, have you enlisted into your mission then? And who must sober up?”

“Black Canary”. 

“Ahh…I see”.

 

Indeed he did, and the butler looks down as soon as he hears the name, a frown crossing his lips as he does. He, just like everyone else, knew exactly what had happened between Lady Shiva and Black Canary a year prior. ‘I lost two hundred dollars on that fight’ he sniffs to himself, though he’d never regret betting on Dinah Lance.

 

“Are you sure it is wise to put such a strain on her?”

“She is a beautiful woman who knows how to be sexy,” Cassandra says, explaining her reasoning for what she was doing. “And she despises my mother. She’s the perfect choice. It will also help her. Give her an outlet to strike back in place of drinking”.

 

“I…well…yes…I suppose so”.

The butler had to admit, that was true. 

 

‘Bloody hell, she covered all bases. Just like Master Bruce’.

 

It was almost scary to look into her eyes sometimes because when he did it almost felt like he was looking at Bruce. The same fire, hunger for justice, and raw talent.

Except somehow…more.

 

She was more Bruce than any of them, even Damian. 

 

“Yes”.

There was nothing more to say. She’d made up her mind, committed to a plan and the tactics it would take to achieve it. There was no convincing her otherwise and even Alfred knew it. “Very well then Miss Cassandra. I wish to inform you that dinner will be ready in exactly fifteen minutes. I have made your favorite, eggplant in garlic sauce”.

A slight crossed Cassie’s lips, clear gratitude manifested upon her face as she heard that. ‘My favorite’. Her happiness would’ve continued unabated too if she hadn’t remembered one simple fact.

 

‘My mother’s favorite as well…’

 

Her enthusiasm was slightly dulled, just as it always was when she found that she had some similarity to the woman she claimed to hate. Alfred took notice of the change and forced a smile before nodding. “Yes…um…your mother…requested it. I…I am sorry, Miss Cassandra”.

 

“Do not apologize”.

 

Cassie turned, heading towards the staircase that would lead up to the second floor. To the one thing, or rather person, who could calm her. ‘Relax. Calm’. Her palms had begun sweating, and her eye twitching once more as she put the facts together. If her mother had ordered dinner she was still here.

 

And if she was still here?

She was with Bruce. 

 

And if she was with Bruce?

She clenched her fists so tightly they began to shake. 

 

“Miss Cassandra? Where are you going?”

“To see Jason” she calls back to the butler, continuing to advance up the stairs, refusing to turn back and allow the man to see the emotions playing out behind her eyes. She didn’t need to say anything else. Alfred understood.

“Ahh…well…umm…very good”.

 

She continues up the stairs, her feet falling harder and harder with each step they took upwards.

 

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

She couldn’t hide how she felt, not then, and as she retreated further and further away Alfred shook his head. ‘I do hope she goes easy on him. Considering his injuries’. He turns and walks away, heading back into the kitchen to continue preparing the family’s meal. 

 

‘To be young though. Truly an amazing thing that is gone far too soon’. 

 

Meanwhile Cassandra continued to make a beeline for Jason’s room, locked in like a missile. When she first slammed open his door he’d jumped off the bed in shock and surprise before relaxing when he saw who it was….

 

And then began to panic again when he saw the look on her face and her eye twitching.

 

“You are well enough for oral sex, right?”

 

She’d asked, but it felt like he had very little choice as she stepped into the room, ready to slam the door. “Yeah, I mean I guess but-,”

 

“Good. We have fifteen minutes”.

SLAM!

 

Jason wound up being the recipient of Cassandra Cain’s anger. 

 

Apartment of Harleen Quinzel, Gotham City

 

“Uggggh…”

Thump.

 

“UGGGGGGH!”

Thump.

 

The woman tossed and turned atop the bed, groaning and moaning ever time she did so, making sure to throw out her closed fist as she did, slamming it against the bed. It did nothing of course, but it did give her a little bit of satisfaction. 

 

But not much.

 

“Ugggggghhhh!”

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

This time she kicked her bare legs up and down again and again against the bed like a child throwing a tantrum, her pert, curved body on full athletic display as she bounced atop the bed, her breasts barely kept in by the spaghetti strap top she wore and her thong leaving precious little to the imagination.

The flurry of activity keeps up for a few seconds, but eventually subsides with her laying on her back, bored and doing nothing but staring up at the ceiling.

“I can’t freakin’ believes this” she says to nobody but herself before sitting up, one strap of her top falling off of her shoulder, settling at the midpoint of her upper arm. “There’s alllll sorts o’ drama goin’ ons at Wayne Mana’, and I ain’t part o’ it! Can ya freakin’ believe that Bernie?” she asks, bouncing her butt against the bed to give her the required upward impetus to turn, throwing her legs over the side.

The stuffed beaver says nothing as it sits on her dresser, looking at her but offering no commentary.

The blonde tilts her head and looks at the stuffie before nodding and bringing her hands up in mock surrender.

 

“I know! I know. I’m the one who broke up with the stud muffin’ love o’ my life, but I did that fer his own damn good and ya knows it”. She stands up, moving off of the bed completely as she moves towards the window to her immediate right, the one overlooking the street right outside. It was still snowing hard, and everything was hidden under a sheet of white. 

She brings her arms up and clutches herself in a simulation of a hug, her hands moving up and down once she gets a grasp. She looked utterly despondent at that moment, her lip quivering as she imagined how it’d be to go back to how it was.

 

‘We’d both be out there right now. Runnin’ cross the rooftops. Fightin’ bad guys. Smoochin’. Booty grabbin’. Committin’ numerous sexual assault cases on each otha’...okay, maybe it’d be more me who couldn’t keep my hands to herself….heh, he let me smack his butt and neva’ hit me with a restrainin’ orda’.

 

She smiled, letting the memories wash over her as the storm raged outside. 

 

“I shoulda’ just kept it goin’, shouldn’t I Bernie?” she asks, receiving an answer only in her mind in the imagined tone she believed the beaver would’ve spoken in. “Yeah…I had ta be a good guy, didn’t I? Recognize that we weren’t no good fer each otha’ long term and be selfless. I wish I hadn’t gotten my degree. Then I woulda’ just been an idiot not knowin’ what was gonna happen and I could’ve pretended ta be shocked at where we wound up”.

 

She extends a hand out to her side as if to say, ‘what can you do?’

 

“The hate sex woulda’ been freakin’ amazeballs too. I just knows it…uggggh…and I woulda’ been there, right now, fer baby bat. Can you freakin’ imagine it? Her, gettin’ nice and canoodly with a guy, an’ nobody ta really talk ta ‘bouts it…dammit”.

She brought her hand up, rubbing her face as she shook her head.

“Don’t cry ya dumb bitch. Don’t ya cry” she says, taking a deep breath to stave off the tears before she idly reaches down to the end table besides her and picks up her cell phone. “Right. ‘Nough mopin’. Call someone. Check up on a friend”.

Her thumb was already going…straight past the B’s. Yup. Straight past the contact clearly labeled Bruce with three, THREE, hearts still next to it. Yes, right past that one. “Nope. Nope. No way. No freakin’ chance. Nope. N-why the hell do I still gots that numba’? Ohh…”

Her thumb settles somewhere in the D’s. Right at the third or fourth contact. Dinah. Dinah Lance.

 

“Well…I hates ta say it but talkin’ ta her will make me feel like it ain’t so bad on my side o’ things”.

She dials the number, and instantly the phone begins to ring. 

 

“I hope she ain’t been drinkin’ ag-”

 

The phone picks up.

 

“Snrrrr…mmmm…hello?”

 

“Ahh…ya been drinkin’” Harley answers for herself, nodding as she gives a sad little smile that the woman on the other end of the phone couldn’t see. “Harley…don’t need…lecture…almost…asleep…”

 

“Ahh, so yer home then? Right?....Right?” she asks, getting worried at the idea that Dinah had, once again, passed out in some strange place where she might be in trouble. ‘Fuck. I gotta go out in this weatha’ an’ get her ass, don’t I?’

 

“Yesssssss…” the woman groans on the other side of the phone, sounding half asleep already. “Cassie…drove…home…”

 

“Cassie?”

Harley’s ears perked up at that. ‘Ain’t it funny she just mentioned that little badass? I was just thinkin’ bouts her’.

 

“Yes….warts…wants…my…help”.

 

“She…wants your help?” Harley asked, growing more and more confused by the second. ‘Okay, this was supposed ta be doin’ my friendly and doctorly duty…hehe, duty, and checkin’ up on her, but she ain’t makin’ no sense’.

 

“Yes…to be sex…wait…shouldn’t…shouldn’t tell, hic, you” the drunken heroine on the other end of the line says, suddenly remembering herself, at least a little bit, and sending Harley into a panic. ‘No! No! Nooooo! I needs ta know!’

 

She’d have to act fast if she didn’t want to find the one string leading her back in cut.

 

“What? Why couldn’t ya tell me? I already knows everythin’” Harley says proudly, smiling wide as she crosses her fingers behind her back. ‘Suspicions kinda count, don’t they?’

 

“Y-you…do?”

“Ohh yeaaah” Harley says, smiling wider and more maliciously as she moves back towards her bed, laying down atop it, chest down, with her legs kicked up and the cellphone clutched to her ear. “In fact? Cassie came by afta’. Asked me ta help too, but she wanted ya ta tells me everythin’, ya know? Takes a lot outta the girl. Havin’ ta repeat herself so many times”.

 

“That…makes sense”.

Sober? She wouldn’t get nearly anything past Dinah. But drunk?

Well…she could say it was like taking candy from a baby but that would undersell how hard it is to actually get candy from babies. Trust Harley. She’d tried. 

 

“Sooooo…spill everythin’. Pretend I don’t know nothin’. What did baby bat come ta ask ya fer help with?”