First Unused Utility Belt | Video

[hellofist]

[When the video feed comes on, it looks like everything is upside down. Only Cassandra's neck and chin are visible at first, showing a lopsided frown as she fumbles with the communicator, nearly drops it, and then finally turns it upside down. Now the view is her face right side up, and she grins into the camera before a paning shot shows she is hanging upside down from a tree in the CES.]

Crunches. Upside down. 500. Bored.

[She could have done this in the gym, yes, but there are less people here usually. Besides-]

Climbed the tree. Always wanted... to try. Bats are upside down. Funny, because [She puts her hand on her chest here.] Batgirl. Warden.

[And then she waves.] Hi.

Comments

[ichoosefight]

[ She's prepared for a hug or something, and when Cass pulls back Steph shrinks even more. Just say it, she tells herself, and takes a deep breath. ]

I was never dead. I couldn't deal and Leslie offered to take me away from it all so I left. we went to Africa. Nobody knew.

[ She looks defiantly into Cass' eyes, refusing to look away from the consequences of her actions. ]

[hellofist]

[Never dead? Couldn't deal? It doesn't make sense.

But then it does. Cass just studies her for the longest time, thinking words like secrets and lies and Stephanie didn't trust her. It's clear though, she did what she had to. Doesn't regret it.

In the end it doesn't change anything. She still dreamed of Steph, Steph is still her best friend, still her most important friend. Now she's okay and that's enough.]

Dying's... overrated. [Now she's moving in for a hug, because if she doesn't she thinks her heart might explode.] I missed you.

[ichoosefight]

[ She needed it, yes, but maybe she did go about it all wrong because it was never meant to cause this much pain. She just couldn't think back then. She took the easy way out. Steph hugs Cass back, hard. ]

I missed you too. I'm so sorry, Cass, I wish I could take it all back.

[hellofist]

[She twists a little, puts her head against Steph's chest and listens. It doesn't take long before she hears the quiet thump thump of Stephanie's heart to reinforce yes, she's alive. The dream Steph's never had heartbeats. This is real.]

Did what you had to. [Her arms are tighter around Steph, like she might not let go.] Don't take back. Don't apologize. Move forward, with me. And everyone.

[ichoosefight]

[ She's not entirely sure she believes it, but hearing the acceptance in words makes Steph relax significantly. She had been afraid, just a little, that Cass was harboring the same resentment Tim had been all these years. ]

I've had a lot of time to recover. It's been two years since I came back home, and then two more here on the barge. Things are different now. [ She a better person than she was before, stronger. ]

[hellofist]

[She is hurt, but mostly because Steph didn't trust her enough to tell her. Does it mean they weren't as close as she thought? Everything about Steph had screamed you're my friend, but did friends do that? Abandon each other? No, not without reason. Right?]

You feel different. You feel... more.

[ichoosefight]

[ Even if Cass asked, Steph isn't sure she could answer. The reasons are complicated and rough, and some times a little fuzzy in her head. She's happy enough to let it be behind her. ]

Didn't you hear? I'm moving up in the world. People have stopped telling me to go home and everything.

[hellofist]

Who said that? Will hit them.

[Reluctantly, Cass' arms are loosening and she takes half a step back from Steph, though her hands are still on Steph's shoulders. If she lets go completely, what if she vanishes? Not acceptable.]

[ichoosefight]

Let me get out the list. Just about everyone you know is on it. [ Bruce, Tim, Dick, Babs, Damian... wait she supposes Cass doesn't know Damian yet! Lucky girl. ]

I'm not going anywhere, you know.

[hellofist]

Give me list.

[She really does think there's a list and she really is going to punch them all. And then Steph is calling her out and Cass' hands finally return to her sides, clenched into fists as she picks now to study the grass at their feet.

It's very interesting grass, okay?]

I've seen you... before. You were real. Then I woke up. Don't want to wake up.

[ichoosefight]

Well, actually, the only person who's here that's gotten there yet is Tim. [ Dick and Babs don't get around to telling her to go home until later on their personal timelines, and nobody else is on the barge.

That Cass had dreams about her is both strangely endearing and like a punch in the gut to Steph. Obviously your best friend dying would have an effect on you, but knowing that intellectually and hearing about it are two entirely different things. ]

This place is too weird to be a dream.

[hellofist]

Gotten there? [This weird timeline stuff, it sucks. Still, Cass is ready to punch for you, Steph.]

Just... Don't die anymore. Please.

[ichoosefight]

I promise. Not dying is at the very top of my priority list. [ She considers for a moment how best to explain the confusion that is their relative lives on the barge. Perhaps now is the time for a little cliff-notes timeline. ]

Okay, so, I think Babs is the furthest behind. You and Dick are around the same time [ being during the time she was in Africa and based on nothing else ] and then Tim and I are the furthest ahead. So a lot of stuff has happened to me that hasn't happened to any of you guys yet, except for Tim.

[hellofist]

Bad stuff? Or okay stuff?

[Even the short version is more than enough for Cass. It doesn't matter how things are different, it's enough that they are. Eventually, she'll find out for herself even if she doesn't want to.]

And things here... are good? You're happy?

[ichoosefight]

Good and bad. Just, life. [ Nothing as bad as before, though. As though anything could be. ]

Things here are... weird, mostly. A lot of bad, but some good too. [ Is she happy? ]

I'm happy enough that I haven't left yet. [ But she's thought about it. Kind of a lot. ]

[hellofist]

[That doesn't paint the happiest of pictures, really.]

So... tolerable. Is that enough?

[ichoosefight]

It's not so different from back home, really. And we haven't left Gotham yet, right? [ It isn't really a happy picture. It's awful. But she does stay, and there are things worth staying for. ]

[hellofist]

Live in Bludhaven. Lived. Live here now. On seventh level.

[There's an art room, Steph. She can send pictures back to Alfred and Bruce, it'll be good.]

You're here, so... will be good.

[ichoosefight]

[ She is sure Cass will make beautiful art in the art room, when she goes. ]

Friends do make it better.

[hellofist]

[There's still one big thing that Cassandra just does not understand.]

What happened... with Tim?

[ichoosefight]

[ She makes a face. Cass barely even needs to body-read her, her thoughts are so plain on her face most of the time. ]

A lot of stuff. Things were falling apart when I did the Robin thing, and after... [ She left him to go to Africa, and then hired assassins to kill him at Batman's behest, and he told her to stop being a vigilante, and just everything went wrong. Over and over and over again. ]

We just stopped working together.

[hellofist]

[As Cass listens, it fits together in her head like a puzzle. Why they aren't together now, even thought they're in the same place, both alive. They don't work together, they don't function together. It's sad, but... change is good, sometimes.]

Still friends?

[ichoosefight]

Yeah. Of course we are. [ Not of course, no. There have been times when she thought she could hate Tim. But in the end, he'll always have a special place in her heart. ]

Hey, I had something I wanted to show you. [ She pulls her backpack around to her front, like a really lame preview for what's inside. ]

[hellofist]

[There, she sees it. Still love, if in a different form. That's all it takes to make Cass let go of the idea of Tim and Stephanie together forever.

And then there is a bag. Cass doesn't get it.]

Want to show... bag?

[It's a nice bag and everything, but... what?]

[ichoosefight]

[ It's kind of a crummy bag, Steph knows. It's what's in the bag. She takes a moment to dig around and drops the backpack altogether, shaking out her loot to reveal a spiffy-looking purple-and-black suit with a familiar symbol on the chest. She doesn't say anything; her grin says it all. ]