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]

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. ]

[hellofist]

[She's heard already, the beans have been spilled. Somehow Steph is Batgirl. It's not a strange thought, Steph has always belonged to the bat family.

A wide, very happy grin starts to spread over Cassandra's face almost immediately.]

Purple.

[ichoosefight]

[ If it's even possible, Steph's smile grows with Cass'. She's been Batgirl for a while now, but it will never stop being amazing and cool to her. ]

Eggplant purple. Babs designed it.

[hellofist]

Put it on!

[Aside from the obvious friendship, one of the things Cass missed the most about Steph was going on patrol with her. Stephanie inspired new ways to look at things, letting the job be fun. After Steph, all of the color bled out of patrolling. Everything became grey, by the book, boring.

Now, they can be Batgirl together and as hard as she tries, Cass can't think of anything better.]

[ichoosefight]

[ Steph laughs and nods her ascension. ] Okay, okay. [ Nobody else is around and there's no good reason to be shy stripping in front of Cass. She pulls her clothes off and starts changing. ]

So, what do you think? [ She pulls the cape back and forth, showing it off. ]

[hellofist]

[There's no shyness in Steph, so Cass doesn't think to look away. She doesn't know if she even can, after thinking her best friend had been dead this whole time. Letting her out of her sight even just to let her get changed in private would have been out of the question.

And then all there is is pride. Cass was filled with it already, but now Steph is brimming with it too and everything is okay, right now.]

Perfect. You were... made to be Batgirl.

[ichoosefight]

[ Even after all this time, she can't help but preen a little under the approval. ]

Not any more than you were. I try to make you and Babs proud. [ As much as she wants to not mess up for herself, she's part of a legacy now, and that means something. ]

[hellofist]

You do.

[How can she not? From the beginning, Stephanie wanted to do the right thing. Now she has the resources and Batman, she would assume. As far as Cass is concerned, Steph is automatically a good Batgirl.]

[ichoosefight]

[ Batman's resources, anyway. Oh, and his habit of looking over everyone's shoulder, that's helpful in its own awful way. ]

I'm not dead yet, so I figure I must be doing something right.

[ Oh. Bad choice of words, she realizes moments after they come out of her mouth. ]

[hellofist]

[And as soon as it slips, Cass' face falls. She had tried to just push that to the back of her mind, focus on Steph alive and here, not on being lied to and missing her for so, so long. She wasn't ready to look at that again already.

Suddenly, the grass is much more interesting than Stephanie's new suit and Cass isn't sure if she'll be able to look up again.]

Not funny.

[ichoosefight]

I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. [ She deflates, and the guilt comes back like being hit with a brick wall. She's a horrible friend. ]

[hellofist]

[She already cried with Tim. This still hurts, hurts worse than Bludhaven, but Steph is alive and there's absolutely no reason to cry over that.

Her heart still feels heavy and her eyes are still burning, though.]

Don't make those jokes.

[ichoosefight]

I won't, I promise. [ But she's broken so many promises in her life. Still, she'll try, and she really doesn't want to see Cass cry. ]

Never again. I'll only make funny jokes. And maybe bad puns.