Try Again.

SCANNING…IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE. ENTER CATHERINE TODD-STORM, CHILD OF JASON TODD & BIOLOGICALLY ARTEMIS BANA MIGHDALL. CODENAME: ROBIN.  A 21 YEAR OLD SECOND YEAR ENROLLED IN THE SUPERHUMAN TRACK. INTEL SHOWS THEY ARE DEDICATED, BUT CAN ALSO BE ANGRY. ABILITIES INCLUDE AMAZON PHYSIOLOGY. FACIAL RECOGNITION MISTAKES THEM FOR SADIE SINK.

“Yeah well, not my problem you don’t know how to fall in line and you have a hard head.” she scoffed continuing to walk forward side stepping and ignoring Cat. “You know, I don’t even know what your problem is.” Daphne should have known better than to ignite the flames. She should have just walked away but the anger she had built up in her had seeped out. 

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      “Sorry I’m not a mindless puppet like you.” She shot back, tired of the back and forth. “Really?” Cat spun around, the disbelief thundering through her. “You don’t know what my problem is? Are you blind? Or maybe just self centered. Everything is about Daphne. Bad things only ever happen to you because you’re the center of the universe and we’re all just orbiting around you. Get over yourself. You aren’t the only person who has bad shit happen to them.” 

     “Because they ran out of other ways to torture us?” Alec shrugged, turning his head to look at the redhead. Was that a little dramatic? Sure, but it felt like a lot of the rules in this place were only there to establish control without any logical reasoning behind them. That, and he really didn’t like being told what to do. “Do these usually last a while?” he asked, raising a brow. Suddenly he was regretting not bringing his earphones with him or something. “It’s literally the twenty-first century - just send an email” Alec muttered with a huff, turning to face forwards again as he slumped into his seat. 

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       “No kidding.” She replied in agreement. They must have been getting desperate to force students to go to rallies that meant absolutely nothing in the end. It was an ego boost for the hero that was invited every year, just another way to flaunt their accomplishments. “They last forever.” Forever being an hour, two at tops. “It’s hard to stroke whoever the speaker’s ego is through an email.” She replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she finally took her seat next to Alec.

A light snort left Ginny’s lips. “I think I’d use a toaster as soap than be a cheerleader,” she said. “Jesus. Do they really think we’re gonna fall for this rah-rah-sis-boom-bah bullshit? This is basically a detention center with a Breakfast Club patina slapped on it, mostly for the brochure.” She had no idea if the school even had brochures, considering she hadn’t elected to come here, but still. There surely had to be some kind of advertising, at any rate. She let out a little sigh of relief when Cat agreed to sneaking out, and she got to her feet. “Okay, come on,” she said. “They never lock the windows in the bathroom. You think they got that big beefy guy with the Aerosmith tattoo on his neck at the door? Which…” She nudged the bathroom door open. “Aerosmith? That’s the band we’re going with to etch permanently on our body? Okay.”

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          Cat’s brows pulled together as the mental image of using a toaster as soap ran through her mind. It was unorthodox to say the least. “Well good thing you aren’t one then because you’d stink or be dead, neither or which I want to deal with. Most of the hero kids love the rah-rah-sis-boom-bah bullshit. The only people who don’t are the ones who know better or are villains. Or villain wannabes.” She said shooting a pointed look at Ginny before turning her attention back to the crowd. Never even having the chance to sit down, she didn’t have to stand up. Following after the other student, she shrugged when she asked about the beefy man with the Aerosmith tattoo. He might have been there but it was just as likely that he wasn’t. “You don’t like Aerosmith? You could have just admitted you had bad taste. It would have been quicker than that weird roundabout way.”

⚔   — With this being her third year here she should be used to this already but she never was. Elara let out a sigh she looked around before someone sat next to her and said took the words right out of her mouth. “to keep us from having fun honestly. they say its to bring us all closer together and inform but I call bullshit on that and think its them trying out a new method to bore us all to death.”

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        “Well, success. I’m already bored and I literally just got here.” Cat replied, her lips curved into an annoyed frown. These things would have been easier to bear if they didn’t last so long and they weren’t so loud, but that wasn’t the case. “Wouldn’t this just be easier if we didn’t do it at all. They never say anything that matters.” There were no heroes that Cat was interested in seeing or hear talk about their achievements for the length of the rally. 

“You’re missing the point Cat.” Mar’i out a small sigh. Leave it to Cat to focus on the wrong part of the analogy. “Alright.” She looked over to her again and then turned away. She wished there was something she could do to help the other cheer up. The two of them had been a lot closer when they were younger, almost like sisters. She hated seeing Cat like this. But she didn’t know what else to do. Looking around grabbed cat’s hand lightly. “Come on.”

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       “Seems pretty pointless to me.” Cat was just being honest. The school was a façade and they were all frauds. What was there to have spirit about? This wasn’t a normal school. Some students didn’t even choose to be there. The only thing that made it bearable for her was having her family there, Bruce included. As much as it hurt to see him, it was therapeutic. “What?” She looked down at her hand in Mar’i’s, brow quirked. 

At Cat’s gesture Richard hopped off her back and succumb to the pressure of gravity under his feet, instantly falling on his ass. “Yeah?” Richard was never good at subtlety or reading expressions. He spoke when he felt and thought, and so he said it. “What happened?” Worry pricked at his chest. For Cat’s wellbeing (and, begrudgingly, for Bruce’s as well). “How you holding up?” Cat was tough, but she wasn’t invincible and family was a weak spot for all of them. Except maybe Richard, all his spots were weak spots. “Oh yeah. I mean it’s inevitable right? Avoiding it is kinda useless.” Not to mention there was part of him happy to see Bruce, though he’d never be able to admit that to Cat. 

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      A muted laugh came from Cat as she watched her cousin fall to the ground like a cartoon character. “Yeah.” She repeated, unable to elaborate on the subject. There were feeling involved, mostly a lot of anger, but there were other ones too; ones she had a far less easy time expressing. “Just talked.” Was all she said. The details of the conversation were between her and Bruce, no one else. “I’m fine.” Cat pulled herself up, moving to sit down on the grass. “I guess so.” Richard was right though. It was inevitable. 

Bruce let out a soft scoff of a laugh, finally turning his gaze back on her. “Oh, yeah! I’m sure it does, Freckles. And I bet you’re having a great time. It’s cool being Robin at first. At least, I thought so when I put on that cape for the first time at eleven years old. Shit’s thrilling. Fighting bad guys. Carrying that colourful torch. Hey, the recognition’s not so bad either! Everyone in Gotham knows the name Robin.” He said with a smile before leaning in and lowering his tone. “Everyone’s eyes are on you. Waiting for you to screw up or die. And you’ve inherited all of Batman’s enemies so… you know, you just might. Then there’s all that pressure from the family… Starts simple; ‘You should really work on that landing. You’re Robin, you can’t be sloppy.’ To… ‘Hey, when I was in your pixie boots I was leading a team’.” Bruce said before shrugging. “But I’m sure you got it got it all down just fine. Cape looks better on you, after all. Right, Kitty Cat?” 

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        “Yeah, no kidding, Robin is a household name now. Not just in Gotham, but around the world thanks to you.” Cat had to dig the name out of the grave that Bruce had dug for it, buried under lies and betrayal, she was working to claw her way out of it. It was suffocating to try and fill shoes that were impossibly large. She would never understand what she had done to deserve this. To have to be the burier of weight she would almost certainly fall victim to. Bruce had done it and it had changed him, turned him into someone what was unrecognizable from the person she grew up with. “Are you one of them?” She asked when he had finished his speech. “Are you one of Batman’s enemies? One of my enemies?” She had never considered Bruce to be anything but family. He had been like a brother to her. Cat didn’t care about teams or having to live up to the Robin name. She had only ever wanted to live up to Bruce’s name, to his accomplishments, but all that had changed. He wasn’t much of a hero to look up to anymore. He was a warning of what not to do. “I’m glad you noticed.” 

Daphne couldn’t understand why Cat consistently defended Bruce, it got under her skin. Her heart had been broken and she had felt betrayed and she hadn’t been dealing with her anger about the whole situation that well, that it sometimes spilled over into other relationships. She didn’t want to lose Cat’s friendship but she hadn’t fought to save it either. “Walk around Cat, go on the grass. It’s not like you follow the rules around here anyway.” she rolled her eyes. 

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      “Maybe I’d be better at following the rules if people like you didn’t make it so difficult.” Cat rebuked, throwing all her frustrations with Daphne into the sentence. It was funny to think how they had gotten along, even been friends, before everything that happened with Bruce. Now she was unrecognizable. She didn’t even resemble the person Cat once knew. 

“you don’t have to say much to me to get me not be on my ass for days,” alex said before worrying her bottom lip slightly. “fuck it, i’ll just pout like my dad taught me to do so for when my other dad got mad.” terry taught alex all the worst things on how to get things from kyle, and to this day she still uses those tactics. “let’s get a move on, i’m starving.”

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       “Perfect.” Cat said, pleased with the answer she had received. Alex was the best roommate assignment she had received, granted she had only had one other, but she was a lot better than the last. “Who says they’re even gonna find out? We’re like ants in the middle of an anthill.” That was all the pushing she needed. Cat started weaving her way through the sea of crowded bleachers until she reached the stairs, turning back to make sure Alex was behind her. 

“What, the school spirit isn’t floating your boat?” Ginny asked in an arid tone, glancing around at the assembled students, most of whom were chatting animatedly. She was already feeling her stomach cramp and her lungs curl in on themselves like a rose shrinking from frost. She knew what was included in the program for this fucking assembly: the In Memoriam. “Listen, what’s stopping us from sneaking out? If I have to watch people get weepy over that I am Iron Man bullshit one more time, I’m going to make a projectile out of a mechanical pencil, my shoe and the last piece of mint gum in my bag. Somebody is gonna lose an eye. It might be me. At this point I am not picky.”

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        “Does the school spirit float anyone’s boat? Other than maybe the cheerleaders and sports teams?” There was nothing about events like this, or really any other event required by the school that she enjoyed. They always felt a facade, like some sort of smoke screen to get you to look one direction so you didn’t notice what was actually going on behind the curtain or closed doors. A sly smirk pulled at the corner of the redhead’s lips. There was absolutely nothing stopping them from sneaking out. Sneaking out actually sounded preferable to the torture they were likely about to be forced to endure. “Seeing as I personally like having my eyes in tact, let’s get out of here.”  

“No ones going to attack. We’re practically in Fort Knox. They’d be idiots to try something here.” she tried to reassure Cat. She knew what she meant though. After recent events, you couldn’t help but think betrayal was right around the corner. “Well, you can stand here and mope about it, or you can just face the fact you’re stuck here and just try to enjoy it?” she shrugged, holding out a pompom to cat. “I’ll buy you lunch after?” 

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      “You know Fort Knox hasn’t been broken into because no one has tried, right?” She asked, turning to meet her cousin’s eyes. “There’s nothing to enjoy here.” Nothing here but her family reminded her of home, and even then it wasn’t the parts of home that she yearned for. She missed the things she wasn’t allowed at the school: she missed sneaking out in the middle of the night to watch the stars, she missed the sound of sirens that sang her to sleep like a comforting lullaby, but most importantly she missed her dads. 

“I’m annoying you into finishing faster and thus getting stronger,” Rich reasoned, though the reasoning lacked slight logic. “I’m the perfect weight cause you just want to get me off your back.” He said with a grin, only for the grin to falter in an instant. “… not yet.” He admitted, a bit hesitant to so much as talk about him. As if Bruce would jump out of a nearby bushes at even the mention of his name. “What about you?” Cat was a bit better at expressing her feelings then him, and Richard doubted she’d hold much back. 

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         “Keep telling yourself that.” She said, pushing up for the last time and gesturing for him to get off of her. “Yeah...” her voice trailed off with admission, part of her hoping that her cousin hadn’t heard the answer and she could just pretend like she hadn’t brought the subject up at all. It was sensitive for all of them. There wasn’t much to say other than she had spoken to him. All the trust she had once held for her family had disappeared in those three years that Bruce was gone. “Are you going to?”

Her words were just as harsh as he thought they’d be but that didn’t mean they didn’t sting any less. He took a moment to respond, looking away from her. He just couldn’t stare at her anymore. Couldn’t take it. He’d done what he had to escape what felt like suffocation and now suddenly he couldn’t breathe again. This was much harder than he’d anticipated. Then again… what was he anticipating? Everyone to forgive him? He knew deep down that this was the reaction he was bond to get. That was why he’d cut contact. He didn’t want to face it. The trial felt more like a witch hunt. Every word tossed in his prosecution was nasty and true but he still got this light sentence. A few years of some superhero school. Everyone expected him to change and be a good moral person again. Once again, things were expected of him. It never stopped. “Yeah.” He said finally, still keeping his gaze off her. “You’re probably right.” Then, he finally changed the subject. His words were cold, “I bet you look good in the cape, huh?” 

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       She knew she wasn’t right. The way they had treated Bruce during the trail had been unbearable. Cat hadn’t worked up the courage to attend, to be there to show her support for her cousin, because she hadn’t been ready to face him. She wasn’t sure that she was ready even now, but it was a little late for that now. It was surreal after three years of not seeing him that he was just there next to her as if nothing had ever happened. She could pretend if she tried hard enough that he hadn’t ever disappeared and instead had been beside her through it all. If he had stayed she never would have had to become Robin. The mantle would have still belonged to him the way it should have. That wasn’t the way things played out though, and it was a little too late to go back now. They were stuck in their roles. Cardinal and Robin. “It looks great on me. Better than it ever did on you.” 

“To torture us, maybe?” In the past Chloe had actually appreciated school assemblies, enjoying the cheerleading aspect and the spirit part. That feeling had lessened as of late being forced to meet eyes she didn’t so much want to see. “Maybe if they make themselves the common enemy they think everyone will get along.” That suggestion was more of a joke then an actual idea. “Or maybe a headcount to see who’ll actually show up.”

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      “Definitely to torture us. That much is obvious.” She agreed with a swift nod. There was nothing about assemblies that shouted fun time to Cat. It was crowded, hot, loud; all things she wasn’t particularly fond of. “They want us to get along with people who are actively, well, I guess less actively now, but once actively trying to kill us and other people? They might want to set their aspirations lower.” The idea of being friends with anyone new was an unpleasant one. “Maybe I should have ditched then. I could have pretended like I wasn’t showing up this year.” 

Mar’i stood next to Cat, her hair pulled into a high pony tail as she stood in her cheerleader uniform, pompoms held lightly in her hands. Her skin shone lightly, after all she’d just got done performing a few minute’s earlier.  “Come on it’s not that bad..” Mar’i smiled. She loved pep rally’s. She always thought they were a good way to find friends and start the new year on a good foot. “What would you rather be doing? Moping around in your room?”

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       “It’s pretty bad.” Cat corrected her cousin. Mar’i had always been a ball of sunshine while Cat was a stormy rain cloud, dark and brooding. The two shouldn’t have gotten along as well as they did, but without Mar’i, Cat was pretty sure she would have completely fallen apart when Bruce disappeared. “Yes, exactly. I would love nothing more than to be moping around in my room. This place sucks and it’s so crowded. You know, this would be the perfect time for someone to attack since we’re all in the same place.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Bruce finally stated, “I just couldn’t take the chance. Look where that got me.” He said. Shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know about that, Cat. I think they stuff their mattresses with rocks.” He joked. “Besides, I’ve never really been the biggest fan of school uniforms. I might have preferred the black and white stripes.” He glanced her over. Wondering how he went so many years without her. She was always his person. Even talking to her now was making him feel a bit more at home. Which only made his stomach churn with regret. 

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       I know. It felt like a slap in the face. Like she had never been good enough for him no matter how much she had done to prove to him that he could trust her, that no matter what they had each other’s back, through thick and thin. Bruce was the closest thing she had to a brother. He was the person she had always looked up to, wanting to be just like him. That was all in the past now though, well, for the most part. Maybe not all of it since she had agreed to take the mantle of Robin when he had lost it because after everything she still couldn’t lose him. That small part of him was with her always. “It got you what you deserved.” She told him harshly. Bruce didn’t deserve to be publicly humiliated, not in her opinion, but she understood why everything had to be so public. He was an example. The poster boy of what not to do, a warning for those who lingered on the edge, teetering on a finely balanced line. “You’d look paler than you already are in black and white.”