you can change.

( leah lewis. 26. she/they. demiwoman. ) are you a VIGILANTE? something tells me that darting shadows in the night, bright eyes hidden behind a soulless mask, the frustration of not having the words to say what you mean make you who you are, CASSANDRA CAIN. with the powers of MARTIAL ARTS, FLUENCY IN BODY LANGUAGE, you’re sure to have a compassionate, perfectionist personality — and you definitely belong to UNAFFILIATED. were you listening to SCREW FEELINGS by AU/RA on your way to the subway? it suits you. we can’t wait to see what you do next! @reshieldedintro​​

tara held up a tiny flyer and called out to the other, attempting to gently wrangle a customer today since it had been going rather slow and her boss would rather at least service one person before they closed up for the day.  “ yeah, hi. would you be interested in a ..um .. “  she looked back at the flyer that mrs. michaels had made and read off of it.  “ fifty-fifty-totally-not-shady-roses-and-daisies bouquet sale? it ends today, if that sweetens the deal? “    – (  @orphns​  )

cass blinks as she’s stopped, brows creasing together as she reads the flyer being waved at her. it wasn’t frequent that they were stopped like this—their severe expression often warded off unsolicited sales pitches. at least this one was sort of interesting. “flowers?” their head tilts, looking at the employee. “what could be shady about roses and daisies?”

          THEY  HESITATE  FOR  A  MOMENT  .  should  she  be  doing  this  ?  donna’s  not  sure  .  their  lasso  hangs  by  her  waist  ,  its  weight  feeling  a  lot  heavier  than  it  should  .  since  their  resurrection  ,  they’ve  avoided  doing  vigilante  work  around  this  new  world  .  however  ,  it  didn’t  mean  donna  left  her  gauntlets  and  lasso  at  home  .  “  don’t  let  me  get  in  the  way  .  i’m  only  here  to  take  pictures  .  ”  they’ll  jump  into  action  when  absolutely  necessary  .  “  have  you  been  doing  this  since  you  got  to  this  world  ?  ”

cass is still for a moment, but eventually they nod, accepting. she’d heard stories of donna troy, but things are different now, she supposes. “there’s nothing else for me to do,” she says in answer to donna’s question. cass is nothing outside of their vigilante work. even if they wanted to, cass didn’t have anything else to turn to. she dedicated her life to keeping innocent people safe. “batgirl is all i am. now c’mon. i’ll find you something worth getting a photo of.”

Edwards face instantly melted from his jovial smile, to a more serious and stern expression. “Honestly, do you think it’s that easy? To simply wake up one day and be completely different?” Edward shook his head back and forth, tutting softly as he did so. “If it were as easy as you claimed it to be, wouldn’t everyone be a hero? Riddle me this- Indulge me for a moment,” Edward said, putting his hands up, as if stopping Cass from coming towards him “Why would someone choose to be a villain? Do you think we all chose this route? You think I longed to be evil from birth? You don’t think I ever had loftier ambitions at some point? What good is a hero without a villain? What is good without bad to compare it to?”

cassandra isn’t stupid, nor is she naïve. they had their childhood stripped away from them nearly the moment they were born, brought up by a father who predestined them to become a villain before they had even been conceived. by all accounts, cass had all the hallmarks of the perfect villainous backstory. life is needlessly cruel, even to those who had done nothing to deserve it. it shapes people into twisted versions of themselves, and cassandra had almost become that—would have if they hadn’t run away from the horrors they were forced into. but cass found a way out, overcame her past, used her strength to help others.

in a sense, they had woken up one day and decided to be different—realized the game their father way playing was reality, and cass knew even from their young age and despite their training that they didn’t want to hurt anyone else.

“you don’t start as villains,” she agrees. “but we don’t start as heroes either. we all make a choice. and you’re choosing to let your circumstances define you—but you can still overcome.”

  ꙳       ⋆        ⌕.      (    𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧   𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫    )       .   .   .   @reshieldedstart

               𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠    𝐭𝐡𝐞    𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭    phone    model    from    the    sidewalk    ,    terry    looked    onward    to    it’s    owner    leaving    the    phone    without    notice.    the    hero    undercover    chased    behind    them    ,    finally    reuniting    with    them    terry    caught    a    breath    in    his    lungs.    he    exhaled    ,    ❛❛    you    dropped    this    back    there    , phew.    you    walk    fast.    cool    model    by    the    way.    totally    retro.  ❜❜

cass frowns down at the phone being offered to them, glancing up at the other with an unimpressed look. “not mine,” she says simply. it isn’t a lie—cass didn’t even carry a phone on them most of the time, and they didn’t own a phone that fancy. they only needed the bare minimum, if even that. “maybe i can catch up with the owner for you if you’re too winded.”

Gwen wasn’t a total dumbass, despite what their bright, effervescing personality suggested. They did kind of wish they could’ve done their own thing, but sometimes an alliance of convinience had to be made to avoid other disaster. Plus, Gwen had probably chosen the wrong hero to mess with - where had they seen her face before?

Seeing the look of pure determination on the chick, Gwen dropped the ID card like a hot potato, “Deal!” She smiled as if nothing had ever been wrong, like they were the best of friends and had known each other for eons, “My name’s Gwen, and I’m 20 years old, in case he asks,” With a wink, Gwen pushed the stranger forward like a defense wall against the approaching security guard, “Thanks, bestie!” 

cass lets out a short grunt of annoyance as they’re pushed forward. they aren’t used to being manhandled, certainly not by someone of their own similar stature. even hulking supervillains had a hard time laying a hand on batgirl, yet this stranger yanks her around like it’s nothing. maybe cass is losing their edge. they shoot a warning glance at the stranger—gwen—over their shoulder, but otherwise don’t say anything.

it’s easy enough to placate the security guard. cass offers her own gym ID and introduces gwen as her guest. she even puts on a bit of a show, tugging gwen to her and linking their arms as if they’re close friends. cass makes up answers to the very few questions he asks, and it’s that easy. he seems placated by the act, and leaves them alone almost as quickly as he’d come to investigate. it’s kind of sad how simple it is.

cass quickly disentangles their arm as the security guard is gone out of earshot, losing the small amount of pleasantry they’d dredged up. “there. good now? go find another gym to terrorize. this one’s mine.”

“I can assure you, that my memory and my intelligence are as sharp as they’ve ever been.” Edward retorted quickly. And here he thought that Echo and Query being mother hens to him were too much; now he has the Batbrats to worry about? Edward cautiously put his cane down, knowing that the physical aspect of this fight was probably over. “I have a lot on my mind. I thought you all found my riddles annoying?”

the riddler was not a villain cassandra frequently came in contact with. in fact, she’d never fought him before. bruce didn’t want her dealing with his more prolific villains unless absolutely necessary. cass’s lack of proficiency with spoken language often meant she wasn’t at the top of the team roster when edward was enacting his schemes. they’d rather brute force their way through his plans than decode his riddles. but sometimes, you can’t pick your battles. “someone might find them charming if you didn’t put others’ lives in danger. why not put your mind to good use?”

·.·★        𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲  𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭  𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲  𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤   ,     you   could  forgive  cassie  with  the  sheer  number  of  teen  super  heroes  -  and  the  fact  that  even  when  she  was  merely  a  super  hero  fan    the  batman  lineage  just  never  seemed  to  interest  her  that  much.   (    artemis  would  never  let  her  live  calling  huntress   bat-hound  down.   )         much  like how artemis  would  never  let  cassie live  down   what  she  had  to  admit. 

    “   honestly   ,   i  hadn’t  even  noticed  anyone  was  still  here.  “  she  could  blame  it  on  the  headphones  perpetually  hanging  from  her  ears,    but  the  other  cassandra  held  a  stealth  that  the  more  she  mulled  over  the  more  the  pieces  slowly  came  together.    “  why  ?   you  think  i’m  being  soft  on  you  ? “ 

cass reads the dawning recognition on cassie’s face, and her lips press into a thin smile. “maybe you should take me a little more seriously,” they agree, shifting their weight back in a more comfortable stance. “i didn’t even try to sneak up on you. it’s dangerous to be that unaware of your surroundings.” despite the jab, it’s mostly meant as a tease. cass’s stealth was largely innate by this point—even able to take the other bats off guard (in fact, only alfred seemed immune to cass’s natural abilities to disappear). the untrained eye didn’t have a chance when cass faded into the shadows.

“lucky you, i’m only here for my stuff,” they say, their tone flat despite the tease, pulling at one of the straps against their shoulder. “but tomorrow? you might want to keep an eye out for me.”

cass leans forward, brows furrowed in genuine interest as they ask, “so how do you retire from the hero gig? or are you just saying that to get everyone off your back?”

working alone is something that comes naturally to a bat. bruce was okay with leading his team even if he didn’t prefer working with them, and the robins carried an innate leadership that made them perfect for teamwork, but cass never learned to work outside their small circle. cass supposes it’s why they’ve never worked on a big team like dick or tim have—willingly, anyway. sometimes batgirl’s circumstances don’t give her that choice, however, and she has to work side-by-side with heroes she’d never expected to have anything in common with. but batgirl was known for their ability to adapt, and they wouldn’t ruin their mission just because someone else happened to get caught up in it.

“well? are you just going to stand there or are you coming with?”

“a bit slow on the uptake lately? you don’t seem like yourself.”

          “  you  know  me  too  well  ,   i’m  certainly  never  running  on  time  -  but  c’mon  ,   cass !   maybe  i  just   wanted  to  hang out  with  a  friend  …  no  training  attached  ?   ” 

“it’s not our usual MO. so either we’re training, taking out another gang... or you want to drag me off to do something ‘fun’. so, which is it?”

lois is not ADVERSE to working late nights. she has done plenty of them when starting out at the planet. and even doing them now despite where she is. hell, she got here because she was at the planet late at night. but having to work them because you’re WAITING on a source is extra annoying. 

sometimes she really does want to CURSE at the bats for sticking to the night. but they’re bats at the end of the day - the night is their day. and they’re also been good allies and GREAT FRIENDS to her and her family. 

and right now, she needs them. well one of them. there’s a story brewing on the streets and she KNOWS that a bat is her best chance at finding some information out for her. and it was either cassandra or barbara for her to be honest. so for now, she’s gone with cassandra. so she’s made her way to the rooftop and to no surprise, cassandra’s already waiting. ❝ nothing’s wrong. well i’m just trying to chase down a story and was wondering if you could get some leads for me ? or just some basic information ? i’m hitting a dead-end as a reporter and think you could help. ❞

information gathering. cass’s lips purse together in thought behind their mask. of course she’d done plenty of that before. even in her early days as batgirl, she’d been a pro at locating her targets and keeping them in her sights. she and barbara made a hell of a team when it came to collecting information on their targets. 

but that’s different from what lois is asking for. lois isn’t planning a takedown of a gang hideout or infiltrating enemy lines to break up a drug ring or even planning a stakeout. lois wants stories, information to write exposés about, intel ready to publish right for the entire world to read. cass has never worked with a reporter, has never shared their intel outside of their own circle. their information is dangerous. they’ve never put together a case without plans to act on it.

but... maybe that’s how things should work here. new york city isn’t like gotham, where everything happens under the cover of darkness. lois had lived in the glittering metropolis city and made things happen with her writing, made the city (and the world) a better place with her bold, fearless coverage. her investigative journalism had even saved Superman’s life in the past. the ability to craft stories the way lois could, without sacrificing the integrity of the truth (in fact managing to preserve every ugly detail she unearthed), was a superpower in its own right. cass was never good with words, even worse at writing than they were with speaking, and they would admit to harboring some envy over that ability.

so she’s intrigued, to say the least, at the prospect of helping lois find the leads that would turn into one of her brilliant exposés. it even sounds a little exciting.

“okay,” she agrees, maybe a bit too easily. “i can do that for you. but... i might need a favor from you too.”

.

“i thought you loved me,” he said, putting a hand to his chest pretending she had wounded him. coffee and sarcasm were his crutch, it was far too late for anyone to take it away. “what is it that you needed?” he asked, walking over to pour what was left of the coffee into his cup.

“cry about it to dick,” cass says dryly, though there’s a teasing glint in their eyes. she takes a drink of her tea (caffeine free, mind you) as tim grabs another cup of coffee, her gaze turning back to her notes. “i need a favor. for a case. up for it?”

cassandra isn’t used to getting hit--not by hired thugs, no matter how strong nor trained they were. with her skillset, it’s rare for any opponent to graze her cape, let alone lay a hand on her. figures it would take a lucky shot from a hidden gunman to knock her down. stupid mistake, she berates herself. cass is more shocked than anything else when they realize what happened, and they struggle to their feet at donna’s request.

“fine,” she grunts through the pain, hands coming up to brush over the wound in her side, and oh. that’s a lot of blood. her head is spinning, but cass takes a stuttered breath and does her best to shake it off. they have a mission, and cass can’t slow down donna and the rest of the team--or worse, put them in danger. cass can worry about this when the team is safe. “lead the way. i’ll follow.”

“what good am i if i can’t?” cass snaps angrily, losing their composure in the face of loss. they hadn’t even known the man’s name, but they mourn his death as if it had been a loved one who had died in their arms instead of a stranger. “like bruce said. i failed him. and i can never fail.”

         (  @orphns​  !  )     “  i’m  betting  you  got  here  before  me  …  man  ,   i  can’t  beat  you  at  anything  ,   cass !  ”  

“i wasn’t waiting long... thought you’d be late. so, here to ask for more training, or is there another reason you called me?”