Leslie was the only Bruce allowed in after he refused to see everyone in Detective Comics #1095: âLet me in, son.â
In Batgirls #2, Babs tells Steph that Cass and her always have a home with her:
Gotham Knights (2000) #1: âThose peopleâAlfred, Nightwing, Robin, Oracle⌠even Batgirl and Azraelâtheyâve become a real family to him [Batman].â
Bruce rushes to get to Damian in Batman and Robin (2023) #19: âIâm coming, son.â
In Gotham Knights (2000) #2, itâs said that â[Bruce] knows, for instance, that if Dick - Nightwing - had disobeyed his order to come back to the ship, it would have been [âŚ] because of his unabating desire to demonstrate his filial loyalty.â
In Batgirl #6, Cass reflects on her relationship with Bruce and mentions the batfam as the family she chose:
Also in Batgirl #6, Lady Shiva calls Cass âdaughter of the batâ:
When Damian is kidnapped in Batman and Robin #20, Bruce urges the family to search for him: "Find your bother".
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Writerâs Month Prompts (written for @writersmonth )
Day 22 - Forest (Stephanie Brown & Cass Cain)
âOkay, Cass, I give. What are we do here?â Steph waved both arms in a sweeping gesture meant to take in the entirety of the forest surrounding them.
âWalking.â Cass signed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
They were only fifteen minutes into their hike and Steph was already feeling out of her element. The trees werenât taller than Gotham skyscrapers, but when she looked up into the leafy canopy, they seemed so much more threatening. While in the city, criminals and super villains could be lurking behind the next corner in the city, she had no idea what to expect beyond the next turn. To say the least, it was intimidating.
âRight, I get that. What I mean, why are we in the woods? We could walk around Gotham just as easily as hereâactually, more easily since we had to drive like an hour to get here.â Steph exhaled, in a futile attempt to blow the wayward strands of hair from her eyes. The end of her ponytail brushed along the back of her neck. She took a swig from her water bottle. âI gotta admit, Iâm a city girl, born and bred. I donât know what to do with all this fresh air and dirt.â
Cass giggled at Stephâs dramatic speech. Deliberately, she waved her hand with only her thumb and pinkie finger extended between them. âSame.â
They drifted into silence as they concentrated on the packed dirt path winding through the trees. Steph ended up being quite grateful for the walking sticks Alfred had insisted they bring with them. Still, she spent most of her focus on not tripping over the obstacle strewn path. Though someone had cleared a path, roots of nearby trees snaked across the way, sometimes creating natural trip wires above the ground. Uneven rocks jutted through the dirt, forming impromptu steps up hills. Leaves and other natural debris crunched under their feet.
Despite being lost in thought, Steph didnât startle when Cass touched her arm to draw her attention. With that accomplished, Cass signed, âNeed to think.â
Now that Step thought about it, it had been a couple days since she had last heard her friend speak. Sometimes vocalizing was just too much for Cass and sheâd use sign language instead. Communicating through the movement of her hands and her expression was easier. It came more naturally to her. This often meant Cass had something on her mind she was attempting to puzzle through. Which concurred with what Cass had just said.
âWhat do you see?â Cass used a directional sign for âseeâ to encompass the surrounding forest.
âTrees.â Steph shrugged. After a moment, she pointed at a random tree and declared, âThe larch.â
Cassâ brow furrowed in confusion. She clearly wasnât certain what to make of Stephâs joke.
âSorry, Tim would have laughed. Itâs a Monty Python reference. I donât actually know if that tree was a larch or not. Do larches grow in North America? Honestly, I donât know much about trees in general.â Steph tapped her chin. âLetâs see. Oak trees have acorns and maples turn pretty colors in the fall and have those helicopter seed pod things. And, um, evergreens are ever greenâŚ.â
âStop. Stop.â Cass checked Steph with her shoulder, pushing her off the path.
âHey!â Steph exclaimed. She didnât even attempt to push Cass back. That rarely worked. Instead she skipped ahead. Laughter had taken over the contemplative silence as the girls continued to tease each other and laugh while they walked. This whole hiking thing was turning out to be more fun than Steph had expected. Especially as they stopped focusing on their next step and took in the forest as a whole.
âLook.â Cass grabbed Stephâs arm, halting their progress. After a fumbling gesture for silence, Cass pointed to a small copse of trees to the left of the path. No, not at the trees, rather just beyond them.
A deer and her fawn paused to nibble on a patch of sparse grass shoots.
Steph held her breath and stood absolutely still. This was as close as sheâd ever gotten to a deer and didnât want to frighten them away into fleeing. There was something majestic about the seeing the deer in their natural habitat.
Eventually, the doe lifted her head and noticed the two humans observing her. She seemed to almost stare back at them for a half moment before she bound away with her fawn following in her wake.
âWow,â Steph breathed. If they were to end their hike now, seeing the deer would make it all worthwhile, but suddenly Steph wasnât done. She wanted to see what else they could find.
The progressed down the path in silence. Every so often they would stop each other when they observed a new natural wonder. A butterfly perched on a wildflower. Chattering chipmunks chasing each other round and round the trees. A robin, high above their heads, hopping from branch to branch. An abandoned spiderweb glistening in a sunbeam.
Steph lost track of how long theyâd been hiking when the path let out into a clearing formed around a small pond. With the break in the trees, the sunlight fell unhindered on the lush grass. It was the kind of place Steph thought only existed in fantasy novels. The kind with vaguely historic settings and quests through ancient forests.
âLetâs rest here.â Wriggling the straps of her backpack off her shoulders, Cass allowed the bag to tumble to the ground. She tugged off her shoes and socks and abandoned them in the grass. Sitting along the edge of the pond, she dangled her toes in the clear water.
Before joining her friend, Steph retrieved the lunches Alfred prepared for them. Her stomach grumbled a reminder that hiking was hungry work and this appeared to be an ideal spot for a picnic lunch. Sharing the sandwiches and apples, the girls ravenously tucked into their food. Steph splashed her toes in the water while she ate. The cool water felt good on her aching feet.
âWe should do this again.â An explosion of flavor burst in Steph's mouth as she took a bite of the apple. It was cool and crisp and the perfect combination of a little bit sweet and tart. âDid the hike help with whatever you needed to think about?â
Cass leaned on her elbows. Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes as dappled bits of sunlight shone on her face. With measured, deliberate words, Cass spoke her thoughts aloud. âBabs said I couldnât see the forest for the trees. Gotham has no forests, so I came here. Need to figure out what I missed.â
Struggling to hold back a burst of laughter, Steph bit her lip. When her face turned red from the effort of holding her breath, a gasping laugh finally escaped. âIâm sorry. Iâm sorry. Itâs not funny. Really.â
âWhat?â Cass rolled onto her side. Frowning at her friend, she tried to read Stephâs body language since her words were clearly not making any sense.
Steph closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly until she could control her reaction. âSorry, Cass. I wasnât laughing at you. Babs didnât mean that literally. She wasnât talking about real trees or forests or anything like that.â
âThen what did she mean?â
âWell, letâs see. Itâs an idiomââ
âIâm not an idiot.â Her frustration was twisting Cassâs expression into a tight, closing wall.
âOf course not. Youâre really smart. You know better than most that language can be difficult. Thereâs so many ways of saying what you mean without saying it.â Steph rested a hand on Cassâ arm. She tried to speak as much with her body language as she did with her words.
Cass sat up and moved over to her friendâs side. Resting her head against Stephâs shoulder, Cass relaxed at the physical connection. âPeople should say what they mean.â
âYouâre right. We should. You know, you can always ask me or Babs if you donât understand what someone says, even if weâre the ones confusing you. Itâs how we all learn.â
Cass nodded. Her head bobbed against Stephâs shoulder. âWhat does idiâŚidiâŚidiyum mean?â
âItâs a figure of speech.â Steph scrunched her nose. Yeah, that wasnât helpful. âTheyâre phrases which mean something completely different than the individual words. I think pretty much every language has them. When you learn any language, the idiomâs are always tricky because you canât just translate them. You need someone who understands them to explain what they mean. It's like when someone says 'it's raining cats and dogs.' It has nothing to do with actual dogs or cats, instead the use it to mean it's raining really hard. People who are familiar with the phrase, just know what it means.â
âSoâŚwhat does the one about tress and forests mean?â
Taking a moment to contemplate the meaning, Steph paused before explaining. âIt means that a person is so focused on the details that they miss the big picture.â
âIs the picture real?â Cass glanced around the glade as though she was in search of a picture.
âNo. Sorry. Um, let me try that again. The forest means the whole situation.â Steph reflected on earlier in the week. Cass had taken out a gun runner who was attempting to set up shop in Gotham. Someone they all agreed needed to be taken down, but by attacking him before the shipment came in, alerted the rest of the ring that the Bats were onto them. By the time Nightwing and Robin, who had been working the case, caught up to them, the merchandise was dispersed and the supplier had gone to ground. âSo, I think Babs was saying youâre good at focusing on the details or a single case, but donât necessarily look at the whole situation. You know, like who else might be working a related case, or if you take down one bad guy, how that will affect the rest of the criminal organization.â
âOh.â Cass perked up. âThat makes more sense. Thank you.â
Steph plucked several blades of grass and began braiding them. âGlad I could help.â
âStill glad we came to the forest.â Cass grinned. âWe should hike again.â
âYes,â Steph agreed, then groaned as she realized the sun was starting to sink behind the top of the trees. âBut first, we need to hike back to the car. Ugh.â
Rummaging through the bag, Cass retrieved two pairs of fresh socks. Alfred really had thought of everything. She tossed a pair at Steph. A mischievous glint sparked in Cassâ eyes. âIâll beat you.â
âYouâre on.â Steph scrambled to put her socks and shoes back on, then followed Cass back to the trail.
They decided to call it a tie as they made it back to Stephâs car before the last rays of sun disappeared beyond the horizon. It really had been a good dayâforest, tress, and all.
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