#fiercely assertive protector

We start this issue with backstory on Mad Dog. Basically, one of the kids Cain trained went totally insane and started killing all the other children. Ra’s sent one of his men to kill him, but the man couldn’t find it in his heart to kill the boy and instead released him into the wild. Nyssa eventually found him and brought him back to the League. He tries to kill the last one of Batgirl’s little group, Tigris, and Alpha tries to shoot him, but Cass gets between them, since she doesn’t want any more killing. Alpha points out how Mad Dog is so feral that he cannot be fixed and that Cass’ plans so far have only caused more death.

Cass starts fighting Mad Dog, but they are equally matched. After a lot of back and forth, he flees from the battle field and Shiva arrives to point out to Cass that Mad Dog is only following his nature. Knowing that his nature is to kill, Cass hurries back to Alpha and Tigris just in time and jumps right between Tigris and Mad Dog’s claws. She knocks out Mad Dog and Tigris wonders why she sacrificed her life for someone who is not worthy. Alpha explains that everyone is worthy of a chance to change and Cass is happy that he finally understands. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 26

Cassandra dies in the snow, but Shiva arrives and refuses to let it end like this. Alpha realizes she plans to take her to the Lazarus Pit and tries to stop her, but Shiva won’t let him. Once again, Cass meets Steph in the afterlife (keep in mind that Steph really was supposed to be definitely dead at this point) and Stephanie continues telling the story of Cain and how he looked for the perfect mother for his perfect child. He found her in Detroit… and killed her (actually, not quite, but we will get to that tomorrow).

Oh. My. God.

This issue…

Get out your tissues and your comfort items, folks, because this one hits right in all the feels.

We start off with a woman trying to get on the bus with her child, only to see that someone stole her baby. Cass does not waste a single second and chases right after them, even at the risk of getting dragged over the asphalt. Unfortunately, she gets shot at close range just before getting to the baby and ends up having to decide between heeding Oracle’s call over the comms, or following the kid. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 23 Made Of Steel: 8

At the clock tower, Bruce and Barbara try their best to contact her, because Cass has not spoken to Barbara in days, nor to Bruce in weeks. In a genuinely surprising and heart-warming moment of vulnerability, Bruce admits that Barbara is right and that he has been using Cass, just like he uses/d all his allies, for selfish reasons, and that it is hurting Cass. Barbara is happy with Bruce’s new-found self-reflection, but she also quickly tries to soften the blow by reminding him that Cass is also eighteen years old and probably going through a bit of a rebellious phase, like every kid her age. And I will honestly admit, Bruce’s response of “I wouldn’t know” just gutted me, because it once again hammers in the point that he is trying to do his best, but there is just so much emotional competence he missed out on due to how young he was when his parents were murdered. Well done, Dylan Horrocks! (And Jean-Jacques Dzialowski, too. His art is gorgeous.) Batmom: 41 Batdad: 37

Later, Cass finds one of the thugs she was tailing in a hospital and firmly plays up her creepy image by reminding him that Batman may not kill, but she is not Batman. She then interrogates another thug for the location of the child, and, man, Cass can be savage as fuck. Creepy Bat: 19 Cass Sass: 8

Our bad guys this week are a band of human traffickers who call themselves HR (and you thought your company was toxic!), who are about to take a new batch of victims away on a boat. Cass attaches her grappling hook to a nearby railing, but the captain knows that something’s behind them and starts evasive maneuvers, forcing Cass into the open where she promptly gets shot at. Things go moderately well until the head HR lady threatens to shoot one of the hostages, and so Cass backs down and takes a couple of bullets to the back. Luckily, Batman arrives before she is shot in the head. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 24

Later, Cass is shown to be surprisingly okay for having been shot so often, although Alfred does need to patch her up. Bruce’s five minutes of empathic sincerity are apparently over and he starts wailing on her, chiding her for disobeying, not answering comms, and attacking without permission. Turns out he and Robin had been investigating HR for months and if they had followed the boat to its rendezvous point, they could have shut them down throughout North America. Cass is pissed that Bruce was essentially using the hostages for his own gain, but Bruce doesn’t want to hear it. I kind of empathize with both sides here. What Bruce did was ethically wrong, but had Cass bothered to answer his calls, she would have been in on the plan. Bruce continues laying into her for being erratic and irresponsible and flat-out states that he does not care what her reasons are. And so Bruce sacks her, telling her he has arranged an apartment for her and she can bring anything she wants, except her Batgirl suit. Cass packs her things and leaves, heartbroken and disappointed. Made Of Steel: 9 Spells Team With An I: 2

Back in Batgirl’s own series, we start out with Cass taking out a guy who’s high on… something. A woman standing nearby, who is also tripping balls, looks at her cowl and tells Cass her eyes are all lifeless and soulless. Cass goes to ask Barb what a “soul” is, but Barb is giving her a rain check on that one. Cass dodges both her questions about Tarakstan and her relationship with Bruce and Barb decides to prepare her a midnight snack instead (because god knows Bruce and his flock like to forget to sleep and eat). Batmom: 38

They reminisce about Barb’s days as Batgirl… which are pretty damn different from Cass’, and eventually Barb pulls out her old Batgirl costume. She admits that she misses being Batgirl sometimes, before returning to her work, leaving Cass behind with Barb’s old suit.

Cass returns home to find Alfred cleaning up her mess (because good god, she’s a litter bug with disgusting living habits), and he explains he’s been coming by once a week to make sure she doesn’t grow new civilizations in her fridge. He also lets her know that Bruce is worried about her, but Cass brushes it off, saying she can look after herself, to which Alfred sadly agrees. Batdad: 35

Later, Cass looks at files of the original Batgirl on her computer and decides to head out in Barbara’s old costume, which she looks surprisingly good in despite being at least a head shorter. She slips on her heels during her first takedown, but still manages to take out the bad guys. And ends up saving Tim from a fiery death by leaping right in front of an explosion. Symbolism!: 17 Fiercely Assertive Protector: 22

Tim is surprised, but not angry at the costume change, even remarking that it makes her look kinda hot. Cass quickly takes out the remaining thugs and finds a bottle with pills. Turns out all the people she took out where on a drug called “Soul”. Tim takes the bottle to the Batcave for analysis, but not before warning Cass that she should not let Bruce catch her in that costume.

She returns the suit to Babs, who offers her to keep it, but Cass turns her down. Meanwhile, Barb has come up with an answer for Cass’ question: a soul is what you are at the end of the day, when it is just you, no more obligations or masks. Too bad Cass is already fast asleep. Batmom: 39

Back in Cass’ own story, we start off with Cass kicking ass and then not managing to fall asleep in her rather messy batcave. Turns out Black Wind (from the last few Batgirl issues) has escaped from custody. Barb calls her to make sure that she’s okay (and to recommend Alfred’s help for Cass’ insomnia), but Cass brushes her off. Batmom: 33

Cass returns outside to patrol, but all she hears and sees are people declaring how much they love each other and it clearly hurts her. She hitches a ride on a train to Smallville… by clinging to the roof. Because everyone in the batfam is just that extra. Living Emoji: 68 Batmom: 34

As soon as Cass arrives in Kansas, she goes straight to Conner’s place and scares the ever-living daylights out of him. Cass, who is quite obviously heads over heels in love with him, tries to kiss him, nearly get’s him in trouble with Mrs Kent, and is ultimately told to wait for him outside. Creepy Bat: 18 Living Emoji: 69

Eventually, Conner does show up and Cass nearly gets to kiss him several times, except something always comes up, including some alien slug creatures that finally exhaust Conner’s patience. Turns out they can take over his own telekinetic powers and things are not looking so good until Cass finally has enough of evading and starts punching the hell out of the space slug. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 20

However, Cass’ rage and aggressiveness quickly turns into compassion when she realizes the creature is actually very lonely. It also makes Cass realize that she would rather have a friendship with Conner than a crush on him and the two decide to part as friends, with Conner taking Cass back to Gotham.

The madness continues. Picking up where we left off, Batman nearly kills a mugger, then goes back to Rahn and demands he continue painting him. Another flash of strangely blue light happens, but it takes Rahn to actually get Bruce to move his ass and get to work. Batgirl goes to confront the “Purge” suspect, but gets knocked out by an explosion. Bruce finds her and instantly goes into Batdad mode. Batdad: 44

In the meantime, Oracle is analyzing the case of Slate’s dead assistant and finds some interesting details that she forwards to Batman. Slate’s proposal for a fluorescent Gotham are denied in light of the recent attack on Wayne Tower and Rahn discovers that his agent, Angela, is working with Slate. He is not happy, since he really does not want to sell the Batman portrait to Slate.

Over in the Batcave, Alfred informs Bruce that Cass is going to be okay and that an important email arrived, but Bruce is already on his way out the door. Cass wakes up not too long after and demands to see the message that arrived. It seems the DID remember that Cass cannot read and so Alfred explains the message to her. The glowing suit Purge wears was created by Slate’s late wife and his assistant’s death suggests he is not done tinkering with biomedical engineering. Unwilling to take the break she needs, Cass heads out to find Slate before he hurts anyone else. Aphasia: 68 Fiercely Assertive Protector: 25

We are now in the last issue of this arc and we start with Dr. Death demonstrating the effects of his latest poison in front of Tarakstan’s most wealthy and influential business men and politicians: upon reacting with the oxygen in the air, it turns people into oil. As in the stuff you put in your car.

Meanwhile, on a hill in the country side, Black Wind tells Cass about how there used to be a village, his home, in this place. When he was a child, he discovered his powers and was taken away by the government. When he returned after years of being experimented on, the village had been razed in order to clear the field for oil drilling. He tells her that his people traditionally believe that drilling in the earth is bad, because that’s where you bury secrets so they don’t fester inside your soul. He buries a secret (“I love you”) in the soil, then tries to get friendlier with Cass, but she’s uncomfortable with him and tries to leave. Black Wind refuses, causing Bruce to come over and threaten him that if he touches Cass again, he’ll smash him like a bug. Batdad: 34

At night, the double-crossing interpreter explains how she came to learn of Dr. Death’s plan and contacted Black Wind and his crew for help. Black Wind decided to kidnap Bruce Wayne for publicity. He starts arguing with Batman, but in the end they strike a very uncomfortable truce. They attack Dr. Death’s laboratory, but he already suspected the attack. He sends out the remaining prisoners he was experimenting on and orders his soldiers to retreat, then shuts down the building to be sealed airtight and tosses a bottle of his poison into the crowd outside.

Bruce and Cass make it inside, but she reconsiders and returns outside just before the doors close. While Bruce confronts Dr. Death and his soldiers, Black Wind summons the wind to control the gas cloud. Once Bruce busts through the doors, he tries to aim it at Dr. Death and his people, but Batman tackles him, causing the wind to spin out of control. Black Wind uses his last bit of strength to turn the gas cloud on himself, rather than everyone around him and Cass is left behind lamenting his death. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 21

In the epilogue, Bruce renounces his potential investment in Tarakstan, while Cass buries a secret in the ground, “I love you”. When Bruce asks, she refuses to tell him. Symbolism!: 16

Issue 18 begins with a nightmare, in which two-inches-tall Cassie tries to steal some cookies from a jar, only to have the batfam accuse her of being a killer. Cass wakes up crying, and yes, that is the sound of my heart breaking you just heard there.

That night, during patrol, Batgirl comes across a deal between an assassin and his contractors that has gone sour. She quickly rushes in to prevent any bloodshed and starts kicking ass, but runs into Robin of all people! After Cass easily dodges a few bullets, Robin explains that he was here for Vink, the man who contracted the assassin, but that he also put a tracker on the assassin’s car. He hands the tracking device to Cass, then hurries to get away, leaving Cass awkwardly bewildered and sad by his distant behaviour. Living Emoji: 44 Fast As Lightning: 27

As it turns out, the assassin returned to Vink for his money, so Cass and Robin quickly meet again. They manage to find Vink, who has been tied up and informs them that the assassin took his daughter. Cass tries to follow, but gets shot. Turns out the assassin (called “Deadeye”) has a cybernetic eye and can shoot without aiming, which prevented her from dodging in time. It is here that we learn that Cass has scars from old bullet wounds on her back, which he got when her father shot her during training. Tim is appropriately horrified by this. They also find out that Deadeye has made a ransom demand for the girl, but Cass is convinced that he will kill her before they get the money anywhere near him. Tim doesn’t believe her, but Cass assures him that she knows “his type”.

They track Deadeye and despite Robin’s protests that she is injured, Batgirl goes in to save the girl. This time she manages to both out-sass and out-class Deadeye and take him down. Fiercely Assertive Protector: 15 Better Off Dead: 9 Fast As Lightning: 28 Cass Sass: 4

Our issue ends with Robin being surprisingly cooperative and empathic. He acknowledges that he probably had the most normal childhood out of all the bats and that Cass’ backstory was pretty intimidating to him. He also acknowledges that he shouldn’t have let it affect his opinion of her, since she has clearly rejected her assassin teachings and is fighting with the family, and so Tim offers his hand in friendship. Just the way Cass accepts it (handshake with both hands rather than one and direct “eye” contact, rather than avoidance) communicates just how much this means to her. Living Emoji: 45

For this issue, we pick up one of the loose plot threads that was left dangling not too long ago: who is Alpha?

We start off with an amnesiac man walking into a bar and using his credit card to order drinks, while Oracle helps Batman on a case. They still don’t know who Alpha is and Bruce asked Cass to find out something about an arms shipment coming into Gotham. She hasn’t had any luck so far and Barb, who is pretty stressed out at the moment, tells her she can either start acting like the detective she wants to be ... or just beat up every mob in Gotham until she finds the right one. Both Cass’ and Barb’s reactions in this are priceless. Living Emoji: 62 Fiercely Assertive Protector: 18

Our mystery man is intercepted by some gangsters on his way out of the bar, who interrogate him and beat him up until Cass arrives and kicks ass. They hang out on a rooftop after she saves him, where the stranger explains that he does not even know who he is or what the gangsters wanted. Cass assures him that it’s ok because “[she’s] a detective”. Oh dear.

They go to the mystery man’s hotel room, where it turns out he was carrying concealed weapons and fake passports. She deduces that he is a secret agent.

She then proceeds to drag him to several locations where the arms deal might possibly go down, but nothing rings any bells for our poor secret agent. At one of the warehouses, Cass lets him wait outside while scooping out the place and, what do you know, bingo! Arms deal. Meanwhile, some of the thugs attack the amnesiac agent and the near-death experience brings back some of his memories. He proceeds to fight his way throughout half the mob without great difficulties, which convinces Cassandra that she has found Alpha. How? Why? Next issue, I guess.