#david and bruce both love Cass and they are fighting for no reason than “who can keep her” in batgirl

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce in Batgirl (2000) be like: I bring the "battle" in custody battle. *physically fights David Cain everytime he sees him over who keeps Cassandra*

[littleeyesofpallas]

It's such a nothing detail at this point --after what almost 50 years now?-- but it always bugged me that Lady Shiva is called Lady Shiva... Like... Either do something interesting with her heritage to align her with the Hindi namesake, or call her by some kind of Chinese equivalent of the same Destroyer god. Or like at least tie the Indian epithet to her having learned Kalaripayattu or something. I dunno I just wish her name made a little bit more sense. Although so long as I'm griping about Lady Shiva stuff...

I'd actually really love it if they took her reputation as Master of All Martialarts to heart. It already makes for a great implied dynamic with Batman where he has a reputation that precedes him but by all rights isn't actually a master martial artist so much as just a very competent jack of all trades who supplements what he lacks in martial arts specifically with his deductive reasoning, broader situational awareness, and gadgets. But if her quest to master every martial art took her back to the cradle of civilization it'd make for a cool sort of feather in her cap. She could have more run ins with the likes of Sportsmaster to draw a line around Martialarts as sports vs martialarts as real combat, vs as art, vs as living cultural artifacts. She could have some back and forth with Vandal Savage as a guy who ostensibly knows more about lost histories than any other person on Earth.

Also dumb nothing side bit but how have we not had her do the full blown Bruce Lee, or Bruce Lee inspired blurry anime arms thing to match her Shiva title?

And like, as shitty as his plots have all been, there's just so much more that could be done with David Cain if anyone really gave a shit. I know it's super lame that he's literally named after Cain & Abel, but there's something kind of cool about the idea of a guy better known for training assassins than actually being one having this association with a mythical First Murder. Cain would just make for a much better codename than anything. It'd be really interesting if he was never a martial arts expert or even master assassin at all but just a guy dabbling in experimental operant conditioning and desensitization, trying to master The Art of Killing from the basest level.

Because really learning martialarts and bodily discipline as a first language fits Shiva's shtick better anyway. Cain's deal should be about breaking down the psychological resistance to killing and violence. Among other things there's really no reason for him to even be Cassandra's biological father. It would make way more sense to just make him a weirdo abducting or otherwise buying people's kids to try and get them as tabula rasa as possible. That being said he should also have closer ties to Damian specifically as the recipient of Cain's eventual perfected training methods.

(oh you know I don't know why I never thought of it but is he supposed to also be named after the biblical David? Like as a reference to David and Goliath? So he's named after two biblical guys who killed someone with a rock? Honestly the name David is so plain it never crossed my mind to even look for a connection)

But that all being said there's this implicit untapped synergy between the themes of The First Killer among men, and the Hindu Destroyer God that would be really cool to explore, obviously thru Cass and how she should be the marriage of their two themes, along with any siblings we want to acknowledge in any given timeline. Like, she should really be a perfect embodiment of bothe parents' ideals but also the perfect counter point or refutation of each. Like, I know we all love pure hearted Cass and the whole idea that she could just shake off her lifetime of training and condition to just know that killing is wrong, but I dunno it's a little corny? (I do like the idea that Cain's blindspot was that training her against professional killers meant she never learned the body language of fear in someone who can't fight back, though. That sort of culture shock is a fun part of that moment.) Instead it would be really interesting to acknowledge that, yeah, Cain's training worked and she can pretty easily take a life without much hesitation or guilt, but that doesn't mean she can't make the rational or ethical or moral judgement to not kill, it just means she isn't making it based on reflexive disgust or shame or trauma.

The loophole to her being a perfect killer and unmatched fighter being that if she's truly unmatched then other fighters don't actually pose a threat to her, and without her life at risk she has no actual motive to kill someone. In a way she should operate on a moral perogative more akin to Superman's than Batman's, just scaled down to a street level, or in the specific realm of martialarts.

Unrelated to really any of this while I do hate Cain's dumb "Orphan" moniker working with Mother, and especially the idea of Cass taking it, I almost would have liked if it had been that version of Cain that had had the weird eugenics program with his other kids. (I mean that it just ditch him and make Shiva the one with a bunch of protege kids, and instead of trying to make a perfect killer, it's just Shiva trying to make her perfect adversary) It would make more sense for him to have an entire line of failed experiments preceding Cass that she'd have to prove herself against.

But also if there was going to be a whole legacy of "Orphan" operatives, it would have been cool to make it a mahjong thing; there's a uniquely difficult hand in mahjong called The Thirteen Orphans, where the 13 tiles in your hand form absolutely no pairs, triplets or straights, despite those being the entire backbone of the game. You only get one pair to make it a winning hand and there could be a neat way to single out Shiva and Cass as a matched pair.

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #24

Batgirl (2000) #9 Words: Kelley Puckett Pictures: Scott & Campanella

The end of the 'Cass gets her powers back' arc, some good stuff in here, including Bruce going to Cain in the hopes that he might gain some new insight into how Cass was trained in the first place that will help her now, while Cass goes out to find Shiva, who is able to give her what Bruce can't, in exchange for the promise of a proper fight to the death a year later, establishing a new temporary status quo and letting Cass's Batgirl title get back to the mostly stand alone stories, at least for a while. I'm sick as hell right now, so once again we're just picking out a few scenes to look at in more depth, but you know the drill, this is still mostly the original team, still ~mostly~ on their A-game, so yeah if you've never read it before go check it out.

So Bruce sneaks into David's house, again, this time trying to find insight into David's training techniques that might help Cassandra, and there's this little flashback sequence via David's proud papa family films (please forgive the more-extended-than-usual cut and paste):

Setting aside the comic-book unreality of the scene, It's important for a number of reasons. For one, it again contrasts Cass's two father figures, who are otherwise so often in parallel.

Yes, they both drive her towards isolated lives of violence and darkness, and away from everyday life in the light and normal human interactions. Yes, both love and care for her, but also see themselves echoed within her so strongly that they end up treating her more as extensions of themselves, as protege, partner, agent, or legacy, rather than as a person in her own right who should be allowed and encouraged to live her own life.

but Bruce has lines he won't cross, and David doesn't.

More than that, though, we get to see here something that Bruce can't.

Bruce sees David crossing his lines and snaps into vengeance mode, all black and white morality. "You weren't training her, you were just abusing her." But while shooting Cass was absolutely abuse, it was also training, and more importantly than that it was play. It was a game.

Look at that smile. Even in the middle of tremendous pain, Cass is having fun. She's playing a game with her dad, and winning, and her dad's going to be so proud of her for winning the game.

These are the sorts of extremes little Cass was not just willing but eager to go to in order to earn her father's approval, and Bruce is too distracted by his own righteous indignation at her abuse to register this dangerous and self destructive character trait - central to who Cass was even before she was consumed by guilt - or realize how her new life as Batgirl is feeding it.

Yes, David abused Cass in ways that Bruce never would, but rather than helping Cass recover from that abuse - instead of offering Cass the kind of unconditional parental love that would allow her to start living for herself instead of for a father-figures approval - Bruce is instead using Cass's abuse in furtherance of his own crusade.

And that's something that's only possible because Bruce refuses to acknowledge Cass's gleeful participation in her own past abuse. 'David abused her, but I never would. I'm not forcing her to join my crusade, I'm simply allowing her to do what she wants to do, and if what she wants is to be just like me, that's just because we're so much alike' - ignoring how her abusive upbringing influenced what Cass wants or how she behaves towards father figures.

...

Sadly, as with a lot of this early set up stuff, we don't ever really get a proper payoff to this. Creative teams change and characters are retconned and terrible editorial decisions are imposed and by the time any stability returns to Cass as a character not only is this intricate web of character connections gone, the structure it was built on also no longer exists.

.....

Anyway, Cass is also in this Cass comic, asking if Shiva can give her back her powers.

It's kind of a cheap cinema-sins ding style complaint, but... how exactly can Shiva give Cass back her body-reading ability? Especially so quickly and easily? Especially without any impact on the language centers of Cass's brain which used to be processing the body reading stuff and are now processing language? Like, there isn't even an arbitrary wizard here. This bit works on an emotional or story logic level I guess, but always felt kind of arbitrary. Especially how Cass was able to have both the body reading and normal speech after this, when they were so deliberately positioned as an either-or sort of thing before.

But whatever! We're not doing that anymore! And the looming death match that Cass expects to lose ties so closely to her core character motivations that I'm cool with it. But I talked about that stuff at length last time, no need to re-hash it here.

David Cain and Lady Shiva are problems for the future. For now this little stretch of serialized stories is over, and Cass can go back to episodic Batgirl adventures for a bit, only with more narration I guess.

[zahri-melitor]

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive.

Well, THAT was certainly an event. It’s odd. Part of it felt like it was dragging in places, but there was also a bunch of standout issues.

What worked for me? It rustled up a bunch of tensions inside the Bat family. It’s the first event since No Man’s Land that has Cass as a central part of the inner circle. It also spent some time balancing inner and outer circle concerns and concealing identities (though this wasn’t 100% effective - there were a couple of occasions you could completely read the situation as ‘Dinah knows���). People talked to each other (big proponent of this!).

We had some interesting team ups (Dick and Cass staging the break in together was the best of these; they were showing off very different detective skills of which both were needed).

It was also a MESSY event. It sort of slopped all over most of 2002, but there were essential parts that weren’t in listed books (why is Batman #604 not listed as part of the event? The final page is Bruce having his realisation “I am Bruce Wayne”!) and listed books that spent half the story continuing their own plot lines. (Also I didn’t care about the contaminated drugs storyline sorry)

Sasha Bordeaux’s sections were good but completely divorced from anything else happening. ‘Tec #775 was very necessary, though I’m going to chalk parts of it up to “Bruce is very good at lying/performing emotions in final moments” rather than his actual emotions.

Overall standout was Gotham Knights #26, due to it being the reactions of all those in the know about “did Bruce do it?”. Robin #99’s follow up was not quite as good but solid, as well as being hilarious in that anyone felt J. Devlin Davenport needed serious investigation as the culprit.

I also really loved Batgirl #29 and the crime reenactment. Just really clever, with specific payoffs once you know the solution to the mystery.

Batman #600 was also extremely cathartic as we all needed to yell at Bruce for being an idiot for the past, oh, year of comics since Officer Down. He’d totally been letting the rest of the family carry the burden since then and sulking on his own (Three events in a ROW where the investigation has been a Babs-Dick co-led investigation, Bruce. It’s like you’re not essential around here).

This was definitely an event that rewarded knowing all the idiots (affectionate) involved well. I would not recommend this as a starter storyline; while you get a lot of characterisation time about how various people feel about Bruce, it’s also got a lot of wider universe moving parts AND is hard to follow clearly (even in trades, from what I’ve read).

Also the three way Cain v Deadshot v Batman fight scene was epic in all the best ways for three highly trained men who have overlapping skillsets and EXTREMELY different priorities.

I do love the payoff that the only reason all this went down like it did was because the worst possible person was hired to do the frame job, and so the whole plot was the collision of two VERY different sets of priorities. Change one aspect (the original goal; who was hired; Bruce being the target) and it would have fallen out SO differently.

(Also I could write an epic about how Cass and David Cain’s communication and expression of love/family to each other is physical violence, but ah, I’m just going to happily sigh over ANOTHER scene where Cass just destroys her father and he lies there in defeat proud of her. It fucks me up inside every time)

[fancyfade]

Batfam Height - core members and batfam height - everyone else by Fade31415

This has been in my WIPs for months, but I’m finally done! Technically I’m not sure if everyone here is “officially” batfam, since I view Renee as more of an independent agent but I’ve heard her be listed as Batfam and I wanted to draw her. so :P

okay so this is going to be a super long post, so the decisions for why I drew who with what is just going to double as an image description, since I’m not sure it makes sense to write [image: barbara gordon wearing her armored new 52 batgirl costume end image] and then follow it with “I decided to draw the Batgirl version of babs in her new 52 costume because I liked it better because of the armoring.

anyway: everyone’s heights and outfit decisions under the cut!

Alfred Pennyworth: (first Alfred is present day, balding and 65, second Alfred is when he just met Bruce, with a full head of black hair). Alfred is 6'0" like it says he is on his wiki page. He’s got his regular butler outfit, which seems to be a suit with those  two hanging down things on the back? IDK what its called.

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl: Cass is 5'5" like it says she is in the back of Batgirl: To the Death. I combined her Batgirl and Orphan suit because I love the lightly armored aesthetic on Orphan, but I also prefer her as Batgirl. Her civilian outfit is just an outfit she wears in I think the start of Batgirl: To the Death? A crop top and black pants basically.

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Bruce is 5'7" which is NOT canon, but I put him a little short in my headcanon. This isn't for any real reason but last time I drew him not tall I got a whiny fanboy complaining he wasn't physically intimidating enough, so I'm specifically not changing it because of that I still do try to draw him with like... actual muscles so he can do stuff, because he's a very physical character. His outfits are just batman outfit and then the regular suit he wears all the time. Nothing exciting there.

Dick Grayson/ Nightwing/ Agent 37: Dick is 5'10" like it says he is on the wiki. He's got his nightwing rebirth costume for the superhero version, which is mostly all black with slight blue accents and fairly skin tight, cuz that costume was just beautiful, though I did add a little bit of armoring like he has in teh animated movies for practicality. Then he has his Grayson outfit for his 'civilian' clothes (even though it's not really civilian clothes  I like how it looks). Khaki pants a gray T shirt and some pouches for spy stuff. He’s also got his escrimas in both forms, cuz signature weapon.

Barbara Gordon/Oracle/ Batgirl: Babs is 5'11" like it says she is in the back of Batgirl: To the Death. Even though she never got magicured in my headcanon, I drew her new 52 batgirl outfit because i like the armored aesthetic better. Her civlian clothing is just the skirt and black turtleneck she wears in BTAS. Her Oracle outfits are a tanktop (so we can see her buff arms) and then my favorite outfit she wore in the comics (jeans and a leather jacket). She has buffer arms and thinner legs as Oracle, because she is using her arms way more than her legs.

Damian Wayne/Robin: I drew Damian once at 10 years old, when he just started being Robin, and then at 13, like he is in the present. I chose his Batman and Robin (2011) costume over the 2009 one, because i liked how it looked better, and Robin: Son of Batman costume over Rebirth because Robin Son of Batman is my FAVORITE costume for him. both costumes have a red tunic and black pants, the batman and robin 2011 one has a yellow cape and black hood but the son of batman one has a black cape with gold trim. He's 4'6" at 10 years old and 4'11" at 13. His civilian clothing is a simple suit at 10 and the yellow sweatervest he wears in Robin Son of Batman #6 at 13.

Onyx Adams: Onyx is 5'9" like her wiki entry says. Her civilian outfit is the monk outfit (a long loose orange robe). Her superhero outfit is what she seems to fight in, which is just a crop top and black pants.

Kate Kane/ Batwoman: Kate is 5'11" like her wiki entry says, and I let her be a little broader around the shoulders and hips after seeing a broader Batwoman drawing I really liked. She's wearing her rebirth costume, mostly black with a red bat symbol and red trim, and got her rebirth short hair on her civilian outfit. her civilian outfit is black pants, a black vest, and a button up white no sleeve shirt.

Stephanie Brown/Batgirl: Stephanie Brown is 5'5" like her wiki entry says. I can't remember why I put her in her Batgirl costume instead of her Spoiler costume (maybe because I haven't drawn her as Batgirl before?) Either way, her Batgirl costume is black with purple trim. her civilian outfit is jeans, a purple shirt, and a leather jacket, which I think I saw her wearing in one of her batgirl issues but it’s been a while.

Tim Drake/ Red Robin: He is 5′6″ like his wiki entry says, though that might have been referencing when he was younger because it also listed his weight as 125 pounds. But I figured some guys are allowed to be short :P he has his first red robin costume (black pants, red tunic, cowl that covers his face except for his mouth and chin like batman’s) and his civilian outfit is just jeans and a white button up shirt.

Duke Thomas/Signal: I couldn't find Duke's height on the wiki so I guessed and put him at 5'9". He’s a little lean cuz he’s 16 and still growing. his superhero outfit is his bright yellow and black signal outfit with the motorcycle helmet with bat ears. His civilian clothing is an outfit he wore in Robin War (jeans, red shoes, a red hoodie).

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael: Jean-Paul is 6'2" like his wiki entry says. In Batman: the Sword of Azrael, he seemed to be drawn leaner before becoming Azrael and buffer afterwards, so maybe his Azrael training/programming gave him guns? IDK that's why I drew both a thin version and a buff version in the civilian clothes, which are a white T shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.

Azrael outfit only gets the buff version though. I combined the 90s outfit and his new 52 outfit because... I'm gonna be real I LOVE his 90s outfit, even though it is very 90s. But I also had a hard time drawing it in my style, which is why I borrowed some from new 52. so he’s got golden boots like in new 52, but otherwise red, mostly skintight outfit, a golden chestplate, large shoulderpads and large gauntlets, like in the 90s. with his cool wrist sword. obviously.

Jason Todd/ Red Hood: I was actually conflicted as to whether include Jason because my all time favorite appearance for him (after his intro, when he whacks batman on the stomach with a tire iron) is the Red Hood movie, where he is decidedly not batfam and rather an enemy. But lots of people count him as Batfam and he’s an ally in the current continuity, so I drew him. Jason is 6'0" like his wiki entry says. He's just got an outfit inspired by his under the red hood movie outfit - black cargo pants, brown leather jacket. his civilian clothing has a grey T shirt and his red hood outfit has a black chestpiece with a red bat symbol and a red face covering helmet.

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress/Matron: Helena is 5'11" like her wiki entry says. She’s got her dark purple hooded Rebirth costume, and her tiny crossbow. I drew her as she appears in Grayson for the "civilian" version (black shirt with a white cross on it, reddish pants), to match the Agent 37 Dick on the other chart.

Renee Montoya/ the Question: Renee is 5'8" like her wiki entry says. She was very inspired by how Cully Hamner draws him in Pipelines, because I love Cully Hamner's art (reffed her outfits here: link). her civilian outfit is a white crop top and blue work out pants, and her question outfit is a leather jacket, black t shirt, fedora, and jeans. she’s holding a nunchaku in both.

Renee is a member I'm not sure "counts" as Batfam, because i view her more as an independent agent, but I've heard some people count her in it and I wanted to draw her anyway

Luke Fox/ Batwing: Luke Fox is 5'10" cuz i messed up and made him 1 inch too short (his wiki entry says 5'11"). He's got the blue polo he wears in Batman: Bad Blood in his civilian clothes, even though I consider comics Luke to be more "canon", but I couldn't think of what to draw him in from Comics luke's civlian outfits  His batwing outfit is comics luke's batwing outfit as well -- all black and armored, covering every inch of his body, with the blue bat symbol and shiny blue eyes. 

David Zavimbe/ Batwing: I like Luke, but David will always be the Batwing of my heart :P David is 5'8". It didn't say his height on the wiki so I had to guess, and I guess I let him not be super tall because there are already a ton of tall people in the Batfam. His civilian outfit is the uniform he wears in his day job (police officer), kind of green almost army looking clothes, and a black hat, and his batwing outfit is his first batwing outfit from the comics -- dark grey armor, domino-esque mask that has giant wing motifs coming from it, etc.

[heartless-error]

Broken, not perfect, but together. - Chapter 9

Fandom: DC comics, Batman

Pairings: Jonathan Kent x Damian Wayne (JonDami) & Jason Todd x Timothy Drake (JayTim)

Rating: Family feels, hurt/comfort, mental health issues, running away

Other(s) links: AO3

Broken.

The Batfamily was broken.

It was six years ago, and they had barely stood together since then, trying to stand up despite guilt and regret.

Damian  was sure there was nothing to save, not after losing something that he  didn’t know he cared about. But when a new opportunity to get back what  they had lost appeared, he cannot help to doubt as his past decisions  haunt him again.

If you love somebody, set them free. But you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

Chapter Summary: Cass knew a lot of things, always did. But she's human after all, she can fail, feel and miss her family. Sometimes she wishes she had been there, but now the only thing she had is the knolwedge of whatever they planned to do, it will be harsh.

Chapter 9

 Now

 Cass knew a lot of things.

 She always did, it wasn’t new to anyone. His father, David Cain, had deprived her and taken away many things throughout her life, like her childhood, stability, a normal home, innocence, or her voice along the ability to use it. In return, he had turned her into what he longer desired, in a warrior, the perfect, deadly, silent killing machine, capable of reading the enemy and their movements in one way that very few could.

He took away her voice but allowed her to read and understand people far beyond. Many would consider it a blessing, others a curse, to her it was nothing more than her small but familiar and comfy personal hell.

 Despite this, she was also aware that knowing something didn’t give her the full right to reveal it, she knew the limits, after all she also had secrets, everyone did. So, she could tell when someone was hiding something, but she also couldn’t guess or reveal it. She could also tell when someone was sad or stressed but knowing why it was beyond her abilities and intervening depended not only on her but on the other person’s will. From what Barbara Gordon taught her, it was best to act when she considered necessary, and if she had permission or words to do so.

 From the beginning, Cassandra knew Red Hood and Red Robin were in love, maybe even before they did. It was neither unexpected nor surprising, they complemented the other well enough. In addition, both were very easy to read, since Jason was passionate, effusive and motivated by his emotions, expressive even in the way he breathed; and Tim, despite appearing the opposite, his eyes always said too much, and was very close to her, he couldn’t escape her scrutiny.

Timothy was also the first person she called “brother”, who taught her what was like to be a family, loving and being loved despite the pain, the trauma. That’s why, when he began to love someone else in a different way, she soon realized it as well as the fact that he was strongly requited.

 Of course, she realized later that they did everything to hide it, both their feelings for each other when they began to emerge, and their relationship when it was consolidated. She understood, it shouldn’t have been easy. It was obvious why they did; it was nobody else’s business. And seeing the reaction when the whole thing was finally revealed, they did well.

 If someone had asked Cass, she would have been sincere (within all she could express, of course). She would have tried to explain how happy she was for them and how she considered it good news. She would have said how Tim’s constant weariness and sadness has dissipated a bit after being with Jason, as well as the other’s blind anger and constant tension; How nice it was to see that uncertainty and uneasiness about whether those feelings were right or reciprocated, being replaced by tender smiles and sneaky soft touches. Cass would have said to leave them alone, because they were happy and safe, and that made her happy too because that kind of happiness was something they had to grab and not let go off considering how their lives were.

 But nobody asked her. She couldn’t say anything. She also couldn’t have found the words to do it correctly, but at least she would have tried if given the chance. Which they didn’t do.

 Black Bat was involved in a case which lead her from Hong Kong to the edge of the Xinjiang desert itself, where coverage was a bit bad and her infiltration mission could be compromised. As much as she reported her location and plans, getting an answer and being in touch to know what was happening in Gotham was a bit difficult. So, find out after that her brothers had deserted and disappeared during those weeks in which she had been uncommunicated wasn’t funny.

 Now, years after receiving that news while hiding from the cold in a cabin in Tibet, she was going down the stairs towards to the cave with the text Dick had sent repeating in her head, the one that said they had found the missing Robins and she had to go to the manor quickly.

 Sometimes, she wishes she had been there. In the moment they found out the Red’s relationship, in the discussion afterwards, in the other fights that followed. Because she could have said so much, she could have changed so much. But she wasn’t, she couldn’t. And now they have to deal with the consequences.

 Stephanie, with whom now she lived, had sat in the driver’s seat after parked the car at the manor’s entrance, in silence and begging for a moment to be alone, to prepare herself mentally. Then, Alfred had allowed her to hug him tightly, even if that distracted him from his chores in the kitchen. She hadn’t seen the others yet, but she was sure they were in the cave. Even so, she knew that what was coming wasn’t going to be great, whatever they decided to do were going to be difficult to face or assimilated and that, surely, would led them to relive fights and discussions that they had for years. The difference this time is that she planned to intervene.

 Indeed, when she arrived the cave, she witnessed the fragility in which the dynamics of the bats were currently, seeing how Dick and Damian -those who least should be fighting- argued strongly in front of the batcomputer.

Blending into the shadows, she approached them, stealthy and watchful, carefully with her surroundings and listening the discussion going on. Dick wanted to go after his brothers, Damian refused to do it.

 The photos of the missing Robins on the screen shook her heart, making her smile. They seemed happy, satisfied, more than when they had to hide, and that made her so happy. She wouldn’t lie and say things like she never thought they wouldn’t be able to run away, indeed, she knew if the smallest but adequate circumstances were given at the right time, they would. And it happened, to the chagrin of some and the relief of others they clung to that happiness that Cass knew they had and didn’t let it escape, even having to leave them (her) behind.

 However, looking at Dick, his older brother, she could say he thought otherwise. He denied it fiercely, he didn’t want to give in. He never thought they would leave everything, leave him behind, whatever the reason was. He wanted to believe they would figure things out before they had to run away, and now, that hasn’t been the case, he was just sad and desperate. Every word that came from his lips, every gesture his body made showed how helpless he felt, how much he needed to do what he was begging to Damian, to fly to Florida just to see the other two. He would do anything, he would fight with whoever, he had no limits, he seemed so defeated and angry at the same time.

When he turned his head, so he didn’t have to look at Damian after his harsh words, he was aware of her presence. His indigo eyes fixed on her for those brief seconds of silence to then turn around again and continue the fight. It was long enough for Cass to be aware of how the weight of guilt was sinking her brother down, making him obsessed with finding the others and going back to be the “family” they were before.

 That wasn’t possible, not matter how hard he tried. It couldn’t happen. She knew it and so did Bruce, who without being seen also watched the development of the discussion from the other part of the cave, surely collecting information from it to confirm certain suspicions.

 Suspicions that focused on Damian.

 Her little brother was suspect since the start. At least for her, since she didn’t need to look at him twice when she returned to Gotham to realize there was something weird with him. It was evident in his posture, his attitude, in his way of avoiding everyone, in his resentful gaze and constant tension around them. He knew more than he was saying, and had done something, she didn’t know what, but somehow, he had a key role in the whole thing which didn’t exempt him of guilt. Didn’t matter how much the others wanted to believe that guilt was due to Damian’s past with his now disappeared brothers, with the murder attempts and constant disputes, no. It was recent, it had to do with this, because his rejection towards the others was genuine, and how she explains Jonathan then?

Superboy could barely look any of them in the eye without falling apart, his relationship with his father was battered and if Damian’s attitude were suspicious, his had neon signs placed around him.

 Now, with his whole body screaming contradictions and anger, leaving slips behind him, Damian strongly refused at the decision to see the other two, stating specific reasons, but at the same time suspicious. That angered and intrigued Dick, who in the end had decided to get the truth out of him by breaking his temper, making Cass prepare to intervene.

 When Conner Kent approached her one year ago, asking her if she knew what their little brothers were hiding, her answer was simple and concise: No.

She didn’t know, she couldn’t. She can read bodies and gestures, not minds. She’s not a meta, she has no powers. She’s human and also fails, also feels, also want to see his brothers because misses them, also want to know what Jon and Damian hide, because knows it’s consuming them more and more.

 But she had never been in a position to ask, to know (does she wants to know?) Except today because things have changed. So, she slipped her foot to warn Dick he was missing something, he had to keep pushing. She didn’t move when Damian’s patience ended when his emotions took over. She held her breath when she knew he was going to say something he was going to regret.

 “Because who do you think helped them to escape?!” Damian shouted. “It was me! Idiot! Open your fucking eyes! It was me! Me!”

 Oh.

 She knew it.

 There was silence, Dick and Bruce stood completely still, assimilating that, and understanding everything as quickly as possible. She knew everything fell into place for them when realization mixed with anger flooded their bodies, and by the time Dick throw the first punch she was already running towards them.

 She let Damian strike back and punch Dick only because she knew he had been holding back for a long time, but she didn’t allow anything more. In a blink of an eye, before everything could escalate, she grabbed Dick by the back, kicked Damian off, and knocked them to the ground as she stood between them, ending the fight instantly.

 “No.” She sentenced seriously and glaring at them, challenging them to dare to contradict her.

 They wouldn’t, because even outraged they were smarter than that. Furthermore, Bruce was also approaching them and starting a fist fight now was not the best idea, neither was going to allow them to go that far and it wasn’t the moment.

 They stood up, wounded, furious, on guard and looking at each other with rancor.

 “You knew!” Dick reproached, angrier than before. “You’ve always knew where they were!”

 Damian jerked at that accusation, clenching his teeth tightly, as if he were holding himself back from punching him again. Everything said he really wanted to do it if were not for her presence and his father, now in front of them, watching the scene quiet like a heavy and judicious shadow that made them nervous.

 “I haven’t said that!” The last Robin denied quickly.

 “How could you?! How could you do this to us?!”

 “Learn to fucking listen, asshole!” He yelled back. “I’ve never knew where they were!”

 “Why would I believe you?! You’ve been lying us for years!” Dick accused him again.

 Damian was ready to fight back before Bruce’s firm, analytical voice cut him off.

 “He didn’t know it.” Bruce said firmly. “He’s saying the truth.”

 He was right in that statement, he wasn’t. If Damian had known where Tim and Jason were all this time it would have been very different. Even in his confession, in his reactions, you could tell it was information he didn’t have before.

His father saying this as if he were psychoanalyzing him like any villain made Damian give him the most hatred, offensive and reproachful look he had seen him make over the years.

 “Speak.” Bruce asked the younger, in that tone he use during interrogations, as if something like that was going to work and Damian would magically confess.

 “Fuck you.” He insulted his father quickly without vacillation.

 If Alfred were here, he would have scold him, might even have put in the order she couldn’t quite establish. But her grandfather was upstairs, cooking compulsively and sad, so sad.

 “Damian, if you don’t speak, I swear to god-”

 Dick started to say that taking a few steps closer, his anger dominating him again before she gave him a warning look to step back. The she looked at Damian, hoping to make him nervous with her stare. She also wants answers.

 “What do you want for me?!” He asked, looking surrounded. “I helped them to leave, not hide!”

 It made sense. Not knowing their location once they were out of sight was easier and safer after all, once they were gone, he couldn’t track them down anymore and it didn’t matter how much they’d regret it, it was too late. The best way to avoid betray them was not knowing where they were going, it was the smartest decision.

 “But why? Why did you do something like that?!” Dick asked, seemed to feel betrayed.

 Damian chuckled, sarcastic, looking at Grayson and then at his father, as if he found funny that they were wondering something like that when the answer was pretty obvious.

 “Look at you. Look around.” He pointed at them, with anger and aversion. “It was killing them; you were killing them! This life, everyone! They couldn’t take it anymore!”

 “It’s not- ”

 “Drake was on the verge of suicide!” He exclaimed, now frantic. “And you couldn’t even look at Todd! The only good thing they had was the other and you wanted to destroy that!”

 The burning shine in his eyes had returned, Damian seemed to have so many things to say, so much kept within himself. Looking at him now was similar to seeing a balloon deflate, expelling everything inside him after so long, without barriers, without caring about the consequences at last.

 “It was dangerous.” Bruce justified.

 “That’s bullshit and you know it!” He growled at his father again. “You have the proof on the fucking screen!”

 “That’s-”

 “The truth! It’s the truth!” He yelled furiously, without hesitation. “You wanted to shatter them further, I couldn’t allow it! I owed that to them.”

 “We only wanted to protect them…” Dick muttered, stunned.

 “From what?” Asked the younger. “The only danger was you; you still are.”

 A brief silence followed that statement, in which Dick shrugged himself and Bruce tried his best to hide a shake, which was useless to her.

 “Not an hour has passed since you found out where they are, and you already want to drag them back.” He kept scolding them. “For what? To use them as before?”

 “That was not what was happening.” Bruce denied this time.

 “Oh, no? I wonder why they ran away then.” The other answered sarcastically. “I’m sure it wasn’t because of the kindness and acceptance you get around here.”

 “I can’t believe you really helped them…” Dick muttered, he still seemed to have trouble assimilating it. “You’ve hidden it, all this time.”

 “I would do it again.”

 Dick shook his head, almost at the edge of tears. The fact that two of his brothers abandoned him and the rest hated him was one thing, but it turned out that Damian himself was the one who helped them to run away from him, and that made things a thousand times worse. Cass wanted to hug him, tell him it was okay to feel that way, but he didn’t avoid the fact that she also knew they were hiding something and shut it up, she didn’t know if Dick would see this as another betrayal or not, she didn’t know if anything she had to say would fix something now.

 “How?” Bruce ended up asking, wanting to continue the interrogation.

 That was something Cass also wanted to know, since she didn’t even know yet how they had found them after years of absolute silence. But whatever Damian did to hide them in such a way had to be great.

 “I have contacts.” The brunette replied stiffly, after a brief hesitation.

 Bruce stared at him thoughtfully, then frowned in disgust.

 “Talia.” He said coldly.

 The League of Assassins, or at least the faction that was faithful to Damian’s mother. It wasn’t unknown the woman was trying to get out of the yoke of demon’s head, trying to gain the throne’s power, even if it meant killing her own son on the way. She and her group had been trying to gain ground within the criminal world for a long time, creating their own dark web and using resources Ra was still trying to familiarize himself with. They had enough material and personal to hide someone from the bats if they wanted to. And Damian, being of her blood, it wouldn’t have cost him to get a favor from her, anything, if they put aside the great disappointment that had been for her over the years.

 “Damian, what have you done?”

 Dick asked that as if the younger had made a deal with the devil itself, which was true. Now, if he had obtained this from Talia as a mere mother-son favor or by giving something in return, it was something they couldn’t know. They wouldn’t, judging by how the boy didn’t even move a muscle at the accusations and seemed to answer Dick’s question with a gaze that seemed to say, “Nothing you can prove.”

 “It doesn’t make sense…” Dick thought aloud, still devastated but trying to find logic in everything. “Even if it was the league, why also metas couldn’t…”

 That question asked out loud made Damian’s breath catch for a second, his muscles ready to fight imperceptibly. Cass was sure she was the only one to notice it, but it didn’t say anything good. It was a good question after all, since that had been another of the unknowns and problems that had arisen as a result of the disappearance, because not a single meta could locate Tim and Jason, not even the kryptonians. Whatever method or power they used was useless, it was as if something or someone would have been blocked them.

Cass didn’t have to think long to know who it was, but Dick’s eyes widened with surprise halfway through the question, realizing.

 “Jon…” He whispered stunned.

 Damian went from being slightly tense to being defensive and aggressive in less than a second. Just one more provocation and she’d have to grab him directly so he wouldn’t kill someone.

 “Don’t drag him into this!” He ordered, which was already useless.

 “He’s already in.” The other replied, stunned, almost trembling, suffering another betrayal. “It was because of him, right?”

 “Leave him alone!”

 “H-He did something to block metas, lied to us too…”

 “Leave. Him!”

 “I can’t!” Dick exclaimed, shaking his head. “Do you realize the reason we couldn’t find them is because of him?! It his fault!”

 That statement, cruel as it sounded, was true. Technology could fail, couldn’t not doing well the job, but metas were certain and they had the best at their disposal, they could have found them in seconds. Having the kryptonians on their side was in their favor too, but if one of them was against them and had decided to annul the others, the result was years of searching without result.

Jon’s influence had been vital but being pointed out by Dick caused Damian to lose patience again, trying to attack Grayson in blind anger ready to beat him up. Hopefully for Nightwing, she was there to stand in his way, grab his shoulders tightly, and push him away. For this time, she wanted to avoid the physical fight, but with everything she was witnessing, she didn’t know if she would do it again.

 “Fuck off! The only ones guilty of all this are you!”

 She had to push Damian again and keep Dick under surveillance, because they were getting pissed off and provoking each other again, they didn’t seem to want to give in until they were punching each other. She was considering the option of knocking them out to calm down when Bruce raised his voice authoritatively.

 “Damian, give me your phone.” He ordered approaching them and extending his hand. “Your comms too.”

 The younger remained tense under her touch, clenching his jaw and now looking at his father with anger. It was clear why he was doing this, now that Jonathan had been confirmed as an accomplice and they both were firmly against their trip to Florida, he was cutting all forms of communication between them to prevent them from doing anything about it. Jon or any contact who Damian could use against them, like the league, for example.

 “Do you think that shit is going to work?” Damian asked resentfully. “Jonathan can hear me anyway.”

 “Do you think you’re the only one with a Super on his side?” Bruce answered. “Phone. Comms. Now.”

 Damian growled loudly again, shoving her away as he took out his things. Bruce’s statement had been clear and concise, as much as his son dated a Kent, he hadn’t been the first one to be friendly with one. It seems that Bruce had personally commissioned himself, maybe with a simple whisper that Clark would have been waiting, that Jonathan wouldn’t interfere with them and their plans. So, it was going to happen anyway, they planned to go for Tim and Jason whatever the price.

 “You are making a big mistake.” Damian said to his father as he tossed his comms to him angrily.

 “Your opinion is no longer valid.” He replied, grasping the objects with precision. “You are clearly not objective.”

 “As if you were.”

 Bruce didn’t answer, or at least didn’t want to. Cass could tell he had something else to say, right on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare to do it. Dick did it instead.

 “You lied to us…” He said. “We can’t trust you.”

 Damian looked at Dick thoughtful, then his father. He shrugged.

 “You never did.”

 Richard lowered his head; Bruce remained silent. Cass remember the words from the security camera video of that night, that one Bruce tried so hard to delete but Barbara rescued and let her watch, the one where they tell Jason they couldn’t trust him, because he was a murderer after all.

Like her, like Damian.

 Bruce turned around and started walking away from them, ready to do whatever would distract him after all the revelations, like secure the comms he had took away from his son as if he was 14 years old again to prevent him from ruining his plans . Dick, still looking at the ground, was about to do the same, until Damian caught his attention again ready to throw the last punch.

 “When you see them, what are you going to do? Shoot them?”

 Dick said nothing and left, surely to burst into tears where they couldn’t see him. Cassandra, if she could, would have too.

[minakotricksterworld]

Comic Idea

Okay, just here me out here. What about a comic book with Stephanie Brown’s Spoiler and Cassandra Cain’s Orphan - the rebirth version of both these characters in the detective comics?

I’m a fan of Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain, both are characters that have collected their own fanbases in their own right.  Both are amazing and bad ass in their individual way. I’m probably not the first to suggest this, but I haven’t read anything besides some people arguing about these characters getting their own comics. Fans of Steph and Cass will often point out which one will make it more on their own on a solo comic series - which to be fair Cass seems to be the runner, but not by much in my opinion. Keep in mind, this is my opinion.  Before the New 52 and the Rebirth series, both characters were very much considered part of the Batfam, with Stephanie as Spoiler and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl when first meeting.

Admittedly, I know more of Stephanie’s debut in comics then I do Cassandra’s, but I know how she got involved and why.  As the daughter of David Cain, Cass was raised to be an assassin, a perfect fighting and killing machine while her father never saw fit to teach Cass other much needed social, educational aspects of the human psyche.  Such as reading, writing and speech.  She didn’t want to kill anymore, escaping and making her way to find Batman - whom she idolized.  Bruce saw himself in Cass in a number of ways, adopted her and put her under the tutelage of Babs as Batgirl. Cass can read the human body to learn intent, which is fascinating and given her backstory, she’s a bamf character.  She is a powerhouse that not many can stand up too besides a select few. When people try to compare others to her, it can be a tad bit unfair.  Stephanie garnered fans because she is a hopeful character who overcomes her circumstances and stands up to her father, who leads a life of crime.  Cass and Steph both have this in common, both having crappy father figures and becoming ‘vigilantes’ in order to fight their fathers, or to fight people like them. While there is some leeway in the context of their purpose and how, they have a lot of similarities like this. They didn’t start off liking each other - I felt that way when reading their first few interactions. Eventually, in the comics, overtime, these two begin to respect, like each other, trust each other and depend on the other in surprising ways.  Stephanie begins teaching Cass, who hadn’t revealed this to any of the others, to read and write (She learned how to speak through some magical happenings). Cass began teaching Stephanie some of her martial arts. Steph began a lot of her crime fighting career with street fighting, self-defense and gymnastics abilities under her belt.   They became, for all intents and purposes, a partnership of two friends who helped the other where the other lacked, steadily getting better and supporting the other until DC writers decided to do the Gang Wars and the like, but we’ll skip over that and get to the part where Cass gives Stephanie the Batgirl uniform.   Supposedly under Bruce’s orders, but I think Cass wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t think Stephanie could do it, thus lending her support. Okay, so New-52, neither of these beautiful ladies are to be found aside from Eternal Crisis where they’re friends and kicking ass. Scrap that and we have Rebirth.  Okay, I have a lot of issues and frustrations from before 52 for both characters because I think the writers could have done way better for both girls as a whole.  Though, I admit I was enthralled with Cass’s story of fighting her mother, Shiva. Cried when events happened and she saw Stephanie’s ghost, making a small heart-breaking reunion. The writer of Cass was upset with how Stephanie died in war games, “It’s my characters first friend and I had to help plan her death.” Not the exact quote, but it was to that effect. Now to Rebirth, which I’m hopeful with.  The writers are actually doing more for the girls even though I have mostly seen them only in the Detective Comics where a villain (not saying who) showed the girls their pre-52 versions, hoping to show the girls they weren’t at their full potential and were “lesser versions”, together these girls kicked the guy’s ass and showed him that they didn’t have to be Batgirl and Black Bat to be heroes. Now, I admit, I feel like the comics are all still in the Batboys favors when it comes to stories, love interests and the whole miles.  However, it is an improvement and I feel like the fanbase for both characters has grown as a result, still. However, I’m not sure about the friendship that once was between these two.  They have worked on a team, Batman’s squad in case the worst happened in Gotham, alongside Tim Drake (as Robin), Batwoman, Luke Fox and Clayface.  So I think there is plenty of potential for these two to do team-ups with just them given that Tim Drake wants to go off to Ivy school and there is some tension between Batman and some members due to figuring out ideologies and not agreeing with what is always right and wrong.

Perfectly reasonable (I love the exploration of motives, I do). So why not Orphan and Spoiler as a dynamic duo partnership when not teaming up with the others? Of course, perhaps this needs more time for the girls to develop that same level of trust and loyalty in the end, but the bases is there, more so than in previous versions where they’re both the outsiders of the Batfam (or the quasi-team folks while not entirely being Bats).  Of course, this would depend entirely on the writers (I’m not at all current with Detective comics right now (I know, I suck, I’m writing a piece without being current)) and whether they want to build up that bond again.  I don’t know if the same tactics of how they built their friendship up will work as previous, but as a teammate there are new dynamics to bring about this bond and build that same trust and loyalty.   This is something I just think needs to be thought about, given that I’ve seen arguments for solo comics for either girl.  I would rather see a comic series with just them, just them learning and growing in the superhero community given their roots.  I feel like they balance each other out and provide something positive for the other, which I feel both girls need. I’d love to hear other’s thoughts on this or even something that could be added.  If you don’t agree, that is perfectly fine too, but please don’t bash in the thread. THANKS FOR READING MY RAMBLING!