Living In Shadows

chapter twelve

Sitting in the chair within the glass room, Cassandra stared at the pressurized door, controlling her breathing and heart rate as she kept herself calm. Her family would come for her, they would find her, she was sure of it. 

They would take David down together, bring him to justice. And then they would go home and  unwind from this nightmare by watching a movie, putting the whole thing behind them. Hopefully her dad won't let Dick pick the movie and they end up watching Dumbo again for the hundredth time, causing Jason to complain loudly the whole time and Tim to doze off, making Damian hit them both for disrespecting Dick while Cass and Duke watch the movie with Bruce, Dick a blubbering mess. 

Cass smiled at the thought. 

Yeah, her family had its quirks, but they were her family and she loved them all dearly. 

A noise outside her prison brought Cass out of her head. She squinted her eyes, trying her best to see past the glass and out into what she assumed to be a warehouse or some other type of safehouse. 

Crash.

Cassandra squeezed her eyes shut as the glass broke upon impact from a flying body, said body landing on her and knocking her chair to the ground. Opening her eyes, Cass felt a flood of emotions when she saw Stephanie in her Spoiler get up laying on top of her. She smiled at her. "Spoiler...you're here."

"Yup. Ouch. We're all here. Shiva too." Stephanie pulled herself off of Batgirl, rubbing her sore arm. She turned to her best friend, holding up the key she had swiped from David before he tossed her into the glass cage. "Look what I got."

Grinning wider as Stephanie undid her bonds, Cassandra couldn't help the relief that flooded her system. Once Steph had freed her, she tackled the blonde in a hug. "Thank you."

Stephanie hugged her back. "Of course. You'd do the same for me." Pulling out of the hug, the blonde vigilante helped her best friend to her feet. "Now what do you say we kick this guys can, yeah?"

Cassandra nodded, following Stephanie out of the ruins of her prison to find David fighting off her family. She noticed Duke, Tim, Jason, and Dick holding various parts of their bodies on the ground while Damian and her father engaged David in a fight. Furrowing her brow, the teen turned to her best friend. "Where is Shiva?"

Stephanie shrugged. "She was here a moment ago, right before David tossed me through your cage." Looking back at the fight, Batgirl watched as Bruce was brutally chopped in the back of the neck, sending him to the ground and leaving only Damian to face David. "Stay here, I'm going in."

"Spoiler - "

"No. I won't let this man hurt you anymore than he already has." Stephanie spoke sternly, leaving no room for argument. Cass nodded, watching as her best friend jumped into the fray against David Cain. 

Biting her lip, the teen stood off to the side as Damian judo flipped David only for the man to retaliate by kicking the young boy in the chest, sending him flying. Damian landed on his feet. Stephanie punched David in the lower back, right where his kidney is, drawing the man's attention to her. 

"He is going to kill them." Cassandra turned to see Lady Shiva standing next to her. "Unless you intervene, he will kill your family."

Shaking her head, Cass responded. "Just watch."

Getting off the ground while David was distracted by Stephanie and Damian, the rest of the family jumped back into the fight, having mostly feigned their injuries to make David's confidence go up and therefore make him sloppier. 

It worked, as David became overwhelmed by the family of Batgirl. 

Lady Shiva smiled. "I must admit, I am impressed by the strategy." She walked towards the fight, looking back at her daughter. "However, I am ending this."

Sensing something was off, Cassandra followed after her mother as she approached David, grabbing the man by the throat. "Shi - mother, no!"

Still looking at David, Shiva replied. "And why not? After all he has taken from me, from you, you defend the man? David Cain will not stop coming for you, daughter. You know this."

"Let him come." Cassandra put a hand on Lady Shiva's shoulder. "We can take him, as a family. Please...mother, I do not want to lose you after I just...found you."

Lady Shiva looked at her daughter and sighed. "I will do this for you, because I love you."

"Thank you." 

Lady Shiva dropped David, glaring down at him for a moment before turning to exit. She paused at the threshold, looking back at Cassandra. "I may not approve of every choice you make, but I am still very proud of you, Cassandra. I hope...I hope to be apart of your life."

Cass nodded. "I hope that too." Shiva nodded, exiting the building. Turning to the rest of her family, Cassandra addressed them. "Let's get him to GCPD."

- - -

Once David was booked and processed and the family returned to the manor, they put a film on the television, everyone curling up to watch it. Barbara came over to watch as well, hugging Cass and saying how happy she was to have her home. 

"Yeah, I don't know what'd we do without you. You've been the glue of this family for the past decade." Jason mumbled through a mouthful of popcorn. Dick elbowed him. "What?"

"Cass is also our sister and we love her very much." Dick added, glaring at his brother. 

"Leave it to Grayson to be the sappy one." Damian tutted. 

Tim nodded. "Someone has to in this emotionally stunted family."

"Speak for yourself, I have no problem expressing myself." Duke shrugged. "I would've been devastated to lose you, Cass."

Everyone nodded their agreement. 

Cassandra smiled at them. "Thank you for saving me. I love you all." 

fin.

We have reached the end of our journey (15 months later lmao). It has been an experience, this was my first Cassandra centric story and hopefully not my last as I love Cass so much, she is baby. 

Thank you all for supporting me on this journey, for reading this story, for voting and commenting and for being you! I hope you'll check out my other works and that you have an awesome day/night!

- beans xx