Out of the Shadows

Chapter Fifteen

I'm considering finally getting a AO3 account so I can publish this story there. I feel like it will do better somewhere with a more active fanbase, but idk. Any thoughts? Also, this is very short and late. My apologies, I had an emergency babysitting gig followed by vbs week.

//////////

Stephanie Brown was a lot of things. Friendly. Loud. Energetic. A tad annoying. Probably ADHD. She was also always surprised when she bled blood and not purple glitter gel ink. She was not, however, particularly judgmental. At least, not by Gotham standards.

So why was being around Cassandra so elegiac? Ha! There's a good SAT word! Steph was pretty sure that she used it right. It didn't matter, the ACT was like a million years away, as she was only thirteen.

Anyway, Cass quite dampened the mood. Was it because she didn't talk? No, that wasn't it. Steph could talk enough for an entire play when she wanted to. Those scars? A little creepy. And yeah, depressing, but not so much so that it threw off her whole vibe. So why... oh, c'mon, idiot! Cass was in a new place, with new people, and a new language! She's probably just nervous! That situation would make anyone uncomfortable...

Whatever! Cass obviously needed a friend, and Stephanie was always up for a new friend. So, when Tim's new Nintendo Switch died and he went to downstairs to grab some snacks, Steph made a beeline for Damian's room. The door was already cracked, so she threw it open the rest of the way.

Damian shrieked. "Do you people have any common decency?! What if I was naked?!"

"You probably wouldn't have left the door cracked then! Or had Cass in here with ya!" Stephanie replied cheerily. "And don't worry, I'm not here for you! I'm going to drag Cass out of here to watch a movie with me and Tim!"

"That would be 'Tim and me,'" Damian corrected.

Steph ignored him, grabbing Cassandra's hand. "C'mon! It'll be fun!"

Cass seemed highly skeptical of this, but she allowed herself to be pulled away from Damian. She did dig in her heels at the door, not wanting to leave her charge unprotected.

"He'll be fine! Come be a teenager!" Stephanie coaxed. "It won't be the end of the world to leave him alone for a little while!"

Cass still refused to move. Stephanie wasn't sure what to do. She was determined to get this girl to have some fun, but how could she when Cass wouldn't move?!

"We're going to have snacks! Alfred even agreed to let us order pizza! C'mon, you know you want pizza!"

Damian scoffed. "I doubt that she's ever had pizza. At least, not American pizza."

Stephanie stared. "I thought that Cain was American. And an alcoholic."

"He is. How is that relevant to pizza?"

"All American alcoholic dads love pizza! That's just a fact! Like my dad said one time, 'pizza means that you don't have to fucking cook!'"

"Watch your profanity. It is greatly unnecessary."

"So sue me, I'm quoting. Anyway, that definitely means Cass needs to come! Pizza is life!"

"Cassandra gets meals on her father's orders. Usually only one or two a day. She's going to throw up if you people keep feeding her all day long."

"Well, that's horrifying."

"Of course you'd think so, fatty."

Steph stared at him, gobsmacked.

  Cass retracted her hand from Stephanie's, taking seat on the floor. Ace jumped out of Damian's bed and joined her, dropping his head in her lap. She seemed baffled by this, looking to Stephanie and Damian in her confusion. Damian only glared back, feeling betrayed by his furry friend.

Stephanie laughed. "Just pet him!" She knelt down, rubbing between the dog's ears. Ace relaxed, his tongue flopping out of his mouth. Cass' face twisted in disgust, but she awkwardly patted the top of his head when Stephanie moved down to pet his back. "There you go! It's not that hard!" Stephanie encouraged. Cassandra was clearly not convinced that this wasn't weird.

  Cassandra did not get the appeal of Ace. This animal was... enjoyable to people? Why not just spend time with other people? Cass didn't dislike animals, but she also didn't like them. She had never spent time with animals though, so maybe she was the problem. She sure was the only person in this house who didn't like this "Ace" thing. If even Damian liked him, then Ace must be cool. 

However, Cass was pretty pleased with herself for learning all of these new names so quickly. Ace, Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Tim, Stephanie, Babs. Babs had a longer name- that Cass didn't know- but she was mostly called Babs. Like how Cass was Cassandra! Short names were much better than long names. Cass wondered if they had finger-names, too. Jason would know. She just needed to figure out how to ask him.

This Stephanie girl really wanted Cass to follow her, but Cass didn't want to. Stephanie seemed fun, if not a bit scary (Cass hadn't met anyone who wasn't very small who was that excited about anything), but she would rather stay with Damian. Protecting him was her job. Talia would not be happy if she knew Cass wasn't doing her job. Neither would her father. Or The Great One. All around, it wasn't a good idea to not do her job.

So she would stay right here. On the floor. Even with Ace if she had to. Damian seemed fond of it, after all. Stephanie eventually gave up and left the room. Cass felt bad about upsetting her, but she was only here for Damian, not for anyone else. So, bored though she was, she stayed.