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- batship Bruce and Commissioner Gordon praise fan video
Week 2: Dick Grayson December 8th - December 14th
DickJayRae Word 2,014 Part 1, continued in Jason Todd Home for the Holidays, Unmasked, Virginity Kink, Fake/Pretend Relationship Bonus Prompt: Flight/Flying
Week 3: Barbara Gordon December 15th - December 21st
Bonus Prompt: Honeymoon FanVid
Week 4: Jason Todd December 22nd - December 28th JayDickRae
Cabin in the Woods, Lazarus Pit, Somnophilia, Love Spell Bonus Prompt: Winter Holiday FANVID
Week 7: Cassandra Cain January 12th - January 18th
FanVideo Steph
fanvideo CassBabs
Clothes Sharing, CassxSteph - word count 1959
Cassandra Cain/Barbra Gordon F/F word count: 2,187 words Holiday/Charity Gala, Exhibitionism/Voyeurism, Jealousy/Possessiveness Bonus Prompt: Proposal
Week 8: Damian Wayne January 19th - January 25th
DamiJay FanVideo
Baking Cookies, Hero/Civilian Bonus Prompt: Birthday Wish 4,435 words Jason Todd X Damien Wayne X Raven
Week 9: Duke Thomas January 26th - February 1st
Cuddling/Huddling for Warmth, Injured on Patrol, Edging, Omegaverse Bonus Prompt: First Love DukeCass Word Count 2,159 words
Week 10: Free Choice (Terry Mcginnis, etc.) February 2nd - February 8th Snowed-in, Court of Owls, Sex Pollen, De-Ageing 1 2 fan video Bonus Prompt: Holiday Magic
Word count 2987
Cabin in the Woods, Lazarus Pit, Somnophilia, Love Spell Bonus Prompt: Winter Holiday
The Titans pool was blissfully heated, and while on the roof, it was far away from the main floors for me, not to be discovered in this skimpy excuse for swim wear.
If the Titans knew I was in the deep end, holding my breath to beat Donna's underwater record, they be pissed. As it was, I agreed. I myself wasn't too keen on weight training without a partner. But today it was a risk I was willing to take to escape the thoughts and questions that running hadn’t allowed me to outrun run.
I knew just enough to prevent myself from drowning, and I decided to remain where I was for at least another five minutes, which was my usual record.
Or so, I thought.
Sitting on the bottom of the pool, cocooned in warm water, I heard nothing, but the slow sounds of my heartbeat. Even my thoughts finally quietened.
A shadow fell over me, when the watch displayed over five minutes, and I spotted Jason living!! above me on the edge of the pool. His body silhouette by early morning sunlight. The water distorted his shape, but I recognise Jake blindfolded. It took me a moment to realise the calm I was feeling was because I’d sensed Jai making his way to me.
I watched him as he jerked his shoes off, stripped off his T-shirt and drove to the water. The realisation, I wasn't actually drowning took a little longer, as he frantically made his way to the bottom of the pool to me. My eyes stung with the expression on his face.
Jay was worried about me.
I pushed myself off the bottom of the pool to make it easier for him to drag me to the surface.
I was now trapped between his big body and the side of the pool. Long, muscle arms, caged me in. Our ragged breathing heated each other's faces.
His eyes searched me, looking for a reason why I might be at the bottom of the pool. As he lifted me up by the waist and propelled me on the deck, I felt genuine fear for my well-being goes through his wings, overriding any rational thought.
I tried not to star at his chest, all the calm under the water was lost as my mind filled with images of me licking the water from his smooth glistening skin.
“Rae, are you alright. What happened?”
His questions like his emotions kept hammering, my senses.
He pushed a rough hand over his short hair and wiped water from his eyes. As his eyes continued to scan me, two fingers, grab my wrist, checking my pulse.
Tiny droplets like little diamonds hung off his eyelashes. He was so handsome, I was scared what my heartbeat was telling him.
“I am fine.” I planted in over stimulation.
“No, you're not, but you're about to be.”
What could Jay mean by that?
Chasing his grip on my wrist and lifted me off the ground, his other arm went under my legs. Before I could ask what he could possibly mean, what he was trying to do, I was squirming uselessly against his iron hard chest.
I was literally rendered speechless.
“Hold on a minute,” he said, hugging me closer to his chest, as if sheltering me from the cold of winter. His shoes, socks and T-shirt, discarded and forgotten at the edge of the pool.
He was taking us to the changing rooms. I plan to go there after my swim. And I didn't need Jason half naked to carry me more than half naked.
I didn't want to be alone with him, no cameras, no clothes, it was an intimacy I couldn't afford. Because I could just imagine his handsome limbs and big muscles, leaning over my own brown body doing much more than simply laying me on the lounger in the changing room.
My face flamed, gooseflesh rose on my arms, and the flimsy bikini did nothing to hide my pinched nipples. The swimsuit I had only one because I was supposed to be all alone in the steam room.
I must have said some of what I was thinking because Jason turned on the switch, activating the steam. His shoulders flexed as he opens one of the cabinets and pulled out a gigantic towel. I could just imagine his shoulders punching. It's draining for some other reason. Desire pod into her veins, making her pant.
All the adrenaline had to go somewhere, and it was going in the most disturbing place, a deep thro working. It's way down my hips, settling where it shouldn't, turning into something dangerous.
I shake my head, but his gorgeous body fills my vision. He leans, blue green eyes search me still, wraps a towel around my shoulders.
Jay darts back and I realise he's holding another one. He wrapped it around his waist, and then his jeans are off.
“Would you prefer a hot shower or steam?” Jai asks, crouching down beside the couch.
Morning, sunlight fell on waves of raven black hair, and full lips, but sensuous mouth pulled into a harsh line. She was probably too cold to respond.
The large towel, he brought her cover her from head to toe, except a slit that showed this swell of her breast and the side of her gently covering hips. They distracted him from her answer. but he refocused.
“Hum?”
“Nothing. Jason, nothing is wrong. I could've walked myself. Don't worry about me. I was anyways planning to take a steam, and it should warm me right up. I think you should get into the shower, though. If you tell me what you want to change into and where it is in your room, I could teleport ‘em.”
She riggers her finger, three of them over the towel in her white knuckle grip, black, and silver sparks emphasise her point. A small sad and very nervous smile plays on her lips that are, thankfully, returning to a healthy colour.
Was she so sad that she decided to stay underwater for so long? She said she was planning to use the steam room, but then why was she in the pool and why was she just sitting there at the bottom?
I don't wanna bring it up and sadden her further.
“Thank you. I'll take a shower. In a minute.”
Whatever it is that has Rae this upset, and maybe his feelings aren't welcome, but she has to know that people care about her. That they think about her. That he cares about her.
“In my room on the bed, there are cargo vans, a black tea, and on the dresser next to them is my wallet. Would you bring my clothes and my wallet?”
She closes her eyes as if she can see through cement and concrete and steel and tile write down into his room, and I see a frown of concentration mark her face. In the next second, right by her feet in a little empty patch on the lounge, appear my clothes and my wallet.
She smiles me as I thank her, but I can see she's curious why I need money or identification in Titan Tower.
He picks up his wallet, stay that it for a moment to, and then darts back to the cupboard with the tiles. He comes back with a smaller one and wrap it around my head.
Taking the hint and the tall, I begin to dry my hair. After digging inside his wallet, Jason Crouch is down beside the couch as he had before, and then shows me a small photo.
I swallow hard.
“Jason?”
“Look at the photo.” His eyes start from his palm, holding the Polaroid and then back at me. Leaving it parched in his hand, I slowly move closer to take a look.
It's an old photo, maybe 10 years old, it has Nightwing, Jason as Robin, and me.
I tare my eyes away from it to look up at him.
“What does this mean?.”
Jason looks down at the photo, he runs a finger across it. Lovingly, caressing me and then Nightwing. “These other people who I love most in the world. They are with me wherever I go. Even on missions where we go dark, they are in a secret pocket rigged to dissolve in acid if I am ever caught, so no one can know my weakness.”
Her eyes wide and he cast. What the hell was he thinking. A big guy alone with a beautiful girl. He retreated. When she seemed more at ease he offered her the picture once more.
She gassed, she let him give her the photo of them, her eyes huge, and her breathing quick.
Ever since Jason had first met Raven, some part of her had always like him. And for that, he was glad. And then from that first day, one-sided attraction had launched a game of. Should he tell her or shouldn't he? And Jason ultimately realised he fallen in love with the empath.
A lot that happened over the years, and now that he finally had his head all straight, Jason decided to spend time at Tower. To spend time with Raven. To be the hero, she would be comfortable with at her side. He planned on making some excuse for dick to join them. Only for him to land up here and then continue to stay. So her mission became their mission.
But this morning, seeing her like this, and then, at the bottom of the pool, chasing you, he couldn't wait, and he couldn't walk away from Raven. And he realised this Limbu had to end. Eventually, he'd have to tell her about his feelings and Richard too. And he hoped and prayed as he never had before in his life that they would accept.
I sat back on my haunches unable to take my eyes off her as Ravan gently ponders the photograph and the ramifications of what it meant.
When she looks up with me, I smile at her reassuringly.
“I want you to know that I like you. I think about you. I have ever since the moment that I met you. Please don't say anything. I don't need an answer now. Or ever. I only wanted you to know. That someone loves you and think about your happiness every day.”
I place my hand facing up, near my clothes, breathe away from her feet. Not crowding her, but making her an offer.
And then I wait
Her eyes wide, playing the photograph on the lounge, a fingers grips around his.
Jason stays perfectly still. Hoping against hope that this is what he thinks it means. Unwilling to break the silence, if this is a gentle let down.
Raven turns from the interlock fingers to look down at him. Smile spreading across her lips.
When he hesitates to hold her hand, raven curl her fingers tightly, dripping him.
“All we need is, Richard.”
And I laugh giddy with happiness. I feel my face softening, as if it has been stiff before.
Curling, my fingers around her palm, I lift it slowly watching her as inch closer to my mouth. I kiss her finger, then knuckle and then when she lets me pull her closer, kiss her wrist.
A shiver rocks her frame. I hope it's in response to me, but it very well could be because of the cold. The pool, the tower is heated, but they're both wet and it’s the winter holidays. Not the best time to catch a cold.
Jay moves closer, Raven watches his every move. A shy light dancing in her eyes.
My heart beats wildly inside my chest. As selfish as it is for me to hope for, I wish Dick were here. I am here to be with Raven, and because I am ready for a change. I am hoping that Dick too is here because he's ready for us.
I love them, and I want Dick and Rae to be a part of the rest of my life. Jason planned on showing them he’d moved on from the angry teenager he’d been. And then the anger of the resurrected man, when he found that the person who took him from those he loved, and who professed to love him, was alive.
I place my arms under Raven, she wraps her around my neck and I lift her in a step. Her towels fall, leaving her in a bikini that will feature in my dreams for years to come.
Then I realise I can ask Raven to wear it for me. And if she’s reluctant, all the better, I can coax her.
Raven giggles against my neck as I princess carry her to the steam room. With its wooden interior, tile walls and old fashion, wooden benches and roof, it feels like a cabin in the woods.
My heart flips in my chest, blood pounds my ears as I imagine all the things I’ll do to please her. It's too soon to think about him with us, but I go lightheaded when I picture our third.
Richard Grayson, the first Robin can only hope the clues he has laid going according to plan. This is because the changing room is one of the few places in the tower devoid of surveillance. And rightly, so. But that doesn't help him any. Has their mutual attraction coupled with near nakedness and adrenaline, allowed them to confess to each other. And if they have, should he really intrude?
He slips the communicator from his swimming trunks, giving in to the impulse. He texts Jason asking how Raven is. Praying that the reflection of love and attraction he sees in their eyes is reality and not just a reflection of his feelings.
His communicator buses with a text
Jaybird: she's fine.
Jaybird: you were right to send me to check on Rae.
Dicks groin tightens as he imagines Raven in the little midnight bikini, he saw her in the pool, long dark hair pulled up in a bun over her head as steam billows around her.
Jason, white shoulders taping to the waist, probably has a towel wrapped around his hips, as he sits across from her wrapped in mist.
A beep wakes him from his fantasy.
Jaybird: bring cold water.
Is he being an asshole with this order? Or is he inviting to join them? Not doing anything, will only lead to misery for me in the end. I decide.
I slip the communicator back in my swim trunks. Grab a tall walk out my room into the kitchen in a to. I check a couple of bottles of cold water. A few bottles of lemonade and turning off all the lights as it is now morning, I make my way towards the upper level. Towards the pool. Towards my destiny.
Excitement swelled through her, and her whole body tighten.
Even if I didn’t look and kept my head down and eyes everted I feel emotions, the same anticipation mirrored in Jai and Dick.
“Raven, JayBird.”
My heartbeat flutters at the gruffness in his voice when he says our names.
“Dick, the Tower on auto watch?” Jai enquire as if everything is normal.
As if I don't feel too. Asif I can't feel what they feel. Asif, we don't know all three of us want each other desperately.
But to be honest, with the three of us in the same place, no one in the control room, I too need to hear we are covered.
“Yeah, I clicked it on when I came to the gym this morning. And don't you worry, I've got the watch on me.”
Dick is the oldest amongst us. And until very recently had been an absolute slut. When he entered the room, we fell under his spell.
I know I want them. Individually and together. I want them to touch me. I want them to touch each other while I watch. I know what I want, but not how I want it. I need someone to take the lead. I think Jai does too.
With the two of us, Jai made the confession. But now Dick is involved.
I treble beneath their combined games, vulnerable, and practically naked. Jason has a tall wrapped over his hips. And Dick’s swimming shorts, barely conceal his passion.
“Ever since you came into my dreams, I tried to ignore you, to not think about you….”
“Little wing, I was too caught up in my own drama, and I failed to protect you. Even when I lost you, I didn't know what I truly lost. When I saw you again, I knew you deserve better than this. Better than me. Jason, Baby, I need you in my life.”
Acting on the intimacy of the moment Dick had created, raven and Jason went to him. Dick stood, raising a hand to cress Jasons cheek and drew Ravens fingers to his lips, kissing them.
Jason smiled watching them, he leaned down to kiss Raven’s mouth. Her soft lips parted under his, inviting him in, and when Dick moved his palm lower over Jason’s torso, Raven mimicked the action on Dick’s skin.
Physical need built quickly inside them. Her touch was surprisingly gentle, but fierce. Just like her Dick thought. How long he'd been waiting to do this, and now Dick knew Raven and Jay wanted him too.
When Dick’s fingers curled around his towel, Jay directed him to his back, pulling him closer till the three formed a triangle of limbs and need.
But Lil wing was right to divert him. Raven was probably overwhelmed by their combined passion. Anything was, there was no reason to hurry.
Jay, Rae and Dick had all the time in the world. Even the villains were quite during the winter holidays.
Following the theme of Moving Day of the Wayne Family Adventures, this is Duke’s first Christmas since moving in. Tim is here and he brought the Titans with him. And Duke’s happy for other now people so he doesn’t feel alone, but he really wants is more time with Cassie, aka Cassandra Cain. There are the conversation Duke hears throughout out the night, as he moves around Wayne Manor
Snow whispered softly against the massive windows of Wayne Manor, layering the city outside in silver calm. Inside, chaos ruled in a way only the Bat Family could manage: laughter echoing down hallways, bickering bouncing off marble pillars, and the scent of cinnamon and pine threaded through everything Alfred touched. Garlands shimmered under chandelier light, and every polished surface reflected the flicker of the giant Christmas tree standing guard in the main hall.
This was Duke Thomas’s first Christmas under the Wayne roof. He still hadn’t quite learned how to walk through the manor without feeling small, but tonight the loneliness pressed less sharply. There were people everywhere now—the Titans mixing with the Bats, Stephanie and Tim tossing jokes over cocoa, Gar, Jamie and Raven standing somewhere between bored and amused. For once, Duke didn’t have to hide in corners pretending to text. But amid all this noise, his eyes kept finding Cassandra Cain.
She moved like smoke between crowds—quiet, grounded, effortlessly graceful. Where others announced themselves, she appeared. A hand on Alfred’s shoulder while he passed out food, a rare half-smile when Damian tried to hang mistletoe three inches too low. Cass didn’t say much, but Duke didn’t need words. A glance was enough.
Near the fireplace, Duke caught a snippet of conversation that made him grin over his mug of cocoa.
Tim Drake: “Look I’m over it, it’s Christmas, but he did try to kill me, Dick. He followed me to Titans Tower no less.”
Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson: “Jason. Ever since he took that death trip, he's been a different person.”
Tim Drake: “Well, that's no excuse. Raven died four or five times, and she's just sweet as Dr. Pepper.”
Dick: “Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it’s closer to four though. Lemme see. Two times with Brother Blood, once with me on the team, once with you—let’s not forget . . .”
Cass stood by the mantle nearby, twisting a red ornament string in her gloved fingers. When Duke looked her way, she tilted her head, curious at the grin flickering over his face. He only shrugged, mouthing, Bats being Bats. Her answering smile looked like approval—or maybe quiet mischief.
By the Christmas tree, wrapping paper began to pile up near a smaller explosion of laughter.
Stephanie Brown: “Hey, Jay, did you buy that sweater knowing that red dot was on it because you could get it at a discount?”
Jason Todd: “What? Did I what?”
Stephanie Brown: “You did, didn't you?”
Jason: “Steph… seriously? I’m actually kind of stunned here. I bust my ass, blow my savings on this ridiculous Christmas sweater—because, you know, I figured I’d do something nice for once—and this is how you thank me? Merry freakin’ Christmas, I guess.”
Stephanie Brown: “Well, Alfred told me you did.”
Jason: “You told her? How could you tell her? Oh, Et Tu Alfred? Et Tu?”
Mr. Pennyworth: “I didn't speak out of turn, Master idiot— ahem, Jason. She tricked you.”
Jason’s grumbling retreated toward the corridor. His footsteps faded into the rumble of Damian’s laughter and the faint notes of Kori’s Tamaran caroling from another room.
Duke watched Cass out of the corner of his eye—she was suppressing a laugh. When she finally exhaled a silent chuckle, her shoulders eased, and Duke felt the tension of the big house melt a little. He wanted to say something, maybe tease Jason with her, but then she was already drifting away to help Alfred carry a tray of pies.
Raven: “I was just in the kitchen and we need ice.”
Barbra Gordon: “In winter.”
Raven: “I know, but Kori wants to make this Tamaran thing and . .”
Jason Todd: “En’uf said. Dick, she’s your girl—let’s take the Bentley.”
Tim: “I’ll get some coffee for the ‘nog.”
The clatter of keys signaled the start of yet another adventure. Duke found himself roped in, jacket half-zipped before he realized it. Cass brushed his arm lightly as he left—a blink-and-you-miss-it gesture that steadied him more than it should have.
Snow glittered on the Bentley’s hood as they rolled out the manor gates, laughter fogging the car windows.
Jay: “I’ll drive.”
Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson: “And what about your license?”
Todd: “What about it?”
Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson: “Do you have it?”
Todd: “It's fine.”
Dick: “It was a yes or no question.”
Jay: “Okay, yes, it's fine. We're going up the street, I don't need my license.”
Dick: “Jaybird, this is a vintage car, and I’m a cop. You can’t drive unless you have your license on you, so could you go get it. Please?”
Jay: “I would, but . . it’s expired.”
Dick: “When did your license expire?!”
Jay: “I don't know! Like, while I was dead.”
Tim: “That’s your excuse for everything recently.”
Dick: “Then you're not driving!”
Jay: “Well, I drove the Batmobile yesterday.”
Dick: “Well, Jaybird that's illegal.”
Duke laughed, warmth spreading through him despite the cold outside. For all their insanity, this was what family looked like—imperfect, ridiculous, but real. He texted Cass a blurry photo of snow on the windshield and the caption: We live dangerously. She replied an emoji—one raised eyebrow and a snowflake.
When they returned, the manor pulsed with life again—music, chatter, and the faint hum of the Titans trying to explain karaoke to Bruce. Duke slipped through the milling guests, snagging a cookie from the dessert table as he passed a new pocket of conversation.
Jamie ‘Blue Beetle’ Reyes: “I’ve heard it too. Gotham has alligators in the sewer.”
Tim Drake: “That’s just Killer Croc.”
Duke Thomas: “Besides that. Like a normal, but obviously huge gator.”
Raven: “I also have a question, pretty boy. Why are you encouraging all this?”
Duke: “I wouldn't say I'm encouraging it, I'm just open to the possibility.”
Tim Drake: “Well, I'm not. Not unless I see some cold, hard evidence.”
Duke: “And maybe it's there. Proof at last, Duke, proof at last.”
Raven: “Is he all right?”
Stephanie Brown: “I wouldn't say so, no. He's a Batfamily member, so.”
Cass lingered near the edge of the group, an amused look flickering between Duke and Raven. When he caught her eye, she made a subtle motion—two fingers wiggling like an alligator’s jaws. He stifled a laugh.
Later still, the party slowed. The air thickened with warmth and the smell of burnt sugar from too many toasted marshmallows. In a corner near the study firelight pooled golden, where Barbara held court with Garfield and Duke, who was now juggling gifted poetry books in one arm.
Barbra Gordon: “Hey Duke. Where’s Bruce?”
Duke Thomas: “He's leading Damian’s cow out the house, again.”
Barbs: “Okay. Here are those poetry books you wanted. I used them in the Freshman Lit class I taught last year. If you have any questions about poetry, just ask me.”
Garfield ‘Beast Boy’ Logan: “Yeah, I have a question. I understand why guys get into poetry. To get girls. But why do girls like poetry?”
Raven: “Because girls think with their brains.”
Cass slipped into the room halfway through that exchange, quiet as ever. She perched on the arm of Duke’s chair, scanning the books. One finger landed on a line of text. She didn’t read it out loud, just met his gaze and nodded—a silent good choice. Duke felt his pulse trip over itself.
Down one corridor, the last scraps of conversation carried softly over the fire.
Damian: “So you're saying... I'm the only one you were ever nice to?”
Jason Todd: “Pretty much. I tried to kill replacement. Dick was a Dick to me, and y’know I don’t take no shit.”
Jay: “You know, you have a real opportunity here. You can break the cycle. You can be a good brother to Mari’. You can be the one kid in this family who takes care of the younger one and looks out for her.”
Damian: “How is that fair?”
Jay: “Yeah, you're right.”
Duke passed by, pausing just long enough to catch the warmth in Jason’s tone—rare, genuine. Cass appeared beside him again, silent as moonlight, watching the same moment unfold. Without looking at him, she murmured, “They’re learning.”
He smiled. “We all are. Roof?”
Cassie nodded.
The strains of laughter and soft music drifted down the hall, the house breathing contentment for once. Snow glimmered beyond the tall windows, and for the first time since he moved in, Duke didn’t feel like a visitor in Wayne Manor. He felt like part of something built from scars, second chances, and every quiet, unspoken thing that passed between him and Cass.
Snow drifted through the quiet night like the slow fluttering of forgotten wishes. The world below them glowed softly with the hush of winter — garlands glimmered, halos of light shimmered upon windowpanes behind them, and the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Duke Thomas — Signal — sat beside Cassandra beneath the outcropping of the window, on one of the rooftops of the Wayne Manor.
The reflection of Christmas lights dancing along his golden skin his thoughts swirled like the flakes above, fragments of a year’s ache and wonder folding upon each other. He can see past nights, them, together on the roof like this, be Duke hopes this night will be different.
“With so many changes in my life, I know I can rely on you. You are the only thing in my life that feels real.”
His voice carried warmth that even the cold wind could not steal — steady, reverent, as though every word was a truth carved carefully from his heart.
Cassandra’s gaze lifted to him slowly, dark eyes wide with something new and fragile, like dawn breaking after too many battles in the dark. Her breath trembled before it became words. “I’ve fallen in love. My first memory is fighting. I didn’t think such violent emotions could happen to someone like me.”
In the glow, she looked almost otherworldly — a warrior softened by a peace she didn’t yet understand. The confession left her trembling, not from fear, but from the strangeness of being open — unguarded.
Duke’s hand rose, tentative but certain, the way light touches shadow before merging with it. A lock of her midnight hair had fallen over her cheek; he brushed it aside with a gentleness that made her heart flutter like wings against glass.
“I can’t see anything I don’t like about you,” he said, voice tender with awe. “I could die right now, Cassie, and not regret it. I’m just... happy. I’ve never felt that before. I’m just exactly where I want to be.”
Their foreheads met softly, two stars finding orbit after drifting too long through separate skies. Around them, the snow kept falling, the city whispering faintly through the hush — but in that moment, time itself seemed to pause, bowing to love’s quiet, eternal fire.
For a long, weightless moment, time seemed to surrender to the stillness. The only sound was the quiet conversation between falling snow and beating hearts. Cassandra’s eyes searched Duke’s face — every hesitant tremor of his breath, every shadow softened by light. The warmth between them grew, fragile yet infinite, like the space between a spark and flame.
Duke tilted his head just slightly, a silent question lingering in the air. His hand rested against her cheek now, gloved thumb tracing the edge of her jaw as though memorising her through touch alone. The world faded into a blur of silver and gold — only her eyes remained, deep as the night and full of something unspoken.
When she leaned in, it was barely a movement, almost instinct. The tips of their noses brushed, soft as snowfall. Then her lips found his — hesitant, searching — and the chill around them melted. It wasn’t hurried or grand, but slow and reverent, the kind of kiss that feels like the beginning and ending of everything at once.
The city blurred beyond their small universe: the glitter of lights danced on icicles, a distant choir hummed through open doors, and snow landed quietly in their hair. Cassandra pulled back first, her breath trembling into the space between them. “You make the world quiet,” she whispered.
Duke smiled, forehead resting against hers. “Then I guess I’ll have to stay,” he murmured, his voice a flicker of gold in the winter air.
“I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, Batgirl, Orphan, my Cassie now and forever.”
And there, beneath the gentle hush of falling snow, they kissed once more — not from uncertainty, but from knowing. The night stretched out like a canvas painted in light, and for the first time, both heroes felt entirely, beautifully human.
