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OOC Announcement
This blog is now under construction and will soon be turning into an indie Cassandra Cain blog.
To any of my old followers: feel free to unfollow me if this isn’t something you’re interested in seeing on your dash.
Glass Shards || Solo
“Family is not always home.”
The words had tumbled out of Cassandra’s mouth easily, without any thought or planning, leaving behind a ringing silence that spoke of her resolve. It was frightening watching as they lost their ability to speak, reduced to aborted twitches as they were confronted with her cutting lines and edged remarks. But she needed them to understand that as much as her little hodgepodge family wanted her to stay, she could no longer fight alongside them, not with their flashing colors and symbol in the sky. So even as her mouth bled from her own cutting words, Cass turned away from them and they could only watch as she let fall a mantle that had never truly fit and hurled herself off the roof of the building.
And while no words chased after her as the wind rushed about her, the emotions that had flitted across their faces before she turned away was answer enough. They would not stop her; resignation clamping their jaws shut and understanding lining their eyes. All of them had lost too much in the last few months for the family, because of the family. And now they would not deny her this, not when they believed she had a chance at moving forward again. But for all the perverse satisfaction she felt at finally being free of that legacy, the sting in her mouth from all her pointed words reminded Cass that all she was really doing was running.
Running from her fears and her failures and the anger and frustration that clawed at her throat.
This is what Cass did, what she had always done. She had spent her whole childhood running; fleeing from the people that would use her, who would reshape her into their tool. She had lost so many years of her life, all of them blurring together in a dizzying mess of nameless faces and cities whose names she could not pronounce. But back then Cass had been a child, fueled by desperation and completely unprepared for a world that did not revolve around knives and bloodshed. But this time, Cass ran because she had seen too much of the workings of the world. She ran because she was confused.
So Cass turned her back on the people who had taken her in and accepted her into their family despite knowing what her particular skill set entailed. And she walked away from the siblings that had grabbed her blood soaked hands and pulled her along their whirlwind of colors and badly formed puns. And she couldn’t deny that she loved them, for all their lies and half-truths and fights, they were hers. But she couldn’t stay with them, not with the way she was.
Too raw. Unsettled. Disillusioned with her duty.
Because while Cass wanted to do good, to save as many lives as possible -she could not fight for a symbol that would allow a whole city to go up in flames while her best friend was tortured by a mad man. No. She did not care about plans or contingencies or the politics of this city. All that mattered to her was keeping everyone safe.
And maybe her approach was unrealistic. Maybe she would get herself killed trying to protect everyone at once, but she didn’t care. No one would die under her watch. That was her Mission.
But for now, as she slinked back to the shadows that were more comfortable to her than anything else, she swallowed thickly and realized she would need to learn how to live with the taste of blood in her mouth.
Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Taking The Edge Off from Batgirl v1 #2 2000-05 digital
Meltdown (Requiem for a Dream) - the Kronos Quartet
[pm] We’re not working fast enough. I should do a lot more. She might be already— Yeah, I know she will. It’s just that the longer she’s gone the longer she’ll tease us about it once she gets back. ‘Gee guys, what took you so long?’
Batgirl? I’ve worked with her in the past and she’s good. Not exactly speed team, maybe, but she might make a good distraction. Green would be great, but he hasn’t completely recovered from his 1 on 1 with a tank yet. Besides, he’s been looking for Dee day and night just like I should.
[pm] Can't help you on the teasing front, Harper. But chocolates and pampering her after might be the solution.
I considered her. But with RR down and Nightwing gone, I don't want to risk losing injuring all the Bats in one go. This city still needs one Bat flying the skies and if anything happens, BG can keep this city going strong. I considered GA too but I saw his last announcement and I don't want to overwork him anymore either. What do you think of Batwoman?
Hit 'Em Up Style || Sarah and Black Bat
It was easy to spot cops that were off-duty. She could pick them out from the crowd—could see it in the way they stood, they walked, they carried themselves. They preferred sitting facing the door, they kept their elbows close to their body when they were packing heat, and kept their elbows away from their bodies when they weren’t (too used to the equipment being there, she supposed). It was easy for cops to spot other cops in street clothes just as it was easy for criminals to pick them out.
So, when Sarah dressed that night, she made a conscious decision to forgo the combat boots and the leather jacket. And as much as she loved them, heels were also out of the question. Black Bat had mentioned something about a disguise, but Sarah didn’t have anything on hand that’d heavily change her appearance. Would she even need to try to conceal herself? The men would probably recognize her regardless. She’d questioned them before about dead bodies around Gotham only to receive silence as a response. They “hadn’t known anything” then, and she legally hadn’t been able to push it. She’d make sure this night would be different, though; she’d make them talk.
Sarah’s ratty sneakers fit snugly around her feet, but they fit just well enough that she knew they wouldn’t hurt moving around in. They carried her twelve blocks—carrying her past all the leering prisoners from Pena Duro and away from the blistering comments from the Blackgate escapees. She had her left hand in her pocket and her right hand out, fingers flexing and unflexing as she prepared to pull for her gun. But she made the twelve blocks unscathed.
“You’re early, Essen. Guess we’re both looking forward to this.”
Red hoodie. This must be Black Bat. This wasn’t what Sarah expected. Brown eyes. Long black hair. She looked relatively normal—young. But she was in disguise, wasn’t she? How much of her appearance had been altered?
Not one for pleasantries with vigilantes, Sarah answered coarsely. “I want this over with.”
“This is for you. It’s small enough that you can hide it under your clothes but it has the basics: flash light, smoke pellets, flash bangs, an oxygen mask, and zip ties. This should give us some cover if we need to make a hasty retreat.”
Sarah watched warily as Black Bat moved her hands slowly to retrieve the items. Smart girl. “I have a few rounds left in my glock, but I’m hoping I won’t have to use any of them tonight. This ought to help.” She attached her new gear, wishing she could have done this mission with her own equipment. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Thank you" nearly slipped from Sarah’s lips, but she couldn’t force the words out. Maybe it’d be easier to say when this was all over and done with.
“So what’s the plan?”
A scrawny, rodent of a man named Vincent had given Sarah the information she needed about that night. He wasn’t the most trustworthy and he seemed to work both sides of the law if someone paid him enough. She hoped the information he passed her a few hours ago wasn’t all some big, elaborate lie. If so, she had enough evidence on him to send him away for good.
"There’s six men in there tonight," she said. "If you didn’t see anyone else go in there and didn’t see anyone go out, then that number should still be correct. There’s a back entrance near the kitchen if we take the steps up through the backyard.There’s a camera near the door, though; I trust you can take care of that."
Hands in her pockets, Cass stood stock still as Essen appraised her while clipping on the belt. She’d thrown on a quick disguise, just enough to mask her more notable features, but she hoped she looked generic enough that Essen wouldn’t be able to get an accurate rendering of her face. Shifting slightly back to give her some space, Cass paused at the mention of her Glock. Giving Essen a quick look over, she noticed the slight twitch of her fingers -her right hand ready to draw. She wasn’t surprised that Essen was carrying but there were protocols that the Bats usually adhered to when guns were present. Rules that Batman had established and forced everyone who worked with him to comply with. Except he wasn’t here and she wasn’t Batman.
“I’m not going to take away the right to defend yourself, Essen. But if you are forced to draw, all I ask is that you don’t go for the kill shot. I’ll do my best to make sure that you aren’t put in that position but...” trailing off, she shifted her attention from Sarah to the house down the block and then back again. “I don’t want to see anymore death.” Taking a deep breath, she looked Sarah dead in the eye. “Please.”
She didn’t have the right to make that request of a cop, especially one that was putting herself at great personal risk by being here but she was being completely honest with Essen. She had already seen too much senseless death in the past few weeks and while she knew that she couldn’t have prevented most of them, in this situation Cass still had some measure of control...as well as Essen. And any other time she would have foregone the Please because Black Bat did not ask but being Black Bat had only gotten her so far in this hellish situation.
Humming to herself as Essen detailed the situation, she focused her attention back on the house. It was a one story building with an attached garage and from her estimate it looked like a 3 bedroom deal. Biting her lip, she ran the possible layouts in her head. “I got here about half an hour ago, so the numbers should still be the same. Six men,” she said with a sharp nod. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem between the two of us, especially since we have the element of surprise on our side. But there’s a chance we might have to split up.”
Cocking her head towards the house, she began counting off the rooms on her fingers. “There are probably five rooms that we’ll have to cover, including one bathroom. The garage is boarded up from the outside so I don’t think we’ll have to worry much about that. But that back entrance sounds like our best bet.” Giving Essen a tightlipped smile, she turned, offering her back to the woman. “Let’s go.”
Padding her way towards the house, she leapt over the short fence instead of risking opening the gate. Motioning for Essen to do the same, she crouched down low as she made her way to the back yard, listening to the raucous laughter coming within. From the sounds of it, a few of them were drunk -meaning they’d be sloppy. Spotting the slowly turning camera, she raised her left hand, signalling Essen to stop. Pulling out one of her daggers from underneath her hoodie, having left all her batarangs behind for extra anonymity, she flicked it towards the camera, severing the black chord as knife embedded itself in the wood paneling.
Hopping up the steps quietly, she made quick work of the lock, smiling to herself as she heard the soft tell tale click of the doorknob. Turning back to face Essen, she swept her hand in the direction of the unlocked door.
“Want to take point on this one?”
[pm] Training doesn’t help, not with this kind of stress. You know what’ll help? Finding her. That’s the only thing that will help Char Misfit us Misfit.
If we can’t get a hold of him we could always work together. You’re like… Ninja-levels of stealthy, bet you could place the EMP if I watched your back carefully.
[pm] No it doesn't but a distraction is a distraction. And we're working on it. She's tough, okay? She'll make it no matter what that they put her through.
It might come to it. I'm missing a 6th member for this so for now I'm switching to the speed team. I can't match the kids but ninja training should come in handy right about now.
[mask pm] I don’t usually get hurt. The armor is pretty strong. But I don’t wear it like a costume. It just kinda… appears.
[mask pm] Has it activated without your consent before?
[pm] Oh, yeah, Oracle. Who couldn’t even track that fucker dow— Yeah, she’ll find D— we’ll save h— Canary’s coming back soon. And this ain’t just a terrible hand, I can deal with terrible hands, you’ve seen my poker skills. It’s worse than that. Then again, I guess it just means we have to bring our A game to the table. Maybe go all in.
Kid Flash, huh? Gotcha, I’ll try and contact him. If he’s as fast as you say he’ll learn quick, yeah? I mean, I haven’t been at this whole hero gig for long but I’ve gotten pretty decent at it. Y’know, when I’m not just sitting with my hands on my ass like a lost puppy.
Misfit is in peak condition, physically, at least. I’m afraid she might pull some crazy stunts, though. We’ve worked together a lot, maybe some of my crazy rubbed off on her. And with Dee gone she’s just been— How’s Jay? You sure he can keep her safe? I trust him, but he’s been hurt and blinded and I don’t even know what else. Says the guy with the missing limb.
[pm] She's coming back. And we go all in. No holding back on this one.
He's fast. We might have our hands full with him but he's a valuable asset to the team. And he has a comm now, so contacting him should be easier.
I'm worried about her too. I tried talking to her a bit but she's trying to focus on the job instead of anything else. She doesn't want to flip the fuck out as she put it so for now I let it drop. Hopefully, training will help with some of that stress. And Jay is one of the few people I trust. If it weren't because of that I wouldn't have asked him to do this. And none of us are in our peak besides the kids, so that training session might be more for our benefit than anything else. But I do think he can keep her safe. If not I wouldn't have let them team up.
[mask pm] We are each other. Our minds are together. He’s in my nervous system. He’s part of my body now.
[mask pm] How much is the physical toll on your body? Or do you share the amount of damage that you receive? You don't have to answer if I'm making you uncomfortable.
[mask pm] I don’t know how I’m going to fucking fix it- tell me how to fix it please I wouldn’t mind punching Red in the face, not gonna lie. Haha, maybe that’ll help.
No then he shouldn’t beOkay. I trust your judgement.
He said that— it doesn’t matter what he said anymore. He’s just mean. Okay…. I understand. I’ll do my job, okay?
Listen, I’m tired. I need to sleep.
[mask pm] Get some rest. I'll keep you posted.
[mask pm] I’m not trying to always be my mask I’m trying to— I don’t know what I’m trying to do anymore. They found her finge- I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond, I feel like if I don’t concentrate on what I need to be doing I am going to freak the fuck out, and I really really would just prefer to pretend I’m fine right now because that’s easy and I just wanna do my job okay? Okay? I just want Dinah to be okay.
… Isn’t that really dangerous for Red Hood, though? Is he gonna be okay? I mean I’m all for the plan and I’ll do it but I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Even if he has a dumb looking mask thing. Training at R.A’s. I think I can be available for that, sounds like fun.
He’s mean. He doesn’t need to keep me safe keep me safe ‘cause I can heal and bounce outa the way of things, okay? Tell him to take his own safety first, because I can get out of the way and even if j get injured, when I bounce I heal. I’ve healed instantly from a gun shot before, okay? I’m not saying I’m gonna go all nutso and fight dumbly and stuff, cause that’s not how you vigilante. I just… Don’t want anyone to keep me safe without keeping themselves safe first. Plus he’d totally gloat about it. ‘Cause he’s mean.
[mask pm] Okay. I'm doing the exact same thing. It's easier handling things as Black Bat than trying to handle things as my self. So I'm not. I'm saving it all for later so I understand what you mean about trying not to flip the fuck out because I've been trying to avoid doing just that. But you still need to let off some steam. Punching things helps me and there's always training. You might even get a shot at punching Hood.
I'm not going to lie...it is. I warned him beforehand that this was a crazy plan and he agreed. I'll be getting him as much gear and weaponry as I can and hopefully the training will help as well. But Hood is used to tackling this sort of thing. He's been doing this longer than most.
He's... grumpy. And keeping you safe is part of his mission just as RA will focus on keeping Kid Flash safe. Our main priority is making sure that those EMPs are set up. That's mean making sure that nothing happens to the speed team. Our goal is to set them off simultaneously, so focus on your end. Hood knows how to manage. And this is not about your abilities, Misfit. I already know about your healing capabilities but I cannot risk having you try to be two places at once. Bounce or no bounce. So trust Hood to know what he's doing.
thedefinitionofdriven replied to your post:[mask pm] I've heard good things about you during this last week. What have you got for me?
[mask pm] All the discovered genetic material matches BC. Who are the new contacts? I know. If we destroy the helis, we can get armed support in.
[mask pm] Have the Arrows been made aware of that?
Is there a plan in motion for that? So far we've avoided direct confrontation like that to avoid more lives being lost.
Kid Flash and Sarah Essen (temporarily while she's not trying to arrest me).
[mask pm] I've heard good things about you during this last week. What have you got for me?
[mask pm] It's good to hear from you again, O. The Clock tower up and running?
I have a list. It's been a long week.
City Hall was attacked and all the records destroyed.
Red Arrow was caught and forced to witness the destruction.
Green Arrow managed to take down one of Bane's tanks
The docks are down. Bane's men decided to firebomb them using helicopters.
One ferry was directly hit at Gotham Docks. I have the casualty list.
Starling was injured and is currently unavailable for missions.
Bane has begun his public executions
I attempted communication with Bane. Nothing came of it.
The precincts managed to make their escape but I don't have a full casualty list of them
Sgt. Sarah Essen is currently an ally. Sharing information with her is proving useful.
Blackgate was attacked. We couldn't put a stop to the inmates as they escaped.
RR and BG managed to place trackers on Bane's men
Bane's hit list has been updated.
Several districts are running low on supplies.
Several of the city gang's have joined Bane's ranks. Including the Russians. I've contacted them.
I have new additions for your contact list. I can vouch for them.
Sorry if some of this is redundant. I'm not sure how much of this information you've already received. I tried keeping a steady line of contact with all the vigilantes and it's had varied results.
Besides those current events, I also have some worries about the state of some of the heroes. I feel like we have been overworking our supply runners and the effect has already become visible. We might need to change tactics in that regard.
Have you had any updates in regards to the BC situation? I've been in communication with the Arrows and I heard about the delivered hair and scalpel as well as the severed finger that I'm assuming relates to that case as well.
[pm] The cops are fine now, so what's next on the agenda?
[mask pm] They decided to battle it out using firepower. It was best that we just stepped back from that before we got caught in the crossfire.
Right now there are a lot of pieces moving.
We had trackers on some of Bane's men that led to one of his bases
Bane's Venom plant was recently taken out by Blue Beetle and Katana
I'm currently working with an ally to dig up more information Bane's men and his hierarchy
I have a plan in the works to take down his communications. I'm still working out the details about the plan that follows after.
I'm trying to consolidate information before I push forward with my plan so if you hear of anything, could you let me know? Any patterns you notice or places that Bane's men frequent would be useful.
How are things are your end? How are you doing on supplies?
