Fic (DCFFA): Offers of Leverage
Title: Offers of Leverage
Author: angel_gidget
Claim: Tim Drake/Cassie Sandsmark
Characters/Pairing: Tim/Cassie
Rating: PG
Word Count: 505
Prompt: #06. Kryptonite
Summary: After a year of no word, Red Robin sends Wonder Girl an important invitation.
Disclaimer: Me no own.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Done for dcu_freeforall. Table found here.
Cassie is not unaware of what a sacred trust it is that he let her into his Red Robin nest. Out of consideration for that trust, she tries not to glance around too much. Shouldn't be too hard. The place isn't nearly as elaborate as the Batcave. Just chrome, steel, and compartments. At least it's better than the rust and cardboard boxes of Madrid he's told her about.
All the same, she can't help peripheral vision, and when a glance catches a spark of green, she looks a little closer. He heart aches when she realizes it's a kryptonite ring behind the glass.
She turns to Tim then, and watches his shoulders stiffen, as if he expects to be judged for treating trust like it's the precious commodity it is. It's hypocritical, perhaps, how she can judge so many others for so many things, and then feel nothing but sympathy for him. But that's simply the truth of it.
But can she take the trust one step further?
They stand side by side before the ring, saying nothing for the longest minute. Finally she moves to find her jacket laid across one of the few chairs in the sparse space. His face tightens again, as if expecting this to be the final straw that makes her leave.
Instead, she digs through the pockets, pulling out a tiny compact mirror and placing it in his callused palm.
He examines it carefully. The mirror's not her style at all, gilded in gold with intricate designs cradling fancy gems.
"It's from Ares," she confesses. "If it's ever... necessary... this is a hotline to someone who can stop me."
He stares a moment before opening his mouth, almost looking apologetic as if to refuse, saying she can keep it...
"Tim, don't lie to me." She says it gently, almost teasingly.
He nods once, pocketing it in his belt. The moment his hands are free, she takes them in his own. She draws breath, preparing to say something.
Red Robin has been a ghost on everyone's radar for the past year. He's been overworked, kicked out, lied to, and hunted to a devastating degree. And in turn, he's made himself an untraceable mystery. Hidden accounts, liquidated assets, small and mobile work stations, a compact arsenal, kevlar, and a motorcycle.
And now, after a year of no word or rumor, he's let her in. He hasn't even spoken to Nightwing yet, and here she is standing right in front of him... she's floored.
She realizes she can't think of what to say.
He seems to get that.
"As proud as I am of this little store-away for the basics, the thing I'd really like to show you is the Ducati."
She smiles and walks with him to the garage. Half-way there, she starts to feel the excitement, the freedom.
She leans in, pecking him on the cheek.
He looks at her with tentative hope.
She takes his hand and squeezes it to let him know that the trust is not misplaced.
Author: angel_gidget
Claim: Tim Drake/Cassie Sandsmark
Characters/Pairing: Tim/Cassie
Rating: PG
Word Count: 505
Prompt: #06. Kryptonite
Summary: After a year of no word, Red Robin sends Wonder Girl an important invitation.
Disclaimer: Me no own.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Done for dcu_freeforall. Table found here.
Cassie is not unaware of what a sacred trust it is that he let her into his Red Robin nest. Out of consideration for that trust, she tries not to glance around too much. Shouldn't be too hard. The place isn't nearly as elaborate as the Batcave. Just chrome, steel, and compartments. At least it's better than the rust and cardboard boxes of Madrid he's told her about.
All the same, she can't help peripheral vision, and when a glance catches a spark of green, she looks a little closer. He heart aches when she realizes it's a kryptonite ring behind the glass.
She turns to Tim then, and watches his shoulders stiffen, as if he expects to be judged for treating trust like it's the precious commodity it is. It's hypocritical, perhaps, how she can judge so many others for so many things, and then feel nothing but sympathy for him. But that's simply the truth of it.
But can she take the trust one step further?
They stand side by side before the ring, saying nothing for the longest minute. Finally she moves to find her jacket laid across one of the few chairs in the sparse space. His face tightens again, as if expecting this to be the final straw that makes her leave.
Instead, she digs through the pockets, pulling out a tiny compact mirror and placing it in his callused palm.
He examines it carefully. The mirror's not her style at all, gilded in gold with intricate designs cradling fancy gems.
"It's from Ares," she confesses. "If it's ever... necessary... this is a hotline to someone who can stop me."
He stares a moment before opening his mouth, almost looking apologetic as if to refuse, saying she can keep it...
"Tim, don't lie to me." She says it gently, almost teasingly.
He nods once, pocketing it in his belt. The moment his hands are free, she takes them in his own. She draws breath, preparing to say something.
Red Robin has been a ghost on everyone's radar for the past year. He's been overworked, kicked out, lied to, and hunted to a devastating degree. And in turn, he's made himself an untraceable mystery. Hidden accounts, liquidated assets, small and mobile work stations, a compact arsenal, kevlar, and a motorcycle.
And now, after a year of no word or rumor, he's let her in. He hasn't even spoken to Nightwing yet, and here she is standing right in front of him... she's floored.
She realizes she can't think of what to say.
He seems to get that.
"As proud as I am of this little store-away for the basics, the thing I'd really like to show you is the Ducati."
She smiles and walks with him to the garage. Half-way there, she starts to feel the excitement, the freedom.
She leans in, pecking him on the cheek.
He looks at her with tentative hope.
She takes his hand and squeezes it to let him know that the trust is not misplaced.