[SWS] Family is more than DNA
[Written with nokidflash; takes place after Bart and Cassie's meeting with the Justice League--look, they can have serious conversations!]
Bart was in a pretty decent mood when he showed up at Cissie's after the meeting. It had gone fine, really. Cass had let him say his piece about Young Justice working autonomously, and the rest had just been Cassie running a good meeting. He could tell Diana was proud of her. And Superman seemed... amused, but happy. The only one that had been hard to read was Ollie. Bart liked Ollie just fine, they'd done some stuff together when he'd been the Flash, but at the meeting he'd been pretty subdued. Either way, Bart was happy. It was over, things were good, and now they could talk ROAD TRIP. He wandered into Cissie's place, holding a small bouquet of violets, picked fresh from Amsterdam. "Heeeeey, is my beautiful girlfriend here? I've come to do some doting."
Cissie jumped up from her desk where she had been doing some paperwork and ran into the other room, jumping at Bart. She knew he had been in a weird mood that morning, and it had been kind of a long day. She'd spent most of the afternoon preoccupied with thinking about the meeting, and now she was just happy to see him. "Hi!"
"Hi." Bart grinned. He felt immediately better in Cissie's presence, and caught her in his arms, hugging her tightly. "I brought you some flowers."
She squeezed her arms around him, humming happily. "You didn't have to do that!"
"I know, but I love you and guys who love their girlfriends bring them flowers." He kissed her nose. "They're fresh, I ran over to Amsterdam to get them for you."
Cissie sometimes felt like she couldn't stop grinning when Bart was around, and this was definitely one of those times. She kissed him and rubbed her nose against his. "I love you too. I am definitely the luckiest girlfriend in the world. Nobody else's boyfriend brings them flowers from Amsterdam!"
"Plenty of Dutch boyfriends do, I bet." He shimmied them over towards the kitchen, still holding Cissie in his arms. "I love you as much as a Dutch boyfriend, I guess."
Cissie shook her head. "You love me more. Dutch boyfriends don't have to cross an ocean to bring their girlfriends flowers!"
"Good point." Bart tossed the flowers onto the counter so he could hug her properly. "Did you miss me today? I missed you. You shoulda come to the meeting. It was boring, I'd rather have made your pants vibrate."
Cissie laughed, grinning at him fondly. "I did miss you. I always miss you! But if you had made my pants vibrate in front of the Justice League, I would be Very Unhappy. And it would not have been very professional of you."
"Pfft. Being professional is for Superman. Or his... hologram." Bart leaned back against the counter. "Only three of them were there. Which was fine, if Bruce and shown up Cassie or I would've punched him."
"Which would have been bad. Superman was there by hologram? That's kind of cool--I mean, he's got to be pretty busy up there. Who else was there? And--don't you want to put me down? And my flowers! They need water!"
"No, I don't want to put you down. Ever." Bart kissed her and let her go. "Yeah, he was all reddish and glowy. Kon said hi. Diana was there and Oliver. Green Arrow."
Cissie smiled, kissing him back. He said things like that, and maybe they should sound corny, but she believed him when he said them. She went to find a vase for her flowers while he spoke, and stilled, pausing briefly when he mentioned Green Arrow. "Oh yeah?" she asked, pulling the vase out of the cabinet. "So how'd it go?"
Bart shrugged. "Fine. Cass did most of the talking. Diana nodded a lot, and Oliver... GA... whatever, just sort of stared at us. I remember him being more talkative, but that was a while ago, I guess." He'd noticed that Cissie paused, of course, because Bart was hyper attuned to Cissie in general. "Your mom used to work with him, right?"
Cissie filled the vase with water, nodding. "Yeah, a long time ago." She reached for the flowers, and looked at them before putting them in the vase--they were beautiful, and Bart loved her, and that was what mattered. "Ollie," she said quietly, putting the violets in the vase. "She calls him Ollie when she talks about him."
"Yeah, I know. Not just her, I heard Hal do it, too. I just don't... know the guy. When I was Flash we did a few things together, but I mostly worked with Roy." Bart stepped up behind Cissie and put his arms around her. He could tell something was off. "What's wrong?"
She leaned back into his arms, covering them with her hands and tucking her head under his chin. Sighing a little, Cissie shrugged. "Nothing, really. It's stupid."
"Cissie." Bart sighed. "It's not stupid, because it's from you. Nothing from you is stupid."
She smiled a little. "Some things are." She squeezed his wrists and gave a small sigh. It never got easier to say it, and it sounded so ridiculously melodramatic when she did. "He's my father. Green Arrow. Ollie, whatever."
"Oh." Well, that was. Bart thought about it. Not that surprising, really. "Wow, our kids are going to be awesome at archery and running."
Cissie couldn't help it--she laughed. Still giggling, she relaxed against him. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Bart kissed the top of her head. "So you want to talk about it at all?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. There's not really that much to talk about. I didn't even know until about a year ago, and I don't think he even knows--Mom said she never told him, but you know. I don't always know if she's telling me the whole truth. Considering she lied to me for twenty years about who my dad is."
"Don't get mad, but... if she's lied to you about stuff, how do you know she's telling the truth about GA?" Bart was so not looking forward to sitting down with Cissie's mom. It'd be really really hard to keep his mouth shut.
Cissie stiffened a little and shrugged again. "I don't."
"I guess that whole 'don't get mad' thing didn't really work, huh?" Bart sighed. "I'm sorry. If you say he's your dad, that's good enough for me. Do you... want to tell him ever? Do you want me to stop talking about it and kiss you until you don't remember anything else?"
Cissie turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I'm not mad. Not at you. It's--not something I haven't wondered before. I just don't know. There's no real reason for her to lie about it, you know? I mean--we fought a lot when she told me. It definitely didn't do either of us any good." She shrugged, sighing. "And I don't know. What would I say--'hi, I'm the daughter you maybe don't
know exists, but my mother's a chronological liar so maybe I'm not'?"
"No. You'd get your superfast boyfriend that would do anything for you to snag some of his beard hair, and then we'd get a test and you could find out for sure." Bart squeezed her close to him, rubbing small circles on her lower back. "And then when you find out for sure, you'd say... whatever you want. I don't know, Cissie. Or you don't find out at all. My dad is Max, you know? And we're not related. And my dad dad... you know as well as I do that blood doesn't always mean something. But you tell me what you want to do, and we'll do it. Together."
Cissie held on to him tightly, pressing close. "I love you so much, Bart," she murmured. She was quiet for a moment, thinking before she spoke. "Maybe--finding out would be good. I just want to stop wondering if Mom's lying, so. Yeah. And I know. I mean--no matter what happens, my dad is still my dad. And he died, and I miss him and--see, that's where I feel like, I don't know. If I do want to maybe talk to Ollie, is that--I don't know, betraying him or something?" She made a face. "Gah. I feel stupid."
"I love you too, Cissie." Bart just held onto her for a few minutes, letting her talk. "I will so steal his hair for you, baby. Talking to him isn't betraying anybody. You still love your dad no matter what."
She sighed against him. "I know. Like I said--being stupid. I don't know if I even want him to know, or--if he'll even care. Or what I'll do if he does, or if he doesn't." She blew out a frustrated breath, shaking her head. "Okay, kiss me now?"
"It's not stupid, Cissie. It's how you feel. No matter what happens, I'm here with you. Always." Bart pulled away a little so he could lean in. His lips were practically brushing up against hers. "Okay, I'll kiss you now. If you insist."
Cissie leaned in, closing the tiny space between them to kiss him. "I insist," she murmured. She leaned her head against his. "What did I do without you?"
"Dunno." Bart kissed her again, drawing it out a little, letting his hands wander over her back. He was trying to keep it light, but a little touching couldn't be that bad, right? "Before I had you I was waiting for you. I just didn't know it."
A little touching was definitely not bad. She curled her fingers into a fist around his shirt, hanging on. "I think I was, too."
"I love you." He slipped his hands under her shirt, but kept them on her lower back. "I owe you some doting, beautiful, so tell me what you want. Anything at all."
Cissie smiled, kissing him again. "I love you too. I want some cuddling and Bart-time, please."
"You've got it." Bart shifted, kneeling down to lift Cissie up in his arms. "Couch or bed?"
Cissie gave him a slight smirk, moving her arms from his waist to his shoulders. "Mmm. Bed."
Bart grinned. He certainly wasn't going to push for bed, but he was definitely not disappointed with her choice. He carried her into her bedroom, kissing her as they walked, and set her down gently before sliding in next to her. "'Kay, cuddling and Bart-time can commence."
Cissie smiled at him and waiting for him to climb into bed before rolling over and curling up against his chest. "Good. Bart-time is my favorite time."
"Mine too," Bart tangled his legs up with Cissie's and wrapped his arms around her. "I mean Cissie time, not Bart time."
She giggled, kissing his nose. "Well, good, because I was going to offer to leave you alone so as not to interrupt your Bart time."
Bart laughed. "No way. I hate when you leave me. I get Bart time all the time. Cissie time is way better. I wish I could have Cissie time all the time, too."
Cissie smiled at him, feeling warm and happy. "I wish I could have Bart time all the time. But since we can't, it makes it more special when we can?"
"Oh, sure, be logical." Bart kissed her. "Can I ask you something sorta serious?"
"Of course," she told him, frowning slightly. "You can ask me anything."
"Will you be part of Young Justice?" Bart pulled back and looked at her. "Not as a member, I understand why you can't do that anymore. But... I don't know. Our cheerleader, or cook, or official book reader. I dunno, Cissie, I just want you there with me."
Cissie moved to lie her head on the pillow next to him, touching her forehead to his. She took a few seconds to find her voice. The truth was, that was what she wanted too, but she hadn't known how--and being asked felt really good. She took a deep breath. "I want that," she said finally. "I want to--be part of it, and be with you. I don't know how yet, but... yeah. I do." She bit her lip. "I--missed it. You."
Bart smiled. "We'll figure it out. I promise." He put his palm on her cheek, cupping it gently. "It's not Young Justice without you. So... thank you."
She leaned into his touch and turned her head to kiss his palm. "Thank you. For asking. And--not asking me to come back as Arrowette."
"Don't be silly. I can't do it without you." Okay, maybe he could. Be he didn't want to. "I won't ever ask you to put on a mask again. I know why you took it off, and... if you put one on, it's going to be because you're ready, not because your super hot boyfriend seduced you into it."
Cissie reached up, covering his hand with hers and lacing their fingers together, squeezing. "I love you. Thank you. It--I want to help. I just don't know how yet."
"Okay. No rush." Bart pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckled. "I mean. I can be patient about some things. Probably." He wrinkled his nose. "Maybe."
She laughed lightly and kissed his knuckles in return. "I think you've been very patient in some things."
"Like what? I mean. You let me vibrate your pants. And we sleep together naked and stuff. Annnnnd you told me you love me, like, right away." He grinned. "Besides, everything with you or about you is so worth waiting for."
Cissie smiled and squeezed his hand. "Have I mentioned in the last five seconds how much I love you? Because it is a lot."
"No," Bart said very solemnly. "It's been at least ten seconds. So I think you're gonna have to make that up to me..."
"How will I ever manage that?"
Bart looked very very thoughtful. "I think maybe kisses. It's been known to work in the past."
She hummed thoughtfully and leaned in, brushing her lips against his. "Kisses can probably be arranged."
"Only if you want to." Bart's eyes flickered down to Cissie's lips. "I mean. I don't want you to do anything you're not into."
She smiled, reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair. "I always want to kiss you," she whispered, and leaned in to show him.
Bart was in a pretty decent mood when he showed up at Cissie's after the meeting. It had gone fine, really. Cass had let him say his piece about Young Justice working autonomously, and the rest had just been Cassie running a good meeting. He could tell Diana was proud of her. And Superman seemed... amused, but happy. The only one that had been hard to read was Ollie. Bart liked Ollie just fine, they'd done some stuff together when he'd been the Flash, but at the meeting he'd been pretty subdued. Either way, Bart was happy. It was over, things were good, and now they could talk ROAD TRIP. He wandered into Cissie's place, holding a small bouquet of violets, picked fresh from Amsterdam. "Heeeeey, is my beautiful girlfriend here? I've come to do some doting."
Cissie jumped up from her desk where she had been doing some paperwork and ran into the other room, jumping at Bart. She knew he had been in a weird mood that morning, and it had been kind of a long day. She'd spent most of the afternoon preoccupied with thinking about the meeting, and now she was just happy to see him. "Hi!"
"Hi." Bart grinned. He felt immediately better in Cissie's presence, and caught her in his arms, hugging her tightly. "I brought you some flowers."
She squeezed her arms around him, humming happily. "You didn't have to do that!"
"I know, but I love you and guys who love their girlfriends bring them flowers." He kissed her nose. "They're fresh, I ran over to Amsterdam to get them for you."
Cissie sometimes felt like she couldn't stop grinning when Bart was around, and this was definitely one of those times. She kissed him and rubbed her nose against his. "I love you too. I am definitely the luckiest girlfriend in the world. Nobody else's boyfriend brings them flowers from Amsterdam!"
"Plenty of Dutch boyfriends do, I bet." He shimmied them over towards the kitchen, still holding Cissie in his arms. "I love you as much as a Dutch boyfriend, I guess."
Cissie shook her head. "You love me more. Dutch boyfriends don't have to cross an ocean to bring their girlfriends flowers!"
"Good point." Bart tossed the flowers onto the counter so he could hug her properly. "Did you miss me today? I missed you. You shoulda come to the meeting. It was boring, I'd rather have made your pants vibrate."
Cissie laughed, grinning at him fondly. "I did miss you. I always miss you! But if you had made my pants vibrate in front of the Justice League, I would be Very Unhappy. And it would not have been very professional of you."
"Pfft. Being professional is for Superman. Or his... hologram." Bart leaned back against the counter. "Only three of them were there. Which was fine, if Bruce and shown up Cassie or I would've punched him."
"Which would have been bad. Superman was there by hologram? That's kind of cool--I mean, he's got to be pretty busy up there. Who else was there? And--don't you want to put me down? And my flowers! They need water!"
"No, I don't want to put you down. Ever." Bart kissed her and let her go. "Yeah, he was all reddish and glowy. Kon said hi. Diana was there and Oliver. Green Arrow."
Cissie smiled, kissing him back. He said things like that, and maybe they should sound corny, but she believed him when he said them. She went to find a vase for her flowers while he spoke, and stilled, pausing briefly when he mentioned Green Arrow. "Oh yeah?" she asked, pulling the vase out of the cabinet. "So how'd it go?"
Bart shrugged. "Fine. Cass did most of the talking. Diana nodded a lot, and Oliver... GA... whatever, just sort of stared at us. I remember him being more talkative, but that was a while ago, I guess." He'd noticed that Cissie paused, of course, because Bart was hyper attuned to Cissie in general. "Your mom used to work with him, right?"
Cissie filled the vase with water, nodding. "Yeah, a long time ago." She reached for the flowers, and looked at them before putting them in the vase--they were beautiful, and Bart loved her, and that was what mattered. "Ollie," she said quietly, putting the violets in the vase. "She calls him Ollie when she talks about him."
"Yeah, I know. Not just her, I heard Hal do it, too. I just don't... know the guy. When I was Flash we did a few things together, but I mostly worked with Roy." Bart stepped up behind Cissie and put his arms around her. He could tell something was off. "What's wrong?"
She leaned back into his arms, covering them with her hands and tucking her head under his chin. Sighing a little, Cissie shrugged. "Nothing, really. It's stupid."
"Cissie." Bart sighed. "It's not stupid, because it's from you. Nothing from you is stupid."
She smiled a little. "Some things are." She squeezed his wrists and gave a small sigh. It never got easier to say it, and it sounded so ridiculously melodramatic when she did. "He's my father. Green Arrow. Ollie, whatever."
"Oh." Well, that was. Bart thought about it. Not that surprising, really. "Wow, our kids are going to be awesome at archery and running."
Cissie couldn't help it--she laughed. Still giggling, she relaxed against him. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Bart kissed the top of her head. "So you want to talk about it at all?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. There's not really that much to talk about. I didn't even know until about a year ago, and I don't think he even knows--Mom said she never told him, but you know. I don't always know if she's telling me the whole truth. Considering she lied to me for twenty years about who my dad is."
"Don't get mad, but... if she's lied to you about stuff, how do you know she's telling the truth about GA?" Bart was so not looking forward to sitting down with Cissie's mom. It'd be really really hard to keep his mouth shut.
Cissie stiffened a little and shrugged again. "I don't."
"I guess that whole 'don't get mad' thing didn't really work, huh?" Bart sighed. "I'm sorry. If you say he's your dad, that's good enough for me. Do you... want to tell him ever? Do you want me to stop talking about it and kiss you until you don't remember anything else?"
Cissie turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I'm not mad. Not at you. It's--not something I haven't wondered before. I just don't know. There's no real reason for her to lie about it, you know? I mean--we fought a lot when she told me. It definitely didn't do either of us any good." She shrugged, sighing. "And I don't know. What would I say--'hi, I'm the daughter you maybe don't
know exists, but my mother's a chronological liar so maybe I'm not'?"
"No. You'd get your superfast boyfriend that would do anything for you to snag some of his beard hair, and then we'd get a test and you could find out for sure." Bart squeezed her close to him, rubbing small circles on her lower back. "And then when you find out for sure, you'd say... whatever you want. I don't know, Cissie. Or you don't find out at all. My dad is Max, you know? And we're not related. And my dad dad... you know as well as I do that blood doesn't always mean something. But you tell me what you want to do, and we'll do it. Together."
Cissie held on to him tightly, pressing close. "I love you so much, Bart," she murmured. She was quiet for a moment, thinking before she spoke. "Maybe--finding out would be good. I just want to stop wondering if Mom's lying, so. Yeah. And I know. I mean--no matter what happens, my dad is still my dad. And he died, and I miss him and--see, that's where I feel like, I don't know. If I do want to maybe talk to Ollie, is that--I don't know, betraying him or something?" She made a face. "Gah. I feel stupid."
"I love you too, Cissie." Bart just held onto her for a few minutes, letting her talk. "I will so steal his hair for you, baby. Talking to him isn't betraying anybody. You still love your dad no matter what."
She sighed against him. "I know. Like I said--being stupid. I don't know if I even want him to know, or--if he'll even care. Or what I'll do if he does, or if he doesn't." She blew out a frustrated breath, shaking her head. "Okay, kiss me now?"
"It's not stupid, Cissie. It's how you feel. No matter what happens, I'm here with you. Always." Bart pulled away a little so he could lean in. His lips were practically brushing up against hers. "Okay, I'll kiss you now. If you insist."
Cissie leaned in, closing the tiny space between them to kiss him. "I insist," she murmured. She leaned her head against his. "What did I do without you?"
"Dunno." Bart kissed her again, drawing it out a little, letting his hands wander over her back. He was trying to keep it light, but a little touching couldn't be that bad, right? "Before I had you I was waiting for you. I just didn't know it."
A little touching was definitely not bad. She curled her fingers into a fist around his shirt, hanging on. "I think I was, too."
"I love you." He slipped his hands under her shirt, but kept them on her lower back. "I owe you some doting, beautiful, so tell me what you want. Anything at all."
Cissie smiled, kissing him again. "I love you too. I want some cuddling and Bart-time, please."
"You've got it." Bart shifted, kneeling down to lift Cissie up in his arms. "Couch or bed?"
Cissie gave him a slight smirk, moving her arms from his waist to his shoulders. "Mmm. Bed."
Bart grinned. He certainly wasn't going to push for bed, but he was definitely not disappointed with her choice. He carried her into her bedroom, kissing her as they walked, and set her down gently before sliding in next to her. "'Kay, cuddling and Bart-time can commence."
Cissie smiled at him and waiting for him to climb into bed before rolling over and curling up against his chest. "Good. Bart-time is my favorite time."
"Mine too," Bart tangled his legs up with Cissie's and wrapped his arms around her. "I mean Cissie time, not Bart time."
She giggled, kissing his nose. "Well, good, because I was going to offer to leave you alone so as not to interrupt your Bart time."
Bart laughed. "No way. I hate when you leave me. I get Bart time all the time. Cissie time is way better. I wish I could have Cissie time all the time, too."
Cissie smiled at him, feeling warm and happy. "I wish I could have Bart time all the time. But since we can't, it makes it more special when we can?"
"Oh, sure, be logical." Bart kissed her. "Can I ask you something sorta serious?"
"Of course," she told him, frowning slightly. "You can ask me anything."
"Will you be part of Young Justice?" Bart pulled back and looked at her. "Not as a member, I understand why you can't do that anymore. But... I don't know. Our cheerleader, or cook, or official book reader. I dunno, Cissie, I just want you there with me."
Cissie moved to lie her head on the pillow next to him, touching her forehead to his. She took a few seconds to find her voice. The truth was, that was what she wanted too, but she hadn't known how--and being asked felt really good. She took a deep breath. "I want that," she said finally. "I want to--be part of it, and be with you. I don't know how yet, but... yeah. I do." She bit her lip. "I--missed it. You."
Bart smiled. "We'll figure it out. I promise." He put his palm on her cheek, cupping it gently. "It's not Young Justice without you. So... thank you."
She leaned into his touch and turned her head to kiss his palm. "Thank you. For asking. And--not asking me to come back as Arrowette."
"Don't be silly. I can't do it without you." Okay, maybe he could. Be he didn't want to. "I won't ever ask you to put on a mask again. I know why you took it off, and... if you put one on, it's going to be because you're ready, not because your super hot boyfriend seduced you into it."
Cissie reached up, covering his hand with hers and lacing their fingers together, squeezing. "I love you. Thank you. It--I want to help. I just don't know how yet."
"Okay. No rush." Bart pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckled. "I mean. I can be patient about some things. Probably." He wrinkled his nose. "Maybe."
She laughed lightly and kissed his knuckles in return. "I think you've been very patient in some things."
"Like what? I mean. You let me vibrate your pants. And we sleep together naked and stuff. Annnnnd you told me you love me, like, right away." He grinned. "Besides, everything with you or about you is so worth waiting for."
Cissie smiled and squeezed his hand. "Have I mentioned in the last five seconds how much I love you? Because it is a lot."
"No," Bart said very solemnly. "It's been at least ten seconds. So I think you're gonna have to make that up to me..."
"How will I ever manage that?"
Bart looked very very thoughtful. "I think maybe kisses. It's been known to work in the past."
She hummed thoughtfully and leaned in, brushing her lips against his. "Kisses can probably be arranged."
"Only if you want to." Bart's eyes flickered down to Cissie's lips. "I mean. I don't want you to do anything you're not into."
She smiled, reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair. "I always want to kiss you," she whispered, and leaned in to show him.