Quality Time - Chapter 04 (Part 02)
Part Two of the "Shots of DC" series.
Companion to "Stolen Time"
Pairings: Bart / Cassie (Kid Flash ii / Wonder Girl ii) (primary), Kon / Tim (Superboy / Robin iii)
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Why is it so easy to abuse Bart? And why is it so easy to make him forget that abuse with kisses and sugar?
Summary: Cassie's moved out to her own apartment, which calls for a house-warming party that doubles as a Young Justice Reunion.
Quality Time
Companion to " Stolen Time"
By Nightmare and Winged Dreamer
(On with the story... because size restrictions suck)
Bart razzed Conner on his way to the pantry, on a mission to find the pancake ingredients. "You want pancakes, make them yourself. Hey, Tim. How are you feeling?"
"Alive. Functional. The next person who tries to get me drunk by spiking the juice is getting used as batarang target practice." The massive headache he had woken up with fading at last, Tim slowly picked at his bagel, eating it in small bites to keep his stomach happy and settled.
"Maybe next time you won't be so stubborn about a serious buzz," Conner told his boyfriend, caressing the back of Tim's neck on his way out of the kitchen. Now that Bart and Cassie were out of the bedroom and he wouldn't be interrupting anything he had to pee. In retrospect he probably should have told Greta to leave the bedroom alone, but he hadn't thought about it at the time.
"So everybody had fun last night?" Cassie asked as she turned her eyes back to the group from where they had followed Conner out of the small kitchen.
Cissie nodded, looking more alive. "Definitely."
"Yeah, for what I can remember of it," grumbled Tim, annoyed that he couldn't recall a thing that happened after Conner got him with the shot of the Fun Stuff.
Greta smiled and nodded in complete agreement. "Oh yes. We need to do that again, maybe at our apartment next time. What do you say, Cissie?" she asked her roommate.
Successfully finding the pancake mix, Bart zipped around the small kitchen, filling the counter with things he would need. "You guys share an apartment?"
"It's cheaper than living in the dorms at school. We actually have a third roommate too, but she's always over at her boyfriend's."
"Yeah, Clarissa's a little loose and a little flakey, but she pays the rent on time and we can't complain much about her since she's almost never around like Greta said. I think having the next party at our place is a great idea! We can make this a regular thing, maybe annual or something." The idea was appealing, but it would be difficult. Better than half of those present last night had been superheroes and superheroes had weird schedules.
"I would like to announce that of the three of you, Cassie has the biggest breasts, measuring a whopping thirty-four C. Greta, I'm sorry, but you come in third with a thirty-two B. Cissie, yours should be the same as Cassie's but the cups are just a little different." Settling in his seat at the table, Conner leaned back in his chair and had the audacity to look incredibly self-satisfied.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Cassie murmured and shook her head. What was it with men and physical attribute disputes?
Sighing, Greta shook her head and headed for the pantry to find some cereal. "I don't know whether to be glad or depressed that he hasn't changed since we were kids."
Bart leaned back against the counter with a bowl in his arm to watch his friends, his other arm almost a blur as he stirred, and smirked at the cool glare Tim was giving his boyfriend. "Either way, he's in trouble."
"He's already not getting any for a week," commented the Teen Wonder, looking back down at his bagel.
"It was only out of curiosity. Geez, Tim. Cranky much?" Conner inquired with a grin. He was having a blast spending time with all of his old friends again.
"Unlike you boys, we girls don't get into 'mine's bigger than yours' contests. Facts are facts and no amount of exaggeration will change that." Watching Bart's arm blur as he stirred, Cassie glanced up into Bart's face and gave him a small smile before looking back to the others. "We should have an after party so that we can sit down together and watch all of the photos from last night on the TV in a slide show and see the videos Dick took. What do you guys say?"
Cissie perked up with a delighted smile. "That's a great idea!"
"I'm game! Oops." Bart looked down at the mess of pancake batter now on his shirt. The spoon hadn't stopped stirring when he had stuck his arm in the air and, with all the momentum he had put into it, the spoon had flown out and splattered him in the process before landing with a clatter on the table.
As one every person seated at the table turned to glare at him, admonishing with a unified, "BAAART!" The response was so simultaneous that they all looked at each other in surprise before dissolving into giggles. Barely able to speak around the tears in her eyes and the lingering laughter in her throat, Cissie wiped at a tear and offered, "Heh, why don't you, uhm, hehehe take that off and wash it in the sink?"
Bart didn't need to hear Cissie's suggestion twice. He liked his Zelda tank and there was no way he was going to let pancake batter ruin it. Setting the bowl on the table and putting the spoon back in it, he pushed it towards Cassie. "Here." Then he turned around and pulled his tank off to run the stain under warm water, not even thinking about the fact that he was now wearing nothing but his boxers.
"Cissie, you're horrible," muttered Greta around a small giggle, trying and failing to not watch the muscles in Bart's back move.
"And just for that…" Cassie pushed the batter toward Cissie and got up, moving over to stand at Bart's shoulder, effectively blocking the young Speedster from view. Well, mostly at any rate. "Cold water," Cassie murmured near his ear as she placed a hand on his shoulder and reached past him to turn off the hot and turn on the cold.
"Oh. Thanks."
"Don't do laundry often, do you, Bart?" asked Tim, amused by Cissie's blank stare at the bowl in front of her.
"Joan and Linda refuse to let me anywhere near their laundry rooms after the one time I put way too much soap in a washer and flooded the room with bubbles." The young Speedster sheepishly grinned over his shoulder.
Greta groaned. "Why am I not surprised. When did you do that?"
"A couple months after I started living with Max. He was trying to teach me how to do chores."
A small sigh ghosted over his bare shoulder. "I'll teach you some time. Everyone should know how to do their own laundry." Cassie wasn't about to let Bart remain sheltered. It seemed that it had become second nature to the majority of the Flash family to assume that Bart was entirely incapable of caring for himself most of the time. They meant well, but Bart was well out of his stage of VR-induced-stupidity.
Beginning to stir the bowl, Cissie added, "I've been doing my own laundry most of my life. It's easy once you know the basics."
"Aunt Martha tells me she'll skin me if I go near the laundry room back at the farm. Don't know why though," Conner put in and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug.
"Because knowing you, you'd break the washer," chorused Tim and Bart in perfect unison, sharing a smirk afterwards.
Conner opened his mouth to protest, shut it again after only a second and then shrugged. "Yeah. Probably."
Cassie laughed and shook her head as she resumed her seat and took the bowl and spoon from Cissie. "Are you going to make these things or not, Bart?"
"Yeah, just a second." Satisfied that all the batter was out of his shirt, Bart wrung most of the water out of it and pulled it over his head. The wet fabric clung to his stomach in the moment before he leaned over the table to grab the bowl from Cassie. "Here, give me."
Three pairs of eyes avidly watched as he leaned away and the fabric swung in close to his body again, clinging to finely toned muscle. Cassie was the first to look away and to the clock. "This is actually going to be brunch," she realized with a small shock and shook her head. Time flew when you were having fun.
"I know. Hate to eat and run, but Greta and I will have to head out fairly soon," Cissie acknowledged, also turning her eyes to the clock on the kitchen wall.
"Yeah. Homework. It sucks." Sighing, Greta shoveled another spoonful of her cereal into her mouth, then stood up to go start collecting her things.
"I wish I could go to school." Five surprised pairs of eyes landed on Bart, all of them disbelieving. "What? I do! Do you have any idea how bored I get when I'm not on Titans business or saving Keystone from something?"
Swallowing his last bit of bagel, Tim leaned back in his chair. "You would have to get a GED first."
"Got it three months ago." This time only four pairs of eyes were disbelieving. Pouting, Bart muttered, "At least Tim believes me," as he turned around and grabbed the blueberries, pouring them into the batter.
"You seriously got a GED? Bart, that's great! That means you can think about college and maybe a good paying job somewhere down the line!" Cassie left it unsaid that he would be the first Flash to actually achieve such stability so normally. It was politely implied.
Cissie shook her head in disbelief. "Wow. I would have never thought you would… I mean, it's just so hard to imagine you taking a test and not giving yourself away."
The Speedster stuck his tongue out at Cissie and turned on one of the front burners on the stove, putting the skillet on top. "Yeah, I can start thinking about school. When I actually get the money and find a place that won't turn me away because of my messed up grade school records." That was the only part Bart hated about his age jump because it had been so hard to smooth out all the drastic changes in his personal records.
"You know, you can get help with making your records look less odd," said Tim in a roundabout offer. It would be child's play for him to whip up credible records and a hired actor to play a representative from Bart's high school if needed.
"After I solve the money problem, I'll think about it." Bart tossed his best friend a smile. "Thanks, though."
"No problem."
"Scholarships are your friend, Bart," Cassie told him and leaned back in her chair, giving Conner the once over. "Tim." When she had his attention, she glanced pointedly at the vacant expression on Superboy's face.
"Excuse me." Rising, Cissie headed into the living room to help Greta and find all of her own things.
Tim picked up the banana peel that had been sitting on the table in front of him and stood, dropping it on Conner's head. "Wake up."
Superboy started as if he'd been fast asleep and turned wide blinking eyes on Tim. "What?"
"We need to pick up our stuff. Come on." Robin strode towards the living room.
"I keep looking at their left hands expecting to find rings," Bart playfully whispered in Cassie's ear when the other boys were gone, setting a plate of blueberry pancakes and a fork in front of her.
"I know. It's cute. I'm happy for them," she agreed. Taking up her fork, Cassie slathered butter and syrup on her pancakes and dug in. Breakfast was polished off quickly and Cassie rose to her feet. The two pairs of her friends looked ready to go by then and Cassie let out a small sigh. "Thanks again for coming you guys."
"Any time, sweetie. You just call us and we're here," Cissie murmured as she gave Cassie a tight hug.
"Exactly," Conner added, stepping forward to hug them both in a tight embrace. Cassie and Cissie giggled and both reached out to pull Greta into the mess. "Group hug!"
"Banzai!"
Greta squealed a laugh as Bart grabbed both her and Tim's waist and threw them at their friends, joining in the messy embrace.
Chuckling, Tim didn't bother to fight it and let himself be hugged. However, when he felt a very familiar large hand grope his ass, he wriggled free. "Alright, it's time for me and Conner to get back to the Tower before he gets any ideas."
"Ideas? I don't know what you're talking about, Tim." Conner's innocent act didn't fool anybody and after a moment of knowing stares he just shrugged and let everyone go. "Thanks for having us, Cassie. It was fun and let us know when the after-party party is, okay?"
"Of course," Wonder Girl promised and hugged both of the boys before they left. Turning to Cissie and Greta, she got a few more hugs and watched them also walk out the door before shutting it and turning to Bart. "At least the place isn't trashed, right?"
"Right." Ten seconds ago Bart hadn't had the basket of leftover blueberries in his hand, or purplish juice smeared on the corners of his lips. "You don't have to work at all today, do you?" he asked, popping another berry into his mouth.
Smiling, loving that these incredible people - that this incredible person - were all a part of her life, Cassie shook her head. "No. I'm free until Monday."
"Cool. How about… we clean up the kitchen and then have a movie marathon? I brought all my movies and we never ended up watching any."
"That… sounds cozy." Flopping on her couch, Cassie drew up her feet and patted the seat beside her. "Pop one in and join me. The kitchen can wait."
"Alright." The basket in his hand disappeared and Bart chose a movie at random, sticking it into the DVD player and pressing play before dropping onto the couch next to Cassie. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close to his side and kissed her temple. "I had a blast, you know."
"Me, too. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." One delicate hand settled over his heart and Cassie laid her golden head against his chest as the previews began.
"Cassie?"
"Hm?"
Bart gazed at the bright crown below his chin and just smiled. He could tell Cassie just how much he honestly cared for her later. Right now, this was perfect. "Never mind," he murmured, nuzzling the top of her head and holding her tighter.
Tomorrow. He would tell her then.
Fin
Companion to "Stolen Time"
Pairings: Bart / Cassie (Kid Flash ii / Wonder Girl ii) (primary), Kon / Tim (Superboy / Robin iii)
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Why is it so easy to abuse Bart? And why is it so easy to make him forget that abuse with kisses and sugar?
Summary: Cassie's moved out to her own apartment, which calls for a house-warming party that doubles as a Young Justice Reunion.
Quality Time
Companion to " Stolen Time"
By Nightmare and Winged Dreamer
(On with the story... because size restrictions suck)
Bart razzed Conner on his way to the pantry, on a mission to find the pancake ingredients. "You want pancakes, make them yourself. Hey, Tim. How are you feeling?"
"Alive. Functional. The next person who tries to get me drunk by spiking the juice is getting used as batarang target practice." The massive headache he had woken up with fading at last, Tim slowly picked at his bagel, eating it in small bites to keep his stomach happy and settled.
"Maybe next time you won't be so stubborn about a serious buzz," Conner told his boyfriend, caressing the back of Tim's neck on his way out of the kitchen. Now that Bart and Cassie were out of the bedroom and he wouldn't be interrupting anything he had to pee. In retrospect he probably should have told Greta to leave the bedroom alone, but he hadn't thought about it at the time.
"So everybody had fun last night?" Cassie asked as she turned her eyes back to the group from where they had followed Conner out of the small kitchen.
Cissie nodded, looking more alive. "Definitely."
"Yeah, for what I can remember of it," grumbled Tim, annoyed that he couldn't recall a thing that happened after Conner got him with the shot of the Fun Stuff.
Greta smiled and nodded in complete agreement. "Oh yes. We need to do that again, maybe at our apartment next time. What do you say, Cissie?" she asked her roommate.
Successfully finding the pancake mix, Bart zipped around the small kitchen, filling the counter with things he would need. "You guys share an apartment?"
"It's cheaper than living in the dorms at school. We actually have a third roommate too, but she's always over at her boyfriend's."
"Yeah, Clarissa's a little loose and a little flakey, but she pays the rent on time and we can't complain much about her since she's almost never around like Greta said. I think having the next party at our place is a great idea! We can make this a regular thing, maybe annual or something." The idea was appealing, but it would be difficult. Better than half of those present last night had been superheroes and superheroes had weird schedules.
"I would like to announce that of the three of you, Cassie has the biggest breasts, measuring a whopping thirty-four C. Greta, I'm sorry, but you come in third with a thirty-two B. Cissie, yours should be the same as Cassie's but the cups are just a little different." Settling in his seat at the table, Conner leaned back in his chair and had the audacity to look incredibly self-satisfied.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Cassie murmured and shook her head. What was it with men and physical attribute disputes?
Sighing, Greta shook her head and headed for the pantry to find some cereal. "I don't know whether to be glad or depressed that he hasn't changed since we were kids."
Bart leaned back against the counter with a bowl in his arm to watch his friends, his other arm almost a blur as he stirred, and smirked at the cool glare Tim was giving his boyfriend. "Either way, he's in trouble."
"He's already not getting any for a week," commented the Teen Wonder, looking back down at his bagel.
"It was only out of curiosity. Geez, Tim. Cranky much?" Conner inquired with a grin. He was having a blast spending time with all of his old friends again.
"Unlike you boys, we girls don't get into 'mine's bigger than yours' contests. Facts are facts and no amount of exaggeration will change that." Watching Bart's arm blur as he stirred, Cassie glanced up into Bart's face and gave him a small smile before looking back to the others. "We should have an after party so that we can sit down together and watch all of the photos from last night on the TV in a slide show and see the videos Dick took. What do you guys say?"
Cissie perked up with a delighted smile. "That's a great idea!"
"I'm game! Oops." Bart looked down at the mess of pancake batter now on his shirt. The spoon hadn't stopped stirring when he had stuck his arm in the air and, with all the momentum he had put into it, the spoon had flown out and splattered him in the process before landing with a clatter on the table.
As one every person seated at the table turned to glare at him, admonishing with a unified, "BAAART!" The response was so simultaneous that they all looked at each other in surprise before dissolving into giggles. Barely able to speak around the tears in her eyes and the lingering laughter in her throat, Cissie wiped at a tear and offered, "Heh, why don't you, uhm, hehehe take that off and wash it in the sink?"
Bart didn't need to hear Cissie's suggestion twice. He liked his Zelda tank and there was no way he was going to let pancake batter ruin it. Setting the bowl on the table and putting the spoon back in it, he pushed it towards Cassie. "Here." Then he turned around and pulled his tank off to run the stain under warm water, not even thinking about the fact that he was now wearing nothing but his boxers.
"Cissie, you're horrible," muttered Greta around a small giggle, trying and failing to not watch the muscles in Bart's back move.
"And just for that…" Cassie pushed the batter toward Cissie and got up, moving over to stand at Bart's shoulder, effectively blocking the young Speedster from view. Well, mostly at any rate. "Cold water," Cassie murmured near his ear as she placed a hand on his shoulder and reached past him to turn off the hot and turn on the cold.
"Oh. Thanks."
"Don't do laundry often, do you, Bart?" asked Tim, amused by Cissie's blank stare at the bowl in front of her.
"Joan and Linda refuse to let me anywhere near their laundry rooms after the one time I put way too much soap in a washer and flooded the room with bubbles." The young Speedster sheepishly grinned over his shoulder.
Greta groaned. "Why am I not surprised. When did you do that?"
"A couple months after I started living with Max. He was trying to teach me how to do chores."
A small sigh ghosted over his bare shoulder. "I'll teach you some time. Everyone should know how to do their own laundry." Cassie wasn't about to let Bart remain sheltered. It seemed that it had become second nature to the majority of the Flash family to assume that Bart was entirely incapable of caring for himself most of the time. They meant well, but Bart was well out of his stage of VR-induced-stupidity.
Beginning to stir the bowl, Cissie added, "I've been doing my own laundry most of my life. It's easy once you know the basics."
"Aunt Martha tells me she'll skin me if I go near the laundry room back at the farm. Don't know why though," Conner put in and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug.
"Because knowing you, you'd break the washer," chorused Tim and Bart in perfect unison, sharing a smirk afterwards.
Conner opened his mouth to protest, shut it again after only a second and then shrugged. "Yeah. Probably."
Cassie laughed and shook her head as she resumed her seat and took the bowl and spoon from Cissie. "Are you going to make these things or not, Bart?"
"Yeah, just a second." Satisfied that all the batter was out of his shirt, Bart wrung most of the water out of it and pulled it over his head. The wet fabric clung to his stomach in the moment before he leaned over the table to grab the bowl from Cassie. "Here, give me."
Three pairs of eyes avidly watched as he leaned away and the fabric swung in close to his body again, clinging to finely toned muscle. Cassie was the first to look away and to the clock. "This is actually going to be brunch," she realized with a small shock and shook her head. Time flew when you were having fun.
"I know. Hate to eat and run, but Greta and I will have to head out fairly soon," Cissie acknowledged, also turning her eyes to the clock on the kitchen wall.
"Yeah. Homework. It sucks." Sighing, Greta shoveled another spoonful of her cereal into her mouth, then stood up to go start collecting her things.
"I wish I could go to school." Five surprised pairs of eyes landed on Bart, all of them disbelieving. "What? I do! Do you have any idea how bored I get when I'm not on Titans business or saving Keystone from something?"
Swallowing his last bit of bagel, Tim leaned back in his chair. "You would have to get a GED first."
"Got it three months ago." This time only four pairs of eyes were disbelieving. Pouting, Bart muttered, "At least Tim believes me," as he turned around and grabbed the blueberries, pouring them into the batter.
"You seriously got a GED? Bart, that's great! That means you can think about college and maybe a good paying job somewhere down the line!" Cassie left it unsaid that he would be the first Flash to actually achieve such stability so normally. It was politely implied.
Cissie shook her head in disbelief. "Wow. I would have never thought you would… I mean, it's just so hard to imagine you taking a test and not giving yourself away."
The Speedster stuck his tongue out at Cissie and turned on one of the front burners on the stove, putting the skillet on top. "Yeah, I can start thinking about school. When I actually get the money and find a place that won't turn me away because of my messed up grade school records." That was the only part Bart hated about his age jump because it had been so hard to smooth out all the drastic changes in his personal records.
"You know, you can get help with making your records look less odd," said Tim in a roundabout offer. It would be child's play for him to whip up credible records and a hired actor to play a representative from Bart's high school if needed.
"After I solve the money problem, I'll think about it." Bart tossed his best friend a smile. "Thanks, though."
"No problem."
"Scholarships are your friend, Bart," Cassie told him and leaned back in her chair, giving Conner the once over. "Tim." When she had his attention, she glanced pointedly at the vacant expression on Superboy's face.
"Excuse me." Rising, Cissie headed into the living room to help Greta and find all of her own things.
Tim picked up the banana peel that had been sitting on the table in front of him and stood, dropping it on Conner's head. "Wake up."
Superboy started as if he'd been fast asleep and turned wide blinking eyes on Tim. "What?"
"We need to pick up our stuff. Come on." Robin strode towards the living room.
"I keep looking at their left hands expecting to find rings," Bart playfully whispered in Cassie's ear when the other boys were gone, setting a plate of blueberry pancakes and a fork in front of her.
"I know. It's cute. I'm happy for them," she agreed. Taking up her fork, Cassie slathered butter and syrup on her pancakes and dug in. Breakfast was polished off quickly and Cassie rose to her feet. The two pairs of her friends looked ready to go by then and Cassie let out a small sigh. "Thanks again for coming you guys."
"Any time, sweetie. You just call us and we're here," Cissie murmured as she gave Cassie a tight hug.
"Exactly," Conner added, stepping forward to hug them both in a tight embrace. Cassie and Cissie giggled and both reached out to pull Greta into the mess. "Group hug!"
"Banzai!"
Greta squealed a laugh as Bart grabbed both her and Tim's waist and threw them at their friends, joining in the messy embrace.
Chuckling, Tim didn't bother to fight it and let himself be hugged. However, when he felt a very familiar large hand grope his ass, he wriggled free. "Alright, it's time for me and Conner to get back to the Tower before he gets any ideas."
"Ideas? I don't know what you're talking about, Tim." Conner's innocent act didn't fool anybody and after a moment of knowing stares he just shrugged and let everyone go. "Thanks for having us, Cassie. It was fun and let us know when the after-party party is, okay?"
"Of course," Wonder Girl promised and hugged both of the boys before they left. Turning to Cissie and Greta, she got a few more hugs and watched them also walk out the door before shutting it and turning to Bart. "At least the place isn't trashed, right?"
"Right." Ten seconds ago Bart hadn't had the basket of leftover blueberries in his hand, or purplish juice smeared on the corners of his lips. "You don't have to work at all today, do you?" he asked, popping another berry into his mouth.
Smiling, loving that these incredible people - that this incredible person - were all a part of her life, Cassie shook her head. "No. I'm free until Monday."
"Cool. How about… we clean up the kitchen and then have a movie marathon? I brought all my movies and we never ended up watching any."
"That… sounds cozy." Flopping on her couch, Cassie drew up her feet and patted the seat beside her. "Pop one in and join me. The kitchen can wait."
"Alright." The basket in his hand disappeared and Bart chose a movie at random, sticking it into the DVD player and pressing play before dropping onto the couch next to Cassie. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close to his side and kissed her temple. "I had a blast, you know."
"Me, too. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." One delicate hand settled over his heart and Cassie laid her golden head against his chest as the previews began.
"Cassie?"
"Hm?"
Bart gazed at the bright crown below his chin and just smiled. He could tell Cassie just how much he honestly cared for her later. Right now, this was perfect. "Never mind," he murmured, nuzzling the top of her head and holding her tighter.
Tomorrow. He would tell her then.
Fin