Title: Searching Part One
Characters: Steph Brown, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Sexings
Word Count: 2, 000
Author's Notes: Band!AU. Set a little while after they leave Gotham. There will be another part, but not for a while, sorry guys :|
Tim woke to the feeling of wrong. It was only the press of Dick's hand against his hip that kept him from panicking and leaping straight out of their bed. Instead he opened his eyes and slowly took in the state of the room, Dick was laying in front of him, and Jason was pressed back to back with Dick, but Steph was nowhere to be found. Tim gently shifted out from under Dick's arm, pausing for a moment as Dick frowned and shifted, but he didn't wake, so Tim snuck out of the bed.
The window of their bedroom was kept constantly open, both as an attempt to air out the room, and as a quick getaway in case anything ever went wrong. When Tim inspected the windowsill he noticed a scuff in the already cracked paint that look fresh. With a sigh he crawled out the window and pulled himself up.
"Steph?" He called out to the figure curled up on the edge of their roof.
She turned and acknowledged him with a nod, but didn't speak. Tim let her have her silence, and simply walked over to join her. As he sat down, she leaned into him, her cheek against his shoulder. Tim smiled down at her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
"Are you okay?" Tim asked quietly.
Steph sighed and pulled away from him, instead resting back on her elbows to look up at the dark sky, "All of this. It's too much Tim. I've seen gang wars and drug raids and serial killers and poverty. Hell, I've been tortured almost to death with a power drill. And all of it, all of that I could deal with. But this, this fear of the unknown, this running from something we don't understand to somewhere we can't see, I can't take it. I just can't."
Tim regarded her carefully, her voice was even but there were tears shining in her eyes, "What are you going to do?"
Steph turned suddenly, she moved to sit cross legged so she could face Tim and she held his hands in her own, "I need to go. Will you let me?"
Tim lifted a hand to Steph's cheek, he cupped her face and brought his lips against hers. He kissed her slowly and gently, soft open mouthed kisses that made him think of Steph before she'd died. Of night patrol's and stolen moments and purple. Tim pulled back and rested his forehead against Steph's.
"You'll have to ask Dick."
~
Steph sighed and scratched at the domino mask stuck to her face. She missed her cowl, but Bruce had made them promise they wouldn't take up their identities until he told them it was safe. She needed to be on the rooftop though, because it was her best chance of seeing someone else who would be on the rooftops.
She wasn't even sure if she was looking in the right place. Tim had been helping her with the detective work, with it not being her strong point, but even Tim was starting to lose the trail, especially after so many months. She was close to giving up. Every communication she had with Tim made it clear just how close Dick was slipping to the edge. But Steph wanted to keep looking, she needed...
Her thoughts trailed off into frustrated curses as she lashed out and kicked at a loose brick.
~
Steph was being followed, she could feel it and she could see a shadow in the corner of her eye. For a brief moment she'd hoped it was Cass, but then she realised that if it was Cass, she would never have noticed she was being followed.
They didn't seem to mean her any harm though, otherwise they would have confronted her by now. But none the less, Steph didn't want them following her back to the cheap motel she was staying at.
So she stopped. Perched on the top of a gargoyle while she waited for the follower to catch up.
"What's a little birdy like you doing in a place like this?" Catwoman purred as she slunk out of the darkness.
"None of your business Selina," Steph replied lightly, relieved to find it was someone familiar.
"Everything's my business when I want it to be birdy," Selina teased, but her tone turned serious, "Where's your boyfriend?"
Steph frowned, "He's not my- he's not here, why?"
Selina had been poised on all fours, ready to strike, but as Steph hopped down from the gargoyle she relaxed and stood up.
"I want to know where Bruce is," Selina stated calmly but Steph could almost hear the tension in her voice.
"Oh," Steph sighed, "We don't.. we don't Selina, I'm sorry."
Selina stalked forward and grabbed Steph by the arms, the claws in her gloves dug into Steph's skin and Steph tried to twist out of the grip but Selina held on tight.
"Where is he? How can you not know?" Selina growled, her mouth dangerously close to Steph's throat.
"We just don't! We were sent out of Gotham and he hasn't contacted us since," Steph shouted back, "Why don't you know?"
Selina released her and stepped back. Steph moved forward to try to calm her, but as soon as she reached out Selina hissed at her and fled from the rooftop.
Steph groaned and sunk to the ground. When she did, she noticed that a card and fluttered to the ground, it had a stylised image of a cat on the front, and a cell phone number on the back. Steph slipped it into her pocket and glared at the night sky.
~
She'd started wearing her Batgirl uniform again, hoping it would have some sort of affect, that it might help. She made sure to keep in the shadows, to keep away from the public and the cameras. Everyone was searching for Gotham's protectors, the media especially, sightings of the Bat emblem would get Steph into more trouble than she was worth. But she kept wearing her costume, hoping, needing. Because she didn't have long left. Her brothers needed her back.
~
Steph woke with a start and seeing a figure perched on her windowsill scrambled out of bed. Grateful that she'd fallen asleep in her uniform, she reached into one of the belt compartments and pulled out a batarang. She was about to throw it when the figure moved, almost lightning fast, and then there was a firm grip around her wrist.
Steph panicked, flailing out with her other arm and trying to pull away from the grip. She struggled uselessly as another hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her back against the wall, pinning her with a hard, lean body. She let out a sharp gasp as the air was knocked out of her and she felt herself start to shake as adrenalin flooded her system.
A siren blared outside the window as a police car screamed past, in the red and blue light of the siren, Steph could finally see her attacker.
She slumped in relief.
Cass was staring at her with wide brown eyes, her mouth set in a tight line and her body tense and poised, almost if she was ready for a fight. Steph frowned in confusion, unsure why Cass would attack her like that, and why she was still holding her now.
And then a hard mouth crashed against hers and Steph didn't need to wonder any more. Cass was just as scared as the rest of them were. And as a tongue licked into Steph's mouth and Cass's body shoved up against her even more, Steph realised that this was the fight Cass had been expecting. But Steph didn't want to fight.
Steph was practically powerless under Cass's hands and mouth. She kissed back when Cass let her, but couldn't even register what was happened before Cass had them spun around and Steph was on the bed with Cass straddling her thighs. She leaned up to continue kissing, but Cass was gripping her wrists, holding them tight and holding Steph down. She pulled Steph's arms together so that she could keep the hold with one hand and Steph watched with a mix of fascination and fear as Cass pressed her newly free hand against Steph's chest.
Her eyes were locked on the bright yellow, and her fingers, gentle and unsure now after the roughness of before, traced the outline of the Bat. Steph smiled in understanding.
"You miss it, don't you?" Steph asked, her hands clenching and unclenching, wanting to reach out for Cass.
Cass didn't answer with words, but when she kissed Steph again she kissed her softly, and it was slow and full of everything Cass couldn't say with words. Full of need.
"Cass," Steph breathed, gasping as Cass licked at her throat, "Please."
Quick, nimble fingers easily found the hidden latches and zips and buttons that kept Steph's costume together. Rough, calloused hands tugged her uniform from her skin, pushing it back over her shoulder's and down her body. Long, muscled legs pushed Steph's own apart. Scarred, warm flesh pressed against her exposed skin, sending shivers down her spine. A warm, wet mouth traced the lines and curves of her body, kissing her hips and licking along her collarbone.
Steph was so lost in the feel of Cass against her that she took a while to realise her hands were no longer pinned, and that somewhere in the interim Cass had not only removed Steph's uniform but also her own clothes. She gingerly moved to touch Cass. To trace her fingertips over those scars, to press her palm against the legs between her own, to run her fingers over those lips until they were sucked in, Cass's tongue flat against them.
"God, I missed you so much," Steph murmured.
Cass fumbled briefly with Steph's sports bra, but then her perfect hands were on Steph's breasts, rough and gentle and Steph arched up into the touch as Cass dragged her thumb over Steph's nipple. Steph's own fingers dug into Cass's back as scarred fingertips skittered over her ribs, her stomach, her hips, her thighs. She sucked in a sharp breath as thumbs hooked into her underwear and pulled them down off her body.
"Cass, Cass, I need you," Steph said, her voice breathless already.
Cass's mouth was on hers again, her tongue licking against Steph's and mapping out her mouth. Steph responding eagerly, pushing up towards Cass, pressing her tongue into her mouth and moving one hand to grip the back of Cass's head to pull her down deeper into the kiss, losing herself in the feeling.
There was no warming except for the brush of Cass's hand against the inside of her thigh, and then two fingers were pushed inside her. Steph moaned and arched up, Cass moved with her, thrusting her fingers slowly. Steph writhed and moaned under her.
"I can't - oh god Cass," Steph groaned.
A thumb opened her folds and pushed down on her clit. Steph bucked and hissed at the contact, rising up to try for more. But Cass kept the pressure constant, kept her hand still and just let Steph move.
"I want to - let me touch you," Steph begged, reaching out for Cass and pressing her fingers to the damp fabric of Cass's underwear.
But then Cass started circling her thumb and Steph lost all motor function, she hand dropping to the bed and fisting in the sheets and Cass started rubbing Steph's clit in time with the thrust of her fingers. There was a mouth on her breast, warm and hot, a tongue flicking over her nipple and drawing aborted little thrusts out of Steph.
"Cass please," Steph almost sobbed out.
She could feel the orgasming building in her, and she knew that Cass would be able to see it to, her hips jerked up almost of their own accord and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out.
Cass kissed her, hard and deep, drinking in the half suppressed whimpers as Steph cried her release, her body tensing in breathless moment of stillness as waves of pleasure crashed over her.
Steph fell back to the bed, sated and boneless, her skin slick with sweat as Cass pressed against her. “Oh god Cass.” She panted, burying her nose in Cass's hair. “I missed you so much.”
"Shhh," Cass murmured, petting Steph's hair soothingly.
It was the first sound she'd made all night, and Steph revelled in it. She wrapped her arms around Cass's waist and held her tight as exhaustion and relief sent her drifting to sleep.