sunday_reveries Just Act
This is inspired by Teen Titans 72 and incorporates some plot points and dialogue. However, it is not a canon response and begins an alternate story arc. It takes place Friday evening, at sundown. Characters used with permission.
picture prompt
"...scheduled for next week but they asked to move it up. I can get out of my plans but if you are free...?"
Cassie knew the tone. Diana had a way about her. She could make anything sound like a request and a command at once. So whichever way Cassie was feeling -- she swung between being determinedly independent and wanting for leadership, Diana knew -- she would respond. And more often than not, agree. Diana knew that, too. "Yes, of course. It's no problem."
"All right. It's a routine visit and shouldn't take too long but if you want to bring someone." The sentence was incomplete, but not the thought. Cassie considered her options. It didn't take long, she didn't have many remaining on speed dial. She'd left the Titans because she hadn't had anyone still on the team she felt comfortable with, and she assumed Diana was asking her because they didn't have anyone in the senior ranks free. Same went for Donna, and of the other people she did trust...Kon was closed to her, Kara was off-planet, Bart and Cissie were on a date and while she was certain any of the Bats (except The Bat) (who she didn't trust anyway, as unfair as it may be) would accept her call...they were a team she'd never fit into.
"No." She shook her head as if Diana could see her. "It's Friday night, people are out and -- they deserve their time. So do you."
"So do you," Diana repeated, her tone now questioning.
Another unwitnessed shake of the head. "He's out tonight." Which made this assignment that much more welcome. "We'll meet up after." Cassie set her jaw, willing her confidence to seep through the phone line. "This is no big thing, I can do it."
"I know you can." Cassie could hear the smile in Diana's voice; the willing had worked. "Drop me a line when you're done."
--
The prison warden matched his surroundings, drab and nondescript. "We'll always welcome a visit from the League, Wonder Girl..."
Cassie picked up on the hesitation. "But?"
He shrugged his shoulders."You say you moved your visit up?"
Cassie's eyes narrowed. "No, Warden, you did." It set off a warning bell in her head, but the guard -- Daniels, read his badge -- seemed unconcerned. He raised his two-way to his mouth.
"Must be a mix-up with Admin....Charlene?" he spoke into the radio. "You got anything on the books for a walk-through tonight?"
Cassie strained to hear the response through bursts of static. "....trouble with...comm system dow-...calling mai-..."
Daniels frowned. "Darn thing must be on the fritz again."
Cassie pulled out her communicator. "I can check with--"
"Might as well make the most of it. After you." Daniels realized belatedly she'd spoken. "That is, unless you have something better to do with your Friday night."
She hesitated, it wouldn't take too much for the League to check on the communications, and even less for Tim's (oh, all right, Batman's) supercomputer but...she was probably jumping at shadows. This was routine; Diana was busy, Tim was busy, she was already here. Cassie shook her head and replaced the communicator. Flashing the warden a smile, she opened her hand to indicate he should take the lead. "I'm all yours."
--
"The conditions are....sparse." It was the most polite word she could come up with. Peering through the bars at the tiny cells, nearly all holding at least two men, Cassie thought they looked far more bored and sad than dangerous.
Daniels followed her gaze and heard all the impolite terms for it in his head. He imagined her thoughts echoed his own. The warden had been in this job, in one position or another, over twenty years now and the past five, with all the expansions that contradictorily seemed to make the place smaller, well, there are plenty of nights he wanted to leave it all behind. He sighed and explained, "Majority of our funding's had to go to the Meta Wing downstairs. Individual cells all calibrated to the unique abilities of the inmates. Which is a complicated way of saying special cells for the super-baddies. We have about forty. What's left is used up here for the normals."
Cassie closed her lips over her teeth as he spoke. She didn't like the explanation or the reality. "Will we be touring that part of the facility next?"
Another guard, a woman, and much younger than Daniels, stepped out of the shadows to answer before he could. "Sure you wanna go down there, Wonder Girl? Most of the metas got a bone to pick with a heroine."
Cassie blinked. Her inner warning bell was going off again, and this time near full volume. The woman's voice sounded vaguely familiar and, more to the point, conspicuously hostile. Something wasn't right.
Turning to face the new guard, Cassie again pulled out her communicator. But before she could activate it, the warden's went off in a loud burst of static. "Daniels...do you....copy...."
Three things happened at once. Daniels raised his radio to his lips. The woman turned back to meet their gaze. And Cassie realized it wasn't just that something wasn't right. Something was wrong.
"Lock us down! Full lock down!" Daniels had only enough time to shout the order into his probably still malfunctioning -- no, Cassie now understood, jammed -- radio before he was knocked back against the jail cell by an unseen force. Or his body was; Cassie didn't take the time to check for vital signs. She was suddenly surrounded.
Trap.
A glance told her the communicator in her hand was being jammed, too. Hitting the emergency button she tossed it away as far back as she could; the signal would keep transmitting until it was answered, she shut it off or it lost power. The jamming of the warden's radio had seemed intermittent; with luck her signal would get through at some point. She estimated the "normal" authorities would take at least ten minutes to show up. Ten minutes, forty escaped super-baddies -- plus whoever let them out -- and Cassie standing where Wonder Woman was expected to be.
First things first. "Please! Stand down." Always give people the opportunity to do the right thing. "Get back in your cells! Now!" The inmates on this level and the two above were up in arms, cheering on the prison break; several were shouting for release. "Stand down! Stay where you are!" She thought the normals would do better to listen to her. It wasn't any more safe for them out here than it was for the guards.
An explosion rocked the room; Cassie turned to stare at the cells, catching fire before her eyes. Or maybe not. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and blocked a hit just in time. Focus.
Bart could get the normals out in seconds. So could Kon, but they weren't here. She caught sight of the door mechanism on the other side of a long corridor. Tim could hit it on the first try. So could Cissie, but they're not here. Cassie kicked at two more attackers, stood straight and flung her lasso at the lever. It missed twice, but met its mark the third. Once circled, Cassie gave a yank and the doors swung open on all three levels. She'd have to trust the people outside would round up this lot. "Get out!" She shouted, contradicting her earlier commands. Diana would have got it right the first time. Diana would have known from the beginning, the 'mix up'. Should have checked. Should have noticed then...Tim would have...
Cassie cried out as one thrust got through her distracted defenses and hit. She swung back and forcing herself to focus on the battle, spent the next few minutes fighting her way through the mass of criminals.
"What a show!" It was the first attacker, the one who'd taken out the warden. She was so familiar but Cassie still couldn't figure how. The woman's applause mocked her but Cassie took the moment given to regroup. "You might be strong, girlie, but you're all alone."
Cassie stood stock still, staring her down. It was clear this villain knew her, knew her enough to play on her weaknesses. But not well enough to know knocked down to her weakest, Cassie was strongest. With a measured gaze she sized up the leader and the four -- five -- people behind her. Cassie recognized most of them. Lackeys, but dangerous.
"We weren't expecting the baby version," the woman continued with a smirk. "But you'll do fine. Go ahead boys." As the 'boys' advanced, Cassie realized the rest had been preamble. These were the people all the state's funding had gone into containing. She set her jaw and raised crossed wrists, her lasso twisted tight in one hand. She had just enough time to think of Tim and wish he was here and be glad he was not. Then she pushed all her thoughts away.
Here we go.
--
"Get her out. I'll clean up this mess."
The voice sounded so far away. Cassie couldn't get her eyes to open. She thought maybe she wasn't really awake. Her head hurt. Everything hurt. She thought maybe she was flying now. Strong arms cradled her so close she thought maybe if she could get her eyes open she would see a big red on black S on the chest of her benefactor. She shifted and forced her eyes to open up. It wasn't an S. It was a golden eagle, like the one on her own chest.
"Don't talk, I think your jaw is broken." Diana spoke in a tone Cassie hadn't heard very often. She'd used it to give Donna's eulogy. "And I don't know what else, so try not to move at all."
"....where?"
"I said not to talk," Diana said sharply. Then softer, "I'm taking you to the hospital." Cassie opened her mouth to speak again; Diana rushed to anticipate her questions. "Most of the prisoners didn't get past the outer perimeter and none of them died in the fire. One of the inmates said that's thanks to you. I don't know what they planned or why but we have the names of the ones you fought and we're piecing it all together. What matters is you're alive. Try to rest. I promise I'll call your tea-- Tim as soon as we land."
Cassie frowned. She was slipping out of consciousness but she had to say -- "...wanted you."
Diana's jaw tightened. "I know."
Cassie's eyes fell closed again.
picture prompt
"...scheduled for next week but they asked to move it up. I can get out of my plans but if you are free...?"
Cassie knew the tone. Diana had a way about her. She could make anything sound like a request and a command at once. So whichever way Cassie was feeling -- she swung between being determinedly independent and wanting for leadership, Diana knew -- she would respond. And more often than not, agree. Diana knew that, too. "Yes, of course. It's no problem."
"All right. It's a routine visit and shouldn't take too long but if you want to bring someone." The sentence was incomplete, but not the thought. Cassie considered her options. It didn't take long, she didn't have many remaining on speed dial. She'd left the Titans because she hadn't had anyone still on the team she felt comfortable with, and she assumed Diana was asking her because they didn't have anyone in the senior ranks free. Same went for Donna, and of the other people she did trust...Kon was closed to her, Kara was off-planet, Bart and Cissie were on a date and while she was certain any of the Bats (except The Bat) (who she didn't trust anyway, as unfair as it may be) would accept her call...they were a team she'd never fit into.
"No." She shook her head as if Diana could see her. "It's Friday night, people are out and -- they deserve their time. So do you."
"So do you," Diana repeated, her tone now questioning.
Another unwitnessed shake of the head. "He's out tonight." Which made this assignment that much more welcome. "We'll meet up after." Cassie set her jaw, willing her confidence to seep through the phone line. "This is no big thing, I can do it."
"I know you can." Cassie could hear the smile in Diana's voice; the willing had worked. "Drop me a line when you're done."
--
The prison warden matched his surroundings, drab and nondescript. "We'll always welcome a visit from the League, Wonder Girl..."
Cassie picked up on the hesitation. "But?"
He shrugged his shoulders."You say you moved your visit up?"
Cassie's eyes narrowed. "No, Warden, you did." It set off a warning bell in her head, but the guard -- Daniels, read his badge -- seemed unconcerned. He raised his two-way to his mouth.
"Must be a mix-up with Admin....Charlene?" he spoke into the radio. "You got anything on the books for a walk-through tonight?"
Cassie strained to hear the response through bursts of static. "....trouble with...comm system dow-...calling mai-..."
Daniels frowned. "Darn thing must be on the fritz again."
Cassie pulled out her communicator. "I can check with--"
"Might as well make the most of it. After you." Daniels realized belatedly she'd spoken. "That is, unless you have something better to do with your Friday night."
She hesitated, it wouldn't take too much for the League to check on the communications, and even less for Tim's (oh, all right, Batman's) supercomputer but...she was probably jumping at shadows. This was routine; Diana was busy, Tim was busy, she was already here. Cassie shook her head and replaced the communicator. Flashing the warden a smile, she opened her hand to indicate he should take the lead. "I'm all yours."
--
"The conditions are....sparse." It was the most polite word she could come up with. Peering through the bars at the tiny cells, nearly all holding at least two men, Cassie thought they looked far more bored and sad than dangerous.
Daniels followed her gaze and heard all the impolite terms for it in his head. He imagined her thoughts echoed his own. The warden had been in this job, in one position or another, over twenty years now and the past five, with all the expansions that contradictorily seemed to make the place smaller, well, there are plenty of nights he wanted to leave it all behind. He sighed and explained, "Majority of our funding's had to go to the Meta Wing downstairs. Individual cells all calibrated to the unique abilities of the inmates. Which is a complicated way of saying special cells for the super-baddies. We have about forty. What's left is used up here for the normals."
Cassie closed her lips over her teeth as he spoke. She didn't like the explanation or the reality. "Will we be touring that part of the facility next?"
Another guard, a woman, and much younger than Daniels, stepped out of the shadows to answer before he could. "Sure you wanna go down there, Wonder Girl? Most of the metas got a bone to pick with a heroine."
Cassie blinked. Her inner warning bell was going off again, and this time near full volume. The woman's voice sounded vaguely familiar and, more to the point, conspicuously hostile. Something wasn't right.
Turning to face the new guard, Cassie again pulled out her communicator. But before she could activate it, the warden's went off in a loud burst of static. "Daniels...do you....copy...."
Three things happened at once. Daniels raised his radio to his lips. The woman turned back to meet their gaze. And Cassie realized it wasn't just that something wasn't right. Something was wrong.
"Lock us down! Full lock down!" Daniels had only enough time to shout the order into his probably still malfunctioning -- no, Cassie now understood, jammed -- radio before he was knocked back against the jail cell by an unseen force. Or his body was; Cassie didn't take the time to check for vital signs. She was suddenly surrounded.
Trap.
A glance told her the communicator in her hand was being jammed, too. Hitting the emergency button she tossed it away as far back as she could; the signal would keep transmitting until it was answered, she shut it off or it lost power. The jamming of the warden's radio had seemed intermittent; with luck her signal would get through at some point. She estimated the "normal" authorities would take at least ten minutes to show up. Ten minutes, forty escaped super-baddies -- plus whoever let them out -- and Cassie standing where Wonder Woman was expected to be.
First things first. "Please! Stand down." Always give people the opportunity to do the right thing. "Get back in your cells! Now!" The inmates on this level and the two above were up in arms, cheering on the prison break; several were shouting for release. "Stand down! Stay where you are!" She thought the normals would do better to listen to her. It wasn't any more safe for them out here than it was for the guards.
An explosion rocked the room; Cassie turned to stare at the cells, catching fire before her eyes. Or maybe not. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and blocked a hit just in time. Focus.
Bart could get the normals out in seconds. So could Kon, but they weren't here. She caught sight of the door mechanism on the other side of a long corridor. Tim could hit it on the first try. So could Cissie, but they're not here. Cassie kicked at two more attackers, stood straight and flung her lasso at the lever. It missed twice, but met its mark the third. Once circled, Cassie gave a yank and the doors swung open on all three levels. She'd have to trust the people outside would round up this lot. "Get out!" She shouted, contradicting her earlier commands. Diana would have got it right the first time. Diana would have known from the beginning, the 'mix up'. Should have checked. Should have noticed then...Tim would have...
Cassie cried out as one thrust got through her distracted defenses and hit. She swung back and forcing herself to focus on the battle, spent the next few minutes fighting her way through the mass of criminals.
"What a show!" It was the first attacker, the one who'd taken out the warden. She was so familiar but Cassie still couldn't figure how. The woman's applause mocked her but Cassie took the moment given to regroup. "You might be strong, girlie, but you're all alone."
Cassie stood stock still, staring her down. It was clear this villain knew her, knew her enough to play on her weaknesses. But not well enough to know knocked down to her weakest, Cassie was strongest. With a measured gaze she sized up the leader and the four -- five -- people behind her. Cassie recognized most of them. Lackeys, but dangerous.
"We weren't expecting the baby version," the woman continued with a smirk. "But you'll do fine. Go ahead boys." As the 'boys' advanced, Cassie realized the rest had been preamble. These were the people all the state's funding had gone into containing. She set her jaw and raised crossed wrists, her lasso twisted tight in one hand. She had just enough time to think of Tim and wish he was here and be glad he was not. Then she pushed all her thoughts away.
Here we go.
--
"Get her out. I'll clean up this mess."
The voice sounded so far away. Cassie couldn't get her eyes to open. She thought maybe she wasn't really awake. Her head hurt. Everything hurt. She thought maybe she was flying now. Strong arms cradled her so close she thought maybe if she could get her eyes open she would see a big red on black S on the chest of her benefactor. She shifted and forced her eyes to open up. It wasn't an S. It was a golden eagle, like the one on her own chest.
"Don't talk, I think your jaw is broken." Diana spoke in a tone Cassie hadn't heard very often. She'd used it to give Donna's eulogy. "And I don't know what else, so try not to move at all."
"....where?"
"I said not to talk," Diana said sharply. Then softer, "I'm taking you to the hospital." Cassie opened her mouth to speak again; Diana rushed to anticipate her questions. "Most of the prisoners didn't get past the outer perimeter and none of them died in the fire. One of the inmates said that's thanks to you. I don't know what they planned or why but we have the names of the ones you fought and we're piecing it all together. What matters is you're alive. Try to rest. I promise I'll call your tea-- Tim as soon as we land."
Cassie frowned. She was slipping out of consciousness but she had to say -- "...wanted you."
Diana's jaw tightened. "I know."
Cassie's eyes fell closed again.