Got Your Back, Always

II.XXIII

"So, Gray, what would you like me to do?" Cassie leaned against the counter watching him prep dinner.

He smirked at her, "Just stand there and look pretty."

"Give me that," she scoffed and took the cutting board from him, cutting up the vegetables so he could start cooking.

He grinned at her. "Hey, Cass?"

"Yeah?" She looked up from the board.

"I-um," he looked down and chuckled, "The escrima sticks were a good idea, I like them."

"Right? They are so cool, and I thought they were very you, Stu and Bruce agreed."

She goes back to cutting and Dick just grins at her. He shook his head and went back to cooking, the two did so in comfortable silence. Somehow it ended up with Dick hugging Cassie from behind while she stirred a pot.

The two adults of course didn't notice Bruce watching the interaction with a smile.

Gar asks, "What was her deal with tomatoes?" They are all sitting at the dinner table.

"She called it 'the devil's fruit'." Kory smiled.

"Hold on. Tomato is a fruit?" Hank asks.

Kory chuckles.

Dawn sets down the salad bowl and Rose joins them at the table.

Cassie places her hand on Dick's and nods, he clears his throat, "Donna Troy and I were a couple of strays. Nothing linking us other than parents that liked to dress up at night and fight crime. She saw us as family. But I wasn't much interested in family then. Families can be fucked up. I mean, look around. We've all spent our lives recovering from the damage done by our families. Donna knew something I didn't. If you throw enough strays together, you get the best kind of family. One bound not by DNA... but by a collective sense of duty and devotion to another. And when you lose someone you love... you need this. What we have right here. What's next for us all? I don't know. It's a million-dollar question." He smiles, "Anyway..." He picks up his orange soda and chuckles, "... to Donna Troy. Thanks for giving me a second chance at family. And thanks to you guys for taking me back in. To the Titans."

They all toast to the Titans and Donna Troy and drink.

Hank wretches, "Ugh, that's what she's been drinking this whole time?"

Cassie chuckles, taking another sip.

Dawn looks at the bottle, "I think it's great."

"I like it," Kory smiles.

"No." Gar gets up.

"Me too."

"Of course you would say that."

Dick points his bottle towards Cassie, "It's a great soda.

They all laugh.

Hank sits back down, "Yeah, right."

"Not bad."

"Barf."

Kory chuckles, "So picky."

"You have no idea," Cassie laughs.

Gar gets up to grab some more bread for everyone, he sees an alert and taps the screen, "Guys. There's cops and the bomb squad responding to a disturbance in the Mission District. Sounds bad."

Dawn gets up, "What are we waiting for?"

Everyone gets up and goes to get ready.

It's just Dick, Cassie, and Bruce, "There's your answer."

Dick smiles and they all suit up. It's just Cassie and Bruce at the table.

"Don't want to just try on the suit for a night?" Bruce looks towards the woman.

"Not tonight, tonight they need a bit of normal, me joining would throw them off a bit."

"If you say so."

Cassie had decided that she'd only put on the suit in an emergency, this was just a regular old mission, certainly not an emergency. Who knows maybe there won't be an emergency. Maybe she won't ever need to put on the suit. Maybe Cassie won't need to go out into the field to watch their backs. But maybe she will. Maybe she'll be the one to save their lives, for real this time. Who knows, it's all a maybe.