It had been six months since Cassandra left for Tokyo and she couldn't wait to be home in her own room with her bed and most of all she was excited to eat Alfred's cooking. The limo pulled up to the house and stopped in front of the large doorway. With a smile, Cassandra got out of the car and walked up the stairs and pushed the large doors open.

She was expecting to see her whole family there waiting for her arrival but was surprised to see no one there. They must all be down in the cave, so she dropped her bags by the stairs and walked over to the study and turned the clock handles. When the doorway opened, she made her way down the stairs and knew immediately that everyone was in the cave because she heard various shouting.

Walking in the large open cave, she was surprised to see her siblings all huddled around the boxing ring. What surprised her, even more, was who was in the ring. She could see the familiar figure of Jason with his white streak making him stand out, but the other person had her intrigued. From what it looks, Jason was currently in a body lock with a girl half his size wrapped around him with a grin on her face. 

Her legs were wrapped around his neck and pinning an arm back in a very uncomfortable position while her harms were holding his arm still so he couldn't get out. Cassandra was very impressed, not many people managed to physically get that close to Jason and get him into a hold like that. This girl had to be very flexible and smart.

"Hey! Let me go, princess!" he cried, letting out a groaned as she pulled tighter.

"Are you going to learn your lesson? When I say don't poke me, don't fucking poke me Jason." she snapped, "I can make you pass out from this hold so unless you want to take an unexpected nap I suggest you don't try that again." 

"Alright fine!" he said, trying to tap out as the Rory let him go. 

"Six months away and you manage to find someone who can make Jason beg for mercy," Cassandra said with a laugh. All eyes turned to her.

"Cassandra!" Stephanie ran up the stairs to hug her friend and sister. "You're back!"

Cassandra hugged her back. "I did tell you all the day I was coming back you know." 

"We were meaning to meet you at the door but Jason thought he would be funny and try and piss off Rory so we've been down here watching her kick his ass." Tim said as he came up the stairs with the others behind him.

"Well, I'm sorry to have missed it. Maybe he can piss her off again so I can watch this time?" she asked with a grin.

Jason shook his head at her. "Very funny Cass, until you are caught in her hold I don't want to hear any of you say anything." he rubbed his neck that was red from the hold Rory had on him.

Cassandra looked and saw the brown-haired girl come up the stairs and stand next to Tim, watching her she could tell that Rory and Tim were close but how close were they exactly? She held out her hand to the new face. "I'm Cassandra Wayne, Tim has told me a lot about you." 

Rory flushed a little and took her hand. " Arorura Queen and I hope it's nothing too crazy, but they have told me about you as well." she smiled. "It might be because Jason wants someone to kick my ass that isn't Bruce." 

Cassandra laughed, "Didn't you throw a shoe at his head? Wouldn't that be a little unfair?" 

"Hey! Sometimes you have to fight dirty if you want to make it out in mostly one piece." Rory said trying to hide her laugh.

"Well, I'm not doing anything until later tonight so why not?" Cass said. 

"Yes, Cass please. I'm tired of getting pinned." Jason grinned and raced back down the stairs.

"More like tired of getting his ass kicked by a girl half his size." Dick muttered quietly, but loud enough everyone heard it.

"Hey! She kicked your ass too big bird!" Jason called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, and everyone else. Do you see us whining about it?" Tim said, jumping down the steps.

"Oh, but I bet you secretly enjoy it Replacement." Jason grinned and grabbed out a secret stash of chips he had hidden. At his words, Tim went a little pink and was flustered really quick.

"What? Do not!" 

Jason just rolled his eyes and sat down and watched as everyone began to surround the boxing ring again and Rory climbed back into it with Cassandra following. "Give her hell Cass!" 

"Fuck you princess!" Rory called and flipped him off with a laugh and fixed her hair back behind her head. "Ready when you are Cass." 

Cass pulled on a pair of gloves and blew her hair out of her face, getting into a stance. "Bring it on, and don't hold back."

Rory gave her a nod and launched herself at her, with every punch she threw Cass seemed to dodge it at the right time which only irritated her. Twisting her body around, she tried to land various kicks and hits but Cassandra only dodged them not making an offensive move of her own.

It was almost as if Cass was watching her, analyzing her moves. She seemed to know Rory's moves before she even made it. If that was true, she needed to try and be more unpredictable. With a running start, she made it look like she was going to jump over her but slid between her legs and kicked her back, only Cassandra stepped to the side and caught her foot.  

"What the hell! I had you!" she cried. Cass only smirked, "You're a lot smarter than I initially thought, but it is very hard to outsmart me in a fight." She pulled Rory close and slammed her to the floor with a hand on her chest with a loud thud.

Everyone watching winced and gave an 'ooh'. 

"That looked like it hurt princess." Jason grinned shoving more chips into his mouth.

Rory laid on the floor panting softly and flipped him off yet again. "You want to go again? I'm sure I can figure out more ways to pin you down." Lookign at Cass she raised an eyebrow. "How the hell did you do that?"

Cass let her go and pulled Rory to her feet, "I have a talent, the boys like to call it a superpower but it's really just how fast my brain analyzes everything. I can tell from a person's body language what moves they are going to make. So yes you had the right assumption in trying to be unpredictable but you think with your eyes. It's how I caught you. Mask that and you might beat me next time."

Rory's eyes widened. "Woah, I'll have to keep that in mind." she laughed.

"Come on, its almost dinner time and Alfred was making your favorite Cass." Dick said from the side and helped Barbara up the stairs. Cass jumped out of the ring and followed them. Rory juped out of the ring and almost landed on Tim, who managed to catch her.

"Woah there, you almost took me out songbird." he laughed.

"Maybe that was my intention dragon boy." she punched his arm lightly and made her way up the stairs leaving him in the dust.

Tim stood there and watched her with a lovestruck look that didn't go unnoticed by Jason. Patting Tim on the shoulder, he chuckled. "You know, if you stare at her like that much more she could get a restrainging order on you, or worse figure out you like her." 

Tim looked at Jason trying to hide his surprise. "Psh, what? I do not like Rory." he crossed his arms not meeting his eyes.

"Timbo, it's so obvious that it's almost painful how oblivious she is. Why don't you ask her out?" 

Tim snorted. "Now's the weird one. I can't ask her out for multiple reasons. Reason one, she could say no. Reason two, she could figure out I think of her as more than friends and still say now and that's even worse. Finally reason three, I have never been able to ask out anyone without tripping over my words and looking like and idiot." It was true, when Tim and Stephanie dated years ago he tried to ask her on a date and he would get so flustered and nervous it would come out in a jumble of words.

"Geez Timothy, just keep it friendly at first. Maybe coffee, or find something she likes to do so she will be more inclined to say yes. The Russian Ballet is in town two weeks from now, maybe try that. Take her shopping, to a shooting range or just hang out on patrol. You two have a lot in common so figure something out." and with that Jason took off for the kitchen after the rest of his family, leaving Tim alone in the cave with his thoughts.

He sighed, as much as he hated to admit it Jason was right. But how could he be sure that Rory even cared for him in that way? He had yet to take her out around Gotham other than the mall trip weeks ago, maybe he could convince her to go with him. Besides, didn't Bruce have a gala coming up? He could try and take her dress shopping, but knowing the girls they would rather take her and not him so maybe not that.

Thinking more, the ballet idea was looking like the best option and he knew she would love it. With the end of November having come and gone, more than likely the ballet would be the Nutcracker. Which also reminded him that her birthday was coming up in this month.

Enterign the dining room, he saw that everyone was there and he sat down next to Rory who left a seat open for him. He decided that he would ask her after dinner, and pray that she said yes. Of course, because he was looking forward to the end of the meal, time seemed to drag on and on. Everyone was excited that Cass was back, and Jason gleefully recounted how Cass put Rory in to the mat.

It was close to eight when dinner was done and everyone went down to the case to get ready for patrol, except Cass because she was still jet lagged and needed some time to adjust. Rory was about to descend the stairs when Tim caught her hand and pulled her back. "Hey Rory, I have something to ask you." no missing the look Jason gave him as he went down the stairs.

"Sure Tim, what's up?" she asked, tilting her head.

"So, the Russian Ballet is coming to town in two weeks you know before Christmas? Well, I was wondering if you um-" he stopped talking trying to find the words he wanted to say. Why was he always so shy? He had known her most of his life, so why was this so hard?

"Tim, are you asking if I want to go to the ballet with you?" she giggled softly, watching Tim go red. He was always cute when he got flustered and she thought it was adorable.

Tim gave her a quick nod. "Yeah, would you be willing?" 

Rory quickly nodded. "Of course! I haven't been to a ballet I wasn't performing in in years!" she smiled brightly and hugged him. "But I don't have anything to wear." 

'Well, I can take you shopping or the girls if you wanted them to instead. They would be pretty upset if I took you." he laughed.

"I'll ask if they want to go this weekend, of course we will have some major sucking up to do in order to get out of patrol that day but I think it's manageable." she said and hugged him tightly before running down the stairs with the biggest smile on her face.

When Tim got down there, both Jason and Dick walked over to him both dressed in their suits. "What the hell did you do Tim? Rory won't stop bouncing around." Jason asked, adjusting his domino mask.

"I decided to ask her to go to the ballet that's coming to town and she said yes. I guess that was the right way to go." he smiled.

"I told you it would work." Jason said smugly.

"Your dating advice worked? Yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it." Dick laughed and fixed his mask and patted Tim on the shoulder. "Go get ready lover boy, Rory is almost ready." 

Tim walked over to his suit and changed quickly before meeting Rory by their bikes. "You ready?" 

"When am I not dragon boy?" she laughed and put on her mask and hopped on her bike. Tim rolled his eyes and hopped onto his own bike and started it.

"We're stakign out Penguin tonight, so park your bike and meet me on the roofs." he said and took off out of the cave, with Rory right behind him.

She followed as Red Robin drove through the streets and pulled into an alley not to far from the docks. Climbing off her bike, she turned it off and grappled to the roof where Red Robin was waiting for her. 

"So what's the plan Red?" Grey Arrow asked, standing next to him as they watched the dock activity. 

He pointed at two rooftops in front of them. "You see those? We are going to plant our selves on both sides of the dock and listen. We shouldn't get caught, but with you getting caught is all that seems to happen." he teased.

Grey Arrow frowned and pushed him off the roof. "Asshole." she muttered as Red Robin caught himself before he hit the ground and grappled back up with a laugh. 

"Alright, no more teasing. Just set up shop over there and keep an eye on them okay? With your new mask and com pieces you should be able to see and hear everything." He explained looking at her, "Need me to show you?" 

Grey Arrow gave him a nod. "Sure, this whole detective mode is still whacky to me." she chuckled. "I'm just happy Bats didn't call it Batvision or something stupid like that." 

Red Robin let out a laugh and turned her to look at him. "So, there is a button right here that you push okay? It puts the mask into Batvision mode and automatically that enhances your com to hear farther. You can adjust the settings on the fancy wrist piece that you got too like this."

HE took her hand and hit a few buttons to where a holographic screen appeared with several settings where she could hack into the cameras and bugs and listen in on things she can't see. "Dude, this is so cool. I am actually a bat now." she laughed and looked at Red Robin, who was still right in front of her. 

With his cowl on, she couldn't see anything but his lips and did not want ot admit that she was  staring at them but she couldn't help but notice the way they curved into a smile naturally. Red Robin was staring at her still, with a hold on her hand. He could see her eyes through her mask, and how beautiful they looked in the starlight. Slowly, he pulled her closer wanting to feel her against him again.

Grey Arrow let herself be pulled and leaned into him and bit her lip slowly, curious to know what his felt like against hers. But of course, all good things must end.

"Hey! That doesn't look like working you two!" 

Both Red Robin and Grey Arrow jumped and saw Spoiler standing a few roofs away waving at them. "Shut up Spoiler, I was showing her how to use her new gadgets." Red Robin replied. They heard Spoiler laugh through their coms and watched as she took off into the night. 

"We should probably get working you know?" Grey Arrow cleared her throat and stepped back before firing an arrow and slid across it to the next roof and took off for the stake out point, leaving Red Robin there to watch her leave.

He had almost kissed her again, but this time she wasn't drugged. Shaking the thoughts away, he grappled to the roof across from Grey Arrow and crouched down so he wouldn't be seen and watched.

"Oracle, are you getting our feed?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can hear and see both feeds. If you two stay there, we might get more info on this case. Batman told me to remind you that Penguin plays nice even less that Ivy does, so no kissing." 

Red Robin heard Grey Arrow snort through her com. "Gee thanks Oracle. What would I do without you?"

"Absolutely nothing." Oracle laughed softly and then went quiet. 

It had been two hours of listening before they even got something remotely interesting. 

"Hey, why are we moving all this stuff again?" 

"Because the boss has a deal with Ivy who is partnered with Quinn. Ivy wanted this stuff moved out of her gardens, saying it was poisoning her babies and nulling her powers." 

Grey Arrow zoomed in with her detective mode and saw some very familiar barrels, the exact ones from the funhouse in Amusement Mile. "Hey, Red you getting this?"

"Yeah, loud and clear. But why would Penguin work with Ivy and Harley? What does he get out of it?" 

"Well, let's just watch and see." she replied and kept watching.

Four more hours had passed and it was now almost two in the morning. Grey Arrow was getting hungry and not to mention it was getting cold outside. Star City never got this cold so she never thought of putting a thermal lining in her suit.

Little white flurries began to fly down from the sky, looking up Grey Arrow let out a string of curses. "Of course, just my luck." she mumbled and curled up trying not to freeze.

"You look like a popsicle." Turning her head, she saw Red Hood there holding a bag of what looked to McDonalds.

"Please tell me that's for me." she pleaded.

Red Hood laughed and handed her the bag. "Red Robin placed in an order, he also requested that I give you this." He then took off his brown jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "He said that he could hear your teeth chattering from across the street."

Grey Arrow curled up in the warm jack and let out a sigh. "It's so cold, how can you guys live like this?" she asked, grabbing a burger and taking a bite while still watching the docks. It had been relatively quiet since that little bomb of Ivy and Harley working with Penguin on something.

"Thermal lining. We all have it in our suits, if you just asked Bats would hook you up ou know that right?" he said sitting with her.

Grey Arrow rolled her eyes. "It never got this cold in Star City, let alone snow. So I never thought of it." 

"Bet your thinking of it now." he grinned. Grey Arrow frowned. 

"I'll push you off the roof, just ask Red Robin over there." she pointed across the street where Red Robin was, or used to be. 

"Um, he's not there." 

Grey Arrow's head shot up to look and sure enough he wasn't there. What the hell happened to him? Looking around, she saw him walking on large crates above the docks. "Red! What the hell are you doing?" she snapped.

"They went further in, neither of us can get a good feed so I'm going in. Stay there with Hood, I'll be back in twenty." he said a disappeared through a small hatch.

Grey Arrow went to get up, but Red Hood stopped her. "Stay here, I'll get him out if something goes wrong." he said and stood up and watched the docks. The next twenty minutes were agonizingly quiet, Red Arrow did not respond to their messages and it was worrying them.

Suddenly an alarm went off and the two of them stood up straight. Red Robin was still in there.

"You stay put, I can't risk you getting hurt because you are so cold." Red Hood said and took off for the docks. People were running out of the building and there was still no sign of Red Robin. Grabbing her bow, she ziplined down to the floor and landed next to Red Hood. 

"He's still in there right?" she asked. Red Hood nodded and they both went to go in, right as they were about to open the door the building exploded and sent Grey Arrow and Red Hood flying back into the building behind them.

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This was fun no? Cass is back, Tim asked her out (kinda) and might have gotten blown up. If you want to learn more about Rory, go check out Wind Flower where you can learn more about her and other characters I have created. 

Until Next Time,