2015-04-20 - Jason Meets Cassandra

The closet door opens from the inside. Nothing to see there, except for some reason it looks like Cassandra was sleeping inside because she wanders out of the closet with her sweat pants hanging half off of her hip and a black tank top on. Otherwise, she just looks bleary and stretching as she yawns her way toward the refrigerator. She belches attractively and tosses an empty pop can on the floor as she passes.

The skylight is open and there is noise at the fridge. "Geez, you need better food little sis," is Jason's voice. His hood is off, but he wears a red domino mask. "Are you seriously sleeping in the closet? Seriously?" He was wondering where you were!

Cassandra walks up to Jason and shrugs at his question. She tries to hip-check him out of the way, grinning barely at his presence. She doesn't act surprised, which is hardly abnormal for her. Nabbing a slice of cold pizza and a bowl of rice, she opens the microwave with her left foot and tosses both inside. Talkative as always.

Cassandra Cain apparently subsists mostly on rice and fish, but she's got a cold half-pizza in there that's not even in the cardboard, some pop, and some burritos. For some reason she apparently also refrigerates her pop-tarts.

Jason chuckles at the hipcheck, but then scowls at your food choice. "Ah, come on...alright, after patrol tonight, I'm cooking breakfast for you. I just need to pick a few things up." Jason is alright with himself eating bad, he doesn't always do so...but for some reason he worries over Cassandra and Dick. He tries not to think of his attachment to them very much. "How about eggs, shrimp...need to pick up some chinese rice wine too," Jason states. It's a chinese breakfast of shrimp and scrambled eggs.  Red Hood says, "http://chinesefood.about.com/od/breakfast/r/scrambled-eggs.htm"

Cass activates the auto-warm button with her knee gently, then turns and flops onto the couch bonelessly. She drapes her arms over the back, looking at Jason, and raises her left eyebrow just barely as he describes food to her. Her stomach grumbles, and she grins at her body's obvious response. Then she reaches under the couch with her toes and pulls out her bat-suit. SO well hidden, her security is devastating in its depth and artistry.

"Ugh....house wife you are not Cass." Jason shakes his head and moves to flop on the couch himself. "Going to change in front of me now girl?" He smirks at that. "Just cause you are my little sis, doesn't mean I don't think you can be sexy as hell in your weird kinda way." He is completely and utterly picking on Cass now! Well, not that there isn't some level of attraction there, Cass would have known that for some time most likely.

Cassandra pushes to her feet, blushing just a little, and suddenly rolls forward, low and fast. She ends with her elbow brushing past Jason's midsection, intentionally missing, and gets up to stroll toward the closet again. Closet? "C'mon," she says, gracing the world with her first words of the day. And she closes the door behind her as she goes into it, sealing the closet door behind her and her bat-suit. Cassandra Cain is not there when and if Jason opens the closet door. Hint much?

Jason grunts heavily on purpose, as if Cassandra hit and holds his stomach. "Abuse!" The word gasped loudly, "Abuse! Stop picking on me!" And then he's laughing as he stands up with interest and confusion and follows after Cassandra.

When he opens the door...ah hell, secret door! He starts to search for the latch, button...something now that he found a challenge!

When Jason goes into the closet, nothing happens. No latches, nothing. Wherever it is, it's far better hidden than anything Cass has the crafting skills to put together. Oh wait, there's...yes, the door has a trigger of some sort. Very well hidden, but set to activate when the door is fully closed.

When closed behind him, the small two-foot room fills with subtle green light as he's scanned, head to toe, and small holograms appear in front of him showing his height, weight, armaments worn and implanted. It's a full bio-scan with his name listed and 'Welcome' hovering in the air, as the wall opens to reveal a pole, extending downward into darkness.

You enter the closet and touch the access panel with your finger.

"Fingerprint match. Commencing full bio-scan...Identity confirmed, Jason Todd. Access granted."

The rear wall opens, featuring a pole for you to slide down, bringing you to the ...

Cave - Underground - Bludhaven

The bases 'cave' level is accessible via a firemans pole hidden within a closet on the second floor and only usable after a security scan is enacted. Any attempt to access, successful or not, is logged in the Batcave in Gotham. The cave was originally a private subway station built for the whaling tycoons and robber barons that lived in Fort Joseph. It was sealed and the records of it lost or destroyed when the industry collapsed. The cave is linked to Gothams underground tunnel system, with at least five tunnels directly linked to the caves central room which is a multi-story training/computer room. With its original subway connections restored the cave also has access to an underground tunnel network that was built throughout the city during the Revolutionary War.

The Batgirlcave has a large terminal, visible easily from the entrance, which has an audio file playing. Currently it has Red Hood's stats showing for anyone who might be able to read, but it says in Alfred's voice, "Jason Todd, arrived 23 minutes ago, rooftop access, logged. State any requirements miss Cassandra." Cass is pulling on her leather top and wandering toward the training area, and she just waves her left hand at the computer which stops playback. It is apparently monitoring her for preset movement patterns and set to audio and pictures for her.

One screen has a complete and I mean complete! bio-scan of Cassandra's vital signs, including oxygen levels, blood flow, and a picture of her from head to toe linking current injuries and offering suggestions of future training regimens she's considering to work around them.

The training area is a MESS! Training dummies of concrete are absolutely destroyed and laying all around, as if a tornado went through that area, and the dust in the air suggests it was very recent. They were set in a circle around a central location, and bare footprints are visible. Cass doesn't comment on either.

"Yaaaaa...and this is how you became my little sis instead of fuck buddy," Jason says as he looks about. And he really needs to re-evaulate the security in this place, he missed how his entrance got noticed which doesn't please him that he got sloppy. But he doesn't take it out on Cassandra.

"And people say I have rage issues, geez." He walks over and toes some of the dusty cement. "Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you."

Cassandra Cain shakes her head, slapping her mask onto her face. Now she's the Black Bat, which is nobody's fuck buddy. Unless you count screwing criminals over. She doesn't. Adjusting her wrist tape, she motions to a still standing concrete training dummy standing in the corner. "Try one," she suggests. "Morning...routine," she adds, suggesting this is her daily warmup. Which it is.

"Ughs...my hand always hurts after doing that. It's the one thing I was never good at, and it has been years." Alright, so Jason has been a little lax in some training areas. Still he walks over, "How about you show me first?" He is watching attentively though, paying attention. He's a genius, he hasn't forgotten the technique, he just doesn't want to do it wrong and break his damn hand while he tries to be all manly and impressive.

Cassandra looks at Jason. She lowers her head a little, her lip curling slightly, and she walks past him to the dummy. "Many ways. Be...creative," she suggests, having to search her head for the right word. She shakes her head, then reaches up and snaps the dummy's neck with a twisting motion that sends the head spiraling upward and lets the motion spin her own body around. She hooks the dummy's legs, slicing right through the exact knee area with her foot and sending the torso falling downward, which she intercepts with the other foot, shattering it into flying shards. Then she catches the falling head as her feet touch ground from the spinning double-kick, placing it on her shoulder theatrically.

"Ah...so not just hit and break, but completing actual moves. That makes sense. Difficult, but not as much mind blowing boredom." Jason nods in approval, finally figuring it out what Cassandra wanted. "Perhaps you can share some practice with me some day," a lopsided grin appearing on Jason's lips.

Cass nods understandingly at that, her eyes rolling at the thought of just hitting over and over. "Moves on here...can not practice on...people. Have to..." She pauses, frowning and having real trouble with the concept. She thinks, then says, "Think of them as...attacking. Not still. Moving."

Then she motions to the dust pile, and says, "Out of...dummies now. Something...else." She flips the head into the corner, not concerned that it's the only piece left that's recognizeable.

Hood shakes his head and just walks after Cassandra. He seems pretty chilled right now, laid back even...relaxed. So strange for him to be like this...but it seems to happen more and more often around Cassandra even when she gets dark and creepy. "Why not practice them on real people? Certainly make less criminals in the city," half jesting.

Cassandra Cain leans on a ladder that leads upward to an overhanging catwalk. She slumps a little, her body suggesting that she's thinking, but her face is turned away from Jason so it's hard to tell for certain. She swings her right foot a little, lifting her hand to look at it in front of her face, and says after due consideration, "Because...I..." That's it, no more words.

"Won't kill?" Jason finishes it for Cassandra. "The old man's rules." But he walks up to Cassandra, being careful not to be quiet as he places a hand on her shoulder. "Hey...I think you guys are nuts for that rule, but...I don't like you less over it even if I get angry over it sometimes."

Cassandra turns to look at Jason, and she's honest. She always has been. She looks almost like she's...awkward? Definitely sad, and upset. "No," she says, that's not it apparently. She shakes her head, then punches the wall making her leather glove impact with it solidly. "Not...him. Me."

A wrinkle of Jason's brow, "Why?" He thought Cassandra just followed the rules, not that she made them himself. He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Hey, look at me, and no punching me," he warns with the last part. Only if Cassandra doesn't resist will he turn her toward him. "You can do this girl, you have already proven you can do the impossible."

Cassandra is easy to turn, not resisting. She does however lean against Jason a little, showing more weakness than she generally does to anyone. She doesn't meet his eyes for a moment though, and when she does it's a tormented look. "You...do not...know?" She asks. Girl has got to learn to use contractions.

Suddenly her right hand rockets upward, her index and ring finger cocked and ready to grip, and she reaches to just lightly place them at the killing point on Jason's throat. The place that even a tiny child could rip out a fully grown adult's larynx if they applied more than ten pounds of pressure. She's not trying to attack, she's showing him something important. Important to her, anyway, from the look on her face.

Jason doesn't budge, showing his trust in Cassandra that she won't seriously hurt him, though there is a wariness in his eyes at the move. He knows this move, taught to him by the League of Assassins. A move he doesn't personally use however. "That's a killing blow, requires little poundage of force behind it to get the job done." His eyes search Cassandra's. "A move for an assassin."

Cassandra lowers her hand. She looks at Jason, steeling herself, and says, "Computer. Cassandra Cain. First sighting. Play." She motions to the screen, still talking, still explaining herself. "I see...thoughts. Through body motion." To her, that's a freaking essay.

The computer screen lights up however, showing what looks like a mob boss. Big guy, lots of guards, a fuzzy picture. He's sitting at a desk, and a young asian girl is led in that looks a LOT like Cassandra. Maybe nine years old'ish. She smiles. He smiles. He motions her forward. She walks up and rips out his throat, staring into his eyes. She watches him die with his blood oozing down her arm. The video ends.

Jason mmms and goes to look at the screen. He watches. He frowns. He then sighs, "Shit. Just a little kid," and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "And you never learned how to talk till you let someone screw with your mind. You were trained to be an assassin, and by choosing not to kill, you give your original fate the middle finger." He sighs and lowers his hand, looking at Cassandra.

Hood then steps forward to give her a hug if she permits. "Killing doesn't make you a monster kiddo, let alone when there is a time where you didn't even know you had a choice. I'm a monster, not you. You don't have a demon inside you, I swear it. You can be scary, terrifying even, but you are a good person deep down." Great, Jason is actually pep talking Cassandra...and if he was being his usual self, he would be gagging right now on his own finger as he watches himself be all emotional and lame!

Cassandra Cain doesn't pull back from the hug. She actually hugs back, though he did miss a big part. He got the general idea though. "Close...enough," she says, actually chuckling a bit, and she gives Jason a hug hard enough to make his bones creak. Then she gets a mischievous look on her face and swats Jason in the back of the head, saying, "Tag," and her muscles all go limp, slipping down out of the hold like an eel, and she's between his legs and running for one of the six subway exits!

Jason grunts, "Abuse," he squeaks again. "Ack!" And then Jason is running after her! "That does it girl, and here I don't even have my helmet, but I'm going to tan your hide!" Geez, he actually grins wickedly at that, at the thought of spanking Cass....not that he would...he thinks!

Cassandra Cain runs into the subway tunnel and up the wall, leaping to grab a metal rung in the ceiling, and she vaults her legs upward to kick out the grating in the top. She's out and into the streets of Gotham in seconds, having the bonus of knowing this area better than she knows her own room. And she knows her own room pretty damn well. Her laugh comes down from above, mocking and evil.

Luckily, Jason did see her and goes to mimic her moves, showing his Robinesque skills that he learned so long ago in acrobatics! The skills he uses when he pretends to be Nightwing. He is soon up and out, after Cassandra, only a little slower than she is as he learns where he is.