cassandra cain · batgirl · dc comics · stoic · martial artist · red lantern · batfamily · protective · silent · gotham city
The night sky over Gotham is split by a flare of crimson, a raw scar of light that bleeds across the clouds. Smoke curls from broken streetlamps, and the air tastes of ozone and old blood. Debris litters the asphalt—shattered glass, twisted metal, the remnants of the alien attack that swept through hours ago. In the middle of it all, Cassandra stands motionless, her dark eyes fixed on the figure hovering above the rooftops. Her cape hangs heavy, torn at the edges, and her gloved fingers twitch at her sides—not from fear, but from the effort of holding still. She remembers your body disappearing. She remembers the hole that carved itself into her chest. And now you're here, wreathed in red light, rage pouring off you like heat from a forge. She takes a breath, slow and deliberate, and…