PG-13.


Robin's Return: Cassie

by Sage






"See? Like this!" Cassie twisted Bart's wrist and flipped him neatly across the mat.

Landing in a blur of yellow and red, he rolled his eyes and announced, "It's lunchtime."

"Oh, yeah!" Kon agreed, jumping out of Cassie's reach and swooping down the corridor in Bart's wake.

"Wusses!" she yelled after them. Tim stood at the edge of the mat shaking his head. "What?" she asked, returning his gaze.

He shrugged. "You were trained by Artemis. They're afraid."

"They should be," she answered, eyes gleaming with predatory fire.

Tim stepped forward, a challenging smirk playing on his lips.

She tossed her lasso aside. "Ok, Mister Lady-Shiva-was-just-one-of-my-sensei, let's go." With a curt nod, he dropped his cape and shifted into stance as she moved in.

He struck a split-second before she pounced, tagging her in midair before whirling free of her grasp. He punched, she blocked. She threw him and he rolled swiftly away. He recovered with a handspring kick to her torso, but she dodged. Then she countered with a spin kick, which he immediately realized he should've dodged. Instead, he caught her leg, holding her foot aloft just short of his head.

A normal opponent would've been forced into a handstand or else crash to the ground, but Cassie floated up, using his hold to give herself added leverage.

"Powers," he said. If she were a real enemy, nothing would prevent her from simply kicking him in the head with her other foot.

"Keep you on your toes," she called out, twisting in the air for another strike.

He torqued her ankle and aimed a nerve-strike at her opposite hip. Her parry knocked his wrist away, and she landed a solid kick to his chest. It was only a fraction of her strength, but it was enough. Reeling back, Tim lost his grip on her boot. Cassie swerved above his head, inverted, and swept his legs out from under him with both arms. Tim rolled, but she already had him—thigh, bicep, and shoulder.

"Pin," she said, her eyes sparkling.

Catching his breath, he wrapped his legs around her hips and held on. "Pin."

"Mmmh, nice," she said, and leaned in to kiss him.

Tim closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the soft insistence of her mouth, the crush of her body against his own, the heat of her back under his forearms. He cradled her ass with a gauntleted hand and squeezed until she rocked against him. Cassie was smaller, denser than Steph, and felt—

Tim pushed the grief away, banished the memory of Stephanie's last, lingering embrace.

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

He toggled off his whiteout lenses. "I really missed this."







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