InsaneJournal

Who: Cassandra Cain and Kate Kane
What: Training and talking
When: Backdated: End of March; Before the body swap
Where: A rooftop
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete!

It had been awhile since Cass had seen Kate, but when the other woman had contacted her to do some training, Cass had jumped at the chance. Aside from spending her days in the gym, helping to train other gymnasts as well as doing her own workouts, she didn’t have much going on, so spending some time with Kate would be fun. Kate had suggested they meet on a rooftop in town, one that Cass had actually patrolled from before, so she knew it well. Not sure if Kate was going to be in costume, Cass had packed parts of her Black Bat costume in a duffle and worn her workout clothes.

Kate wore workout clothing too. It was broad daylight and plenty of other people did parkour type stuff outside. They just weren’t as good as the Batpeople were. She’d already started limbering up when Cass arrived on the rooftop. “Got here early, wasn’t really waiting.”

“Hey, how’s it going?” Cass asked, adjusting the strap of her bag, “I didn’t think we’d be in costume, but I brought a few things from mine that we could possibly work with later.” A few things from her utility belt as well as the gloves from her Black Bat costume, which unlike her Batgirl costume, had claws at the end of each finger.

“Pretty good. And might be a good idea. We could always do a patrol later.” Kate rolled her shoulders. “And maybe extra danger couldn’t hurt.” She’d set up a punching bag as well as a roof-top obstacle course. Plenty of other people did parkour, but she’d taken it to the next level.

“I feel like I’ve filled my quota for patrolling for the a year after that rise in the crime rate the last few months,” Not that Cass didn’t plan on patrolling every couple of nights anyway, “Did that all feel really Gotham to you? Like aside from the part where the criminals here are pretty amatuer compared to Gotham, it all felt a little dreamlike. Do you know what I mean?” She hoped that Kate understood, otherwise she probably just sounded like she was babbling.

“What, that wasn’t fun for you?” Kate teased. “It was a blast for me. All the extra bruises, the broken rib. Just so much fun.”

“I don’t think fun would be the word I’d use,” Cass smirked and started stretching. She had a feeling that Kate wasn’t going to go easy on her, but then she wouldn’t expect that. Not from a Bat. “Ouch. The broken rib part sounds pretty crappy. The bruises too, but at least those go away before a rib heals.”

“Usually.” She lifted her fists. “Come at me with your best shot, Cass.” She wanted to get right to it. Work up a sweat, then start beating on dummies, but sometimes the best warmup was with a member of the team.

Cass stood up straight as Kate beckoned her to come at her and did just that. Over the last two years, since Cass had first dreamt of being trained, she’d become almost as good as her dream self and when she was out patrolling or simply practicing, she incorporated her gymnastics tecniques into her moves. By now it was almost like second nature and she barely needed to think about what she was doing.

Parries and blocks came naturally. Kate’s fighting style had always been a little acrobatic, but there was that military brutality that was ingrained in her. The military had long trained soldiers in martial arts and unarmed combat, and she’d been trained by the military. At least in her dreams.

Obviously, she didn’t want to injure Cass, so she avoided some techniques. And it was just a warm up, so it wasn’t like they were actually fighting. If they were, one or both of them could have ended up dead.

“Nice.”

Cass was glad that her and Kate were on the same side, because if she ever had to really go up against her, well that was a scary thought. They were practically equal so the outcome wouldn’t be a good one.

“Thanks. When I first realized I could do this, I wasn’t really sure what I was gonna do with it.” Cass said, backing down to stretch again while she had the chance, “But in a way, this is fun. You know?” The whole rise in the crime rate itself hadn’t been fun, but being able to do the things that she could was what was fun.

Kate rolled her shoulders. “Yeah, it’s fun.” She walked over to a punching bag and got it set up. “How’s your personal life?”

“Eh, the same as usual. Aside from teaching and training, it’s mostly boring.” Cass said, following Kate over to the punching bag, “Although, Laura is gonna be moving back in, so that’s something.” Cass was excited about her friend moving back in. “How about you?”

“Elsa and I have actually gotten around to some wedding planning.” She punched into the bag. “How horribly domestic, right?”

“Really? That’s great.” While Cass watched Kate at the bag she did some more stretching, wanting to be ready for the next thing that they did, “Have you set a date yet?” Cass was glad that someone was having a successful love life; unlike her.

“We’re aiming for August. With Elsa’s gifts, we can have a nice romantic snow flurry on a sunny day.” She spun around, kicking the bag with several short jabs of her foot. “What about you? Any luck on the domestic department?”

“Just make sure she doesn’t accidentally cause a blizzard. I’ve seen enough snow to last a lifetime.” After the blizzard in December, Cass could do without more snow. Although, a little controlled flurry wouldn’t be horrible. Cass did a back walkover as Kate asked her question and she shook her head as she stood up straight again, “That would be a big fat no.”

“If I stood her up at the altar, she’d cause a blizzard.” Kate grinned. “But I’m not going to do that. This isn’t like the dreams, where I gave up on happiness to protect the woman I loved and her kid.” It hurt a little to think about, but that had been so important that Mags not lose custody of her daughter. And being in a relationship with Kate Kane nearly made that happen. “I’m sure your luck will change eventually.”

Cass laughed and nodded, “Then it’s a good thing you’re not planning on doing that cause the last thing I want is to pull out my boots and jacket and all that.” Cass hadn’t really had any relationships aside from the short lived one with Superboy in the dreams so she didn’t have much of a love life there either, “I’ve been waiting for it to change for awhile.”

“Maybe you could take a proactive approach?” Kate leaned against the punching bag, folding her arms. The one thing she’d learned from the dreams was that it was really important that they have a normal life on top of the heroics.

“You mean, ask someone out first?” Cass asked, “Did that once. He left the country a few weeks later.” Moving towards Kate, Cass gestured towards the bag, wanting to get a few punches in.

Kate grabbed the bag to steady it for Cass. “Well, that wasn’t your fault. Just some bad luck.”

“I seem to have a lot of bad luck when it comes to guys.” There had been Logan and then two guys who had left town. “People tell me that I’ll find a guy when the time is right, but I just get so frustrated when I see everyone else pairing off.” She hit the bag a few times in an attempt to get some of her frustrations out. “I never did the dating thing when everyone else was cause I spent pretty much my entire life in the gym. My dad said dating would complicate my routine.”

“I honestly spent a long time just screwing around. Picking up girls for a night or a weekend. Part of it was just a bad relationship in high school. Part of it was rebelling against… everything. But looking back, I wouldn’t really change it. Maybe break a few less hearts.”

Cass punched the bag a few more times before she stopped and flexed her fingers, “I guess I just have to wait until the time is right, as they say.” When that would be, she had no idea, but part of her really hoped that it was soon, “So, should we get in some parkour?”

“Just try to keep up with me,” Kate replied. Her eyes flashed, and she rolled her shoulders.