slowspeedster | (August 9) For Cassie

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cassie

(August 9) For Cassie

Kon had given him the the nickel tour of the compound, which had garnered him a Green Lantern t-shirt and some jeans that might survive being worn, if not for too long. Then they'd headed towards where Cassie lived. At least, that's what Kon had said, but he wasn't entirely sure. Besides, his best friend had practically run away after pointing out which structure was hers.

Structure was definitely the word, because he wasn't even certain he'd want to live in something that looked like a reject from Robinson Crusoe. He hoped it was a lot better built than first impressions gave it. There were plenty of huts they'd passed, and this one did look more sound, but it was still something built from branches and palm fronds and things.

And what was the proper way to announce one's presence? Did he walk up and knock, or call out, or clap his hands, or what? He wasn't even sure how to approach before some animal growling from inside the structure made that a moot point. He really hoped it was a dog, but he wasn't going to put any other creature out of the realm of possibility. Stranger things had already happened this day.

"Uh, hi?" he called out, warily.

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If it weren't for her school work, Cassie would have gone crazy. It was so hard to get up to the compound without help with her crutches and she didn't want to bother Chekov and Anatoly too much, since they were the two who came to see her the most.

As for Kon, Cassie was furious with him. So what if she had a broken leg, that didn't mean he had to totally disappear on her! She hadn't abandoned him when he'd been sick but one broken bone and she saw where she stood with him.

She looked up from the book she was reading when Iris started growling at the door. It was a deep fierce growl that she reserved for strangers and Kon, Anatoly and Chekov just earning glares now as long as they bribed her with food. "Come in!" She called as she carefully scooted to the edge of the bed and picked up her crutches so she could stand. "Iris, stay."

The voice was a relief. It sounded like Cassie, which meant he might be able to relax a little. Maybe. If the other inhabitant didn't like the taste of speedster. He opened the door, but stood there for a long moment, taking it all in.

"Hey," he said, quietly, not crossing the threshold just yet. "I'm not going to become kibble for showing up, am I? Because if that's the case, I can try to run after Kon..."

Cassie was half way to the door and she just stopped and stared. It was Bart...a much younger Bart then the last one, but her heart still clenched when she saw him. After all, the last Bart was the last reason she and Kon weren't together anymore and she'd never been able to forgive him for that.

Iris caught on to her girl's shock and stood up to stand in between Cassie and the boy at the door, baring her teeth. "Iris no! Go lay down." She said forcefully, glaring at the Golden until she had returned to her place, though she never took her eyes off Bart. Then Cassie looked back up. "Uh...Hey Bart. And I wouldn't do that. Iris hates Kon most of all."

"Which might explain why he vanished on me," Bart said, uncertainly. "I just didn't want you to find out another way or something. Just washed up. Literally. One moment we were heading out on a routine call from the Tower, and next thing I know, I can't run on water."

He shrugged a little. "You?"

Cassie winced. "I wouldn't say that's why he vanished. Ever since I broke my leg, he's been a no show wherever I am." She grumbled bitterly before she carefully moved back into the hut and sat down on one of the chairs in the common area. "Come sit down. So, it sounds like your from my future. I'm from," She paused to swallow thickly, "before Donna died. Have you uh..." How did someone ask if the person had died yet back home without traumatizing both of them.

Bart shook his head a little at that. "Maybe he's worried you'll beat him with your crutches. Casts probably don't make good weapons because you might re-injure something," he offered.

"Yeah, I lived through that one. I'm from, well, strange as it sounds, Kon and I got brought back, mostly to deal with that bastard who killed him. It's Brainy's fault. But things are...better, I guess. More stable."

Despite herself, Cassie's mouth perked up at the corner in a small smile. "Somehow I doubt that's it but thanks." She didn't really want to go into it either.

"You guys were brought back?" Cassie couldn't help but be excited about that, even if she'd never lived through their deaths. Hearing about it was bad enough. "That's great! And Brianiac? Why am I not surprised." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Kon told you about the Luthor here. It's insane."

"About...no, he must have missed that one," Bart said, chewing on his lower lip as he thought back through the conversation. "I was a little busy complaining about what salt water was doing to my uniform and not having a change of clothes to get more than the Cliff's Notes version."

"Well, that's a surprise since he's all chummy with him. I'll let Kon give you the details there." Cassie said, a bit bitterly. "Though, the guy Luthor is living with isn't so bad." She added with a content smile as she though of her adoptive father. "I don't know what he sees in him, but Anatoly's really nice. You'll like him."

She was feeling oddly relaxed around this new Bart, which was good. She hated to think what would happen if someone ever explained to Bart about the old one and the related trouble.

"So, he gave you the island run down already?"

"No powers, no way off, no junk food except twice a year," Bart said, ticking each one off on a finger. "The old and decrepit version of me was here before, and it's probably a good idea to leave it there. Did I miss anything?"

He shrugged, and thought it through. "As for that, the Kon I know still tries to find reasons to believe that evil isn't something you inherit. Haven't you ever wondered about your father?"

"Leaving it at that is good. And no, that's about it. Except the dinosaurs, did he mention those? They are indirectly the cause of this." She said as she waved at her cast, propped up on a low table.

Cassie chewed her lip for a moment before shrugging. "Of course I have. And I know Kon is worried about half his DNA being from Luthor but...it's Lex Luthor. How can we not worry about him? So he's from another universe, that still doesn't make him good. He even went certifiably insane earlier this year."

Bart wasn't sure what to say, really. "I'm not sure what to say about Luthor, Cass. Kon's not a bad judge of character," he said, trying to believe that. "I haven't met the guy, but I have met alternate universe version or two of plenty of people. Like being in the same room with three Brainiac-5's."

"Well, you have good experience for being here. When I arrived, we had a version of Superman who was 18 and looked exactly like Kon. It wasn't pretty." Cassie shook her head as she remembered all the trauma that had caused and her internal confusion over finding both the young versions of Superman and Luthor hot.

"Uh, wow," Bart said, and he was pretty sure he looked as lost as he felt. "I'm still not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be thinking right now. Or doing. It's pretty strange, even for us."

It was the lost look that did it. This wasn't the Bart who had broken her heart to pieces. Whatever resentment she still held towards him, Cassie quickly swallowed. "Your probably going to feel like that for a while. Gods, I still feel that way sometimes. But hey, at least you have friends to help you right?"

"Except for the leg, you look amazing," Bart said, smiling slightly. "And yeah, I've got you. And Kon. It's almost like home."

At the compliment, Cassie flushed with a smile that flattered when he mentioned Kon. "Yeah. Almost like home." Then she shook her head. "Speaking of Kon, you might want to go find him again, I'm not that best tour guide at the moment." She said, nodding to her crutches.

"I think I can find my way back to the bleak building with the cheery name all right," Bart said, reaching over to put a hand on hers. "Besides, I owe it to my big sister to visit. If there's anything else I could do...?"

Cassie's smile returned as she squeezed his hand. "Don't be a stranger. Thankfully I only have a couple more weeks in this thing. Then, I think I can make room for another training partner if you want."

"Training? What, like back home? I'm a little slow, now, in case you didn't notice," Bart said, although he was teasing about the last. If there wasn't a place on the island for a speedster, he didn't really need fancy powers. "But you know me, it doesn't bruise my ego to be beaten by a girl."

The bad joke just made her roll her eyes. "And I'm a little grounded. Still helps to stay in shape. And believe me, there isn't much else to do." Sometimes Cassie felt like that's all she did was knock boys on their asses.

"It makes things complicated, huh?" Bart said, grinning. "I bet I can work with that. You want to go running, too? Well, once you're allowed."

"Once I'm up and cast-less, your on Impu...uh, so what are you called now?" Her Bart had been Impulse and the one who had been here before had been The Flash. She had absolutely no idea what this Bart would be called back home.

"Kid Flash. With both Grandpa Barry and Wally playing scarlet speedster, I can live with being the kid in the family," Bart said, and couldn't help the giant grin that came with those thoughts. "And there's a new Impulse, too. Wally's daughter, Iris."

"A girl in the Flash family? Now I've heard everything!" She said with a laugh, unable to picture Bart's Impulse costume on a girl.

"What about Jesse Quick? Well, before she became Liberty Belle," Bart said, remembering. "It's not like it's impossible, and believe me, I was as surprised as everyone else when she picked that out of thin air."

He grinned at that again. "She's a good kid, and already making Wally bite his tongue."

"Oh right." She'd forgotten about Jesse, probably because she didn't know her personally at all.

"It's still weird...thinking that there's a new Impulse. When I left home, you were still Impulse. And things were so much simpler apparently." With everything she kept hearing about home, she was glad she hadn't had to live through it.

"Yeah, I didn't become Kid Flash until after we joined the Titans," Bart felt he should say. "Wally'd been all on me about responsibility and the like, and after, well. Some things happened, and it made me realize that one day I was going to be the Flash, and I might as well start filling those boots."

He shrugged. "Not everything is that bad, not now. I mean, well, Kon and I come back."

"Thank god," She breathed out in relief, unable to help herself. Just knowing they'd both died was bad enough, she certainly was glad she'd never had to live it. Crying over Kon's statue had been bad enough. "I don't know how I feel about me being leader of the Titans though. Wasn't like, Nightwing or Cyborg the leader?"

"You were the leader of Young Justice, too. Well, after we voted," Bart said, smiling slightly. "And yeah, when we first joined up, Vic and Gar and Kory stuck around as senior Titans. As for Nightwing, well, there's been a lot of changes in the lineups since, well, since Kon died, really. It wasn't his fault, and he did what he had to.

"Cyborg's actually with the League now. We've got some fresh blood on the team. It seems a little strange to be the older and more experienced ones for a change, let me tell you."

"Yeah, I lived through that. Still can't believe the voting went that way." Cassie said with a small shake of her head. "Or that we are senior anything. I remember when we had curfews and the adults didn't think we were capable of much of anything."

"Be glad you didn't live through the embarrassment of your 'big sister' deciding you weren't able to make the decision to join the Titans on your own," Bart said, grinning at the memory, even though he probably shouldn't be. "But we survived it all. Together."

She reached over and touched his arm. "Of course we did." Of course that thought also made her loose her smile for a moment. Together never had worked on the island, for any of them. She almost felt bad that Bart was going to have experience it now too. "So, you better go catch up with Kon if you want to find a place to sleep tonight." It didn't feel right offering him Donna's room, not to mention Iris would stalk him the whole night.

"I don't think he has a spare bed, but there's supposed to be a place back in the Compound," Bart said. "Have to work that one out later. Might have to wait until after I get some real clothes. Kon couldn't stop laughing."

He realized she wouldn't know why Green Lantern was funny, but he'd explain if she asked. "I expect Iris wouldn't want me to stay in her house, from the look of it."

"Yeah, the Crash Room. It'll do till we can figure something out."

She whistled slightly and dropped her hand so Iris would come to her, rewarding the Golden with a scratch behind the ears. "Bring food next time. It's made her like Anatoly kinda."

"I can probably manage that. She's a lot bigger than Dox ever got. Does she like playing fetch? I used to be pretty good at throwing a tennis ball," Bart offered. "Promise I won't try to come into her house without permission, though. I'd hate for her to feel obliged to do anything more than growl."

"She'd good at the fetching part. Just not the bringing it back." Cassie said with a small laugh as she looked down at her dog. "Just don't come in with Kon and you should be fine. She really doesn't like him."

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(August 9) For Cassie

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