I did that.  Every morning, since I was old enough to walk and handle a blade.  I think I was four…doesn’t matter though.  I did this routine until I left Father.  When I was traveling, I still meditated and did kata.  Then Barbara and Bruce took me in, and I continued routine.  With one difference.  No killing stroke.  That felt…good.

Today…was different.

-T-T-T-T-T-

Cass walked into the training room that Tim had shown her the day before, suited up in her full Batgirl suit.  She ignored the numerous weight machines and stair climbers and made her way to the workout mats.  She took several training dummies that were stored in a corner of the room and arranged them to her liking before sitting the middle of the mat, closing her eyes, and beginning her meditation.

Regulate the breathing.  In, out.  Center the self.  In, out.  In, out.  Someone is here, watching.  In, out.  Ignore them.  Center.  In, out.

She’d been aware of the other person’s presence despite their silent entry.  She’d heard the other set of exhales.  After a moment she felt them sit in front of her and match her breathing.  Satisfied they weren’t going to disrupt her, Cass continued her meditation.

After her prescribed fifteen minutes, she opened her eyes and saw Raven sitting across from her in a similar pose.  She looked as calm and serene as ever, and Cass couldn’t help but envy the seemingly effortless way Raven poised herself.  Her body language was calm, quiet, and peaceful.

“I could help you with your technique if you want,” Raven suddenly said.  Her voice, like her everything else about her, was calm and quiet.  Still, it startled Cass a little.

“T-Technique?” Cass stammered.  Raven opened her eyes and looked at Cass.

“Yes, your technique,” the elder girl said.  “You force yourself to center instead of letting your being experience what comes naturally.  To achieve true center, you must allow yourself to feel what is natural and to block out all other stimuli.”

Cass blinked.  She hadn’t thought about this, but it did make sense.  Her way of meditation was taught to her by Cain and she wouldn’t have been surprised if that was another way of forcing her into the mold he had set.  Still, she’d been doing this for so long that it would be uncomfortable to change now.

Dick once said that life is all about change though, and this was part of the reason why she was here with the Titans.  So what harm would there be in order to simply try out Raven’s method?

“Okay,” Cass agreed.  “What do I do?”

Raven smiled.  “First, take off your gloves and your mask.”

Cass fought back her urge to leave her mask on, but complied.  As the mask came off, she noticed Raven studying her face.  “My apologies,” she said.  “We only saw the lower half of your face at dinner last night, so this is my first time seeing you.”

“Sorry.” Cass said, embarrassed.

Raven shook her head.  “It is nothing to be ashamed of.  Those of use who…served with Richard know what kind of value the Batman places in secrecy and that he passes it on to those he takes in.”  Her eyes became distant.  “All of us have had our own secrets at one point or another.”

Cass fidgeted uncomfortably.  Raven noticed and smiled again.  “I am sorry, I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable.  Let us begin by putting your hands on your knees, palm up.  Close your eyes and breathe easily through your nose.  Keep your back straight, and relax…”

 

-T-T-T-T-T-

Morning routine took longer.  Felt better though.  More focused.  At peace.  Decreased time spent with dummies.  Asked Raven to meditate tomorrow too.  She was happy and agreed.

When we left gym, Tim saw us and asked if I had made new friend.  I stopped to think.  Friend?  Was Raven a friend?  Hadn’t thought about it.  Said so and Tim nodded.  “I’m just teasing.  Raven’s good though if you need someone to talk to if something’s bothering you.”

“Helping me meditate,” I replied.

Tim blinked and smiled suddenly.  “That’s cool!  Usually she won’t meditate if there’s anybody else around.  She says we disturb her too much, too much mental chatter or something.  But if she’s working with you, that means she must like you.”

Judging from others, Raven’s opinion is important.  And Raven likes to work with me.

That makes me feel good too.

-T-T-T-T-T-

In keeping with their scheme, Slade began to build up Rose’s ego in antagonism to her future training partner.  Part of the plan was to build up her opponent and let Rose’s competitive streak take over from there.

“So her name is Goldilocks?” Rose asked, her nose scrunched in distaste as she ate her breakfast.

Slade nodded over his copy of the San Francisco Chronicle, pleased so far at his daughter’s reaction.  “Apparently she has control over her hair.  An odd ability, but one that can be useful in certain situations.”

Rose snorted.  “Yeah, up until she’s faced with a pair of scissors and a curling iron.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Slade warned.  “There is a reason she was recruited by the Brotherhood.”

”Of course there is.  They were over on their quota on animal gimmick villains and they needed another female with extendable body parts to balance things out for their Affirmative Action plan.”

-T-T-T-T-T-

I eat Rice Krispies for breakfast.  Sometimes I go to Dick and Babs’ house to eat if patrol ran late.  There I get scrambled eggs.  Always scrambled eggs, never any other way.  Only way Dick knows how to cook eggs.  If at Manor, Alfred fixes breakfast.  Always get Rice Krispies though, regardless of where I at.  Even went to Tim’s house after patrol once and ate his Rice Krispies.  He didn’t like that.  Turns out he likes his Rice Krispies too.

But today there were no Rice Krispies for breakfast.  Not at first anyway…

-T-T-T-T-T-

Cass and Tim entered rec room, still talking about her progress with her meditation.  “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that before,” Tim said.  “I mean we knew Cain taught you everything you knew, but I never connected him with your meditation techniques.”

Cass shrugged.  “It okay.  It being fixed now,” she said as she sat at the kitchen table and took off her cowl.  Cassie was already seated at the table reading a copy of the Gotham Post.

“Morning guys.  What’s up?” she said.

“Not much,” Tim replied.  “What do you want to eat, Cass?”

”I’ll have-“

”Orange jui-“

Both girls stopped and looked at each other.  “Oh boy, I hadn’t thought of this,” Cassie said.

Tim looked between the two before speaking to Batgirl.  “Cass, you mind if we call you Cassandra around here?  It’ll save on the confusion.”

Cassandra shrugged.  “Okay, sure.”

Cassie nodded.  “Thanks.  Mom only used my full name if I was in trouble, so it’d be weird if people started calling me Cassandra.”

Cassandra smiled as Bart and Conner entered the kitchen.  “No big.”

“Whatcha reading, Cassie?” Bart said as he past by the table on his way to the fridge.

Cassie looked up from her copy of the Post wearing a wry grin.  “Well, your guys’ obituaries for one.”

“Oh that’s coo-WHAT?!”  Conner and Bart sped over behind where Cassie sat on the couch, reading quickly over her shoulder.

“So, I’m supposed to be dead?” Conner exclaimed.

“And I’m the new Flash AND dead?” Bart chimed in.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders.  “Seems to be.  Though that’s nothing compared to what they have me doing.  According to one W. Pfeifer, me and Supergirl are leading the Amazons in an attack on the U.S.”

Conner blinked then shook his head.  “What the heck does Supergirl even have to do with Amazons?”

“Beats the heck outta me.”

Bart looked thoughtful.  “Can I have Florida when you’re done, Cassie?”

“Shut up Bart.”

“But it’s shaped like a dick.”

“Shut UP, Bart.”  Conner joined in that time.

Cassandra, who had been just listening to the by-play up to that point, was confused however.  “How is Florida shaped like penis?”

With speed that would’ve made any member of the Flash family proud, Tim and Conner slapped their hands over Bart’s mouth.  Tim leaned in very close, giving Bart a full dose of the Bat Glare.

“Not one word, not a single word out of you, Bart.  If you even attempt to explain that, I will break your legs.  Then tell Batman what you said, and I will stand by and watch the ensuing carnage.  And just in case there are still pieces of you that are breathing, I will tell Oracle and she will finish off what’s left.  Got it?”

Bart’s wide-eyed reply was muffled.  “….Mmffkayff.”

The other two boys nodded before Conner suddenly made a face.  “Good, now stop licking my hand.”

The girls rolled their eyes as Conner wiped his hand on his jeans and Bart made a face while wiping his mouth.  “Anyway Cassandra, what did you want?” Cassie asked.

Well, there was only one way to start the morning.  “Rice Krispies please.”

Cassie got up and began looking through the cabinets.  “Conner, did you remember to do the shopping?”

“No,” he replied as he opened the fridge.  “It was Gar’s turn to do it, remember?  We swapped last week since he had a science fiction con to go to.”

Cassie growled in exasperation.  “Well that’s good and all but we don’t have anymore Rice Krispies or Corn Pops.  Oh, and the Fruity Pebbles are almost gone too.”

Cassandra frowned.  “No Rice Krispies?”

Tim looked at Cassandra before looking at Bart.  “Would you mind running down to the store real quick for some cereal?  And get some eggs too while you’re at it.”

Bart shrugged.  “I guess.  Is there money on the check card?”

“Should be,” Conner said.  “I made the deposit last Thursday.”

“Kaybackinasec,” Bart buzzed before zipping out the door.

Cassandra blinked.  She was sad she didn’t have her favorite breakfast cereal, but she didn’t want to impose either.  She guiltily looked over to Tim.  “Didn’t want to cause problems.  Can eat anything else.”

Cassie smiled.  “It’s not a problem, really.  This is one of the perks of living with a Flash.”

Cassandra perked an eyebrow and was about to ask what she meant when an orange and red form flashed into the kitchen.  A second later before Cassandra could register who it was and what was happening, a bowl of Rice Krispies sat before her.  Cassandra squealed with delight as she dug in.

“Snap, crackle, pop!  Our Krispie quota is now at acceptable levels again, chief!” Bart said as he sped through the preparation of more bowls of cereal.  Soon four more bowls were set on the table in the span of five seconds.  “I also picked up some Pop-Tarts and Coco Puffs too in addition to the Krispies and Corn Pops,” he added as he broke open a package of the toaster pastries which then disappeared in three seconds.

“Thanks Bart,” Tim said as the rest began to eat.  Cassandra merely paused in her assault on the crackling cereal and smiled before returning her attention on the already half-empty bowl.

As far as she was concerned, there was no better way to start the morning.

-T-T-T-T-T-

Rose looked over at her father from her issue of People.  “Her costume is a pink dress?”

Slade smiled.  “Apparently she takes the theme of fairy tales to the hilt, hence her name and unique attire.”

“Pfft.  Sounds like somebody should take a road trip to Gotham.  I hear they have the market cornered on that sort of thing.”

“I doubt Cobblepot would appreciate her presence at the Iceberg,” Slade replied.  Though, he could appreciate the mental image that brought.  The kwaking would be instantaneous and long.

Rose shook her head.  “They’d probably stop her on account of not having three bears with her to complete the theme.”

-T-T-T-T-T-

Dick would tell us of times he, Flash, and Arsenal would bet each other.  Said monitor duty and training pairings were…decided by playing pool, foozball, or darts.  Loser buys lunch or does monitor duty next.

Not sure what “foozball” is.  Have to ask Tim later.

Anyways.  So things like this are decided by challenges and bets.  This seems to be carried over to Tim’s team.  And Garfield’s favorite challenge game is Phoenix Ninja...

-T-T-T-T-T-

The rest of the Titans had joined them and breakfast was concluded.  Vic decided to go down to the garage and work on the Titan space cruiser.  Bart was always interested in any space craft, owing to his futuristic up-bringing, and joined him.  Raven had retreated to her room for the time being and everyone else was lounging around the rec room.

Gar turned on the X-Box 360 and soon Phoenix Ninja was blaring from the surround sound set-up.  Conner soon joined him and the sounds of combat filled the room.  Mia and Cassie sat on the couch opposite the boys, comparing clothing notes from several catalogs and magazines.

Cassandra joined Tim at a table.  Several scheduling spreadsheets were before him and he had the same look on his face that Bruce did whenever going over JLA documents.

“What you doing?” she asked.

“Oh, just going over monitor duty schedules for the next month.  We have monitor duty just like the JLA does, though we just keep watch over the western seaboard.  When school is in, it’s usually Vic, Gar, or Raven that covers it during the week along with anybody that’s free.  During the summer, a good portion of us are usually here.  If you feel comfortable, I can set you up with one of the older Titans to show you what the regular procedure is for doing monitor duty.”

Cassandra blinked.  “You sure?  Reading still not too good.”

Tim looked at her.  “It’s not that bad.  It’s mostly being here for potential emergencies.  Besides, the computer is geared for voice commands too, just like the computer in the Cave.  Once you get the hang of things and where stuff is at, it’ll be cake.”

Cassandra nodded, satisfied.  “Kay doke.”

Tim smiled and penciled her in.  “Hey Gar, you’re on monitor duty this Friday.  You’re gonna be with Cassandra to show her the computer and where everything is at on it.”

Gar didn’t bother looking over his shoulder as Akimoto proceeded to beat Conner’s character, Jim Fury, to a virtual pulp.  “Nah, I was gonna go visit Matt down in LA.  Have Vic do it.”

“He’s already wanted that day off to go to that Hot Rod convention in Sacramento,” Tim replied.

Conner sighed as Akimoto stood triumphant over Jim Fury’s prone body.  “One of these days I’ll see you defeated at this game,” he grumbled.

“Hah, not likely C-Dog,” Gar crowed.  “I am the master of the Phoenix Ninja.  Sixty-four straight victories for yours truly.  Not even Vic’s beat me at this game.”

 

“You can stop now Gar,” Mia drawled. “If your head gets any more swollen, we’ll have to put a ‘Wide Load’ sticker on it.”

“This isn’t gloating, Mia.  This is just stating the obvious.”

Tim huffed and was about to tell Gar to get back to the subject of monitor duty when Cassandra shook her head slightly.  She turned to Gar.  “Can I play?”

Tim glanced over at Cassandra silently while Gar raised an eyebrow.  “Sure, I guess.  Though you just saw what happened to Conner, so it’s your funeral.”

Cassandra nodded and took Conner’s place on the couch in front of the TV.  “One thing,” she said.  “I win, you get monitor duty with me.”

That got Cassie and Mia to look up from their periodicals and Conner whistled in the background.  Gar merely laughed.  “All I gotta do is win?  I think I can do that.  You hear that fearless leader?” he called back to Tim.

“I hear it,” Tim replied.  As Cassandra picked her character, Conner walked up next to Tim.

“Dude, this is Gar’s game,” he muttered so only Tim could hear.  “Are you sure about letting her do this?”

Tim merely smiled as Akimoto and SilentShogee faced each other on screen.  “Pretty sure,” was all Tim said as the announcer shouted “FIGHT!”

-T-T-T-T-T-

Rose huffed from her position on the yoga mat.  “And we’re supposed to eventually train together?”

“Indeed,” Slade answered from the weight machine.  He did a few reps before continuing his reply.  “The Brain is rather intrigued about putting her up against a quality opponent.  He would’ve liked to have her go against the Titans, but for the moment he agreed to have the two of you train together.”

Rose twisted to the right as she raised her left arm into the air.  “You’ve gotta be kidding me.  The Titans?  What is she going to do, lecture them on hair care?”

Slade was chuckling on the inside.  This couldn’t have gone better than he had planned.  “I’m not sure, but the Brain was rather confident in her capabilities.”

“Right.  Says the same guy that is locked inside a lava lamp and who’s in love with a talking gorilla that wears a beret.  Cuz that ain’t gay or anything.”

Slade sighed.  “Please don’t bring that up in front of the Brain tomorrow.  He and Mallah are still rather sensitive about that Post story.”  That was mostly because Jerry Springer and Mark Burnett kept on calling them to make an appearance on their shows.  Even after three phone number changes and the threat of bombing the sets in the middle of their interviews.

Rose untwisted and came back to a sitting position.  “Fair enough.  But if she says anything about pirates, eye patches, or white hair and old age, all bets are off.”
 

-T-T-T-T-T-

First lesson from the Titans:  Betting monitor duty on Phoenix Ninja games is fun!  Will do this more often.  Though Garfield will probably not want to play me again.