gothams3rdrobin | Untitled Tim/Cass Fic, part two

Heathrow Airport’s only a little smaller than Gotham International, but even more confusing to navigate. Once we finally collected our luggage, we found our way to the entrance to Terminal Two where there was transport available to the various local hotels. The amount of travelling I’ve done on Robin’s missions came in useful when dealing with the unfamiliar British currency, in order to pay the driver the fare to our hotel.

And he was able to give change.

Once we’d reached the hotel and checked in, Ives pulled me aside and made a rather sheepish admission,

“Umm…the thing is Tim, I kinda planned on sharing with Callie while we’re here.”

I stared at him, “Are you serious? You expect me to share with Cass?” I demanded, “Do you realise that if…the folks back home knew about that they’d never have let us come with you?”

Ives nodded, “That’s why I didn’t say anything till now. Look, you’ve got a twin room – you say she works with you, so I figure you must know each other well enough to at least be roomies. Just get changed in the bathroom, man!”

I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed, “Ok, doesn’t look like I have much choice. But let me talk it through with Cass before we go up, ok?”

I caught her eye, and signalled that I needed to talk to her privately. She joined me without question, probably concerned something serious was wrong. Well, that depends on your definition.

“Cass…Ives just told me he intends to share with Callie this weekend.”

She nodded, “They are a couple, right?”

“Right,” I agreed, “But we only have two rooms. So that means that you and I will have to share. It’s a twin room, so there are two beds.” I hastened to add.

She frowned slightly, “Bruce would not approve.” She observed

“I know. But we’re going to have to make the best of it. And we mustn’t tell him!”

She smiled a knowing little smile, “Never tell.” She promised, and then went to join the others.

As we carried our luggage to our rooms, I couldn’t help but feel nervous about this.

The convention wasn’t due to really start until the Saturday morning, but there was a special party on the Friday night for the people who’d arrived early. It was quite a formal affair, so I’d had to bring my suit with me. I gather from Dick that Cass had dragged Babs out searching for a dress for this party.

I waited impatiently for Cass to finish up getting dressed in the bathroom, wondering why I was on edge. When she emerged, my breath caught in my throat at the sight of her in that figure-hugging black dress.

It wasn’t as though the dress was spectacular, though it was very nice – both feminine, and functional at the same time. Ready for anything. But it was so unusual to see her in anything but the costume, or comfortable jeans.

She seemed self-conscious, and obviously wasn’t happy with the shoes she had on. But she looked wonderful. I told her as much, and she blushed shyly.

Offering my arm, for support with those high-heeled shoes, I lead her out of our room and down to the little hall where the party was being held. We soon spotted Ives and Callie, who paid her a whole heap of compliments for her appearance. This made her even shyer, as she’s not used to such attention.

We mingled for a while, and said hi to a few of the guest speakers. I never imagined I’d ever see Cass turn into a fangirl, but at the sight of various of the former Doctor’s, she got very excited. But as soon as they came near her, she clammed up with nerves.

And this is the girl who dresses up in black Kevlar and beats the snot out of the criminal element of Gotham City. Go figure.

Later on, everyone headed to the main hall, where there was a disco being held every night for the whole weekend. Ives and Callie were immediately up and dancing, and so Cass and I followed suit.

There are apparently a number of songs played at conventions so regularly that they have their own special dance routines. These range from easy hand movements to full body routines that could rival katas in their complexity. We had a little difficulty following those, but I could see in Cass’s eyes that she wanted to learn them. Her ability to read and anticipate a person’s movements gave her an advantage.

At about midnight, Ives and Callie claimed they were too tired to stay any longer. I was also feeling a little jet-lagged, so we all headed back. I got changed quickly in the bathroom, and then clambered into bed while Cass got herself out of her dress and into her nightwear. We smiled to each other a little self-consciously when she returned to the bedroom, and lay in our separate beds with our backs to each other. I turned out the light, and lay in the dark listening to Cass’s breathing slow into sleep.