Before

"No," Cassidy said, her eyes firm behind the smoked lenses of her glasses.

"Uh-huh," Lucy replied, studiously studying her nails. She switched hands, frowning at a mar in her nail polish.

Cassidy frowned at her, eyes hardening. Lucy added in a thrum of sound as she started humming tunelessly.

"Lucy," Cassidy began slowly. Behind her came the sound of metallic clanking.

"We just need some temporary help, that's all." Lucy glanced around the warehouse cautiously. It was full of intriguing things.

"Why should I help you at all? This is not my fight." Cassidy slowly shifted position on her giant toy block.

"Of course, it's your fight, too." Lucy frowned at her. "Do you think they'll just let you walk away?"

"I'm not a genius like Court or Jebediah. I'm not even special like San or Aarti. Why wouldn't they let me go? There's plenty of girls out there to be future containers, and smarts like mine are a dime a dozen." Cassidy barked out a humorless laugh. "And then we get to the real meat of it all. I just don't like you, Lucy."

"And this is new how?" Lucy gave an astonished shrug, widening her eyes for effect.

Cassidy clenched her fists. She never seemed to win her arguments with Lucy. She glanced away from her, searching the shadows.

"Why isn't Court with you? I wouldn't think he'd let you go five feet without him." Cassidy turned her attention back to Lucy.

"We've got bigger problems that need Court's attention. Backdoors don't write themselves, after all." Lucy bent and picked up a mechanical dog. It wriggled in her hands and barked. "So cute!"

"That is true. Backdoors are hard to put in place sometimes," Cassidy murmured. Then she paused and shook her head. "I can't believe you! Just ten minutes. Ten minutes!"

"I can't help it if I'm likable," Lucy argued. She reluctantly put the dog down. "Can I at least get a couple of these for Court? He'd be fascinated."

"Well, for Court, and, argh!" Cassidy grabbed her head with both hands and squeezed. "No, back to what we were talking about! I'm not helping!"

"But I kinda think you are?" Lucy replied. She strolled off to the side. "Ooh! Giant dollies! Can I get one of these, too! Your dad won't care, right? I have money if you need it!"

"I don't need money!" Cassidy called after her. She stared up at the ceiling. "Patience, Cass…Patience!" She ran her hands down her short bob of hair, ending up with clenched fists resting on her crossed legs.

*****

"And you're here," Carol said in an awed voice, looking up from the latest creation which looked like Gotham City Hall, only made out of blue and white striped candy.

"And so are you," Cassidy said defensively. She glanced to the side and then back towards the candy construction. "What's up with the candy building?" She asked as she slung her satchel onto a nearby sofa. It clinked when it landed, drawing a curious look from Leilani.

"They're obsessed with entering some food competition," Leilani said with a shrug.

"Wha?" was all Cassidy managed to get out before her arms were filled with a weeping, wailing Rena. All she could make out was a nonsensical story of glowing blue doors, overlords and a missing Jebediah. The only thing she believed was the Jebediah part.

"Rena! Rena! It's okay," Cassidy said, trying to pry her off. She glared at Lucy who looked away, feigning innocence. "This is the real reason you wanted me to come, isn't it?"

"You're creche-mates," Lucy pointed out. "Even more importantly, you're container- mates."

Cassidy closed her eyes, fighting to keep from throwing Rena to the floor and launching herself at Lucy for a satisfying spat. Lucy was right. Rena was her container-mate, after all, born just ten months after herself, just barely hitting the cusp of their year. She could remember scaring off other kids from messing with Rena while ignoring her herself. Cassidy ran a soothing hand up and down Rena's back. It was something her biodad did whenever she was upset, a surprisingly soothing gesture,

"Now, now, tell me what happened," Cassidy said in the calmest voice she could manage.

"I ate carbs! Loads and loads of carbs!" Rena sniffled, shivering. "It's all Lucy's fault for not saving Jebediah in the first place."

"Okay," Cassidy agreed slowly while looking at Lucy who threw up her hands and stalked into the shadows. Cassidy flicked a glance upwards to see if she could find the lights. The edges were just so sharp between this living space and the darkness beyond. "Lucy was supposed to save Jebediah how again?"

"Cassidy! So you got roped into this madness as well?" Aarti said as she sauntered into the bright light. She was chewing on an impossibly long stick of chocolate.

Cassidy gasped. She knew that long, lissome, delicious piece of candy.

"Yep," Aarti murmured around a mouthful. "That place is awesome! I might have to forgive Lucy for that hippo remark. I found it a bit accurate after thinking about it."

"Didn't you have, like, three or four bags of that stuff?" Leilani asked.

"Just two and now just this," Aarti agreed. "See? Spot on."

Cassidy glanced at Rena who had stilled when Aarti showed up. Based on her knowledge of her little container-mate, she was sure that Rena hadn't come back empty-handed from this mythical store.

"And what do you have stashed away?" Cassidy purred, images of ice cream and soda dancing in her head. They possessed similar tastes in food after all. Not men, though, she thought to herself with an internal shudder. Three seconds with Jebediah and she was looking for things to stab him with.

"You know, I feel much better right now," Rena said, pushing away from Cassidy. She flashed a brilliant white smile. "Let me just go make sure I cleaned up that mess I made."

Cassidy arched a brow and found Rena had vanished before she could even blink. She looked at Carol and Dawnie who shrugged and Leilani who nodded.

"Rena! Wait up for me!" She called, grabbing up her satchel from the sofa and following after her.

*****

"When I said that you should confront your inner demons, this wasn't what I had in mind," Cassidy said, frowning at the steel door in front of them.

Lucy gave her a wild smile. Beside her, Court rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the surveillance cameras. It was a given that there wasn't going to be a record of this visit in anything other than the guards' memories.

"We're just going to get some information," Lucy said. She twirled a length of light green hair around her finger before letting it swirl free. "In and out, okay?"

Cassidy bit back a sigh. Lucy was always like this when she was mad. She picked fights, pushed limits and enraged people she more than likely shouldn't and all done with that maddening smile. Still, she couldn't really blame her. Cassidy herself currently had a little brother who bothered her to pieces, but she'd still hung his bullies on the school flagpole when she found out. She wasn't sure if Lucy would appreciate the comparison, though. Niles and Lucy had a complicated relationship, and that was when they were still both just kids.

"Well, if you're sure," Cassidy said, holding up her hands in defeat.

She watched Lucy and Court stalk into the room while she mused that Arkham just didn't seem as bad as everyone kept saying it was…