Absolute Blood by Red-Rum-18
The year is 2015. William Kane, one of America's wealthiest philantrophists and entrepeneurs, is having his birthday on November 8th, and his family will be joining him for it and Thanksgiving. His elder daughter, Sgt. Kate Kane of the US Armed Forces, is coming home from a tour of duty, and her little sister Bette Kane is coming in all the way from college. A few nights before, the sisters were picked up by Alfred Pennyworth, assistant to their cousin Bruce Wayne, who is the new head of their father's company Kane International. As they drove off away from the airport, two dark figures raced across the rooftops of their city of Pittsburg, PA. One is the Batman, the dark knight of justice and secret identity of Bruce Wayne, and the other is the Catwoman, master thief and costumed identity of Selina Kyle. While Batman was pursuing Catwoman for her latest heist, even though she swore that her life of crime was over, Alfred, his friend and loyal assistant in his crusade, drove by a desolate alley. Bette took a cursory glance and saw a young girl, beaten and bloody, running with a scared look on her face. They stopped the car and the sisters went after her. The young girl was running away from a crazed hobo wearing a tattered superhero-style costume, seemingly based on Batman, and carrying a hatchet and a bottle of bleach. The girl was cornered by him, but Kate and Bette attacked him to defend her. He passed out after Bette kicked him square in the balls, which also made him barf up the yellow paint and uncooked sewer rats he had for dinner. The girls tried to comfort her, but she was still looking at something. They turned to see armed street thugs, the Killer Crocs Gang, with their shotcaller Waylon Jones. Jones claimed that the young girl had stolen from them, and that they're here to collect, "with either money or flesh". Alfred saw what was happening and launched a hidden drone from the trunk of their car. The quadcopter launched a few smoke pellets and projected a hologram of Batman to scare the gangsters. They fired wildly to kill the imaginary vigilante as the drone fired non-lethal rounds to take them down, allowing the girls to escape. As for the real Batman, he had caught Catwoman, but he turned his back to recieve a call from Alfred about what happened with his cousins. He then turned back to see that Catwoman had escaped and disappeared, but at least he reclaimed what she stole...
The girl was transported to Elliot Memorial Hospital and examined. All she did the whole time was stare blankly at the wall of whichever room she was in at the time. The doctor talked to Kate and Bette, who were later joined by their father William, along with Bruce, Alfred, and Bruce's girlfriend Barbara. The doctor said that she had extensive old scars on her body from years of abuse and exposure to the elements, including a deliberately-carved S-shaped scar. She also displays symptoms of a disorder on the autism spectrum. Kate said she wanted to talk to her. She spoke to her in English at first, and then in one of the Asian languages she knows until the girl responded to Mandarin Chinese. She said her name is Cassandra Wu-San and she explained her circumstances. Cassandra, 17 years old, was born and raised in China by a single mother. A year ago her mother disappeared and Triad thugs, looking to collect money she owed, took her as a prostitute to work off the debt. Cassandra escaped and traveled across the world to do something with her life, not knowing whether or not she could ever find her mom. In Africa, an American man with a missing eye took care of her, but then started forcing her into sex and he carved the "S" scar into her body. She escaped him, too. That's when she ended up in Pensylvania. After hearing this, William decided to take the girl into his home, as her legal guardian, so that she can recover and immigration services cannot deport her. As they left the hospital to take Cassandra to Kane Manor, Bruce was met by the vigilante Nightwing, who informed Bruce, who he recently learned is also his former teacher Batman, that she might actually be working for Slade Wilson and using her as a pawn against Batman for what Nightwing did to him. Bruce said he'll keep that in mind...
The party they had intended that year for their father's birthday was awkward, as Cassie had been adamant about staying in the guest room she was provided, not wanting to be in the way of others, and Kate and Bette couldn't help but worry about her. That is, until William gave them the go-ahead to let them talk to and hang out with her, since he was also worried about the young girl and she has no-one else besides some "kind strangers". Cassie was at the window when the sisters came in. The three girls spent that night talking to Cassie, watching classic movies, and letting her try on their clothes and makeup. Kind of like the normal childhood she was denied. But then a horrible clatter came from the main hall, and Kate and Bette got up to check it out. Masked thugs had attacked the Manor; Barbara and Alfred had been knocked out and Bruce and William had been tied down. Kate grabbed a handgun from her father's safe and threatened to kill one of the thugs if they didn't free her family. The leader, in heavy armor and a pale mask, killed the hostage himself and the thugs trained their guns on her. She turned to see Bette knocked out by Cassie...
In the sewers of their beloved city, the Kane family were chained-up in a chamber by Hush and his minions, the Rumors. With Cassie standing next to him, holding a knife, Hush proclaimed that he Kane's contributions to society have done nothing to stem crime and poverty in their city, and that he claims to seek vengeance for the abandoned and forgotten of the city. Kate asked why Cassie works for Hush, and he said that he's going to help her find her mother. As the Rumors drew their guns to be their firing squad, thrown blades and gas pellets swarmed from the ceiling to knock them down! Batgirl and Nightwing attacked Hush and his men as Catwoman, not wanting to lose Bruce (even though he's with Barbara now), undid the locks and helped them escape. Kate remained behind to steal a gun from a Rumor to fight Hush, but Batman appeared to take the gun from her, saying that killing won't be nessecary. Batman and Hush fought and knocked each other into the waters; the current carried them into another chamber, and Kate followed. Kate saw Cassie try to fight Batman, with a pretty high level of skill in-fact, but he knocked her down. Hush's masked cracked and fell, revealing him to look almost exactly like Bruce's deceased step-father Thomas Wayne. Hush's true name is Thomas Wayne, Jr., who was disowned by his father when he was 13-years old, only a few months before he met Bruce's mother. He knows that Bruce is Batman and is here for what his father denied him and gave to total strangers. He said, "You're lucky he died, Bruce... he died before he found out what you are!" Batman said that, despite Hush's claim that he's squandering their money with his futile crusade, he got to where he is without the inheritance and only by the grit of his teeth. Hush said that he know's Bruce is lying, because he's a 'good liar himself'... "How do you think I got Cassandra to serve me?!" That's when Cassie stabbed him in the back and allowed him to fall through the grating into the sewer waters below. Cassie, crying, collapsed into Kate's arms.
William, Kate, and Bette now know that Bruce is Batman. William doesn't approve of Bruce, who is basically his adopted son, being a vigilante... but decided that Bruce is more of an "anonymous concerned citizen" than "vigilante". The police arrested the Rumors for kidnapping, but couldn't find Hush's body, and Cassie was found not responsible in juvenile court for her part. William pulled some strings to get Cassie legal citizenship, and he officially adopted her as his daughter. Cassie was elated to have a new family, one who forgave her for giving the manor's security codes to Hush, and she legally changed her name to Cassandra Kane.
That night, Cassie had the first pleasant dream she had in a long time. It was her mother, holding her in her arms and saying "Stay safe, and stay sweet... my little robin."
Notes:
* Since William Kane's name is a fusion of Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, their birthdays have been amalgamated as well.
* The freak that attacked Cassie is "Crazy" Steve Miller, America's favorite drug-addicted hobo.
** His patchwork Batman costume is an amalgamation of "Batman of Zor-In-Ar" and "The Fixer from 'Holy Terror'".
* Waylon Jones, instead of having a mutation or debilitating disease, has tattoos, piercings, and body modifications that make him look monstrous.
* Slade Wilson, enemy of Nightwing, did indeed train Cassandra how to fight.
** Nightwing also forgave Cassie for what she did, though he's disappointed that he couldn't find out whether or not Slade is still alive or not...
* Cassie will learn English for when she goes into high school.
* Cassie was at the window because she was handing a paper with the security codes off to a Rumor
** Rumors are named after a villain from "The Batman Strikes", who was a Hush replacement.
