*plink*...*chonk*...*twik*...*tonk*...every few seconds, there's a tiny
little impact on the metal casing surrounding the storm windows facing the
outside of Cassie's dorm room. They're reasonably regular, with enough
variation that it's obvious, well, someone's throwing pebbles at the
window.

A furious clatter of a keyboard can be heard, if one were to listen
closely and identify that it, at least, came from one specific room, that
is. So intent on the document on the screen, the platinum blonde, at
first, fails to recognize the distinct pattern of rocks being thrown at
her window seal. Pausing on her typing, Cassie's gaze dances towards the
window, hands lifting momentarily, before once agian, the slight *plink*
and *chonk* of sound echoes into the room. Driven by curiosity, and the
fact she hasn't seen her bestest bud and boyfriend in /ages/, Cassie
clicks on 'save', and proceeds to draw towards the window, lifting it up
to gaze down into the courtyard.

Score! Bart grins up at the window and carefully brushes his hair out of
his face, then straightens his jacket and turns around, pointing to the
back with his thumb. There's a bowling ball and a couple of ninepins, and
the logo for the ska band 'Let's Go Bowling'. Seems to be he's asking
Cassie out in a rather nonstandard way - but since when are these two ever
standard?

With a laugh, Cassie turns a moment, gazing around her room, there just
isn't anything present that would show the 'affirmative' sign. Rubbing her
chin thoughtfully, the teen superheroine darts from the window, only to
return momentarily, pasting a large Star Trek poster in it, showing Picard
gesturing towards Riker, the text below.. 'Make it So Number One'. And
with that, Wonder Girl is gone, dashing out of her room, taking the time
to turn off the light, and out through the hallways, dashing towards the
courtyard.

Smirking, Bart waits in the yard with his hands in his pockets. Perfectly
still. Perfectly silent. He stands under the big tree there, watching
Cassie approach and looking almost insufferable - but then he ruins it by
grinning. "Hey," he whispers, lightly and briefly touching the side of her
face with the outsides of his fingers, then letting his hand drop. "You
sure I won't be keeping you from anything important? I figured we bboth
needed a break."

Just happy to be out, and not to mention with someone she cares about,
Cassie's all smiles as she bounds towards the tree pausing a moment to
offer Bart a wide grin. "Just doing a paper.." She begins, casting her
gaze towards the window momentarily, before turning back towards Bart. "I
/really/ need a break, though." In more ways than one, though she doesn't
go into that, simply reaching out to link her hand into Bart's. "How've
you been?"

"Kicky, mostly," answers Bart, voice still low, though not quite as much
as they head out the gates and onto the sidewalk. "Other than the baloney
with...well, -you- know. Doing okay in school, doing okay with the
club-related nonsense. The only thing that's kinda buggin' me is that I'm
sort of...on the outs with Wally. He's lost it a couple times, and I'm not
sure what to do about it." Falling silent, the Allen kid grimaces, shaking
his head. "But that's all just...I mean, hey, we're out to have fun
tonight! Watch you bowl my socks off, I haven't been in so long."

"Really?" Comes Cassie's quizzical response, her brows knitting together
as she makes her way out with Bart, steps quickening, though.. she can't
help it, her eyes dance towards the shadows, watching them closely, before
turning back to the topic. "Lost it?" Hey, she still kind of thinks the
Flash is a cool character.. even though most of her fan girl adoration has
subsided. Kind of. "I'm sorry." Her nose wrinkles upwards, not sure what
to say, and hoping things will work itself out. "Under a lot of stress?"
She continues, shrugging it off to state. "Well, I haven't either, so
we'll both bowl under a hundred, just watch."

"Mn...stress is such an -ugly- word," says Bart to that, starting to grin.
"And sure, we'll both be laughingstocks to the pros...but geez, who'd
wanna be a professional bowler?" He stops, spinning in front of Cassie.
"...want to go bowling in Los Angeles?" asks the teenager in a low, quick
voice. He doesn't blink. Could be he's paranoid. Could be he's just
looking for a change of scenery.

Paranoia is a /good/ thing, considering the circumstance.. thus, Cassie's
grin widens, as she bobs her head quickly. "/Totally/." Comes her
response, eyes twinkling with the thought, she does a quick scan of the
surrounding area, freaking a bit, that perhaps Bart saw something that she
isn't able to see, though she clears her throat, and offers a wink.
"M'Sure things will clear up soon, you and Wally have far too close a
connection for it not to."

"I'm sure they will," agrees Bart, quickly and gently scooping Cassie up,
holding her solidly but not -too-tightly. "Time for the Allen Express!"
Quicker than you can say Jack Robinson, they're off - the cityscape blurs
into countryside; as the two teenagers travel, it gets lighter and
lighter. From near-darkness to dusk to late afternoon, through cities and
storms and under bridges, over water and plains and mountains, in cold and
hot and balmy weather - it's a whirlwind cross-country road trip, without
the roads. And all of this in under five minutes - was that the scenic
route?

By the time they arrive in sunny ol California, Cassie's hair, even though
it /has/ been only five minutes, has managed to get that truly wind blown
appeal. Streaks of light blonde curls dance around her ears, as the short
ringlets begin to bounce back into place. In the blur of that unique
scenic route, the teen Wonder Girl gets in one rather obvious conclusion.
"I'm glad I don't live in the west." Her arm remains around Bart's neck
for a moment, before she hops out (upon full landing, naturally.) "Hey
Bart, I.." She begins, something bugging her.. "I .." She continues,
before shaking her head once. "Thanks." Thats not what she meant to say,
but right now, she's not really feeling like talking.

"Yeah - it'd make team meetings kind of a bother, neh?" replies the
teenaged speed demon with a wry grin. Bart walks slowly for a second,
running his hands through his hair so it goes where it's supposed to, then
keeps pace with Cassie. He glances at her curiously when she starts, then
stops herself, and thanks him. "Sure...you know I don't mind at all - I
mean, I -more- than don't mind." He gazes silently for a second, then
reaches up and scratches his nose. "Is something up?"

"Kind of." Comes Cassie's response, as she stuffs her hands into the
pockets of her jeans, and starts towards the bowling alley. "Ever have
doubts, Bart. You know, about.. about who you are, what you're doing, and
why." This is, a bit more serious than she's letting on, though her soft
blue gaze settles on Bart momentarily, before shifting off again. "I have
been. A lot recently. I mean.. quite a bit, wondering why, which is which,
who is who, what do I really want to do, and if I'm doing the right
thing." Chewing her bottom lip around, she simplifies things, quite a bit,
though where this came from, she isn't telling.

Bart Allen nods, shoving his own hands in his pockets and walking along
next to Cassie companionably. As she speaks, he watches her face, trying
to see what kind of mood the words have behind them. "Everyone does, I
think," he responds thoughtfully. "I think it's a good thing to step back
and take a look at your life objectively. See if you're headed in the
direction you really wanna be going." The kid falls silent momentarily as
they approach the alley, and he stops by the door. "But you always do the
right thing. At least - for as long as I've known you. And that's a
while." A beat. "Are you worried about...you know...because of Them?"

Still chewing on her bottom lip, one hand lifts out of her pockets, to run
through her hair absently. "In a way, it's one thing involved. And I'm
totally going from bad to worse in so many studies, there's a part of me
that just wants to dedicate everything to.. doing what is right, another
that says all this could be taken away from me in a heart beat, as fast as
I got it, what makes me.... what makes me unique will be taken from me."
Cassie's eyes shift towards her toes, as she shakes it off with a quiet
laugh, face showing she is anything but happy right now. "Sorry to be a
downer, Bart."

Reaching up and gently taking Cassie's hand as she drops it from her hair,
Bart smiles - a little sadly, kind of seriously. "You're not a downer,
Cass...and what makes you unique can -never- be taken away from you," he
says very quietly, simply holding the hand. His other hand goes up - but -
stops, away from her, like he's almost afraid to touch her face again.
Even though he wants to. "I didn't fall head over heels for the powers of
Zeus, or a pair of goggles and a wig, or for a miniature version of Wonder
Woman. I fell in love with Cassie Sandsmark, and that's who you've always
been, and no matter what happens, that's who you always will be. And no
one can ever take that away from you." Then - egad - is he turning red?
"Um, did you want swiss cheese or muenster? Or just a bowl of mush?"

With a laugh, Cassie brightens, "How about just a bowl of mush please."
Comes her response, feeling better, at least initially, as her arms
swiftly draw around Bart's shoulders, to squeeze him tight. (Not too
tight, mind you, but tight enough to show his words did sink in, and
weren't as sappy as he might think.) The hug of hugs, and truly making one
doubting teen feel wonderfully better about things, Cassie even sneaks in
a slight peck. Or well, tries to, it's difficult to sneak in a peck on
someone that does things in ultra high speed mode, naturally. Still, it's
there, if he so allows, a peck on the cheek, and hug, before she draws
away, and tilts her head towards the bowling alley. "Bet I can hit the
first strike!" And one bouncing, skinny teen darts towards the inside of
the alley.