Born to David Cain and Lady Shiva, Cassandra Cain was cursed before even conceived.

She never knew her mother; left in David's care, she knew only one truth: combat. Deprived of a home, a family, even speech itself, Cassandra's one and only language was movement, physicality, the body itself. David was obssessive in adminstering her training, slowly crafting her into the perfect warrior, the One Who Is All, an assassin to surpass all others prophecised by the League of Shadows. At only eight years old, David Cain sought to test his experiment, and Cassandra was given her first target.

The hit was...easy. Ruthless. A mere game to the child Cassandra, unaware what she was doing, unaware there was any other way whatsoever; but as she watched the man die, as she read the muscle spasms, the limp limbs, the life leaving his skin, she saw death as he saw it, came as close to it as she could without dying herself - and she was horrified. The game was over, the illusion shattered. Death was wrong. Every fiber and nerve ending in her body felt the sin of what she'd done, and by extension the evil of her father and everything he was training her for. What was an eight year old to do, trained for a purpose now abhorrent to her very essence, unable to return to a father she now despised? She did the only thing she could do; she ran away.

For nine years, Cassandra was homeless and on the run from her father and the forces of the League of Shadows. She ended up - as so many of the world's strays do - in Gotham, bringing assassins down upon her; luckily, the Batman was no stranger to Ra's forces, and his timely intervention saved Cassandra twice over. Seeing in him how her skills could be used in defence of the defenceless, in the pursuit of what was good and righteous, she was inspired, and began operating as a solo vigilante herself: Orphan.

With Batman looming over Gotham and Blüdhaven, David Cain turned to less direct methods to destroy his errant daughter; following her activities across the twin cities, he ensured wherever she went, corpses were left in her wake, sometimes of those she saved, but more often of those she apprehended. David knew implicating Cassandra would bring Batman down upon her head, and he was right; the two were drawn into a fight with each other across Gotham, David watching from the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike to eliminate two obstacles to the League in one fell swoop.

When he made his move, he could not have predicted the outcome; Cassandra abandoning her fight entirely to throw herself upon her father's sword, sacrificing her life to save Batman's. David, despite himself, was surprised at Cassandra's capacity to outmatch him, and equally surprised at how deeply grieved he was for the mortal blow he had struck upon his own daughter.

Batman easily subdued David, and realized they had been played by the assassin. Shocked and impressed by Cassandra's ability and her willingness to sacrifice herself for the life of another, he took her into his intensive care, narrowly managing to save her life and then nursing her back to health - though ultimately unable to remove the span of her father's blade that remained within her chest.
Once Cassandra had been stabilised and back on her feet, Batman realised she needed more guidance than he was able to provide, as well as friends, mentors - a proper support structure. A family.

The Titans were the obvious choice.

I've written a lot of Batman in the past, but even in those stints, never approached the Bat-family. While I have my own Robin Ranking like any Bat-fan would (and we can argue about that later), Cassandra herself has intrigued me for a while because of her potential for separation from the Batfamily, someone desperately trying to redeem herself from terrible origins that she had no say in, but feels guilty for anyway. One of the best examples of how Batman can inspire others, I want to explore her mutism, her conflicting natures, her aspirations, the ties to David Cain, Lady Shiva, Ra's Al Ghul, and the League of Shadows (especially how it puts her cross-counter to Damian), and also position her as an outcast and almost taboo figure within the Titans, where rumours about the corpses left behind her during her stint as Orphan follow and haunt her just as doggedly as the mystique and awe around being entered and entrusted by Batman himself.

Who else would be more concerned about the myriad potential ruinous futures of the world than the overseer of destiny himself? Khalid Nassour, Doctor Fate; the foremost agent of the Lords of Order, empowered by the gods and primordial magic itself to safeguard the cosmos against chaos and evil. But even he, in all his power and foresight, recognized that he is but one man; powerful, wise, long-lived - but mortal, and alone. He could not rely on himself to be there indefinitely; could not rely on others taking up his mantle being as vigilant as he. In the absence of an immortal, eternal protector to protect the natural order and the balance of magic and power, what was he to do?

The answer, when it came, was as simple as it was prodigious. Create one.

And so was birthed Stitch, or more accurately, enchanted. An effigy, imbued with magic and power and, most delicately, a soul, Stitch burst to life under Khalid's careful watch, taken on as simultaneous adoptive child and apprentice, taught how to navigate the mortal plane at the same time as dipping their essence into the raw magic of the universe - manipulating, channeling, directing it. Being it.

Immortal; sleepless; no need to eat, or drink, or even breath. In tune with the cosmos, effortlessly weaving magic around their person. The perfect apprentice; an absolutely nightmarish child. Their growing intellect quickly created boredom, and boredom created risk - risk Doctor Fate could not abide. At the same time, he recognized such a life with him - regimented, restricted, directed - was unfulfilled. Immortal enchanted rag effigy or not, Stitch was a child - and needed to develop with others. Among others. The training could wait. The responsibility could wait. Khalid wanted Stitch to experience life, in order to better appreciate their solemn task in protecting it.

Stitch arrived to the Titans a few weeks later, and has since been exploring this bizarre journey that everyone else is calling 'living'.

An ultimate 'outsider' to the normal human journey, Stitch's experience oscillates violently between complete naivety and deep, unnatural assuredness. Born of magic and endowed with their very own soul, they are both cosmic arbiter and reclusive child, in tune with the universe and the magics that flow through it and completely cut-off from any kind of social interaction or group dynamic. While they're powerful, an impressive weaver of spells taught by none other than Doctor Fate himself, they're unskilled and volatile, at times clumsy with their magic, and there's still much to learn; however, there's also far more to be taught about simply being alive, an experience they're still getting a grip on and aren't completely comfortable with - and their contradictions against even the most fundamental basics of human behaviour, like sleeping, eating, breathing, only serve to separate them further. With their ties to Fate, magic, the supernatural, Stitch opens a lot of pathways to a lot of unnatural destinations, while their ongoing lessons in what it is to live offer narratives far closer to home and the human experience.