THIS IS HEAVEN IN HIDING

HELENA SANDERSON ABSOLUTELY LOVED HER LIFE. SHE HAD A LOVING, UNDERSTANDING HUSBAND WHO DIDN'T MIND HER NEED TO TRAVEL THE WORLD FOR HER JOB AND A BABY GIRL ON THE WAY. THERE WAS LITERALLY NOTHING THAT COULD BRING HER DOWN, OR SO SHE THOUGHT. JUST FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THEIR DAUGHTER WAS TO BE BORN, WHILE HELENA AND HER HUSBAND, LENNOX, WERE TRAVELING IN GREECE FOR HELENA'S WORK, LENNOX FOUND HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ARMED ROBBERY OF A LOCAL SHOP. ALWAYS THE PERSON AND SOLDIER TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP PEOPLE, HE INTERVENED IN THE SCUFFLE WHICH RESULTED IN A GUN SHOT WOUND TO THE ABDOMEN. HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. HELENA WAS DEVASTATED. IN HER GRIEF, SHE FLED BACK HOME TO THE STATES, MOVING BACK IN WITH HER PARENTS UNTIL SHE COULD BEAR FACING THE WORLD AGAIN.

CASSIDY CAME INTO THE WORLD WIDE EYED AND BUSHY TAILED ON A HOT CALIFORNIA SUMMER DAY IN AUGUST AND HELENA IMMEDIATELY KNEW SHE HAD TROUBLE ON HER HANDS, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT SHE HAD RESIGNED HERSELF TO FACING HER FUTURE AS A SINGLE MOTHER. EVEN AS A CHILD, CASSIDY WAS LOUD AND BOISTEROUS, CRAWLING INTO PLACES AND THINGS THAT SHE DIDN'T BELONG IN AND DEMANDING THE ATTENTION OF EVERYONE AROUND HER. OF COURSE, HER AUDIENCE USUALLY CONSISTED OF HER MOTHER'S COLLEAGUES AND STUDENTS THAT ACCOMPANIED HER AND HER FIRM ON ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE. THEY ALSO WEREN'T ALWAYS KEEN WITH THE TROUBLE CASSIDY FOUND HERSELF IN CONSTANTLY. BY THE TIME CASSIDY WAS TEN YEARS OLD, SHE HAD BEEN TO MORE COUNTRIES THAN SHE COULD COUNT ON HER HANDS AND FEET. THROUGHOUT THIS TIME, CASSIDY FOUND A LOVE FOR ROCK CLIMBING WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF HELENA'S COLLEAGUES WHO CLIMBED REGULARLY AS THEY TRAVELED. FOR A FEW YEARS, DURING THEIR TRAVELS CASSIDY WAS HOMESCHOOLED BY HER MOTHER WITH THE HELP OF TUTORS, BUT HELENA ALWAYS KNEW THAT ONCE CASSIDY WAS OLDER THEY WOULD HAVE TO RETURN TO THEIR "HOME" IN SAN FRANCISCO SO SHE COULD HAVE A MORE WELL ADJUSTED CHILDHOOD. UNFORTUNATELY FOR HELENA, CASSIDY HAD A HARD TIME ADJUSTING..

IT WASN'T THAT CASSIDY HAD TROUBLE MAKING FRIENDS. IN FACT, SHE WAS GREAT AT IT. SHE WAS SOCIAL, BOLD, UNAFRAID TO SPEAK UP. BUT, MUCH TO HER MOTHER'S CHAGRIN, SHE WAS QUICK TO TEMPER. CASSIDY DIDN'T TAKE KINDLY TO WATCHING KIDS GET PICKED UP AND SPENT A LOT OF HER TIME PICKING FIGHTS WITH OLDER, BIGGER KIDS IN SUPPORT AND SOME KIND OF PROTECTION OF THOSE WHO COULDN'T PROTECT THEMSELVES. WHILE HER MOTHER FOUND CASSIDY'S REASONINGS FOR GETTING HERSELF INTO THESE FIGHTS NOBLE, SHE WASN'T SO HAPPY ABOUT THE FACT THAT BY THE TIME SHE WAS FOURTEEN, SHE HAD BEEN KICKED OUT OF TWO SCHOOLS FOR HER BEHAVIOR. HELENA'S SOLUTION TO CASSIDY'S PROBLEM WAS TO MOVE THEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO BOSTON WHERE SHE WOULD TAKE A CURATING JOB AT A MUSEUM WHICH WAS MUCH MORE STABLE THAN HER CURRENT JOB THAT SOMETIMES NEEDED HER TO TRAVEL AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE. HER HOPES BEING THAT BY BEING AROUND MORE, CASSIDY WOULD STOP ACTING OUT.

HER HOPES WERE SOMEWHAT FULFILLED. UPON ENTERING HIGH SCHOOL IN BOSTON, CASSIDY PUSHED HERSELF TO JOIN THE CHEER SQUAD, THE TRACK TEAM AND OTHER VARIOUS SPORTS AND CLUBS TO KEEP HERSELF BUSY AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO COMPETE IN ROCK CLIMBING. SHE WASN'T THE PERFECT DAUGHTER, BUT SHE WAS PUTTING IN THE EFFORT TO TRY HARDER TO NOT DISAPPOINT HER MOTHER. THANKFULLY, IT TURNED OUT THAT CASSIDY WAS NATURALLY ATHLETIC AND EXCELLED QUICKLY AT CHEER AND TRACK, LEARNING TUMBLES DESPITE HER LACK OF FORMAL GYMNASTICS TRAINING AND FEARLESS ATTITUDE AS WELL AS BECOMING QUITE A WORTHY ADVERSARY AT THE DECATHLON. HER SUCCESS IN TRACK LED TO HER EARNING AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON WHEN SHE WOULD GO ON TO EARN HER DEGREE IN WOMEN AND GENDER STUDIES.

AFTER GRADUATION, CASSIDY MOVED BACK HOME. DESPITE HER LOVE FOR THE OUTDOORS, SHE CRAVED THE CITY AND WANTED TO BE CLOSER TO HER MOM AFTER FOUR YEARS AWAY. MOVING BACK HOME MET FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO KEEP HERSELF BUSY WHICH CAUSED HER TO TAKE HER ENERGY AND ATHLETICISM TRY SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW. FINDING A GYM THAT SPECIALIZED IN FREE RUNNING, CASSIDY TRAINED LIKE SHE NEVER TRAINED BEFORE, PICKING UP A FEW JOBS HERE AND THERE THAT NEVER LAST LONGER THAN A FEW WEEKS TO MAKE ENDS MEET WHEN SHE WASN'T MAKING ENOUGH MONEY WITH HER SLOWLY IMPROVING CLIMBING CAREER. WITHIN A YEAR SHE WAS COMPETING A AN ELITE LEVEL OF OBSTACLE COURSE RUNNING, MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF IN LOCAL RACES AND EVENTUALLY COMPETING IN HER FIRST AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR COMPETITION MAKING IT TO THE LAS VEGAS FINALS IN HER FIRST YEAR. HER SUCCESS IN THESE COMPETITIONS LED TO MORE SPONSORS AND MORE SUCCESS IN CLIMBING. BEING YOUNG, SHE COMPETES REGULARLY AND TRAINS CONSTANTLY.

⤑ name cassidy elizabeth sanderson ⤑ comicverse wonder girl ⤑ date of birth + age august 19 + 25 ⤑ hometown san francisco, california ⤑ current residence boston, massachusetts ⤑ occupation professional rock climber, professional obstacle course runner, american ninja warrior finalist ⤑ relationship status single ⤑ sexuality heterosexual

Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark was the second person to be called Wonder Girl; the first being Donna Troy. Cassie was the daughter of Dr. Helena Sandsmark and the Greek god Zeus.

Cassie spent most of her time at her mother's place of work, the Gateway City Museum of Antiquities, where she had a penchant for getting into trouble. She quickly befriended her mother's new employee, Wonder Woman, and was eager to help her. During a fight with a Doomsday clone and another battle with Decay, she created a costume and used magical acquirements (the Sandals of Hermes and the Gauntlet of Atlas) to help Wonder Woman, much to her mother's horror. Cassie later had the opportunity to ask Zeus for a boon, and requested real superpowers. Zeus granted her request, but gave Dr. Sandsmark the ability to deactivate them. Dr. Sandsmark, however, reluctantly accepted her daughter's wish to be a superheroine and rarely, if ever, used this ability. Artemis was assigned as her teacher.

Even without her power, Cassie was a problem child, and frequently had to change schools. Throughout her teens, she attended Holliday School for Girls, Brewer High School, Dennis Peterson High School, Gateway City High School, and eventually the Saint Elias School for Girls.

Cassie heavily idolized Donna Troy, the original Wonder Girl, and to that effect wore a black wig over her natural blond hair (it also helped to conceal her identity). Donna gave Cassie the second costume she wore as Wonder Girl, but Cassie was afraid to wear it lest it were ruined (she did don the outfit during the "Sins of Youth" crossover when she was temporarily aged to adulthood). As Wonder Girl, Cassie joined Young Justice due to her crush on Superboy. She became close friends with Arrowette, Secret, and Empress. During her time with that group, the dark god Oblivion caused Wonder Woman's Wonder Dome palace to destroy Gateway City. Artemis ordered Cassie to help with crowd control instead of wasting time putting on her Wonder Girl disguise. Agreeing with her, Cassie revealed her secret identity before news cameras for the first time in her superhero career.[8] Cassie eventually became the leader of the team, after beating Robin during an election for command. Her secret identity was again publicly revealed when the second Silver Swan attacked her at her high school.

Young Justice was disbanded after Optitron offered to fund both the Titans and Young Justice. Donna Troy was thought to have been killed by a rogue Superman android, leaving Cassie shaken and causing both teams to disband.

Cassie later joined some former members of Young Justice in the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans. She was gifted with a lasso by Ares, the Greek god of war and frequent enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Despite appearing similar to Wonder Woman's lasso, Cassie's expels Zeus' lightning when used in anger. Ares appeared to Wonder Girl, usually to warn her about "the coming war." During her time with the Titans, Cassie also developed a relationship with Superboy, whom she had harbored feelings for during their time together in Young Justice.