Author's Note: I just saw "Push" and completely LOVED it. Like a lot of other people, I was floored by the insane amount of chemistry between Nick and Cassie. It got my creativity flowing and I wanted to write a small friendship story. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Yeah, right, don't make me laugh.
He moved casually through the loud and crowded market, doing whatever he could to keep from drawing any unwanted attention to himself.
He appeared normal enough to those that passed him by; worn blue jeans, a long sleeved black shirt and converse sneakers on his feet…clean-cut light brown hair, blue eyes, and the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow. His was a common face in the underground markets of Hong Kong and quite a few people called out greetings to him as he walked, which he returned in rapid-fire Cantonese.
But as normal as he appeared on the outside, on the inside he was as different from the people around him as he ever possibly could be.
Unbeknownst to those people, there was a terrifying power hiding just under the surface of his skin, burning its way through his veins. It was a feeling he'd been living with his entire life but had only just started understanding and appreciating. It was a comfort to him to feel it, to know that it was there for if and when he needed it.
As they usually were whenever he ventured out into the city, his instincts were alert and watchful. They had to be because he had far too much to lose; his own life, and more importantly, the life of the thirteen year old that was trudging along loyally behind him.
The memory of her showing up randomly at his door and raiding his refrigerator had been bookmarked as one of the most meaningful moments of his life. That outrageously mature, spunky thirteen year old had single-handedly brought a sense of meaning back into a life that had forgotten what real meaning was. Thanks to her, her little notebook and her gel pens, he was back out in the world…making a difference and finally taking control of an existence that had somehow slipped through his fingers when he was a teenager.
It'd taken a while for him to get used to having someone else's life in his hands other than his own; the idea of being responsible for another person. Because he was responsible for her no matter how much the idea of being looked after seemed to offend her. "I'm not a kid!" she'd say, "I don't need a babysitter."
It wasn't just the responsibility that had gotten to him, it was also the simple thing of hearing someone else's footsteps directly behind his own…hearing another person's breathing in the darkness of wherever they ended up crashing when exhaustion made it impossible to continue running…feeling another person's presence so close, even though it had quickly become the most reassuring presence in his world.
He'd been a loner for as long as he could remember, not trusting other people enough to let anyone near. But with Cassie he hadn't had a choice; her and her multi-colored hair had come barging in with the force of a wrecking ball and had been there ever since.
He'd finally admitted to himself that he'd never be able to let her go. She was his best friend, practically his only friend…and in a world where people like them were condemned to spend their lives alone, that connection meant everything.
There was a suddenly gentle tug on the back of his shirt.
"Nick."
He immediately came to a stop and looked at her over his shoulder. He could see clearly that she looked worn out, even though she made it a habit to always try and hide it from him.
She gestured to a small vendor a few steps to their left. "I want food."
"You buyin'?"
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Don't I always?"
Nick watched as she headed towards one of the small tables near the vendor, plunking herself down into one of the metal chairs. He couldn't help but smile as he joined her, the déjà vu prickling the back of his mind.
He absent-mindedly reached forward and grabbed one of the disposable sets of chopsticks, pulling them apart.
What do you want?
The man cooking inside the small noodle shed called out to them and Nick settled his gaze on his young companion. "What did you want?"
Fiddling around with her own set of chopsticks, her arms hovering protectively over her notebook, she said, "Anything with shrimp."
And once again Nick was smiling.
Damn déjà vu.
He relayed the order to the cook and sighed, tossing his sticks down onto the surface of the table. "So you get any sleep last night?"
Cassie shrugged. "Yeah, I got some."
Lie.
Despite the fact that she'd tried to stay quiet, her whimpers and sobs had roused him from sleep just before three-thirty. From his make-shift bed on the floor, he'd managed to push himself into a sitting position just in time to see her stumble from the bed and book it into the bathroom. He hadn't even had time to say her name out loud.
Nick had seen her after her rougher visions enough times to recognize it.
"What did you See?"
She blinked a couple times before looking up and meeting his gaze. "What did I see when?"
"You had a vision last night, what did you See?"
Two bowls of noodles appeared before them and Cassie forced a smile, looking up at the vendor. She muttered a quiet thank you before picking up her chopsticks and digging in.
"Cass?"
"Doesn't matter."
He watched her closely, the steam from his bowl of noodles making his neck and face feel clammy and warm. "You're sure?"
All she did was nod, but it took less a second and a half for him to notice the moisture pooling in her eyes. In the weeks he'd known her, he'd seen her cry only once—just before they'd gone their separate ways, her drawings of that damn tiger forcing her fear to the surface. She'd walked right up to him and wrapped her small arms around his middle, and he'd returned the hug because, at that moment, he hadn't known what else to do for her.
Nick had learned very quickly that he couldn't stand to see her cry.
He could stand everyone's tears but hers.
"Cassie. Hey." He nudged her arm gently and leaned closer, speaking in a quiet voice. "Tell me what you Saw."
A single tear fell from her lower lashes and he resisted the urge to reach over and brush it away. Instead, he simply nudged her arm again.
Cassie sniffled quietly before placing a small hand on the front cover of her notebook. With the tiniest movement, he slid it across the surface of the table towards him.
He could read it in her tear-filled eyes.
See for yourself.
It wasn't very often that Nick looked through the colorful pages of Cassie's notebook. He tried to avoid it, knowing that it was important to her and knowing that she'd always share something with him if he needed to know.
He carefully took the notebook from under her hand, flipping to the most recent entry.
It was obvious from the way it was drawn that the vision had upset her. The lines were rigid and frantic, the neon colors spilling out in almost every place. In some spots, she'd pressed the pen so hard into the paper it had ripped through. He could see that it was a female with long blonde hair…and she had the tell-tale "x" where her eyes were meant to be.
He swallowed hard. "Who is it?"
"Me."
Nick's eyes flew up from the page to meet Cassie's. He couldn't help but frown. "You?"
"I Saw myself die again."
"This is the vision you had last night?"
She nodded miserably, setting down her chopsticks.
"It's just—" She sniffled again. "I thought we were passed all that, y'know?"
Nick studied the picture for a second longer before snapping the book closed, trying to ignore the way Cassie jumped at the sound. He leaned close to her and his face was serious. "Nothing's gonna happen…you hear me?"
"How d'you know that?"
"I was right last time, wasn't I?" His face softened and he sent her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Do you trust me?"
The smallest of smiles flickered across her face and she raised a hand, wiping embarrassedly at the tears still staining her cheeks. "Yeah."
"Good." He nodded his head quickly, grabbing his chopsticks and stirring his still steaming noodles. "Now eat your food before I take your shrimps—I got two and you got, like, twelve."
Cassie let out a quiet chuckle. "You want more shrimps, go get your own."
"Why get outta my chair when you got ones I can take—"
"Don't even think about it."
Since it had all ended—the mess with Kira, Carver and Division—that was their routine; anything with shrimp and conversation mixed with jokes in order to get Cassie smiling again.
With their future as uncertain as it was, merely surviving was all they could do.
And if surviving was all they could do, Nick wasn't going to watch Cassie do it with tears in her eyes.
You said the future's always changing, right? You can change it just by knowin' it?
I'm gonna go make a better one.
He still had no idea how he was going to make that one promise into a reality, but he knew he had an entire future in which to figure it out.