AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or settings.


Fever of My Doom

Over the course of seven months Cassandra shadowed Fury. She thought him to be a good man. It made her glad to know that she was protecting someone good. She didn't show it though. Fury saw the same sober look on her face day in and day out. Whenever he visited the Shield helicarrier Agent Hill would attempt to teach her English in their spare time, which wasn't often. Cassandra dressed in the Shield uniforms given to her, similar to Agent Hill's but black to match Fury's.

Two attempts had been made on the Directors life since Cassandra was there. Both times were unsuccessful. The first one was a mercenary that Cassandra had seen her father speak with before, Bullseye. He was a skilled freelance assassin. He had the ability to throw projectiles with lethal accuracy. Fury was on site for a mission in Africa when it happened. Cass heard the whoosh of something being thrown. She pushed Fury away and used herself as a shield for him. She took out her gun and started shooting.

He was apprehend by her an hour and a half later. He had run out of projectiles and engaged Cassandra in hand-to-hand combat. She had knocked him out by a sharp blow to the back of his head. He woke up in custody claiming that he couldn't see anything. She had blinded him.

The second one wasn't as much of a threat. The man was an amateur and a shot to the leg had him screaming. She dragged him from the roof he was trying to shoot Fury from and waited for someone to take him away.

Fury was impressed with her efficiency. He had gotten into the habit of speaking to her about minor things. If something wasn't going the way he needed it to, he would grumble about it to her. If everything was going according to plan he would say how he knew all along it would work out. He wasn't sure if the lessons with Hill were paying off, but she was just there so he spoke anyway. Cass admired Fury for his coolness in every situation thrown his way. He was calm and collected. She appreciated that he spoke to her, even though she understood less than half of what he was saying. She wanted to speak to him too. All of her insecurities about her intelligence and frustration with her learning disability quashed the desire to speak, so she stayed silent.

It had been two months after the second assassination attempt when another one occurred. Cass was walking the rooftop of the Triskelion, checking the perimeter. Fury was in his office working late one night like he usually did. The glass was practically bomb proof and his office was secure so she felt certain he'd be safe for now. She was going to make her way inside when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A silhouette running towards her. Cass alerted Fury by pushing a button on a strange remote he had given her. She sprinted towards the figure and tackled it down. A struggle ensued and they tumbled around trying to get the upper hand on one another. They rolled over into the light of the helicopter pad and Cass froze.

It was her mother. Lady Shiva smiled unkindly and kicked Cass off while she had the chance. Both women rolled onto their feet and sized each other up. They hadn't seen each other since the day Cassandra was born.

"Fury, I know you can hear me. If you or anyone else interrupts our little reunion, every bomb I planted in Washington goes off, understand?" Shiva's honeyed voice spoke clearly. Cass briefly wondered if she would sound like her as much as she looked like her.

Nick Fury's voice came over a PA system, "Understood." Cass could practically hear him grumbling to her. Shiva knew he had only agreed to stall her. He was probably sending out bomb squads all over the capital now. She focused on Cassandra.

"I thought you had died. I spoke to Cain after it had happened. He told me Ra's killed you… Imagine my surprise when I saw you following Fury around like a slave." She ended in a hard tone. She threw a couple of punches and Cass blocked them but she didn't fight her back. She flipped away, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

"I noticed that when you fought that assassin in Africa, you held back. You could have killed him the second you saw him. And you're holding back now. If you don't fight me with everything you've got, I detonate the bombs."

Without anymore prompting Cassandra went to break Shiva's ribs. They became a blur of fists as they fought. When they broke apart Shiva spoke again, "The League wants you back, little one." Cass understood that perfectly. "Every member who wasn't there during the bombing regrouped. When I came to them with the information of your resurrection, they all agreed, bringing you back takes precedence over the task of killing Nick Fury."

He wasn't the target, she was. Shiva wasn't there to kill Fury, she was there to take Cassandra. The true terror of being taken back had manifested itself in a form Cassandra did not expect.

"No."

Shiva stopped for a moment. The shock of hearing the strong voice that came from her child stopped her. Shiva could only dream of the damage she could cause with the ability to actually speak. The world would be at her feet.

"Our plans are vast… When the world gets a true taste of violent oppression and their heroes lie dead and broken, apathy will die. That's when you'll lead the League, a new world will be born, one of peace and equality, millions of lives will be saved."

"I… won't help you." Cass struggled to find the right words.

"You misunderstand, I want to help you, little one. I want you to become everything you were meant to be. And he is not it," She threw a photograph of Nick Fury at her. "You're limited by his ideals, his dogma. He shelters you from the real world. Keeps you naïve, ignorant, stupid. It's why he never taught you how to read, why he kept you from speaking for so long. There's nothing I wouldn't teach you about this world." Shiva was twisting situations to her advantage to tempt her.

"If someone had the insight, ability, and guts to assassinate Hitler, Stalin or Amin- wait, do you even know who they are? Has he taught you anything besides how to be his tool?" Cassandra attacked her then. It felt good to let loose, hitting with everything after years of holding back. She had Shiva pinned on the ground in seconds.

Cassandra shouted as she hit Shiva over and over again. "You think… I don't know… what war means!" She heard the sickening snap of bones being broken and she stopped. She had broken her jaw.

A team of women and men came up on the helicopter pad with guns and shields, shouting too quickly for Cass to understand the words. Fury came up with more men and looked down at Cassandra who hadn't moved from her place on the floor.

"Bomb squad disabled three bombs throughout the capital, it's safe now." He was soft-spoken for once. She looked up at him and saw that he had his hand out for her to take. She let him help her up. He put his hand on her shoulder and led her to the waiting doctor. Her knuckles were bloody and swollen, and had two cracked ribs.

Fury spoke as the doctor wrapped her hands in bandages, "Your fathers price for taking down Lady Shiva was for me to help you… The first thing I can do is to offer you the position of my personal bodyguard, seeing as how you're so good at it."

Cassandra gave him a watery smile and nodded. She hadn't felt so relieved and thankful before in all her life.

Two years later the Winter Soldier opens up his hard blue eyes and is taken out of cryostasis to assassinate a man named Nick Fury.


AN: Nick Fury was hard for me to write, if he seemed out of character that's why. I have ideas floating around my head for other stories, e.g. Teen Titans meets the Avengers, Starfire vs. Avengers, Hawkgirl vs. Avengers, it's a lot of crossovers or songfics. Maybe a Bioshock crossover, I was surprised there wasn't any. I have a chapter written for Attending physician/Bucky Barnes, I don't see it going anywhere though. If you have any thoughts on these, message me! IMPORTANT: This is definitely the last chapter. Skylines and Turnstiles is the next part of the series. I'll be posting it soon. It'll be more frequently updated since I already finished it. Thanks for reading! I really appreciate everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, or just skimmed through the silly things I took time to write. Again, constructive comments are welcome.