This is the part that I am most excited to write, these upcoming three chapters. I hope you enjoy these little moments as much as I do.
Also, say hello to an old friend this chapter! :)
In time, her legs healed. Cat picked up the broken pieces of her mind and did her best to put herself back together again. She had to remind herself that she had been through much, much worse, and this time, she had people who could pull her through. They hadn't been taken from her, not yet, not like the others had been. In the back of her mind, every time she moved her legs now, however, she was reminded of how useless she now really was.
Lady Jaye, Jinx, Flint and Roadblock visited her often, and she did appreciate their visits and constant concern. Even Storm Shadow had stopped by once, even though it was only fifteen minutes and he came in and out through the window. The visits she liked most however were Snake Eyes. The ninja always came in and leaned against the wall, nodding if Cat said "Hello," or remaining silent and respectful if she was having a break down. He answered her questions on notebook paper if asked, but most of the visits were spent in silence and thoughts.
Cat had been told by Roadblock that Snake had been the one to pull her from the ocean, and she while she still wasn't sure if she should be grateful for that, the ninja offered an air of protectiveness that allowed for Cat to not be on edge. On his visits she dropped her guard, and allowed her brain to meditate and zone into her own world while he watched out for her.
Today was one of those visits. Snake Eyes stood leaning against the wall, unmoving, while Cat just stared at the medal Roadblock had given her. An invitation, but for what? The healed nubs of her legs twitched under the covers, useless now. What possible use could she be to the JOEs now? And why would she ever want to jump back into that world?
"Ms. Blac?" Cat jumped at the sound of her name and snapped the velvet box shut, heart beating wildly. Snake Eyes had looked up at the interruption and was watching with interest, arms now uncrossed, and while he didn't have his katanas with him Cat knew he had weapons stashed somewhere on his person. The nurse smiled sheepishly and entered, with a shorter man following her. "You have a visitor."
The nurse left the room and Cat studied the man, her fingers tapping CIRIS under the covers of her bed. He was short for his size, and slightly bulky, but athletic, and he carried a backpack with him. What really caught her attention was when he greeted Snake Eyes and shook his hand.
"Ms. Blac," the man greeted, taking a seat next to her bed. "Snake Eyes has told me much about you."
The heart monitor began to beep faster as Cat got nervous. Snake Eyes left the wall and placed a hand on her shoulder. The man smiled at her. "My name is Breaker, and Roadblock asked me to help design you new legs."
She felt her heart drop to her stomach at this announcement, and all she could muster was a squeak. "W-what?"
"I started in the JOEs as their main hacker and code breaker," he began, clasping his hands together. "But before that, I dabbled in robotics and bioengineering at Drexel. Roadblock contacted me after the Fort Sumter incident about your condition and asked if I could help. I believe I can. My team has been working on new types of artificial limbs made specifically for running. We want to help."
Cat started at him, wide-eyed. "Are you saying that... I could run again?"
Breaker held up a hand. "In time and theory, yes. We need to design something to fit your line of work and get it made. That's the easy part. The hard part is all you; getting back to the level you were at beforehand will be difficult."
"But possible, right?" Cat was almost falling out of her bed in anticipation for his answer. Snake Eyes pulled her back slightly, worried she would roll off her bed.
"Possible," Breaker confirmed. He smiled and shook her hand, promising her that he would be in touch within the next few days, for measurements and her own ideas about what she would need in the limbs. Cat took the card, and thanked him again, before being stunned into silence.
Snake Eyes tapped her on the shoulder and wrote on his notepad, asking her if she was okay. With teary eyes, she nodded her head, sniffling.
"I'm just...shocked, Snake Eyes." She wiped at her eyes, blinking furiously to eliminate the water. "I was so useless in the fight, got myself mutilated, and you had to save my sorry ass, and now you guys are trying to help me? I don't understand."
Cat noticed Snake Eyes writing and took a deep breath. He stopped to listen to her continue. "When COBRA had me in custody, it was dog eat dog. If you couldn't fend for yourself, you died. When I escaped, I tried to suppress as much of their experiments and lessons that I could, but after being gone for ten or so years I found myself all alone. So I fended for myself, like I had been taught. When Stoop came asking for help, it was actually kind of...nice, in retrospect, to be apart of something better for once. But I became impulsive when I was trained not to be, and look where it got you all; Cobra Commander escaped, London decimated, and a cripple. You can see how it's hard for me to understand why you all would want to help the weak link in the fence."
The pen and paper he hand in his hands lowered, until he gently set it on the bedside table and walked out of the room. When he didn't come back after fifteen minutes, Cat sighed and gently rolled over, berating herself for stupidly thinking that he would respond when she just dropped a bomb on him like that. She gripped her phone under the sheets, resisting the urge to check CIRIS to see just where Snake Eyes had gone, and instead she glanced at the notebook. There was writing on it, and she grabbed it and read it carefully, more tears springing to her eyes. On his notepad, he had been writing all the things she had done for the team since they arrived in Washington D.C., being hunted and on the run. He was attempting to remind her of all she had done, and why she had been so important, and why she was still important. Setting the notepad down, her eyes caught the velvet box where the medal was stored, and she made her choice.
Outside her room, Snake Eyes smiled behind his mask and nodded to the nurse as he left.