Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own. Only my original characters are mine.
Author's Note: **Slight trigger warning**: Cassie ends up reliving what happened to her to a certain extent. Just to give those a heads up. Also, shout out to my fellow FFN pal TarkatanAssassin. I named this chapter after her fanfiction. Enjoy!
When the Walls Fall
Sonya scrubs her hands repeatedly but can't seem to shake the feeling of her daughter's vomit off. She holds her hand under the automatic soap dispenser repeatedly until a new mountain of the foam spills to the underside of her hands. Then she rubs them together again, creating a rich lather. "Gross, gross, gross," she mutters powerlessly. Never has she seen such a display of unleashed fury in her life, not even in her time in SF. And the way Cassie came undone after she got her attention disturbs Sonya's mind.
Someone enters the restroom and Sonya does her best to ignore them and focus on the task at hand. "General Blade," she hears the familiar voice of Lieutenant Christos calling her softly.
"Abigail," Sonya answers tersely. Her fingernails scratch the muscle under her thumb, nearly breaking the skin.
Christos leans into the mirror and checks her reflection. She's sporting a blackened left eye after being caught in the middle of the legendary fight between Cassie and Hendrix. "This is bad," is all she says.
Unsure if she means her face (Sonya notices a busted vessel in Christos' left eye) or if she means the backlash from the events of earlier, Sonya replies, "Yep." She rinses her hands under the scalding hot water once more. Once it feels squeaky clean, she shakes the droplets off over the sink and reaches for some paper towels in the dispenser. Wordlessly, she wipes her hand as Christos is applying topical cream under her eye. Before she leaves the bathroom, Sonya tells her, "You need to get that eye checked."
Cassie sits on the cool tiles of the communal shower with her knees pressed against her chest as piping hot water rains down on her. She tucks her head down and continues to sob. Images of Hendrix's face as she punched her repeatedly disturb her deeply. However, her mind battles constantly between regret and satisfaction, and the confusion of it all causes her to moan in despair. If there's anything she's done in her tenure of S-F that would guarantee a swift dismissal, her assault is top of the list. It makes her realize... she's not ready to give up her career, but she could damn well lose it.
A couple of hours later, she's in her bed (at Sonya's insistence she stays at the house) lying in the fetal position. She feels someone place a warm hand on her cheek but can't bring herself to move away from their touch. "Do you want anything, Cass?" Sonya asks. She shakes her head. "Okay," she whispers. She sits on the edge of Cassie's bed by her feet. Cassie finds a little strength to sit up in bed and hug her mom. Sonya returns it with welcoming arms, rubbing her back soothingly. "I'm here," she reminds Cassie.
"Thanks, Mom."
Johnny later joins in on the hug, which is how Yuri finds the Cage family when he walks in her room. "I can come back," he mutters.
But Johnny beckons him over as he finally (reluctantly) pulls away. He gently tugs at Sonya's arm and says, "C'mon babe."
"No," she moans.
"Babe," he cajoles softly. Sonya sighs, letting go as well. "Come," he tells her gently as he leads her out of the room.
Yuri takes Johnny's place at the foot of the bed and wraps his arms around Cassie's waist. "I heard what happened. We don't have to talk about it."
She sniffles. "I hate that bitch," she whines, burying her head in his neck.
"I know, my love," he soothes her.
"Why did she have to go there? I was doing fine before she said all that shit," she cries. He huffs, disagreeing with her. She pulls away slightly from him. "Did you just disagree with me?"
He stares at her. "Yes," he answers. Her chin wobbles. She looks at him with glossy eyes, asking him a silent question. "You have not been fine in a long while; I've been worried about you because of your lack of sessions."
She bites her lips guiltily. She'd blown off her therapy sessions the past couple of weeks and she knew she was slipping back. "Fuck."
"At the risk of sounding parental," he begins again after the quietness haunts him, "you have to go back. Talk to the doctor about what's occurring."
She buries her head in his neck again. "But I'm fucking scared!" she complains.
He rubs her back and closes his eyes, willing back tears himself. "I know. I am, too. But it's for your own good, I promise. It will not be easy, but it will be worth it."
"You sound like such a dad," she teases, sniffling repeatedly.
"Honestly," he grouses miserably, rolling his eyes.
Despite herself, she chuckles. "You did not just roll your eyes at me."
"I did not," is his dry answer. She laughs a little more. Pulling away, she observes him curiously, frowning at his solemn expression. "I have to… I…" He shakes his head again. "I'm going to be gone for a while."
Cassie's heart sinks further. She briskly wipes the tears from her eyes. "Where are you going?" she whispers, afraid to talk. Yuri looks away from her, but she grabs the bottom of his chin and redirects his attention to her. "Yuri?"
"Master Hasashi is sending me on a mission. I don't know when I'll be back," he explains.
She nods. Or if you'll be back, she thinks. "When do you leave?"
He looks down. "Tonight." She gapes. "I apologize sincerely." She swallows thickly. "I'm really, really sorry. Truly. But this cannot wait." With a sigh, he gets up and ducks under her bed, reemerging with a stuffed fox. "This is for you," he tells her. She takes his from his outstretched hands and hugs it tightly. "As long as you have him, I'm here, okay?"
The corner of her lips turns up into a watery smile. "You're giving me George?" He nods. She squeezes the plush toy even tighter. "Babe?"
"Yes, my love?" he answers.
Her original declaration dries up in her throat. He bends down to her level and plants a firm, parting kiss on her dry, exhausted lips. When he reluctantly pulls away, she says, "Don't fucking die on me, all right? I'll fucking hunt you down if you do."
He smiles ruefully. "I won't," he promises. He kisses her again and she pulls him closer to her, more tears falling from her eyes. She hopes it's not the last time she sees him, but the possibility of it causes her to sob again. They break away and press their foreheads together. He looks at his watch and purses his lips, contemplating his next move. "I can only stay for a couple of hours more before I leave," he decides. Wordlessly, she scoots over in her bed and he climbs in behind her. He caresses her shoulders as she breathes heavily.
In the morning, Cassie finds herself alone in her bedroom, save for Lucky licking her face, cradling George the Fox in her arms, and a piece of folded paper in her hand. Interested in the note, she opens it and finds it scrawled in Yuri's criminally perfect handwriting. She skims through it, repressing more tears from her eyes and sobs from her throat. "I love you," she whispers the words she desperately wished she'd said before he left.
Sonya sighs as she reluctantly drapes more gold tinsel around the nearly ten-foot Christmas tree. She could not, for the life of her, understand why Johnny always insisted on buying such an exorbitantly large piece of décor. She shakes her head as she slowly climbs up the step ladder and circles it around the tree. She stops in the middle of her job and throws the tinsel down petulantly. She folds her arms and huffs. "I miss him," she whispers into the air in reference to Yuri.
While on the couch, Sonya stared at her files once more, the words "Other Than Honorable" forever etched into her brain. She remembered the blank stare Flagg gave her daughter and her rival team leader after their altercation. He wasn't properly equipped for this job. She'd known it for a very long time. But now people were starting to realize how much worse off Special Forces really was without her discipline and input. Shaking her head, she tossed the thick manila folder on the coffee table and rubbed at her temples.
She heard the subtle squeak of the creaking trick step and looked up to see Yuri dressed in his dark Shirai Ryu garb. "Shit," he whispered.
She tilted her head. "Are you leaving now?"
He proceeded to walk down the rest of the steps before answering, "Unfortunately."
She stood up from her place on the couch and walked the short distance to him. She wrapped her arms around him in a motherly hug, one he returned while heaving a sigh. She patted his back and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before pulling away. "Yuri, please promise me something," she started to tell him. He nodded, waiting for her to continue. "Make sure you come back in one piece, all right? I can't stand the thought of something happening to you."
"I will," he said.
"I mean it," she warned him. He smiled sadly. She bit the inside of her cheeks. "I can't believe you might not come back for Christmas. I'm honestly devastated."
He looked down miserably. "I know. As am I. But as aforementioned, this cannot wait."
"Trust me, I know," she agreed with him. She gave him another hug, putting an extra squeeze in it. "Be careful and keep us updated if you can," she reminded him as she pulled away.
"I will," he promised. With a final nod, he walked to the front door and opened it. "Goodbye," he said softly. He closed the door behind him.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.
Abandoning her task, Sonya heads upstairs and down the hall to Cassie's room. She pushes the door open and is greeted with the sight of Cassie under the covers, shaking uncontrollably. "Cass?"
"I don't wanna talk," she croaks. Sonya nods in understanding. After a few moments when she realizes Cassie hadn't kicked her out, Sonya steps into the room. "I miss him so much, Mom," Cassie says so softly, Sonya almost didn't catch it.
"I know," she agrees. "I do, too," she admits. "I keep saying it because I mean it every single time, but I'm here whenever you want and need me. Okay?" Cassie nods. "Okay." She stands up to leave. "Cass?"
"Yeah, Mom?"
Sonya sighs. "We're being summoned by Blake on Thursday," she informs her daughter.
Cassie sniffles. "Of course," she notes bitterly.
Sonya purses her lips and leaves her room. When she closes the door behind her, she chokes. "That goddamn bastard," she whispers roughly, swiping at her eyes angrily.
The next day, Cassie sits in the familiar therapist office, staring blankly at the blue walls and twiddling her thumbs. Her heart beats in her chest unnervingly and she chews her gum faster. "Cassandra?" Dr. Marsden calls her softly. She looks up at the redhead and gives her a small smile. They go into the room and Cassie opts to sit on the floor, her back against the couch. Following suit, Dr. Marsden sits in front of her Indian style. Suddenly, Cassie bursts into tears, covering her eyes with her hands.
When she contains herself twenty minutes later, she takes a deep breath and chokes out, "I was violated." Dr. Marsden nods, listening patiently. "My literal worse nightmare came to fruition that night in the warehouse. All I ever wanted to do was impress my mom. I thought I could handle a side mission to bring down the one faction she spent her entire career and my childhood trying to defeat. And I fucking failed.
"I should've known better," Cassie continues, sniffling uncontrollably. "He..." she swallows. "Kano played these stupid mind games with me and I let him. And I fucking lost," she wails before sobbing again.
Dr. Marsden swallows uneasily, her heart going out to the young woman sitting in front of her. However, she needs to keep her cool; she's a professional, and she has to remember this in order to finally help her client get through this. She's going to need a therapy session for herself later. "What makes you think you failed?"
Cassie hiccups before speaking in a thinly veiled voice, "It took me forever to get the feeling of his skin off me. When I got... when I was rescued, I took a hot shower every three hours on the hour. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. Did I mention he force fed me for days at a time? I can't even look at those stupid Hawaiian rolls the same way ever again. I used to love those things. Goddammit.
"I failed because I wasn't ever supposed to get caught. The moment that Australian bastard appeared in my room, I knew I was absolutely fucked," she continues, wiping her tears away. Wordlessly, Dr. Marsden hands her the box of tissues. She takes two and blows her nose into them noisily.
"And then... and then he saved me," Cassie continues, switching her focus to Yuri. She gulps before speaking again. "I didn't know who to trust back then. I didn't even trust him initially."
"What made you decide to take the chance on trusting Yuri?"
Cassie rubs at her lips thoughtfully as she thinks of a memory.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Cassie feigned sleep until the stranger dropped the metal tray on the floor with a clink. Chancing it, she opened one eye and found her pathetic meal waiting for her. But what caught her eye was the paper-thin note sticking out from the tray. It was thin enough to swallow, and she knew she was crazy for thinking it was more appealing than the 'edible' bits of food waiting for her.
"Read the note, then eat it," the stranger spoke. Her other eye popped open and she found herself staring at the masked man with striking silver eyes. The look of remorse caught her by surprise, but she wouldn't dare get her hopes up.
Instead, she muttered, "Poison," before closing her eyes once more. On top of everything else Kano did, she wouldn't put it past him to send someone to poison her so she couldn't talk. Fucking coward.
"Not poisoned," he told her. She opened her eyes in two slits as he repeated himself, "Read, then eat the note. Trust me."
That made her scoff inwardly. Yeah, right, like I'm supposed to trust you, silvery eyed fucker, she thought to herself. With a sigh, the stranger pulled something out of his pocket and bent down to shove it in her line of sight: a flip phone. "Don't let him find this. I'll be back to collect. Read, then eat."
He stands back up and began walking to the door before she found her voice again. "Name?" she croaked. God, she sounded awful and helpless.
He turned back to her and said one word back, "Yuri."
"And then he continued to risk his life to save mine," Cassie continues to tell her therapist. "They're dangerous people. If anyone is still living, the first person they'd come after is him, because they suspected someone was a mole. If they ever found out it was him... I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
"But anyway... I didn't think I'd be able to see or hear from him again until he wrote to me randomly on Friendships."
"To check on you, correct?" Dr. Marsden queries.
Cassie shrugs. "I thought so at first."
A week after returning home from the hospital, Cassie lied in her bed under the covers. Her phone vibrated under her head and she moved to retrieve the device from under her pillow. She didn't want to talk to anyone, not even her best friend. So, she was ready to power off her phone when she saw the message was from a new person. Curiosity overpowered her concern and her finger hovered over the notification when another one popped up right under it. She pressed on the popup and saw it was a message from someone with the screenname YuriKukriMaster. Her heart galloped in her chest as she read the message: Hope you are doing better than when we saw each other last. Maybe taking up the practice of Tai Chi shall rebalance your aura.
She thought he was sweet to offer her a solution, but she couldn't muster moving a muscle from her cocoon. She then heard footsteps from her father and she groaned. He always tried to get her to talk to him, but she wasn't fucking ready. "Princess?" he asked softly.
She marked his message as unread, unable to answer him as tears prickled her eyes. "Go away!" she screeched.
Cassie sighs. She eventually began giving him a chance when he consistently bade her good morning and offered up advice from Confucius and Buddha. Their conversations evolved from casual to playful, to personal. Yuri was the one who convinced her not to be so harsh on Sonya, and Jacqui only affirmed these statements when she told Cassie that she'd given up her career just so Cassie could heal properly. She bites her nails as more tears spring to her eyes. "Dr. Marsden?"
"Yes, Cassandra?" she answers.
"Um..." she starts. She stops gnawing at her fingers and takes a deep breath. "I love him, and I miss him, and I need him. So, so badly. Does that make me stupid?"
"No," Dr. Marsden tells her, "that makes you in love with him."
"Ugh," she scoffs.
"I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's what you needed to hear."
Cassie swallows again. "I know. I just... I don't want to lose him. But he's on this freaking mission that he can't even talk about and I'm worried about him." Cassie's voice betrays her when she says, "I didn't even get to tell him how I feel!" And she breaks down into helpless sobs again.
Johnny knocks on Flagg's door harshly. "What is it?" he hears the man say, absolutely worn out.
"Let me in," Johnny demands.
With a sigh, Flagg states, "The door is open."
Johnny enters the room and closes the door behind him. "So, I hear you're trying to get Cassie pulled from SF, huh?"
"She broke several regulations when she decided to use Hendrix's face as a punching bag."
"Oh yeah?" Johnny snips, folding his arms. "And whose fucking fault was that?" Flagg sighs and goes back to filling out paperwork. Not one for being ignored, Johnny stalks up to his desk and swipes everything onto the floor. "You're gonna look me in the mother fucking eyes and tell me whose fucking fault it was that Cassie went ballistic on Hendrix? Huh? Whose fault was it?!"
"I don't have time for your antics, Cage," Flagg tells him evenly. Johnny knocks the office phone from the desk with glowing hands. "Now, Johnny—"
"Do not fucking patronize me, dude," he tells the 'General' calmly despite the rage coursing through him. "I'll tell you then. It's your fault. Yours!"
"I bed to differ," Flagg says.
Fully pissed, Johnny grabs Flagg by the collar and brings him closer to his face. "When Sonya and I say we have more experience dealing with the hostile tempers of other realm leaders, you need to listen to us. We have decades of years' experience, and you get to come in all fresh and new and you can't even run the department correctly? You swiped Sonya's job from her and you can't even fucking perform?!"
"I didn't swipe Sonya's job from her!"
"Oh yeah?! On whose orders did I act on when I sent my princess on that wild goose chase?" Flagg gulps caught red-handed. "That's right. Your actions, direct and indirect, started this whole chain of events. Because you've always been jealous of some blonde who has been in the service longer than you, and you couldn't take it."
"I wasn't jealous of her!" he argues.
"Then what?!" Johnny demands, shaking the man once.
"I used to like her!"
"And what the fuck changed that shit?!"
"You!" Flagg yells. Shocked, Johnny lets go of the man. He folds his arms. "You changed that when you said you wanted to get back with her after you were the one who initiated your divorce. You made her the unstoppable, bitter, and unfeeling machine she was until she resigned."
"Until she was forced out," Johnny argues, poking Flagg's chest with a finger. But Johnny can't help the guilt that hits him. "You... you better talk to Blake about this shit, because if we get to court, I will personally make your life a living nightmare. You understand me?"
Flagg stares at Johnny. "It's understood."
"GOOD!" he yells before he leaves the office.
Thursday morning, Sonya knocks on Blake's door with Cassie in tow. "Come in," they hear him say.
"Ready?" Sonya asks her daughter once more.
"Not really, but okay."
They enter Blake's office and close the door behind them. Cassie sits in the chair in front of Blake and sits quietly as Sonya stands next to her. "You know why I'm here, correct?"
Blake sighs. "Yes, Sonya, I do."
Turning to Cassie, Sonya says, "Would you like to go first?" Cassie squeezes her eyes shut before opening them again. She then shakes her head no. "All right... Leonard. There is a multitude of reasons why going through a court-martial would be highly detrimental to myself and my family. You know this, right?" He nods stoically. "If I'm truly meant to be dismissed from Special Forces, all I can do is implore that I shall be given the proper notifications and not have my actions against the Black Dragon be used against me, especially considering that it was a one-time offense caused as a result of the culmination of events originally orchestrated by then Colonel Colin Flagg.
"Furthermore, it's at my insistence that lest my daughter, Sergeant Cassandra Cage, be forced to relive her traumatic events once more, she should not be called as a witness against me. Neither should her team leader, Johnny Cage."
Blake stares at her. "Anything else?" he asks.
"Off the record?" she wonders. He nods. "I'm not about to let my daughter go down for something I did, nor for something Johnny followed under Flagg's rule."
He frowns. "What are you talking about?"
Sonya turns to Cassie. Cassie clears her throat before explaining, "Yes, my dad asked me to do some off the radar investigation, but he told me Flagg made him do it. And he trusted Flagg. We all did."
"However, you understand that it was your mother who was above Flagg, correct?"
"If I had knowledge of this expedition, there's no fucking way in hell I would've approved it. You should know that," Sonya tells him.
"I do know that, off the record. But on the record, Sonya? It looks like you lost control of your entire unit. Therefore, it all comes back to you."
Sonya covers her face with her hand, frustrated. Shit, he has a fucking point, she bitterly thought. She takes a deep breath before saying, "There's no way in hell I'm going to drag my daughter and the love of her life through a humiliating court-martial. I can't do that to them. I just can't."
Cassie's breath hitches in her throat at Sonya's words, not so much for her sacrificial declaration, but for her calling it as she sees it; Sonya knew about the depths of Cassie's feelings and she hadn't even admitted it out loud to anyone but her therapist. She feels the tears well up in her eyes again but does her best to force them down.
Blake bites the insides of his cheeks in thought. Then, he regretfully states, "I apologize sincerely for this Sonya, but it's either the court-martial where you can present the evidence to everyone, or the OTH discharge, finalized."
Before Sonya can protest, Cassie forces the sob down her throat and mumbles, "I need more time."
"Sorry?" Blake asks her.
Cassie clears her throat. "I said I need more time," she repeats, more confidently than before. "Plus, the holidays are coming up. If we have to do this... can it wait until after the new year?"
He contemplates this for a long while as Cassie hears the blood rushing through her ears. Please give me more time, please Blake, she thinks. After a long, deep exhale, he acquiesces. "All right. But realize this, Sergeant Cage."
"Yeah?" she wonders.
He shakes his head. "You're on administrative leave until then. You and your team."
Cassie rolls her eyes. "Fine," she submits.
Sonya raises an eyebrow at him. "This is the best I can do right now," he tells her remorsefully before burying his head in his hands.
Having no choice but to accept this, Sonya nods. "Thank you, Blake."
"Yeah," he answers.
She places a hand on Cassie's shoulder and squeezes gently. "Let's go, kiddo."
At night, Cassie lies on her back, gazing at her ceiling, her new favorite past time as of late. Sensing her owner's frustrations and mental anguish, Lucky nuzzles herself in Cassie's neck while occasionally licking her face. "Hey Lucky girl?" she addresses the puppy. Lucky lifts her head and breathes in Cassie's face. "Did I mention how much I miss your dad? Because I do." As per usual after announcing this piece of news, the puppy whines.
"I can't believe Blake told me to get more evidence before I can take Flagg down. Everything is his fault." Lucky whines again. "I mean, I get it," she starts again, scratching her pet's head, "if I... if that stuff didn't happen to me, I'm not sure I would've met him, you know?" Cassie forces herself to be chipper enough to speak in a baby voice, "And then I wouldn't have you, right girl?" Lucky barks in agreement.
"But still," she continues, "this isn't fair. It's always going to be his word against mine. That shit's not right, you know?" Completely at random, Lucky jumps off the bed. "Lucky?" Lucky comes back with George the Fox and places him in front of Cassie. "You're so sweet to me," she says to her dog. Lucky barks once sharply and seems to gesture to the plush toy. "What, you want me to cuddle him too?" In response, Lucky barks once. Cassie sniffs the plush toy and breathes in deeply. God, it even smells like him. Fuck, I miss you dude, she thinks bitterly. She then notices the eyes glowing in the dark and frowns at it. She tilts her head to the side in wonder. Then her eyes pop open. "Oh, shit!" she realizes, sitting up in bed.
Taking a chance, she squeezes the plush with more force than usual. Surprised, she faintly hears what she thinks is Yuri's voice. "Huh?"
She squeezes it again and listens closely: "Cassandra when I was scanning your mother's files, I heard quite some disturbing news. George is able to record, and I had him with me that night." Cassie gapes. What the... She gives it another squeeze. "If you are able to, have Jacqueline retrieve the recording for you. It should prove to help your case." She gasps. Then she gives it one more squeeze. "I have never doubted you for a second. Be well and good luck, my love."
"My boyfriend is a mother fucking class A genius," Cassie whispers to herself. For the first time in days, she drifts to sleep with a smug smirk on her face.
A/n: Let me know what you think, please!