A/N: Monday blues, Tuesday update...ugh, I don't wanna work today.
Reviewers, as always, glad to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time!
Here you go, read. :)
XXXVII.
It wasn't easy climbing out of the warehouse. While the staircase was still mostly intact, getting to it involved clambering over dead Skitter bodies, mech parts, shifting and unstable debris, and with injuries added to that maze of macabre, Jimmy ended up spending a good hour maneuvering through it all. By the time he finally made it to the staircase, he wasn't sure he had the energy to climb it. Regardless, he caught his breath and started staggering up.
At the top, Jimmy collapsed to his knees. The warehouse was little more than a skeletal frame now, its wall and roof dangling from pillars and rafters, scattered out in the streets, and piled at the bottom of the basement. The obstruction inside the warehouse that Jimmy had seen was completely gone. So were all the Skitters.
The silence of the industrial area enclosed on Jimmy, darkening every corner of his mind and heart.
There were no signs of the 2nd Mass units in the area. There wouldn't be. Hours had passed since the warehouse went down, and they would all be long gone to the first checkpoint.
"They left without you," Cass said certainly, standing over Jimmy. She put a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't feel its weight, just the cool breeze of the settling evening air. "They're all gone now, they're never coming back. You're all alone."
Jimmy shook his head, tears that had started to form in his eyes as he'd made his way out of the warehouse basement, now flowed freely down his cheeks and he buried his face in his hands.
"This is exactly the way it should be. You know that," Cass assured Jimmy, "You were just weighing them down, a burden on their shoulders. You were never meant to be a fighter, protecting, taking care of others. You couldn't take care of anyone; you couldn't take care of yourself. You never had it in you."
Jimmy peeked up at her, his expression haunted. Cass smiled cheerily in return.
"You couldn't even take care of me."
James furiously scribbled out the words he'd just written on his loose-leaf lined paper. He leaned across his elbow and scowled. He tapped his pen on the desktop, staring at his clock, the red digital letters read: 7:57. His phone went off nearby, Rise Against ringtone screaming 'help is on the way' and James reached for it, briefly glanced at the name that lit the screen, Ryan Blakely, then hit 'answer'.
"Hey," James greeted glumly, "Have you started this stupid essay for Perkin's yet?"
"We have an essay?" came the earnestly puzzled reply.
"Yeah, on Frankenstein, remember?" James smirked, drawing a spiral on his paper.
There was a cough on the other end of the line and then, "What'd your parents say?"
"Say? Nothing," James answered, "My dad did yell a lot, though."
Muffled laughter.
"Mostly the typical stuff. I'm the world's biggest fuck up…what was I thinking…how could I be so stupid…'this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs' crap," James continued, scribbling out the spiral, and then starting a quick doodle of a bird, "Yours?"
"They'll deal with it when they get back from Moscow. Which means, they'll forget about it by the time they get back from Moscow and we'll all go out for ice cream. So essentially, I will be rewarded for getting high."
"You're so lucky," James muttered, "I'm grounded for two months and I have to help my mom with that stupid church rummage sell."
"Hey, man, charity is its own reward."
"Fuck you."
"Two months is harsh though," Ryan admitted, a strange schiffing noise came over the line as he jostled his phone, probably to sit down, "Captain Custard-butt was royally pissed I take it."
James drew an arrow through the bird complete with blood gushing out.
"Yeah," James confirmed, "He brought up the 'M' word again."
"Ah…menstrual cycle," Ryan said, mock-knowingly.
"Military school, you jackass," James grumbled, biting back a chuckle.
"Oh yeah. That…that would make more sense. Though I really couldn't be sure. I mean, your dad does always seem like he's PMSing."
James laughed at that one and Ryan snickered in return.
"So…what'd he decide? Are you shipping off?" Ryan questioned when their mirth died down. There was a genuine hint of concern in his tone.
James started another doodle of an embossed star.
"Nah…the tuition still costs more than dealing with my bullshit," he answered, coloring the sides of the star in dark enough to tear through the paper.
"Ah…good, economical...glad to hear it," Ryan murmured.
"Yeah."
"Well, two months isn't so bad then. I mean, bright side, at least you're not Kevin. His parents are making him go to synagogue every day for the next five weeks. Can you imagine having to wear that stupid little hat and listen to people hock loogies all night?"
"Is that really worse than watching little biddies with blue hair bitch and moan about how expensive twenty-five cents is for a used floral blouse that hasn't seen the light of day since 1985?" James challenged.
"I've never been to synagogue so I can't say for certain, and Kev generally does make it sound really horrible, but I'm gonna go with 'no', mostly because you sound like you want me to go with 'no'."
"They pinch my cheeks, Ryan, and not always the ones on my face," James deadpanned.
"Well that's just because you have a nice butt and your face kind of resembles tapioca pudding. Face it, your geriatric bait, man."
"How exactly does a face resemble tapioca pudding?"
"I don't know, look in the mirror, ask yourself that question. All I know is that, much like tapioca pudding, you have the kind of face that is good to eat when you have no teeth."
"Are you high right now?"
"Possibly. I ate a brownie a little while ago and, you know, nine times out of ten in my house that means you're going to get high but it was a risk I was willing to take for that ooey-gooey, chocolate-y goodness."
James rolled his eyes and Ryan fell quiet. The sound of James's pen scribbling back and forth punctuated the other boy's silence. The red numbers on the clock's digital readout incremented with a flicker of light.
"You never got to put that note in Amber Szinsky's locker," Ryan mentioned casually.
James tentatively bit his inner cheek and glanced at the folded paper on the corner of his desk where he'd placed it after getting home from school. He tapped his pen on the desktop and scowled. Part of him had wanted to forget about it, he wasn't entirely sure he was ready to go to third base with a girl yet.
"No, I didn't," James softly confirmed, then wondered aloud, "What do you think she talks about? Amber…I mean…"
"Pom-poms and the color pink."
"I'm serious, man."
"So am I."
James started another doodle of a stick figure, shifting his phone to his other ear and propping it up with his shoulder.
"I don't know. Amber seems cool, I guess," Ryan decided after a moment.
James pursed his lips and drew another stick figure with a samurai sword attacking the first.
"What makes you say that?" he questioned. There was a sound at his bedroom door and he furrowed his brow, glancing curiously to it, securely closed several feet away.
"Well…first of all, she chose you over Lenny," Ryan mumbled distractedly, most likely watching television now, "So you know she has good taste, right?"
James set his pen down and rose from his chair, slowly and quietly creeping towards his door.
"But then, I guess that's not really saying much. A girl has to be a complete idiot to choose Lenny over…you know…anyone else," Ryan continued.
James put his hand on the knob, gave it a twist and quickly jerked the door open. A tiny form tumbled into the room, chestnut hair sprawling across the carpeted floor, wide blue eyes staring up into James's own, tiny hands grasping tightly a stuffed teddy bear.
"Oh, hell," the tiny form squeaked, then barked out in a high-pitched imitation of military command speak, "Mayday, mayday, mission HQ, our position's been compromised. Come on, Private Fluff, we got to retreat, retreat, retreat!"
Then she rolled onto her feet, still holding her teddy bear close to her chest, and sprinted back through the hall, rounded the corner, and thundered down the staircase.
James frowned, folding an arm over his chest and glaring the direction the tiny form and her teddy bear had run.
"I'm going to have to call you back," he grumbled.
"What's up?" Ryan questioned, interestedly.
"Oh nothing. I just have to go kill an enemy insurgent," James muttered explanation, then hung up the phone, tossed it onto his bed, and took off running down the hall, shouting, "Get back here, Cass, you are so dead! How many times do I have to tell you not to listen at my door, you little brat!"
"I was gathering intel," Cass argued, dodging a swipe from James and rushing around the kitchen table, expertly keeping it between herself and her brother, "You never know who's a spy in this house, you never know! We have to win this war, though, we just gotta beat those damn Nazis. They killed all my brothers, every last one except you," she gripped her hand in a fist no larger than a plum and fixed James with a wild look, "So, tell me now and tell me the damn truth, are you with me, Jimmy? Or are you with them murdering bastards!"
James narrowed his eyes on her, slamming his hands angrily on the dining room table, causing it to rattle noisily.
"You watched Saving Private Ryan again, didn't you? Dammit, Cass, you know you're not allowed to watch that movie, and now mom and dad are going to think I let you!" he growled.
"No, you're wrong! They won't even know," Cass whimpered, clutching her bear under her chin and shaking her head emphatically, "I'll never tell, they can torture me all they want. Name, rank, serial number, that's all they'll get from me! I swear."
"They'll know when you have nightmares because of it," James pointed out, attempting to leap around the table and make a snatch at her, but she moved too swiftly from reach.
"I don't have nightmares," Cass snapped, stamping her foot and pointing accusatorially at James, "You have nightmares!"
"How did you even get the movie?" James demanded, then groaning loudly, "Did you climb to that top shelf again? You stupid brat! I'm gonna skin you alive!" He made another attempt at her, which she swiftly moved away from, so he dove under the table and grabbed hold of her ankle. She tripped to her knees then spun round, plopping on her bottom, and began to beat him over the head with her teddy bear.
"Let me go, let me go, curse you Third Reich," she screamed, then curled forward and sank her teeth into the side of his palm.
James pulled back, surprised and hissing in pain, "Son of a – I can't believe you just bit me, you little…"
Free of his grasp, Cass jumped to her feet, ran a few paces, and spun around screeching, "Never give up! Never surrender! Death to all Nazis! Death to Hitler!"
Then Cass sprinted up the stairs, James scrambling to his feet and racing after, wiggling his hand to ease the sting her teeth had left behind. She darted into her bedroom, and slammed the door shut in James's face, clicking the lock in place. He jiggled the knob futilely, and then banged frustrated fists against her door.
"God dammit, Cass, I hate you," he shouted, pounding the door one last time for emphasis.
.
.
A/N: So, there is the real Cass. What'd you guys think? Was she what you imagined?
Also, Saving Private Ryan is her favorite movie, which I chose it for an obvious reason (points for the first person can tell me what that reason is...), but its ironic, because I've never actually seen the movie. So...yeah.
Anyhow, review you guys, please, good or bad, I would love to know what you think!
Reviewers: u-know-u-luv-me-99, I can't help but notice there's no actual review in your review...oh well, I'm sure it was in your heart. Um...I didn't mean that comment as I challenge, but its good you can write fast when in the mood, now for some Orson Scott Card advice: be sure you're in the mood everyday. WhisperMaw, was that you that reviewed under 'guest' also? Kind of sounded like you, IDK, this one review was awesome though. I said before I was most concerned about you're opinion on my Jimmy-development, and now that I have it, and it's good, I think I can wrap this story up happy. Haley! Yes, his father is a meanie...more on him later. CallMePox, oh, I'm so excited you liked this OCs. I'm kind of fond of them, so I was very anxious about them, thank you! Hm...I haven't heard from Greg in a couple chapters, I don't know if he's still traveling and has no time, or if he's mad at me either for separating the boys or something I said. If I said something that offended, I apologize. I never have malicious intent, sometimes I rant and get bitchy, but I have bad days too. JDMlvr1, yeah, I kind of wonder if Jimmy would've said it if the women weren't there...who'm I kidding, he probably would have. Heracratzarism, I worried some people would have that confusion! I thought to clarify in the A/N, but decided it would be more fun this way, LOL.
Alrighty, got to eat breakfast, drop by Goodwill maybe, fuel up my car, grab my books, run to class, work all day, and hopefully find time to study, and then maybe...maybe...somewhere in between all of that, work on sequel. Sigh. Learning about Nim Chimpsky today, as if I don't already know...
See you guys tomorrow!