I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Useless Again
Cassius sucked in a pained breath, eyes slowly fluttering open, only for a flood of agony to greet him. He tried to scream, but a weak whimper was all he could manage.
"Cassius," Kaldur said from behind him.
He slowly pushed himself up, looking around at the cage made of flames around himself, Megan, and Kaldur. Megan was unconscious, and Kaldur was sweating profusely, but Cassius's body was slowly charring starting from the places nearest the flames and spreading inward. It was going to take a very long time for him to recover from this. He wouldn't be using goo for months.
"W...Where..." he began to pant, collapsing back to the ground, eyes fluttering.
"...hangar," Kaldur was saying as his brain began to register the world around him again. "We are being held hostage by two robots, similar in design to Red Tornado, but controlling fire and water respectively. The female controls fire, and the male water. Robin and Artemis are here, and have been given ten minutes to surrender or else we will be killed."
"I might...not...last..." he took several breaths before frowning. "Where...are..."
"Cassandra and Rose are frozen on the floor below us with Superboy and Wally," Kaldur said. "Try not to speak or move. You must conserve your strength."
Cassius tried to agree, but a slightly louder than normal breath was all he could manage, barely even a snort. After several minutes, he heard several explosions and the roar of flames, as well as Superboy shouting, but his brain was starting to fog. He heard Kaldur's voice, he could hear Rose's. He could even hear Cassandra shouting his name. He felt his chest compress. They must be terrified. He was supposed to protect them and yet, here he was, slow roasting while they were about to drown. And yet, there was nothing he could do. even opening his eyes felt impossible at the moment.
He could hear the robots counting. He couldn't understand their words anymore. He tried again to open his eyes, but they wouldn't comply. He realized they must have already burned. He couldn't possibly have much time left. Maybe a few minutes. Maybe less. He didn't hear anyone shouting anymore, but that could just be because his eardrums had burned. He couldn't tell what was going on anymore. There was just darkness and silence, like he was floating in a void. And he was so tired. Maybe this was what it was to die. Just nothingness. Just an end. Or maybe he was just waiting for an angel to come and take him to the gates of Heaven to be judged. He doubted he'd be judged favorably. Not after all he'd done. But as long as Cassandra and Rose were safe, that'd be enough.
He yawned, feeling himself starting to drift away. He was so tired. Felt like forever since he'd just let go. Slept for a while. Maybe he could rest for a few minutes. He was sure the others wouldn't mind too much. Right? A few minutes couldn't hurt. They weren't in the middle of a job, right? And there was such a nice breeze. Just cool enough to be comforting. He frowned. When had it gotten cool? He couldn't remember. He'd been so warm a second ago. Or, at least, he though he had. It wasn't bad, but it was making it hard to sleep. He frowned. No, it wasn't the cold that was making it hard to sleep. there was something else. What was it? He couldn't quite remember, and he couldn't quite focus. It was so hard.
He felt like there was something. No, there should definitely be something. It was scratching at the fringes of his awareness, screaming and pleading to be heard. No, not to be heard. It was his name, and it wasn't screaming, it was crying. He let out a long, pained breath, trying to open his eyes only to once again find they refused to respond. His ears were still only partially functional, but they were healing. Why were they healing? Slowly memories filtered in. Teaching Cassandra to read and write. teaching Rose sign language. There had been an explosion. Finally, he remembered. The cage. The fire. He'd burned.
"Cassius!" Cassandra's voice pleaded, just as he found he could feel again, or maybe that he could process it, as he felt her arms tighten around his neck.
"Cassandra...y-you're gonna...choke him if you squeeze much tighter," Rose's wavering voice said, though Cassandra didn't loosen her grip any.
"C...Cass...an...dra," Cassius rasped, voice barely more than an exhale, though as soon as he'd said her name, both Cassandra and Rose began to sob anew, a second set of arms holding him now.
He tried to open his eyes again and finally succeeded, though his vision was blurred for almost twenty seconds before he was able to look down at himself and the two girls sobbing into him, Cassandra into the center of his chest and Rose into the front of his right shoulder. His body was surrounded by the remaining ice chunks that the girls, Superboy, and Wally had been trapped in, but he could tell that probably seventy five percent of his body, maybe more, was still charred at a minimum on the surface.
"You are awake," Kaldur said, kneeling in front of him.
"Not...for long," Cassius said. "When I...close...my eyes...I'll...sleep for...days."
Kaldur nodded. "I'll make it short then. Artemis and Robin managed to save us with an electromagnetic pulse. Cassandra managed to used a small explosive from her belt to break the ice, though she and Rose both suffered minor burns in the process, nothing major. We used the ice to cool your burns, but Red Tornado left with the two androids that attacked us, we are unsure whether it was willing or because he was hacked."
"Hacked," Cassius said, then mouthed, "he's not the mole."
Kaldur's eyes widened, but as he opened his mouth to ask if Cassius knew who it was, Cassius's eyes slipped closed and darkness claimed him again.
Cassius winced as he began to be pulled toward consciousness again. This time wasn't as disorienting as the last. This time, the switch was fast, so it only took him a few seconds to know that Cassandra was clinging to him and whimpering, tears leaking from her eyes as one of her nightmares played through her dreams. He restrained a groan as he pushed himself up, shaking her gently. After a moment, she gasped harshly, eyes flying open as she moved to sit bolt upright, only for Cassius to gently pull her into a hug. After a moment, she began to cry, though in relief and joy that he was alright, unlike normal. After another moment, the bed shifted behind him and he glanced back just before Rose wrapped her arms around him as well, also beginning to cry. He sighed, turning so that he could hold both, both pressing their faces into his shoulders. As they cried he held them tightly, a hand stroking gently up and down each of their backs calmingly, Cassius shushing them softly. Slowly, both of their sobs began to taper off. One they had, Cassius lay back down, holding both against him, both holding him tightly.
"How long was I asleep?" Cassius asked.
"Almost a day," Rose said. "The rest of the team is out on a mission."
"Where?" Cassius asked.
"India," Rose said. "We weren't there for the brief. We were with you."
Cassius nodded. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you two."
Both sat up, shaking their heads.
"Forget about us!" Rose said.
"Y...You...important...too," Cassandra said, then signed the rest. "We were more afraid that you would die than we were about ourselves."
"We don't want to lose you either," Rose said. "We don't need you to protect us all the time if it means you're in danger. If you died, we'd both be devastated."
Cassius nodded, smiling, and pulled both back down so he could hold them, both wrapping their arms back around him. It was strange having someone worry about him as much as they did, enough to cry because he was hurt. It made his chest both feel warm and compress painfully at the same time. It was uncomfortable, and yet pleasant. He decided to worry about it after he'd rested more. He needed to worry about recovering first. Then he'd try to figure what he was feeling. He closed his eyes, feeling the girls both drift off in seconds before quickly following.
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