Disclaimer: So I own nothing. Nothing. Nothing Nothing. Nothing is what I have. Nothing is what I own and the nothing I'm getting paid for that nothing I own should serve as proof to anyone who cares about checking should serve as proof of the lack of existence of anything I have. I am not Rick Riordan or Joss Wheadon or any other nice person who has more than the nothing I do in terms of ownership with all of the characters involved in this story besides Cassie. Sh is actually mine and I made her for free and will probably never ever be paid for her. Basically, I should absolutely never be sued for anything I've ever done in my entire life including publishing this story. End Rant.
Deciding on what the next thing to do in this situation should be is probably something that should be carefully thought over. It's something that a group of highly logical people with cooler heads would probably insist on discussing all together in a nice group. There might even be a large King Arthur style round table with chairs of equal sized carefully spaced out around it. The discussion might involve lists, and bullet points, and outlines of complex strategical plans based off of live intelligence and up to date psychological evaluations.
However, Cassie is well aware of the fact that life very rarely if ever works out the way she thinks it should. She has no round table, no group of level headed individuals with which she could discuss what to do, no plan, and most importantly no time to come up with one. Essentially, everything is currently looking pretty much normal for the parameters within which she lives her life.
Given her situation, Cassie puts off logical planning and simply acts on instinct. In this case, that instinct means launching herself off of the edge of her rooftop and out in to empty space. A heartbeat later, that empty space gives way to an unoccupied stretch of pavement shielded from public eyes and directly in the path of James Buchanan Barnes the Winter Soldier.
Depending on what Barnes actually remembers about his past, this decision is either a perfectly sound course of action, or one of the worst decisions she's ever made. Either way the decision has been made, and as they say on the playground "no take backs". So Cassie simply stands her ground and waits to see what Barnes is about to do.
When Barnes doesn't immediately move to draw a weapon and attempt to murder her Cassie begins to dare to hope that this situation might go some semblance of something that resembles the adjective "well." In the hopes of not bucking the trend Cassie holds her hands at shoulder height with her palms open so that Barnes can see her. Then, moving slowly the way she would with a spooked pegasus, Cassie moves to put away her bow.
"Sergeant Barnes?" The name and title come out like a question. It's not quite how Cassie plans to say them but it makes decent sense. She honestly doesn't know who exactly she might be talking to. The man in front of her could be Barnes, but he could just as easily be the Winter Soldier. Or she could be dealing with a different man entirely. "Do you remember me?" she asks. "It's alright if you don't."
In the moment between her words and Barnes' response Cassie count her heartbeats to keep track of the time. Just when she's starting to think that the man may have taken a vow of silence without telling anyone (which would be really inconvenient) Barnes opens his mouth and speaks. "You're Cassandra," he states. His voice is raspy as though he's fallen out of the habit of using it and in to the habit of gargling with handfuls of gravel. "You were there that day at the river."
Cassie nods decisively, figuring she should do her best to solidify any connections Barnes feels he can make with any certainty. "That's right Sergeant." Slowly she lowered her hands and relaxed her stance, easing herself closer to him by half a step. "I'm glad that you remember that day. Do you remember the rest of that day? Do you know who else was there? Again," she tacks on hurriedly. "It's alright if you don't."
Barnes frowns and shakes his head like someone shaking water out of their ears after getting out of a pool. Cassie tells herself to remain calm and takes a slow half-step backwards. She's not sure if the head shake means he's trying to block out her words or if he's dealing with memory flashes. Her only experiences with memory loss boil down to Jason and Percy. Frankly, she's not sure if being mind wiped and cry-frozen on a regular basis for seventy years works the same way as having your identity erased by a meddling peacock goddess.
It's not like its a question she can Google.
"How did you find me?" Barnes demands. He doesn't raise his voice or make any threatening movements. In fact, he goes very, very, still and his eyes are flicking all over the alley instead of focusing on her directly. He's ready to bolt but is still trying to decide weather or not he should and the best way to go if he does. Cassie only hopes that the way he chooses isn't the one that involves him barreling straight through her.
If he does that though, Cassie thinks she might actually stand a better chance today than she would on a different one. Barnes' stillness and the lack of immediate fear of death lets Cassie relax enough to extend her senses. The extension tells her that it's not just a coincidence that they've found Barnes today. Whatever's happened to him since Washington, right now he's bleeding and if her sense of his current internal pressure are right he has been for a while. Cassie can't actually see the blood for herself, but she'd be willing to bet that it's being absorbed in to the dark fabric of his clothing.
Demigod pro-fashion tip: Black clothing will hide all manner of unpleasant stains.
Cassie decides on the fly that the way to go is to keep him talking until Steve gets there. She isn't sure exactly what they'll do then, but at least it will be something closer to a group decision if they have time to make one. If nothing else, any fight, should one occur, will be two against one rather than one on one and everyone will be less likely to get injured or killed.
Explaining Rachel isn't something she feels like she'll be able to adequately do at the moment so Cassie bites her lip and says. "For now let's just say that I'm friends with some very strange people who know how to do very odd things and live in some truly bizarre places. One of them found you and told me and Steve where to look. He's been trying to find you since the river."
"She's right," says Steve's voice over Cassie's shoulder. Barnes starts badly in surprise and it takes everything in Cassie not to imitate him. Apparently she was more interesting and absorbing to Barnes than she thought she was. Also, Steve is apparently better at sneaking up on her than she thought. Her senses were trained on the potential threat in front of her but she still kicks herself a little for not noticing. If Steve had been a threat and not her boyfriend, she could have been dead before she had the chance to turn around and notice anyone was there.
Steve has his shield stowed and is closing the distance between them, his hands mimicking the open palmed gesture she had used just minutes before. "Ever since I figured out it was you who pulled me out I've been looking for you." He steps forward again and the length of his stride takes him to standing a few inches in front and to the side of Cassie. "I'm not here to fight you Bucky," he says calmly.
Barnes takes a step back, exactly mirroring Steve's step forwards to maintain the gap of space between them. That isn't going to work for very long though. He's only got so much alley he can back down before he's back in the open street with minimal cover. "Why have you been looking for me?" he asks. He shakes his head again "You shouldn't have come looking for me."
Cassie notices Steve shift again. This time it's a change that brings him about six inches to the side and Cassie suddenly realizes that he's half in front of her now. With a few steps he's moved himself between her and what he deems to be the most dangerous element in the situation. He's made himself a human shield in case Barnes snaps or attacks.
She rolls her eyes and makes a soundless movement to the other side so she still has a clear line of sight to Barnes. Cassie can accept that it's part of Steve's nature to want to protect the people that he cares about and that she falls in to that category. What she does not accept from anyone is being coddled without a good reason.
"You'd have looked for me," Steve says. "Before any of this we were friends. Best friends." He takes another step forward and this time Barnes doesn't back up. "It was a lifetime ago, and I thought you were dead. But you and me we made a promise. We said we were in until-"
"-The end of the line," Barnes cuts in, finishing the sentence.
For a long moment the two men stand staring at each other. Cassie feels like she could be watching a scene frozen on screen, her eyes bouncing back and forth between them as the moment stretches out like an elastic band right before it snaps. Silence rings through the space as Barnes' words hang in the alley.
"I used to say that to you all the time when we were kids," Barnes says. His eyes have gone distant like he's looking at something very far away, but then they snap back to Steve and he frowns as he looks him up and down. "I think you used to be smaller."
Steve almost visibly deflates as the tension he's been holding for what has to be months now bleeds out of his body like a punctured balloon. He nods several times, swallowing hard around a knot in his throat. "I did," he says horsely. "You- you lived next door. You and your folks used to look out for me. Especially after my Ma died."
Barnes teeters on his feet. "Steve," Cassie murmurs, a warning in her voice. "Not to alarm anyone or break up what I know is a very long awaited reunion, but right now I think Barnes is about to pass out from blood loss."
As hypotheses go, that one is definitely an attention grabber. Steve has just enough time to look at her with wide, startled, blue eyes before Barnes decides to prove her right by stumbling sideways and collapsing against the wall. She's not sure it's exactly sound as far as scientific method goes, but frankly she isn't vindictive enough to ever wish for a wider data pool than what she's got.
What to do next is still a question in flux but Cassie is almost sure that there must be something in the Girlfriend Handbook about not letting your boyfriend's oldest friend die via exsanguination. Even if that old friend is a probably mentally unstable assassin who's spent the last seventy years in and out of cry-freeze having his mind wiped and programmed by crazy Nazis. And could Cassie just take this moment to mention how little she ever expected to think that sentence?
Moving quickly Cassie ducks past Steve and across to Barnes. The man's eyes are only half-open and a quick pulse check tells her that it's a damn miracle he's conscious at all. "Pulse is thready," Cassie mutters. "I have to figure out where the blood is coming from. I might be able to heal him up enough to get back to the tower but I need to be able to see the injury first."
Steve still seems frozen but Cassie's words move him in to action as he approaches her. "What can I do?" he asks.
"Get him laid out flat and help me get his jacket off," Cassie instructs. Steve obeys her instructions immediately and Cassie digs out a pair of tweezers. She has no idea how Barnes' body heals when left on it's own and until that changes she's hesitant to use her magic and hope it ejects whatever is keeping the wounds open and bleeding automatically. It would with the average person and seems to with everyone else she's tried but the way their lives all tend to go it seems like Barnes would be the one and only exception and Cassie isn't looking to take that chance until she has to.
Once Steve has Barnes' jacket and shirt removed Cassie does a quick survey and counts three separate bullet wounds. She doesn't bother factoring in the caliber because at the moment it doesn't matter that much. With Steve's help Barnes is shifted enough so that Cassie can get a look at his back and what she finds makes her swear out loud. There are only two exit wounds which means there's a bullet still lodged in Barnes' body.
Cassie lays a hand against his chest and forces her healing senses out of her own body and focus on Barnes. The scan locates the bullet and Cassie swears again but keeps it internal for Steve's sake. Even the people who were bravest in battle didn't like seeing their best friend full of holes with their condition declining. The bullet that's still stuck in Barnes went just far enough to nick an artery and then lodge there.
She takes a steadying breath and positions herself for the best angle possible. "Steve," she says, keeping her voice as steady and calm as she can make it. "I need you to help me with this next part. Right now that bullet is keeping the wound open but its also applying pressure and backing most of the gap. I need to get the bullet out before I can heal him but as soon as I do the bleeding is going to pick way up until I can get him healed."
"You need me to apply pressure?" Steve guesses. Her reply is a nod and Steve grabs Barnes' discarded shirt and uses brute strength to tear it in to smaller sections, gripping the largest to use as a compress. "Ready."
With a final deep breath Cassie repositions herself the last millimeter she needs to and inserts the tweezers in to the wound. In a strange way she's actually happy that the hole has enlarged from its original size. Otherwise she should have had to make a new incision to pull the bullet out. With grim determination she maneuvers the tweezers until she feels them come in to contact with the hard metal of the bullet and pulls it free. As she predicted the maneuver produces a veritable spurt of fresh dark red blood that must be coming from the damaged artery.
It doesn't get to bleed for very long. Steve bears down against it with the fabric in his hand and Cassie presses one palm against Barnes' heart and the other just above it as close to the wound as she can be. She wills the magic to leave her in pulses and can almost feel the damaged artery, veins, muscle and tissue knitting back together. She pulls back as soon as the bleeding has stopped. The wounds are only about half healed but she wants to save something for later in case it's needed. The worst case scenarios are that Barnes isn't completely stable or that they'll get attacked by whoever shot him before they get back to the Tower. Best case scenario she'll have time to refuel before doing a second stage healing with more magic and better medical equipment.
With a relieved though tired sigh, Cassie sinks back on her heels. Her hands are tacky with drying blood and the entire alley looks like a scene out of a horror movie. She meets Steve's eyes and manages a weary though triumphant smile. "He's stable," she says. "Now let's get him back to the Tower."
The process of getting Barnes situated in the Tower is... tense... and awkward. Those are the weakest possible accurate adjectives Cassie can find for the atmosphere that surrounds the occurrences that make up the following events. Understatement was another talent Cassie and other demigods all seemed to posses in spades. Maybe it was genetic. Maybe it was a result of the circumstances they lived in. Either way Cassie kind of wants to find someone in H.R she can ask about weather it can go on her resume under special skills.
Cassie is preoccupied on the car drive back to the Tower. She sits in the passenger seat with it all the way reclined so that she can be facing Barnes to monitor him. She wouldn't be quite so occupied with it, but she doesn't know what Barnes' body is used to as a baseline so she can't really tell how his system is reacting to her magic. For the time being she's using the stats she normally applies to Steve as an estimate because he's the only other guy around with a similar Super-Soldier Serum situation. Alliteration is another thing she should see about adding to her resume.
Steve himself is busy driving. Or at least, he's trying to keep himself busy that way. The fact that Cassie can see his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel out of the corner of her eye tells her that his method isn't actually working very well. It's possible that if she checks later his grip might be permanently molded in to the material of the steering wheel.
Two descriptions that have never applied to Cassie are 'emotionally unaware' and 'situationally oblivious'. She has friends who are both, one, or none of those things but those are all stories best kept for another time. The point is that Cassie is completely aware of the fact that whatever fallout comes after this is going to be expansive, uncomfortable, and in most other ways hideous for everyone involved.
The best case scenario she can come up with at the moment actually revolves around Anthony Stark being either incredibly understanding and emotional mature or completely uninterested in resolving the unanswered questions surrounding the biggest tragedy of his life leading him to be oblivious to the circumstances of his mother and father's death. The best case scenario isn't looking all that likely at the moment. Tony Stark is many things but uninterested, emotionally mature, and rational aren't three of them.
"You know what we might be getting in to here," Steve murmurs quietly.
Cassie nods and then remembers that they're facing different directions so she says "Yeah I know. I'd keep your shield with you until we've talked to Tony. I don't know what he knows but I think we should assume that it's enough." She doesn't specify enough of what. She doesn't need to. "And Steve," she tacks on. "Even if he doesn't know, I think you should tell him. It's just- It's not fair to bring someone in to his home otherwise."
One of Steve's hands lands as a warm weight on her back and Cassie reaches around to cover it with one of her own. "The Greeks had hospitality laws didn't they?" he asks. "I think I remember reading something about that."
He's trying to give them both a distraction, however small it might be from what's going on and Cassie jumps on the opportunity. Whatever mental reprieve either of them can gather before the upcoming storm hits is one worth indulging in. "Oh yeah. If you were invited in to someone else's house they were basically agreeing to make you part of the family while you were staying there, and if you went in you were supposed to hold up your end of the deal. The rules of hospitality then weren't just manners they were, like, divine laws. The old myths are full of stories about different gods showing up at mortal houses in disguise to test if the mortals were acting the way they were supposed to. Hera and Demeter each did it a couple of different times. Mostly disguised as elderly poor women. If the mortals did what they were supposed to they normally got rewarded."
"What about if the mortals didn't hold up their end?" Steve asks, his hand making a gentle circle between her shoulder blades.
Cassie can't help the automatic wince she makes in reaction to the memories of those particular stories. "That normally depended on exactly how bad the violation was," she explains quietly. "If the transgression wasn't particularly egregious or could be explained because the mortals didn't have anything to give then sometimes all they got was a bad scare and a warning. Sometimes the gods made the mortals go on quests or complete trials for recompense. But if it was really bad, and I mean like BAD bad the mortals were turned in to animals, or monsters. Like King Lycan. He murdered one of his sons and stewed him and then fed it to the gods. When they realized what Lycan had done they turned him and his remaining sons in to wolf-men. That's why werewolves are called Lycanthropes."
Steve is silent for a moment and then sighs. "Is this your way of telling me that werewolves are real too?"
The absurdity of this kind of conversation happening makes Cassie actually laugh. "Yes. Werewolves are real. But I wouldn't worry about it that much. We killed off a lot of them in the last war when they sided with Gaea and the giants. The rest of them are running scared and probably will be for the next century or so. Wolves don't generally attack unless they have superior numbers and a good chance at winning."
"Okay," he says, sounding like he's doing his best to wrap his head around the new information. "So we'll just ignore the werewolves then."
It's the last thing either of them says before they've reached the entrance to the Tower's parking garage. Steve pulls in close to the elevator that will take them to the other floors and beaches the car there. They can come back and move it later if one of Stark's numerous disappearing employees doesn't take care of it first. Of course, that's assuming that they don't get murdered by Tony or anyone else upstairs when they find out everything that the Winter Soldier has done.
Getting Barnes in to the elevator and up to the floor that houses the wing that's been set aside for medical situations where Cassie works is less tricky than the process of getting him in to the car had been. For one thing he's not actively bleeding as heavily as he had been before. For another Steve seems determined to take his weight and it's something he is completely able to do thanks to his strength.
When they get to the medical floor Steve deposits him in to a bed and Cassie hooks him up to an I.V of fluids and heart rate and blood pressure monitors. She also changes the bandages on his chest and is relieved to see that the makeshift compresses they applied in the alley aren't soaked through. She is worried about his internal pressure though so she calls over to Steve to find out Barnes' blood type. Steve answers the question without a second thought and Cassie sets up a transfusion line.
"That's as much as I can do for him right now," she says. "I'm not reading too much major internal damage anymore. I think I got most of it with the first healing. If he starts crashing out from something I can't detect now later on I'll have enough power left to keep him alive but until I get some sleep and something to eat I don't really want to try again. Regardless he's stable for the moment. If his serum works the same way yours does than his own system should take care of it. I'll probably know if that's how things are going in an hour or two."
Steve nods and drags in a tired breath as he scrubs a hand over his face. "I need to go talk to Tony." He says it like a man who may be walking to the gallows and the tone causes a pang in her stomach. She knows what it's like to know that you might be about to burn a bridge between your friends. What happened with Nico, and even with Luke is a prime example. Both boys had managed to help bridge the gap eventually, but it had almost been too late for Nico and Luke had died. Cassie doesn't want that to happen with Tony. Both for her sake and for Steve's. All of them bicker and rub each other the wrong way from time to time but at the end of the day they've always managed to still be friends.
She stands and crosses over to him, going up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. Steve still looks exhausted and his gaze is fixed somewhere in the middle distance but he still loops his arms around her waist, holding her close and taking the majority of her weight without a second thought. "Do you want me to be there with you?" she asks quietly.
Steve shakes his head and ducks down, kissing her quickly before pulling back. "No. I think this has to come from me. But maybe..." he lets out another breath and brings himself together as much as he can. "Maybe you could just... be close by? Incase-Incase something happens."
Cassie nods and leans up to kiss him again. "Meet him in the training room," she suggests. "It's neutral ground and there aren't any windows you can smash through. Plus most of the surfaces are already padded. I'll meet you in ten minutes. I'm going to enter the paperwork so that the nurses can monitor Barnes for me while we talk. If things go well I don't want to have to deal with administrative problems on top of everything else."
He agrees and approximately nine minutes later Cassie is arriving at the door of the gym and listening to the shouting match argument going on inside. The door is still shut so she can't hear all the details but the fragments she can hear are definitely enough to give her the gist. In this case, the gist is really just about all that she needs to know what she needs to. Walking through the door will directly deposit her in to the middle of a war zone. Maybe literally.
It's a little embarrassing to admit for someone who has fought gods and titans, but Cassie is actually scared to open the door. All of the other fights she's ever walked in to were different. In each of those situations she could work up an adrenaline rush. Most of the time the fate of the known world hung in the balance and Cassie would do whatever she had to do.
This fight isn't like that.
Jumping in here will be inserting herself in to a polarizing fight between two friends. Friends who might at the moment be trying to kill each other. And with these two people it was actually only a question of time until one of them succeeded.
As she lifts her hand to push open the door there's the distinctive clack of high heeled shoes on tile and Cassie turns, planning to take an extra moment to clear the area. Anyone who witnesses what's about to happen could be a potential problem. The best case scenario is that someone figures out Captain America and Ironman are fighting and start some kind of vicious press rumor. The worst case involved an innocent bystander being accidentally crushed or slammed with one of Tony's repulsers. Either way, random witness equals bad.
She's saved the trouble when the women in the hallway turns out to be none other than Pepper Potts. The CEO is dressed impeccably and balancing on a pair of stiletto heels that make Cassie's feet ache with sympathetic pain. She skips straight down to business and simply asks "Is it true?"
Cassie heaves a deep breath and lets it out through her nose. "Is there currently a nonagenarian formerly brainwashed super soldier by the name of James Buchanan Barnes upstairs recuperating in the medical bay upstairs? Yes, there is."
"I see," Pepper says levelly, swallowing hard. Then she lifts her chin and levels Cassie with an even gaze. "Is he safe?"
It's a fair question. In fact it's the same question that's been tumbling through Cassie's head like clothes in an industrial spin dryer for the last half hour so she gives herself a moment to consider absolutely everything she knows before answering. It's still a snap judgement given that there's a definite clock on the situation directly tied to the mean average of Steve and Tony's combined levels of patience.
"To us?" Cassie qualifies. She has to because the question of what Barnes might do to himself in his current mental state is an entirely separate issue. "No, I don't think so. I'm not sure he'd have come back here if it was his decision but he was bleeding out on the pavement and someone else had to make a different call," she meets Pepper's eyes. "Steve wouldn't have made this one if he had thought Barnes was a threat. Barnes is his oldest friend, but the people who live here are his team."
Her statement must ring true because Pepper nods after a moment and brushes a non-existent wrinkle out of the folds of her skirt. "Well then we'd better get in there before those two break anything expensive. Or you know, kill each other." With that she breezes past Cassie, pushes the door open, and strides through the doorway like she's off to conquer a small country.
Or dominate in a board meeting.
Either way it's impressive and pretty damn badass.
Cassie follows closely behind and as it turns out that's a very good thing. The moment that she and Pepper picked to enter the room is also apparently the moment that Stark's temper snaps and it's only Cassie's reflexes kicking in on time that keep both her and Pepper out of the line of fire. It messes up Pepper's previously completely professional hairstyle, but Cassie figures the other woman will probably forgive her for that considering that the other option was being fried by Tony's advanced technology.
"Hey!" Pepper snaps as the two of them scramble to their feet. "I'm sure that this is one of those conversations that we can work out sitting calmly around a conference table upstairs. You know this nice building we own only has about sixty different rooms set aside for exactly that purpose."
Steve is panting slightly but otherwise doesn't look much worse for ware. "I think we might be past that point Miss Potts," he says, falling back on formalities that probably shouldn't apply anymore. The fact that he's using it sets Cassie on her guard. Pepper is Steve's friend. Captain America knows Miss Potts. Steve is disassociating in case this fight drags on.
"Why would you bring him here!?" Stark shouts. "Why did you go looking for him. You could have decided not to but you Captain Righteous couldn't leave well enough alone could you? I thought that might happen so I guess I just have one question left, why the FUCK would you bring that man in to my house?! Where I work, where I eat, where I live, where Pepper lives. Your girlfriend, the rest of our team- You just risked everything."
Steve takes a step towards Tony but backs up again when Stark raises one gauntleted hand, a repulsor glowing in his palm. "Tony-" he tries but Stark cuts him off.
"No!" he shouts, his hand shaking. Cassie takes a step back, pushing Pepper towards the wall behind her. If things are about to go nuclear reactor civil war in here than her primary responsibility has to be to limit human casualty. Right now Pepper is the only person in the room that Cassie can actually classify as both civilian and fully human. "HE KILLED MY MOM!" Stark explodes.
A beam of energy fires from his gauntlet and rockets straight at Steve. Steve deflects the blast with his shield and the energy bounces off, pinging off the concrete reinforced walls of the gym like some sort of crazed, deadly, pingpong ball. It's moving too fast for Cassie to track with her eyes and even if she could the sudden flash of life has left her half-blind.
That's when the ball of blazing energy hurtles directly at her face. Cassie doesn't even stop to think about what she does next. It's pure and simple instinct to throw up her arms and protect her face...
It doesn't hurt.
Cassie can't explain it. She's slammed her eyes tightly shut and isn't quite sure she wants to open them yet. What she knows for sure is that she should be in more pain. Maybe she should even be dead but clearly that's not the case. At the very least she should have been thrown backward and probably in to the wall.
The room is dead silent and Cassie cracks open one eyelid. What she sees shocks the other one wide open. A crackling ball of energy fizzes and pops between her fingers. It's like she's caught a dodgeball of lightning in her bare hands. She wonders in the part of her brain that isn't scrambling to make this development make sense is wondering if this is how Jason and Thalia feel.
The projectile isn't completely under her control though. It shudders and skips like a sentient being that knows it's being restrained and isn't happy about it. Cassie's barely holding it in place and if she can't figure out how to dissipate this she doesn't want to know what might happen.
Thinking fast Cassie realizes that she must be able to control it because energy and light were so intertwined. She's controlling the light particles but not the electricity. Maybe if she can disperse the light the energy will dissipate all on it's own.
It takes a freakishly high level of concentration but she treats the process like sifting lumps out of flower. The light particles are the thinner grains of powder while the energy is lumps. In this situation she's the strainer. Eventually the light particles are gone and all Cassie is left holding is a few interconnected balls of energy. Holding her breath, Cassie slowly spreads her hands and the web holding together the rest of the charge breaks.
Once it's gone she looks out at the rest of the room. Pepper looks stunned and Steve seems worried. Cassie can't blame him since he did just see his girlfriend utilize supernatural powers for the manipulation of light and energy. Right now Cassie doesn't look at either of them, she's staring at Tony Stark. If there's one thing her little display has managed, she's rendered Stark speechless. The list of people who can say that has go to be pretty damn short.
"Barnes is dangerous," Cassie says slowly. "So what? Everyone in this room is dangerous. If I were anyone other than who I am what you just did would have killed me and your own girlfriend. Natasha and Barton are literally assassins, and while Doctor Banner may feel guilty he's killed plenty as the Hulk. Thor may care about humans but over the centuries he and his family have obliterated entire civilizations- entire species' worth of life. I've fought wars and probably will have to fight more and I have sentenced living creatures to Tartarus, a fate worse than simple death."
She walks forward. "You can be angry with Barnes," she says. "You can be furious. With him, with Hydra for giving the order, with your parents for going on that drive, with yourself for not going with them that night even though you would have just ended up dead too. You can be angry with me and Steve for finding Barnes again and bringing him in. But if we're going to start throwing people out for committing murder then every damn member of our team is about to be homeless. You cannot have two different sets of rules."
Stark still looks almost murderously angry but he manages to speak around teeth grinding together so hard Cassie can practically hear it from where she stands. When he speaks next his words are controlled and yet unsteady. "If you know so much," he gets out. "Then how the fuck do you suggest I handle this?"
The question is probably meant to be rhetorical and shut her up but Cassie answers anyway. "The way I see it, that depends on who you blame when someone dies from a gunshot. Is it the person who made the weapon? Or the one who aimed the gun and pulled the trigger." She crosses her arms over her chest. "Personally, I don't blame the gun."
In this metaphor, Barnes is the gun.
Tony's face is ghostly pale, the flush on his cheeks the only color in his face. His jaw works and his adams apple bobs and Cassie is half worried he isn't remembering to breath. All she had wanted to do was force Tony to stop and think. She hadn't wanted to verbally hammer him in the solar plexus. Then he jerks away from her like he can't stand to look at her face and turns towards Steve. His gaze is fixed at some point over Steve's shoulder. "I don't see him," he spits. "I don't hear him. As far as I'm concerned that man doesn't exist."
Steve's jaw tightens and he gives a single stiff nod. "Understood."
Cassie watches intently, her eyes flicking between the two men. Something tells her this isn't over yet. Sure enough, Stark hasn't finished saying his piece just yet. "When this goes south Rogers, I won't be saying I told you so. I'll be waiting with the biggest gun I can find ready to shoot it in to his head." With that he pivots and storms out of the room.
"I'll talk to him," Pepper mutters. "Get him to calm down some. You'd better keep Barnes out of the way for now." Then she moves to leave, following after Tony at a pace faster than any Cassie would have managed in her shoes. Literally
That's especially true right now since now that she's got a second to notice it her head seems to be spinning. Fortunately she doesn't think she's about to pass out. Really this feels more like she hasn't eaten in a while. Regardless she's feeling less than optimally fantastic and more than a little wobbly. This moment doesn't feel like one where it would be smart to question gravity so Cassie simply feels for the edge of a stack of training matts and sinks on to them with a relieved exhale.
Steve is next to her in seconds. "Are you okay?" he asks urgently. "The charge didn't hurt you did it?"
"No," Cassie says, shaking her head. "No I'm okay. Just that catching thing I did isn't really something I've ever done before and it wasn't just pure light I had to deal with, there was electricity in there too. Light I can handle, but electricity isn't really in my wheelhouse. I guess it took a bit more energy than I was planning on using."
One of Steve's hands lifts and he hesitates for a moment before cupping her cheek. Cassie gratefully tips her head in to his palm and lets him take the weight, shutting her eyes for a moment. "What you said changed everything," Steve says. "Before you came in Tony was ready to fight until one of us was dead."
Cassie can't help the yawn she lets out before she straightens up and rubs her eyes. "I'm just glad I could help."
He's quiet for a moment as his fingers slip up and through her hair, pushing it back behind her ear. Cassie shivers slightly as the pads brush over the shell. "Did I make the right choice?" he asks, exhaling the question on a shudder of breath. "I just- Was this whole thing a mistake?"
"Hey," Cassie says, covering his hand where it curled around the side of her face. "Breath for me okay?" Steve complies, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I think," she says slowly. "That Barnes is here. And you need to be prepared for the possibility that he might not exactly be Bucky right now, but he is here. You oldest friend isn't dead and right now he's right upstairs." She turns her head and presses a feather light kiss against his palm. "Wether the choice was right or wrong it's been made now, and out of all of the crazy things I've seen I have never seen anyone turn back time. All that's left to do is, go forward."
With one more breath and a nod Steve dips his head to kiss her. The kiss isn't exactly chaste, but it's sweet and gentle with just an edge of fervency and Cassie thinks that this- this right here and right now is what it must feel like to be cherished. She leans in to the contact, weaving her fingers in to the soft hair at the back of his head, maintaining the contact for a little longer after Steve moves to back away before she lets the kiss end. "Forward to where?" he asks, his voice calmer and more even than it was before as he backs away a few inches.
Cassie smiles up at him. She hops to her feet, gripping one of Steve's hand in her own. "Right now?" she checks. "I vote that the two of us go get some food because so long as we aren't dead yet, food is still important. And I'm starving."
Steve agrees to her proposition with a tired smile and the two of them leave, making their way out in to the cool air. Day has faded in to night as the events in the gym unfolded and Cassie buttons up her coat the rest of the way to keep off the chill. Steve walks beside her, one hand staying in hers, the other tucked in to his pocket. He doesn't seem like he wants to talk about what's happened that day at the moment and for the time being she lets that stand. If it goes on for too long she'll push but not yet. He's entitled to a few hours stuck in his own head to go over everything.
Since Steve is preoccupied Cassie takes the lead and guides them both to a diner with a good few of Avenger's Tower. It's the same one she used to work at two years ago when all of this started. It feels like it's been a lifetime.
They don't talk much as they wait for their food and less as they eat it. What they do talk about has nothing to do with Barnes or Tony or anything else concerning the Avengers. Cassie talks about working there and actually spares a few minutes to chat with one of the waitresses who still works there from when she did. Steve in turn talks about working on docks during his teens. By unspoken agreement they keep everything light.
All of their problems will be waiting for them tomorrow.
They pay and walk back to the Tower together. She knows she's not imagining it when it seems like Steve's steps are becoming slower and heavier with every fraction of movement they make back towards home. It gets to the point where Cassie is walking slightly ahead of him, pulling Steve gently along behind her. No matter what Tony said he hasn't kicked them out of the Tower, it's still home. And right now home is exactly where they need to be.
When they get there and step in to the elevator Cassie squeezes Steve's hand and makes him actually look at her. "Are you coming to bed?" she asks quietly.
She expects the answer she gets but she still kind of wishes she had gotten a different one. Steve lifts their joint hands and kisses the back of hers. "I need to go see Bucky," he says.
Cassie nods and gives him a small smile. She props herself up on her toes and kisses him on the cheek before she drops back. The elevator gives a merry ding, the sound interrupting the ACDC Stark normally uses for elevator music. The floor that they actually live on has arrived. "I'll let the medical staff know you're going to be there. Try not to stay up all night. Or if you're going to, make sure you eat something."
Steve bends and kisses her in return. This time it's more of a peck than an actual kiss but the sincerity of the regret over not going with her is written all over his face. "Thank you," he says, and there is something raw in his voice when he says it.
"You're welcome," Cassie tells him.
Then the doors slide open and she makes her way back to their apartment. She gets ready in silence, letting the events of the day wash over her as she washes her face, brushes her teeth, and puts on her pajamas. By the time she manages to collapse on to her side of the bed she's completely exhausted and absolutely ready to sleep until she wakes up.
Maybe, just this once, her night will bring her clarity instead of confusion.
A girl can dream.
Can't she?
Author's Note: So there it is guys. I hope you all enjoyed it and tell me what you think. I know this one took a while and I'm sorry about that but I managed to simultaneously fracture one wrist and sprain the other so typing has been a little hard (painful) lately. Anyway I hope this was worth it and that hopefully some of you guys have still stuck around? No matter what this chapter is up now so I hope those of you who have stuck around enjoyed it. If everything goes according to what I have in my head then the next chapter should move us much closer in to Age of Ultron. This is also the point in the story where things start getting much less cannon because I wanted Bucky involved. I have plans for him and I'm figuring out a different way to get through Civil War. What did you think of Tony's reaction? I wasn't sure about it. What did you think of the chapter in general? Your comments are always appreciated! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox