Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't sue me for the nothing I own.
The hellicarrier is impressive but decidedly slow when boarded to capacity with passengers. Fortunately, refugee disembarking begins at about three AM the next morning. Fortunately for the greater purpose of relocating traumatized people and getting them all home. Not so fortunately for the sleep cycles of anybody involved in the process.
Really, each individual disembarking at this first drop off is physically stable and not in need of any help that Cassie can provide so technically speaking she could have slept in. However, this is where the first demigods in their group start to break off and Cassie gets up to see them go. They save the world all together more often than some people, but it still wasn't something they did everyday (every Summer was a different story). She feels like some kind of hosting edicate probably dictates a formal goodbye.
Stark agrees to lend Barton a quinjet from the Stark Industries hanger in Berlin to fly back to the farm with Natasha for some well deserved rest and relaxation. Apparently Laura Barton has offered Dr. Banner a guest room in the house for a while so that he can decompress with a sense of normality and relative isolation while still not completely cutting himself off from the world. Leo hitches a ride too so that he can pick up Calypso and the two of them can head back to the Weigh Station and their own life together.
Cassie sees Tony and Leo swapping contact information before Leo departs. She diverts a certain level of mental focus in order to avoid calculating the likelihood that this friendship might involve a lot of important objects and or buildings exploding. What's done is done and it's too late to change it. Her life is weird but to the best of her knowledge time travel still is not a thing that exists.
Because time travel is ridiculous and could only ever exist in science fiction movies...
Right?
Anyway, Cassie's up at the ass crack of dawn to say goodbye and can't for the life of her get back to sleep once the sun is up. It's a lost cause, so instead of trying to fight the inclinations of her own body Cassie makes another cycle through the refugees as they disembark. She distributes ice packs and bandages and even gives a few vaccinations to kids out of kits given to her from MSF.
Early childhood inoculations are a very public big deal to her boyfriend and Cassie has the benefit of medical school telling her how risky and stupid it is to rely solely on herd vaccination. Taking the time to hand out a round or two of flu vaccinations and tetanus booster shots is definitely something she can do. Especially if her body clock is going to be screwed up by time changes and traveling different directions in relation to the sun.
She wonders if Katya got all of her scheduled inoculations. Cassie makes a mental note to pull some of the strings she has access to and try to find the girl's full medical history. A week ago, she would have just asked JARVIS to find the information for her. Now that's not an option any more.
Missing an AI is a strange thing. It's not like JARVIS is a real person she saw or had a mental image for, but she still interacted with him every day of her life since moving in to the tower back in 2014. He had been Cassie's friend.
In so far as a disembodied British voice in the ceiling could be your friend.
It was probably a fairly sad comment on Cassie's life to admit that she'd worked with less than that before to establish friendships.
Has she mentioned yet that her life is extremely weird? Because it definitely is, and has been, for an extremely long time. Apparently, the new AI is a female Irish voice named FRIDAY and will soon be installed to take over all of the functions that JARVIS had used to handle. The weird factor isn't going away at any point in the near future.
The next people to disembark are Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, Piper, and Jason. They depart from an airport in Portugal on a commercial flight paid for by Legion credit and go at the much more humane time of twelve thirty in the afternoon. By then everyone is awake and fully functional, some brave souls are even that way without the aid of coffee which Cassie finds about three steps beyond impressive.
Will had wanted to stay to help with medical support but Cassie had forced him to go. Her little brother is a fairly powerful demigod and an extremely skilled healer but he's been running himself ragged for days now and can't recharge the way she can. Nico helps drag him off the carrier and makes sure their bags are packed. Cassie makes them all promise her in turns that they'll call when they land safely.
Air travel for the children of Poseidon AKA Neptune, or Hades AKA Pluto has gotten less risky in the last five years or so as Zeus/Jupiter's twitchiness level had decreased. However, it still wasn't a sure thing and Hazel and Nico were going to be traveling together. The last time Zeus had decided to smite children of Hades he hadn't cared about leveling an entire hotel full of innocent bystanders to get the job done. One passenger plane of unrelated people wouldn't hold him up if he decided to get nasty or forgot to check before he blasted.
The fact that his own son would be on the plane as well could potentially not be a big enough obstacle to make him more careful. Thalia, Percy, Zoe, and Cassie had all once been blasted off of the road on Mt. Tam with a lightning bolt. Thalia's gut assumption that it had been her dad trying to take a powerful and potential dangerous piece off the chessboard might not have been correct but it hadn't been baseless either.
Thor hears them discussing the potential problem as Jason is about to get down to praying to his dad and offering a sacrifice to get his attention in the hopes of avoiding potentially being vaporized. When the situation is explained to him he offers up his own personal brand of protection blessing for the trip. Apparently he's taken a liking to Jason, regardless of weather he's actually his son.
As they leave, Thor tells Jason loudly and very clearly that he should come and visit he and Jane in the Tower the next time he's in New York. Jason looks somewhat hesitant to accept the offer of a dinner date with a Norse god and his girlfriend but nods anyway. Cassie supposes when a god asks you to come visit, you couldn't really just ignore the invitation.
She still thinks that this particular relationship might be a good one to foster for both of their sakes. Jupiter isn't a touchy feely kind of god and she's pretty sure Thor doesn't currently have any demigod children who aren't already in Valhalla and technically dead. The fostering of good relationships and training in humanity and power over flight and electricity in turn are good things. Even if the static shock level in the Tower does increase to frankly manic heights during the aforementioned visiting.
Thor himself opts to stay on the carrier until it reaches New York so that he can check in with Jane before taking Vision to see Asgard and meet other beings of similar power. It's also possible he's doing it to help make sure Zeus doesn't try to vaporize Percy. He's good company either way and is endlessly useful in the entertaining of small children which lets their stressed out parents relax for a few minutes.
Percy provides a little help to that aim as well simply by giving piggy back rides and telling the kind of fairy tale stories he must have learned to tell his little sister. He and Annabeth had both emerged from their room looking damn near incandescently happy at around nine in the morning. For her part, Annabeth had gone in to a planning huddle with Reyna and Pepper on a conference call and come out with a palpable aura of organizational efficiency. The two of them had both decided to stay aboard until the carrier finally landed back in the United States. Hopefully the low speed and relatively low traveling altitude would provide another barrier between Percy and the wrath of any irritated sky gods.
The rhythm of health checks and vaccinations Cassie falls in to gets interrupted some time mid afternoon when a hand taps on her shoulder. The position of the sun and the length of the shadows tells her it's about two in the afternoon but she can't actually tell where in the world they are right now. Besides, her body clock is so freakin' thrown at this point that someone could tell her it's seven o'clock in the evening and she'd probably believe them if she were inside when they said it.
The person who tapped her shoulder turns out to be Tony Stark with Katya by his side holding tightly to his hand and almost hiding behind his leg. "I'm taking a jet and getting Katy out of here. She's seen enough and Pepper's had time to set up her room by now. If you and the Cap or anyone else wants a ride out of here before the end of the week I'm the last shot."
Cassie nods and begins craning her neck to try to find Steve in the crowd. She hasn't seen him since waking up this morning and exchanging a quick kiss. They'd both been so fuzzy-headed with sleep that the kiss had landed on her ear and Cassie had managed to plant her lips somewhere in the vicinity of his nose, but she likes to think it's the thought that counts.
He and Bucky had gone to help organize disembarking and help carry off anyone too injured or too young to walk by themselves. People have been flowing on and off of the top deck of the carrier like the tide all day and Cassie hasn't been looking. She's just been doing her job and trying not to get swept away.
A flash of red cat he's her eye and Cassie waves to get the attention of Wanda Maximoff. The girl sees her and makes her way quickly through the crowd. People part around her, giving her a wide birth and by narrowing her eyes Cassie can see a faint red haze around her hands. Somehow, Wanda is influencing people away from her to clear the path.
"What is it?" she asks in her softly accented voice.
"Stark's taking a jet to get Katy and some of the rest of us home," she explains. "You and your brother are free to stay here until the carrier lands, but if you want off now that's how it's happening.
Wanda looks from Cassie to Stark who shrugs and then down to where Katya is staring up at her with large round eyes. She offers a smile and then looks up at Cassie again and nods. "I will tell Pietro that we are leaving. If he is with your friend Meg, should I tell him to bring her along?"
Cassie exchanges a glance with Stark who shrugs. "Jet seats ten before things get cramped. Pick smart. I'm going to go get Katy settled." He turns and leaves without another word, boosting Katya up on to his shoulders so she won't have to fight through the crowds. In the back of her mind, Cassie wonders how much the little girl understands about what's changing in her own life.
Putting those thoughts aside with a mental shake of the head, Cassie turns back to Wanda. "Yes if you could get in touch with your brother and have him bring Meg with him that'd be great. Also, could you ask him to look for Steve? I haven't seen him since this morning."
A bright smile breaks across Wanda's face. "Finding Captain Rogers is not difficult," she says. "He thinks very loudly and very clearly. His mind is that way," she points off over Cassie's left shoulder. Her face softens. "He is wondering where you are and worried that you will not have remembered to eat today."
Cassie rolls her eyes but can't help smiling a little at the same time. "Thanks for the pointer," she tells Wanda. "You should get to the jet with Meg and your brother. I'll go hunt down my hypocritical worrywart of a boyfriend. He'll know where Bucky and Reyna are and we'll meet you guys in about ten minutes."
Wanda nods and Cassie turns, going in the direction she had pointed out. With the beginning directions provided, she manages to find Steve within three minutes. He's taller and blonder than most of the assembled crowd and sticks out pretty well. Actually, Cassie figures she would have been able to find him herself pretty easily if he had been standing up the whole time instead of bent over unbending some metal plating on the hellicarrier guard rail.
He turns in time to see her coming and opens his mouth to speak as she approaches. She holds up a hand to forestall him. "I have not eaten yet today apart from a granola bar but I'm pretty sure you haven't either so don't ask." Steve raises his eyebrows at her and Cassie relents. "I had to ask Wanda for help to find you. Apparently you think loudly."
"Good to know," he says. Then he frown and reconsiders. "Though privacy says I should probably do something about that." His frown deepens. "What do I do about that? How do you think quieter?"
Cassie shrugs. "No idea. I didn't have the mental fortitude to ask if I think loudly too." She shrugs. "We might have to figure out a new way of life living with a telepath. Maybe just mentally whisper on purpose and ask if it makes a difference? Out of all of the weird powers in my friend group telepathy has never actually featured before now."
Steve angles his head up and over the crowd as he reaches out to take both of her hands in both of his and bring her a step closer as the crowd jostles around them. "And our new resident telepath is where exactly?"
Cassie steps in to him further. "Stark's taking a jet home to get Katya out of here. He offered the rest of the team a ride. The others are taking it. I thought I'd come see if you, Bucky, and Reyna wanted to also. Our only other option is hanging out here until this thing can get across the ocean back to the states."
He takes a step in closer as well until Cassie's nearly has to stand on his toes. If she tilts her head back she can pretty much see the mental debate spinning through his head. It's not really in his nature to leave people behind without leadership if he thinks they need it. On the other hand, they've been running almost non-stop for nearly a full week and Steve must want to go home as much as the rest of them do.
It is possible, just hypothetically, that Cassie may be able to slightly push along this decision making process.
She squeezes his hands and leans a little way in to his chest. "I can stay here and treat injured from now until this thing lands. Gods know there's enough people who could use the help, but the list isn't ever going to end and eventually I am going to be out of both supplies and magic. We can stay here to try to organize people and shepherd them around but we've all got limits, and unlike say MSF or the Red Cross, we don't actually have much experience with this. Maybe it's time to let them take over."
Steve looks at her, reading her expression, and then back out at the people around them. Then he nods and ducks down to kiss her forehead. "Okay. Let's go home."
Tension Cassie hadn't known she was still carrying releases and she rolls her shoulders to relax them further. "Alright. Great. But we've got to get to the jet and get on it in like the next five minutes and I have no idea how to find Bucky and Reyna. If any of our friends is going to leave without us for being late it's Tony."
Steve sighs and rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Yeah he probably would. I'll get Bucky. Hang on." He steps sideways and up a step so that he's a little bit taller than the rest of the crowd. He cups his hands over his mouth. "Marco!"
Cassie blinks at him in confusion. She's also kind of wondering if her boyfriend is finally cracking under the strain and going insane. Which would be to bad. As relationship obstacles went, insanity was a pretty big one.
Then from out of the crowd a voice that is definitely Bucky's replies "Polo!" A moment later Cassie sees the voice's owner emerge with Reyna right behind him. His metal arm blinks in the sunlight as he waves at them.
Steve nods once decisively and steps back down. He catches Cassie's stare and shrugs, blushing faintly. "We used to do it during the war."
"Okay," Cassie murmurs, holding her hands up in ultimate surrender, clearly saying without words that she isn't going to question the ifs, ands, whys, and hows, of her boyfriend and his best friend playing a child's pool game in the middle of active war zones during World War II. She might ask about it later because she feels like the explanation might make her laugh. If it does she'll make sure Reyna hears the story too. They could use a little laughter and it might be hard to come by in the immediate future.
Reyna disconnects her hand from Bucky's and wanders over to join her. "Did you know this was a thing they did?"
"Nope."
"Huh," Reyna considers for a moment and tips her head. "I can work my way around to considering that a cute quirk. Jamie's hot enough for me to get used to the metal arm. I'll extend the acceptance to using Marco Polo as an audio location strategy."
Cassie spreads her hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture. "Some girls are stuck dealing with guys who still live in their mom's basements."
Reyna snaps at her and makes little finger guns. "That is an excellent point and I commend you for making it."
An arm loops around Cassie's waste from behind and Bucky reappears over Reyna's shoulder. "You two can mock our methods but not our results," Steve says. "We are alive and still able to find each other after seventy years. I'd say that's a win wouldn't you Buck?"
Bucky shrugs. "Whatever Punk. As far as I'm concerned they can mock all they want. We've finally managed to coordinate working double dates and I have it on good authority that no one has ever recorded our methods of battlefield location."
"We aren't about to tell anyone," Cassie assures. "Seriously, cross our hearts," she makes a gesture that she thinks might be close to a Girl Scout pledge symbol. Steve makes a face at her and Cassie quirks an eyebrow. "No?"
He shakes his head. "Not even close. But I'm a guy who gives points for credit."
She leans up to kiss his cheek. "Nice of you."
It's at that point that Bucky gets down to the main matter at hand. "Yeah okay. Leaving the topic of how you got us over here behind, let's move on to the why?"
"Stark's got a jet revving up to go," Cassie explains for what feels like the millionth time but is in actuality just the fourth or fifth in the last ten minutes. "There are seats open for us but if we want to take them we need to get in to them now before he takes off out of impatience. The Maximoff twins and Meg are already on board," she glances at Reyna. "Personally, I'd like to be on board with Katya in case there are any other freak outs like the one yesterday."
Her friend gives a curt nod. "Understood. I know Annabeth and Percy already decided to stay on board until New York with Thor around for back up in case of godly wrath. The others already left so we're what there is for demigod containment. Besides, you're pretty much fire proof and Katya seems to like you. I'm good for calming presence. Where is this soon to leave jet?"
Steve gestures back over the crowd to a different deck of the carrier which has been kept clear of people to let craft take off an land up until this point. "The sounds of annoyingly revving engines makes me think the the answer to that question is, 'that way'."
With that establish they kick in to a relative jog to get over to the jetway and get on board. It was amazing the crowds that Bucky could clear with his metal arm and the right degree of menacing expression. If Cassie was less aware of his kill account and stunningly high degree of capability to commit murder she might even call it resting bitch face... Though probably never out loud.
Bucky and Reyna climb in first and Cassie is about to follow them when a thought strikes her and he leans backward. She places her face near his ear and shouts a bit to be heard over the increasing engine noise. "Do we need to wait for Sam and Rhodey? I haven't seen them at all this morning. They might not know we're leaving."
He had stilled to listen to her but now shakes his head and uses one hand to propel her up the last step and in to the jet. He follows directly after her and shuts the door behind them. "I saw Sam when I stopped for a food break earlier this morning. He said he wanted to stay on the carrier to help coordinate with the military and organize the people Fury called up from SHIELD. Rhodes is still talking with military and government people on the ground in at least three countries."
Personally, the thought of the scenario makes Cassie shudder. She isn't particularly ADHD, especially by demigod standards, but that level of multitasking still sounds like hell. And that's even before trying to wrestle multiple languages and time zones in to the equation. Colonel Rhodes is certainly one person who's job description and requirements she will never envy.
"I'd sit back and buckle up back there," Stark calls from the cockpit. "I've filed a flight plan to break the sound barrier once we get out over the ocean. According to the parenting books, establishing a consistent bedtime is important. Pepper wants to start building a schedule ASAP."
If she cranes her neck Cassie can see Katya curled up in the copilots chair with her knees pulled up under her chin. Her eyes are red and a bit puffy and Cassie casts around for a water bottle. Crying is surprisingly dehydrating, especially when your body was too small to actually contain much of a high water volume. Kids ran out of water faster than adults and cried with less restraint to begin with so hydration was doubly important.
There's a case of water bottles under one of the seats and Cassie tugs it out. The case is about half-empty but there are at least five bottles in there and she extracts one and picks her way up to the front of the jet, temporarily ignoring Tony's warnings about breaking the sound barrier. Her dad is the god of music. The sound barrier might as well be where she lives.
Well not actually.
You can't live in the sound barrier as it has no physical location.
Cassie has clearly had way too long a day already to continue this line of thinking.
What time is it again?
She shakes that off and kneels down next to Katya's chair so that she's lower down than the girl and offers out the water bottle. "Drink up o mikros mou xaderfos. Crying is tiring stuff. You'll feel better if you aren't dehydrated."
Katya unwinds one hand from where she has it wound around her knees and takes the water bottle she's offering. Her fingers are long and nimble the way that Leo's are and Cassie thinks they'll be wonderful for building delicate things. They'd be good for playing the piano too if she ever wanted to learn. She swears to herself right then and there that if Katya ever wants to learn, Cassie will carve out the time to teach her, no matter what.
"Thank you," she says quietly. Cassie gives her an encouraging smile and reaches out to pat her shoulder before straightening up again. She's about to turn away and make her way to the open seat beside Steve to strap herself in when Katya catches at her hand, making her pause. "Are you really my cousin?" she asks plainly.
This straightforwardness is one of the reasons that Cassie likes kids. They have huge imaginations but a limited capacity or inclination for lying convincingly. They don't ever try to come at things sideways. If they have questions, they ask them straight out. Also, the fact that Katya knows to ask the question means that she has one more piece of information about her background. She had called Katya 'little cousin' in Greek, not Latin or English and she had still understood.
Cassie arranges her face in to the gentlest expression she can manage and takes Katy's free hand in hers, squeezing very softly. "I think so Kiddo," she says. Kids are honest with her so Cassie always figures the least she can do is be basically honest with them back. Sometimes with details omitted to be sure, but generally honest none the less. "We can talk about it later, okay? Try to stay awake while we fly so that you can sleep when you land." She gestures out the front windows. "This isn't a view you get very often."
Katya lets her hand go with a shy nod and takes a sip from her water bottle before turning back to the window. Tony catches her eye on a glance over his shoulder and nods his thanks before turning his attention back to the control panels.
Cassie gets the sense that, excited and determinedly willing though he is to give Katya some kind of family and normal life, there's a frail large piece of him freaking out. She can understand that. Parents who have their kids the traditional way got the benefit of an average nine month gestational period to get ready no matter how panicky or unprepared they felt. Parents who decided to adopt normally had an extensive paperwork and vetting process to go through. Either way gave you a little bit of prep time.
Tony and Pepper would not be getting that here. She's got faith that they'll work it out because she knows them. That knowledge doesn't change the fact that she's seriously considering the necessity and hang ups inherent to hiring a team psychologist.
Hahahahahahahahahaha.
Right.
The day Anthony Edward Stark voluntarily spent a minute in therapy will be the day the world spins backwards and pigs fly through the sky.
Again.
A sigh breaks out through her lips. You know that your life and personal history is officially too weird to be lived or recorded when you can actively disprove common idioms and figures of speech with a simple anecdote. She's pretty sure the world won't ever actually spin backwards though. Not unless the entirety of her extended family really decides to fuck with her and her friends. Which, she must admit, is an eventual possibility they're all going to have to live with.
She picks her way back through the jet to the empty seat next to Steve which she collapses in to with very little grace. It takes a lot of effort to not give in to the childish impulse to kick off her shoes. She compromises with herself by curling her legs up in the seat next to her and tugging at Steve's arm so that she can tuck herself in to his side. Steve complies easily and merely shifts a bit further over in his own seat so she has space to lie down with her head on his lap instead of his chest.
Steve's fingers tap a little distractedly along her arm and Cassie realizes he's still probably feeling wound up and doesn't have anywhere to funnel his energy or anything to do with his hands. She reaches up with her right hand and calmly pulls out her hair tie, releasing the strands from the sloppy ponytail she'd twisted it in to that morning. Twisting her neck a bit shows her that Steve is giving her a smile that's half grateful and half rueful and lets his fingers drop to her hair, picking out tangles and likely taking a moment to settle his own jangled nerves.
She's started to figure out that messing with her hair is something like a zen process for Steve. He likes things with a method to them and an end goal in mind, and fiddling with her hair lets him have that and gives him something to focus on that also lets part of his mind switch off and unwind. For her part, Cassie just likes the feeling.
She'd contemplated getting a haircut back when she had first met Steve. Then SHIELD had fallen, she'd graduated and moved, then taken up residence in the Tower and somewhere in all of that scheduling it had just gotten pushed to the back of her mind. Now she thinks maybe she'll just let it keep growing until it gets obnoxious. If Steve keeps up his de-tangling habit that could take a while.
A contented hum vibrates in her throat and Cassie shifts a little to settle in. Hopefully she'll be able to nap now and catch up on some of the sleep she missed by waking up so early. The voices of her friends form a lovely pattering din in the background and it's the best kind of lullaby.
Meg's voice is the top end of the range, chiming in with the soprano range that hasn't adjusted a bit since she was thirteen. Reyna's familiar alto rhythm is interspersed periodically with Bucky's more baritone range. Wanda and Pietro are new voices and speak rarely, but they help make the sound fuller and their accents lilt and caress their words in a lovely way. Steve doesn't speak, but the sweep of his breath and the steady beat of his heart are the best base rhythms of all.
There is a lovely floaty state between being awake and being asleep and Cassie is rather enjoying languishing in it for the time being. Everything is wonderfully fuzzy and soft focused and if it weren't for the cramps she will surely develop from sleeping curled up like this everything would be about as perfect as it can possibly be under the circumstances. She's balancing on the diamond edge between waking up and passing out and is looking forwards to tipping in the direction of unconsciousness.
Unfortunately, Steve's hyper metabolism tips her the other direction to wakefulness when his stomach grumbles. "Sorry," he murmurs as Cassie straightens up from her spot and stretches luxuriously. Several of her joints pop, but this time it's more pleasant than painful so she twists a little further to extend the stretch.
"It's okay," she mumbles around a yawn. "Really. If I sleep now I'll never sleep later and then the jet lag will murder me." Though this does raise the question of if they've got any extra food on board for Steve or if he's just going to have to deal with being hungry until they land. He's not one to complain, but it definitely won't be fun for him in the mean time. "Anybody got any food? I've got no idea what time it is given all the time-zone crossing we're doing but clearly we missed lunch back before we left the carrier."
The question gives an opening for Meg to shine and she takes full advantage of it by whipping a frankly enormous tupperware container of sandwiches from seemingly nowhere. "It's not a full mean I know," she says as she hands them around. Those present with overactive metabolisms each get two. "But it should work as a stop-gap measure until we can get home."
A broad grin spreads across Pietro Maximoff's face as he swallows half of his sandwich in three bites. "You are a goddess and I worship you," he tells Meg with a tone of complete and utter sincerity.
Meg grins. "I expect that fan base to grow when you all realize that I managed to collect all of your assorted personal possessions and store them under your seats."
Bucky actually leans down to check and makes a small impressed face when he confirms that a small beat up duffle bag is in fact present. "Your shield is down here too," he tells Steve. Then he turns to Meg and points as imperiously as a person can while still holding a sandwich. "I like you."
"I'm hiring her," Tony calls from the pilot seat. "That wasn't a joke. Pepper is putting together an employee package."
Meg also pulls out a small lighter made of imperial gold and celestial bronze. "I've also got this," she flicks the lighter which produces a tiny, smokeless, flame and Cassie suddenly realizes that it's a portable, self-contained ceremonial flame. "Demigods, toss in your offerings. You're all alive so weather or not your parents actually kicked in any help with that you should probably chuck something in."
Reyna groans and Cassie rolls her eyes but sets an example by dropping some of her meal in to the fire. It vanishes in a flash and Cassie does a quick prayer of thanks to her father and grandfather. Reyna tosses in a bit of bread and goes back to her food. Steve hands Cassie a piece of his own meal and she accepts with a grateful smile and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Now that's love," Bucky comments.
"Is something satanic happening in the back of my plane?" Tony calls back.
The question and the tone it's asked in prompts a three part synchronized eye roll from Cassie, Reyna, and Meg. "If this is anything it's pagan not satanic," Reyna points out. "Besides, you really don't wan to see what might happen if we forget to make a nice ritual sacrifice after a fight like that. Your dad might have been difficult but our parents are literally godly levels of difficult. The gods of Greek and Rome are remarkably petty for celestial beings."
A thunder clap rings out audibly and the whole jet jolts with turbulence. "Oh for the love of-" Cassie gets up and walks to the end of the jet with one hand braced on the wall and opens the cargo door about one sixteenth of the way. "We didn't mean petty!" she calls out over the wind. "We meant incredibly deserving of thanks, gifts, and praise! Completely justified! Not petty at all! Here, have an offering!" she tosses the rest of her sandwich out in to the night and a fork of lightning spears through it before it vanishes.
The shaking stops and the jet settles back in to a steady flight pattern. "Nice talking to you!" Meg calls out from behind Cassie. There's a low rumble of thunder and Cassie would be lying if she said it didn't sound vaguely self-satisfied.
She presses the button to shut the door and makes her way back to her seat. Steve gives her a look that gets stuck between pity and understanding and rubs her back as she sits. He offers her the last of his sandwich but Cassie shakes her head and gestures for him to eat it himself. Her out of whack sleep cycle is making her feel a little bit queasy anyway and if Steve doesn't eat his blood sugar will definitely dip and he'll get grouchy in a completely not funny or vaguely adorable way.
Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are both staring from her to Reyna, to Meg, and back again. Bucky is calmly finishing his sandwich and Steve just rubs her back a bit as she sits. Both of them have seen processes similar to this one before. For the twins, this is all new.
"Do you have to do this at every meal?" Wanda asks with wide eyes.
Cassie shakes her head. "Nah. The camp in Long Island does a ceremonial thing at dinner time where everyone puts something in. Rome uses an augur. Individually we really only make offerings after a major event. A big battle, or fight. Otherwise it's pretty much live and let be. We try not to catch their attention most of the time. We avoid names, keep references oblique, that kind of thing."
Wanda must have caught enough of the surface thoughts in the minds of the assembled demigods to fill in the gaps of what she means and also must have told Pietro because neither twin asks them to explain their parents or about the gods. She wouldn't be surprised if borrowing other people's thoughts and perceptions lets Wanda see through the Mist. Maybe she's got some kind of mental trick that makes it possible for her brother to see as well.
"We were never very religious as children," Pietro mutters around his second sandwich. "I think that our grandparents were Jewish. Mama and Papa were more lax," he swallows his last bite and goes to wipe his fingers on his jeans but stops when Meg holds out a napkin. He shrugs and takes it. "From what I remember of the stories, that god is also wrathful and gift oriented."
Bucky puts down the water bottle he's just finished chugging. "That actually brings up something I've been wondering about." He gestures between himself and Steve. "We got raised Catholic. Everything that's happened in between has got us pretty lapsed on that, but what do kids like you guys do if they're already religious when they find out about all this? Do they ditch it all and convert to Greek Orthodox?"
It's an interesting question and one Cassie's wondered about more than once. Her mom had been a demigod too so she'd grown up with her knowledge of the prevailing forces in control of the universe already established even before the first monsters had shown up. She knows it's not like that for everyone, but most demigods ended up at one camp or the other before other religious ideals took root.
She's still thinking about it when Reyna answers the question. "Not really. Most kids find out about all this when they're about thirteen which is generally before most people choose to be deeply invested in a religion. When it does happen," she shrugs one shoulder. "Some religions allow for more flexible thinking than others. Annabeth's cousin Magnus has a friend named Samirah. She's Muslim, a daughter of Loki, and one of Odin's Valkyrie. She prays in the direction of Mecca five times a day and considers each of the Norse gods a different aspect of the same divine being, Allah. There's ways to believe in a single divine power and live this life. You just have to let your beliefs get more complex if you're going to do it."
Steve makes a sound like he's chocking and Cassie reaches around to pound him on the back and runs a quick medical check to make sure his airways aren't actually being blocked. When he has his breath back, he manages to splutter out words. "Loki has a daughter?"
"Yup," Cassie confirms. "Two of them. Well, some days. Alex is gender fluid some some days Loki has a daughter and a son instead, and if you want to get technical Loki is Alex's mom not dad so..." The look on Steve's face says very clearly that the complex information dump isn't making him any less confused. She stops with the nitty-gritty and returns to the most critical points. "Yes Loki has kids hanging out in Boston. They're both really nice and they've got some cool shape changing abilities, a bit like Frank's, but more extensive." She rubs his back gently. "Don't worry about it. We don't see them very much. Our issues don't cross over very often. It's like, a really separated venn diagram." She tries to illustrate with her hands but isn't sure how well she's doing. "Two distinct circles. Practically."
He just blinks and shakes his head. "Okay. I'll need some time to process that, but okay."
Now Pietro is frowning. "The Norse gods... They are in Boston?"
Mag takes responsibility for that question as she produces a package of Oreos from.. somewhere, and begins passing them around. "Gods move around with their centers of power," she says. "Mostly, that means they move with Western civilization. You can track it if you look at historical architecture and power symbols. Egypt, Greece, Rome, London, and the United States." She waves a hand nonchalantly. "Chiron has an orientation film for newbies at camp that explains everything, but the percentage of people who pay attention to that's pretty low."
"So true," Cassie murmurs. "I always thought they'd have better luck with making that stick if they showed it to new kids a little later post-epic trauma and inevitable freak out.'
"The Legion skips the film," Reyna comments. "Somehow, no one's confused when they show up."
"To be fair," Cassie comments. "You guys drop off new campers with a pack of ancient mythological wolves and leave them there for a month hoping for the best. Makes adapt or die pretty literal. I'm guessing the questions are pretty dried up in emotional exhaustion by the time they hit the California state line."
Reyna makes a face but concedes the point.
Meg skips the by-play and goes back to answering Pietro's question. "Anyway, the gods move to wherever the center of power is strongest. Right now, that means the United States. The Greek gods were always more in the East, so now they hang around in New York, and well, Canada, and Denver. Rome was more Western so those gods chill in California. The Norse gods like Boston, generally chilly, near the ocean, lots of boat access. The Egyptian gods have a different set up."
She looks between Cassie and Reyna to pick up the narrative and Cassie fills in the blanks. She's actually met Sadie and Carter Kane before which neither of the others have, so in lieu of Annabeth or Percy she's probably the most qualified to answer. "The Egyptain gods don't have demigod children," she explains. "They have descendants of ancient pharaohs who can channel their power. Those descendants have power centers all over the world with a central hub they report back to. Like, diplomats, with words of power and combat avatars, and Cheese Magic."
A humming noise comes from Reyna. "I never could figure out where that bit came from. Water and Fire I got. Destruction and god avatars made some sense. Combat magic, sign me up. Even the magic attack penguins I could kind of get behind, but cheese? Not so much."
"Apparently it's a fifth element," Cassie explains. "Not Earth, Air, Water, or Fire. Separate categorical substance."
Meg tips her head. "Now that makes sense. I never have been able to figure out the actual contents of cheese whiz."
Most of the rest of the passengers on the jet still look confused and maybe a little bit nauseous which Reyna much realize too because she intervenes. "We hardly ever see any of them," she says in a voice that might be reassuring. "Cultural exchanges are a lovely idea in theory, but in practice, mixing the different kinds of power is a Bad Idea with capital letters. It's only been done once in the last two millennia. The Greek and Roman gods can only spend time in proximity because the gods are virtually the same with different aspects and slightly altered personalities. Even getting us together on good terms took three thousand years. And the American Civil War."
"Reyns," Cassie says. "Maybe ix-nay on the ivil-cay ar-way when we're trying to seem less crazy and be more reassuring about lack of conflict and the structure of our multi-cultural lives."
Wanda frowns. "I did not think that that was how Pig Latin worked."
"It's not," Reyna agrees. "And both of us speak actual Latin anyway so there's really no point using the Pig version."
Cassie throws up her hands. "I give up. My point is, we don't see much of each other and we keep life separate. We keep on good terms and ask each other for help if it's required. Otherwise, we happily go on with life and a policy of salutary neglect. We didn't even know other groups of gods existed until about three years before the Battle of New York." She looks Steve straight in the eye. "This is not something you need to worry about."
He stares back at her, considering, and Cassie can practically see him weighing up her words with all of the new information he's gotten in the last twenty minutes or so. She can also see that no matter what he says, he's not going to not worry about her. The best she'll be able to hope for here is a lack of active anxiety on her behalf and Steve and Bucky managing to avoid conspiring their combined instincts for the protection of others in a misguided and ultimately doomed attempt to keep her, Reyna, and probably now Meg safe.
Still, Steve nods. "Promise you'll tell me if that changes?"
Cassie grins and leans up to kiss him. "Cross my heart."
"Hope you've been taking notes up there Stark," Bucky calls up to Tony. "This stuff is probably about to start mattering to you."
"Don't need to," the man chirps with characteristic arrogance. "Perfect memory. Everything's locked away for all eternity. Plus, there's nothing the internet can't tell you with the right search phrases."
That gets a round of shouted protests in three part harmony from the demigods present. The rest of the flight is spent explaining to Tony that under no circumstances should anything about the gods, monsters, and myths that demigods deal with be entered in to a search engine within a half-mile radius of them. Steve resolves the matter by telling Tony that he'll lend him the books he used to brush up on Greek mythology when Cassie had first told him the truth.
Tony accepts, but she's pretty sure she can hear him muttering about designing an internalized safe search protocol. Maybe she'll put him in touch with Jake Mason as well as Leo. They'd worked together to make her phone and computer safe for demigod use.
They land at the tower to find Pepper waiting just inside the roof access door in pair of immaculate pajamas. The fact that Pepper Potts looks perfectly put together even in sleep isn't even surprising anymore. She does look strained though as she steps up to meet Tony and meet Katya, her perspective adopted daughter for the very first time.
Katya has actually managed to fall asleep so Tony carries her off of the plane in the rough cradle of his arms. "Hey," she greets Tony, leaning up to kiss him first in greeting, examining the cuts on his face and doing a small visual scan for further damage. Then she looks down at Katya. "This is Katy?" she brushes a bit of hair out of the girl's face and she nuzzles in to the touch and Tony's chest, shifting in her sleep.
Cassie can actually see Pepper's entire face soften. Something tells her these next few months will be the beginning of something permanent more than it will be some trial run. "I've got a room set up for her next to ours," she tells Tony. "It's mostly undecorated. I figured she might want to pick things out on her own after she'd been here for a little while."
"That's a good idea," Cassie confirms from where she's leaving the Jetway. "Letting her make her own space," she clarifies. "It'll make her room really feel like it's hers. That'll be important."
Pepper nods at her and then throws a quick glance at the twins over Cassie's shoulder. "FRIDAY has your room information," she tells them. "You as well Ms. McCaffrey. She'll guide you to the right place. We can all have breakfast together later to meet each other in a more official capacity. I'd imagine sleeping is a higher priority at the moment."
"Thank you," Wanda says. Cassie notices she's shrunk in to herself a little in shyness, obviously worried about what Pepper might think of her and her brother after their nearly last minute side switch. She reaches up and grips her brother's sleeve. "Come along brother."
Pietro sticks his tongue out in the gentle, teasing way that siblings had with each other. "I am still twelve minutes older than you."
"You died," Wanda returns fiercely. "Now you are only nine minutes older than I am. Besides, you were shot. Clearly I am the twin with the better judgement."
Well, technically Pietro had only been dead for one minute and thirty-seven seconds. However, now doesn't seem like the time to bring that up. Instead she watches Wanda leave with her brother dragged along behind her. Pietro pauses next to Meg and offers his arm in a show of old-world style gallantry. "My Lady. Shall we drag you along as well?"
Meg stops a moment to shoulder a bag that must hold her supplies. Cassie supposes that must be where she's been getting the food from. "That is how I get involved in most things." She loops her arm in to his and gestures to Wanda. "Drag on."
The three of them leave looking like the strangest ever participants in a very tired five-legged race.
Tony and Pepper have made their way back inside already, heads inclined in a quiet conference over the international paperwork they're going to have to do. There seems to be some debate over which one of the many lawyers they keep on retainer might be best to handle the situation with the least amount of stress or pressure on Katya. Tony is advocating the idea that they should just find the best adoption lawyer in the country and hire them for the purchase. Cassie thinks he might get his way on this one.
Steve has his shield braced on one arm and opens his other so Cassie can lean in to his side as they stagger through the doors down in to the main floors of the Tower behind the others. Tony, Pepper, Meg, Wanda, and Pietro have all vanished already but Bucky and Reyna are holding the elevator for them. The four of them ride up to their floor together in an understanding mutual silence and only part ways at the end of the hallway both of their apartments are on.
"I think we should take the day off tomorrow," Steve says just before they open their doors.
Reyna's too busy yawning to answer but she gestures at Bucky who nods. "I think that means we're on board."
Steve looks at her next and Cassie nods as well. She feels the kind of fatigued tiredness that settles in your bones and only really lifts after a few days of generally low key down time. "I can always get on board for a well deserved mental health day. We've definitely earned this one."
There's a round of mutual agreeing noises and Bucky claps Steve on the shoulder. "See you two in the morning. Or maybe tomorrow afternoon."
They vanish in to their own apartments and as soon as the door shuts behind them Cassie kicks off her shoes, drops her bag of medical gear, and peals off her jacket on the way to their bedroom. She collapses face first on to the mattress with the rest of her clothes still on. "Mmmm. Finally. Wake me up in fourteen hours."
Steve lets out a puff of laughter and Cassie can hear him moving around near the window before there's a swish of the blinds opening and she feels the comforting warmth of sunshine fall across her skin. She makes a contented sound and gives a cat-like stretch without opening her eyes. Then she hears and feels the muffled thump of Steve collapsing next to her. "Consider it an order," he mumbles.
Cassie feels herself being shifted over and up and knows that Steve must be tucking them both under the covers. Her boyfriend is a human furnace but that doesn't stop him from being pathologically incapable of sleeping without a blanket. Maybe it's a habit from the army but Cassie hasn't ever asked.
He nuzzles his face in to the back of her neck and Cassie feels the heaviness of his exhale. "You know how you said you were in favor of a mental health day?"
"Uh huh," Cassie says, mind already fuzzing over with sleep. "What about it?"
A kiss lands against the back corner of her jaw. "What would you say about making that a little bit longer?"
That deserves eye contact if it's going to be the conversation they're having so Cassie rolls over to look up in to his face and forces her eyes open. "You mean like a vacation? Have you ever taken one of those before?"
Steve shakes his head. "We could go anywhere," he offers, sounding a bit wistful. "I've been to every continent besides Antartica and never been there without being on mission or fighting a war. I've been to London and Paris but never when they weren't being bombed. I'd like to go somewhere, and actually see it."
Slowly, Cassie reaches up and pulls him down to give him a kiss. First on the lips, then on his forehead. "Somewhere sunny," she tells him. "Not Greece, Egypt, Norway, or Italy because that's ancient land and not somewhere I'm supposed to go. Otherwise, you can surprise me."
A grin as bright as any ray of sunshine Cassie's ever seen spreads across Steve's face as he realizes what she's saying. He leans down and flutters feather light kisses all across her face, making Cassie giggle. "I'll make a plan," he tells her. "It'll be great I promise."
Cassie catches his face and kisses him again, sliding her fingers through his hair and along the nape of his neck. The kiss is forced to stay fairly shallow because Steve hasn't stopped grinning and she can feel her own mouth breaking in to a smile as well. She breaks away to breath and caresses his temple, still smiling.
"I believe you," she whispers. She doesn't have to. There's no one else around. But this seems like the kind of moment where whispering is the right way to go. A private, quiet moment after days on end surrounded by their own fear and the tensions and worries of others. "My boyfriend loves me, and he makes good plans. In fact, he should plan lots of things. When he doesn't make plans he makes bad choices and gets frozen for seventy years. Boyfriend plans are definitely good."
The smile Steve gives her isn't the same grin because it's sweeter than that, more loving. "You told me not to worry about gods and you being safe," he says gently. "You don't need to worry about me." He turns his face and kisses her palm. "You and me," he murmurs. "That's the most important plan I've got."
Cassie grins up at him. She stretches one hand out in to the sunshine falling through the window and spreads her fingers, making the light bounce, shine, and diffuse throughout the space until the whole room is filled with the rich golden light of the late afternoon outside. Steve sighs in joy as the warmth permeates his skin and Cassie actually sees him relax as the light, the light she's creating, seeps through him.
"That," she says softly. "Is the best plan you could possibly have."
A/N: Awwwww. Aren't they cute? Anyway, that ties up everything from AoU. I'm debating where to have them go for vacation, but I think you can all agree with me that they definitely deserve one. I'm thinking of how to work Meg in to the story, but I do think she's going to be around for a bit. Unless someone has a really negative opinion about it? If someone does I'm open to other ideas. On that subject, what did you guys think? I'm working on ways to knit the group together as closely as possible to make it work for the direction I'm thinking of adapting Civil War in to. Also, thanks to everyone who gave me some advice on anxiety and how to help my sister. It's something she's struggled with for years and I got some really great information and advice from you guys. Anyway, review for me! Review! Review! xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox