Chapter 2: Here For You - Cassandra & Jake
Summary: When Cassandra needs context for her hallucinations, her mind turns to one person in particular.
"A-Avogadro's number is modified when multiplying 20 to the mass of...the mass of –"
Dust floats off the chalkboard as Cassandra transfers her rapid thoughts into scribbles. Her eyes move from side-to-side as numbers speed around her mind. She steps to the right to finish the problem, knocking over a pair of flickering candles next to her. Her focus snaps to the floor and the shift in concentration is like a kick to the head. Stumbling slightly, she takes a sharp breath in.
"Strawberries this time." Her voice is a dejected whisper as she scoops up the candles and sets them on the table. "So much for reigning it in. Stupid brain grape."
She studies the dark annex around her before checking her watch. 2:30AM.
She sighs toward the scribbles on the board. She can do better. She needs to do better for the rest of her team. With a quick swipe of the hand, she erases the board with her sleeve.
"Again," she commands to herself, despite the pain ringing in her ears. Try harder. Control your condition. The molecular structures, moles, percentages, and every amount in between enters her vision. She sees them twisting in her mind, until in an instant, she doesn't.
Everything is dark, and she feels herself sinking to the ground.
"Grapefruit," she mumbles in pain, nearly incoherent, her body tensing to anticipate a crash to the floor. Instead, she feels the warm touch of skin, a pair of smooth hands cradling her as she loses consciousness.
"Stay with me, Cassie."
Grapefruit.
She remembers when his hands were calloused, still bearing the marks of an oil rigger.
He had placed his hand on hers, absentmindedly, as he told a story about life in Oklahoma. She twisted a spoon in her free hand, listening intently to the nondescript story about his nameless relatives. He kept his family life close to his chest, and she wondered if they'd only ever be faceless stories to her. But, then again, she was thankful that his trust in her had graduated to sharing memories about himself.
Jake finished the anecdote with a hearty laugh and she returned his smile. "Ah man," he began, picking up his fork. "You got a grapefruit in a diner in Texas? It's all about the biscuits and gravy."
"I know," she smiled sheepishly. "Spiders did rain down from the sky today, though. Creepy crawlers make my appetite fly out the window."
"Not the rain Texas had in mind," Stone replied with a grin, staring idly at the stars outside.
This had become ritual, for Stone and Cassandra. Backwoods towns, quaint villages in European countries – wherever the backdoor took them, Jake insisted on absorbing each new location fate had placed them.
It began after he had met the Archivist in Tesla's town, his eagerness to soak up the sights in each place he saved. Cassandra knew why. And she was okay with this one day being their Paris, these tiny cafes in cities that were in mortal danger only a few hours ago. And one day, she desperately hoped, she wouldn't be a stand in for someone else.
"Cassandra?"
Soft hands were combing gently through her hair now. She stirs awake, taking a deep breath in. "I'm okay." She scrambles to sit up as she notices his eyes reading the equations on the chalkboard.
"All of this work. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" His voice is gentle, full of concern, but the accusation stings nonetheless.
"I'm getting better," she defended, probably a little too snappy. His blue eyes pierce hers. "At adding context to sensations. Memories," she quickly adds.
"So what was grapefruit?"
She keeps her lips pursed, not ready to have that kind of conversation with him any time soon. The conversation where she admits that he is tied to all of her memories now, whether she liked it or not. The handful of childhood memories worth remembering? That well had run dry. Every smile, every happy memory now belonged to him.
She waits for the I Told You So's and the well-intentioned lecture. Instead, he simply offers her a hand up off the floor.
"I'm here for you." He wipes off the board and hands her a piece of chalk. "If you think you have to sneak around to practice, please, just let me be here for you."
She nods, and closes her eyes. If only he knew.