Cassie Sullivan (likeamayfly) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-12-06 22:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, cassie sullivan, frank castle /the punisher (mcu) |
WHO: Frank Castle & Cassiopeia Sullivan
WHERE: The base
WHEN: 12/5/17
WHAT: Reunion
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Closed, Complete
This place was such a strange combination of the old and the new. Frank had gotten back his memories of Mt. Weather, and now he was getting back one of his people from there, but he did not feel like the same person. He had still been so angry back then, still at war with the world, unable to slow down and do anything else but fight. And yet, he’d still managed to build a solid relationship with a scared kid, built around watching each other’s backs. Now she was back, and they didn’t have a war to fight, didn’t have any known enemies that they needed to guard against. He knew neither of them would ever be able to fully relax. But she wanted him to be her guardian, and maybe that meant that he could make her feel a little safer here. A little more like a normal kid again. Which, of course, meant that it would be even harder, it would hurt more, whenever she got torn away from it. But he couldn’t really do anything about that. Karen had dropped him off at the base, and although Cassie was willing to meet her, he asked her not to stay for the first visit. He wanted to talk to her one to one before he signed any guardianship papers. He also wanted to make sure she got her food and some sleep, regardless of which way that went. He couldn’t go into her room, but he turned on the comm as soon as he was outside her window, and slid the food through the quarantine box below. “Here you go,” he said, by way of greeting. “Eat up, kid.” -- After talking to Frank and some others on the network - it was strangely like the one in Mt. Weather, but different, too - Cassie had settled on the floor with her back against the only door into her cell that she had found. Sure, it was supposedly a room, but it felt more like a prison cell - the kind you’d see in movies where people were locked up “indefinitely”. The only thing that kept her from going crazy at the moment was that she’d talked to Frank and he was on his way. Mentally, she counted the seconds, until finally the speaker on her side of the door crackled and she heard his voice. Jumping to her feet, phone tumbling to the floor, she spun to the window, then let out a sigh of relief, and offered a tentative smile. The smell of fast food hit her nose and the smile widened as she opened up the box on her side and pulled out the box and drink. Maybe things would be okay again because, at last, she had a real cheeseburger. She reached up to flip the switch on the intercom so she wouldn’t have to keep holding it, and grinned at Frank. “Thanks, Frank,” she said as she set the drink down, then dove into the food so that she was taking a huge bite of one of the burgers less than a minute later. -- “No problem,” Frank answered. Although he wouldn’t have admitted to it, he was warmed by the grin. The trend around here was that people were actually happy to see him. It was a nice change. “Don’t choke on it,” he added, as she started to eat voraciously. He knew she was hungry, and that she had gotten in the habit of often being hungry. Lightly, he added, “No food shortage yet.” -- Her eyes stayed on him through the window, even as she did slow down just a tiny bit. After washing down her first bite, Cassie replied, “I won’t. But you have no idea how long it’s been since I’ve had one of these. I’m not even sure.” It was a lot of words in a row for the teenager, and she immediately took another bite of the cheese burger. After a minute of watching Frank to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere, the redhead backed up until she could sit in a chair, setting the bag and drink on a small table, and keep eating her meal. “Did you get anything to eat too?” -- Frank leaned against the door, one arm on the door jamb beside the window. He didn’t have a chair or anything, but he was comfortable standing. Besides, a chair would make it harder for her to see him out the window, and it was obvious that knowing he was here made her feel safer. It was kinda funny to be on this side of the glass, not that long after he’d been on the other side. He definitely hadn’t planned on coming back here anytime soon, but he also hadn’t realized that anyone would be showing up that would be worth visiting. Now he was going to be here for a good while at least. “About an hour ago,” he answered. “And I got an energy bar in my pocket. I’ll be good for a while.” After a beat, he asked the question he’d been wondering about since she’d appeared: “Did I disappear from Mt. Weather?” -- She was glad to hear he’d had something to eat recently, even if the shock from being in a world where there was nothing commercial to a world that had burgers in wrappers and fries cooked in vegetable oil was still hard to overcome. Cassie didn’t think she’d fully accept it until she was out of that place, and was just annoyed that she had to be stuck in there for so long. At his question, Cassie shook her head. “No. I don’t think so, at least? I think that the taskforce - those science guys - were running some sort of experiment. There was a kind of flash and then I was here. I had my bag and guns,” she was glad that she’d had a habit of keeping all that with her while on patrol or guard duty in Mt. Weather, “and there were all these military guys...I thought they were going to shoot me.” She’d thought she was back home and that the same “military” who’d killed her dad had captured her. -- “Mm,” Frank agreed. He had been extremely wary of the military when he’d arrived, too. Mostly, he’d just been grateful that none of their faces had been familiar from any of the soldiers he’d served with at home. It would’ve been just his luck to end up in front of some kind of off-book firing squad, even after everything he’d done. But they hadn’t shot him, and then they’d let him go. He still didn’t bother trying to reassure her about the military; he didn’t really trust them, himself. Just because a person didn’t immediately try to kill you didn’t make them trustworthy. He’d also never been one for stupid platitudes. Instead, he said, “I went home for a while. Didn’t remember any of it. Showed up here a few days ago and it all came back.” It was interesting, but not altogether surprising, that he hadn’t disappeared for her. But it did mean that she remembered seeing him much more recently - possibly even earlier today - than he remembered seeing her. And he wasn’t sure how she was going to take the news that he’d forgotten, even if only temporarily. -- Cassie had already gathered that Bellamy, at least, didn’t remember her - but Katniss and Elektra and several others did - so it came as a surprise to hear that Frank had forgotten. She stilled for a moment, staring at him, then finally broke the eye contact to look down at her food. “Oh.” She suddenly didn’t really feel like eating, but she made herself take a bite anyway. It was weird, knowing that he’d forgotten her - for “a while”. Letting out a slow breath, she told herself that it didn’t matter - not now. He was there, and so was she, and that was the important part, right? “So you do remember it now? You’re sure?” -- Frank watched her. He knew it had to be a hard blow; he didn’t think he was that important of a person in her life, but he’d watched her back, and maybe, even though she might not have wanted to, she’d come to count on him. He didn’t offer any apologies - he didn’t feel like it was his fault. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel bad for having to give her that news, of course. But it was better to get it out of the way. “I remember you telling me that you lived in the woods for four months on your own,” he said, by way of answering. “That you were gonna head out when the snow melted to go find your brother. You told me about the guy that killed your dad, and I told you what happened to mine. And when we went on patrol, you liked to walk just a little behind me so you could make sure I wasn’t gonna attack you.” He gave her a slightly crooked smile. “I remember.” -- As he started to talk, Cassie’s eyes lifted, feeling a little uncertain at first, though it faded slowly while he went on. Finally, she returned his smile, just a bit. “And so that you’d get shot first if something attacked,” she pointed out - only half serious. Back there, though, she had been completely serious, at least in the beginning. Cassie knew she’d probably gotten attached way too quickly, but she couldn’t help it then, or now. And it seemed like that was okay at the moment. “Do you think we can look for Sams here? Just to be sure he’s not somewhere in this world? If there’s all this technology...there has to be a way to look, right? People we can call?” In the world of 2151, phones were useless away from the mountain, and travel would have taken weeks to get to the town she was from. Here, they could at least try, right? -- Frank’s smile widened, and he gave a slight nod, looking briefly down at the floor. “Yeah, that too.” He’d been just as serious as she’d been, back then. It was so weird to think how much had changed for him. He was tired, not the kind of tired he’d felt before where he had trouble getting out of bed, but the kind of emotional exhaustion that came from having to fight his friend as well as his enemies because they had become the same thing, and the kind of tired that came from not knowing what to do with himself and being constantly on the alert but having nothing to fight so he was using up his energy for nothing. At least he was functioning. Just trying to take it a day at a time. He considered her request. “Probably, yeah. I told you about my friend - her name’s Karen, one of her specialties is finding information, finding people. She’d be able to tell us where to start.” -- Tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding onto eased out of her shoulders, and she blinked back a sudden wetness in her eyes. She’d felt absolutely helpless in Mt. Weather - unable to fulfill her promise to her brother but wanting desperately to try something, only to be trapped by the weather and the enemies that had surrounded them. Thankfully, no tears fell, and she gave him another, warmer smile. “Okay. Okay, good.” It was better than the nothing she’d been stuck with the past couple of months. “Is it...safe here?” Not that she really believed it would be even if he said so - people had said the same thing about Mt. Weather, and that had all fallen apart. -- Frank pretended not to notice that she was near tears. He watched her pull herself back together after the relief had taken the wind at her, and when she smiled, he gave her a small smile in return. He was glad that there was something good for her about being in this place. At her question, he actually snorted. “Safe?” he asked. He wasn’t going to bullshit her on this one. “No. There’s still weird shit here, just like Mt. Weather. And then there’s the usual kinds of danger that you’d find anywhere.” He paused. “But if you’re wanting to stay with me, we could put together the kind of place that would feel a little safer.” It was a little difficult to talk about being her guardian, much less having her stay with him. Frank was not at all sure he was ready for the responsibility of another kid’s life. But he’d taken that on himself at Mt. Weather, and this was really the only kind of protection he could offer her here. She’d asked him for it. He would have to find a way to deliver. -- Cassie was actually a little relieved he didn’t try and say it was safe. One thing with Frank that she’d noticed from the beginning - he didn’t lie to her, and he didn’t try to coddle her. She appreciated that, after all she’d been through. “I’d rather stay with you than on my own. Right now, at least.” That meant the option was still open, for both of them, just in case it didn’t work out. Finishing the first cheeseburger, she crumpled the wrapper and dropped it into the bag, before digging out the fries and eating them more slowly, pausing every now and then to sip from the soda. It was so sweet that it made her teeth hurt a little, but it was the good kind of hurt - it reminded her of who she used to be, which was someone she hadn’t thought she’d come anywhere close to again. “Where do you live? Is this a big town?” -- Frank was a little relieved by the words right now, and - if he was being totally honest with himself - a little disappointed, too. He didn’t give any indication either way, just nodded. It was a very realistic way of looking at this arrangement, and it was probably the better way to look at it. He wasn’t adopting another kid, just looking out for one, who really could take care of herself without him. “I’ve got an apartment,” he said. “They assigned it to me. Whenever we make the guardianship thing official, though, I’ll see if I can switch into a bigger one. Otherwise, I’ll just take the couch.” Either way was fine with him, really. He didn’t care. “It’s a decent sized town. Nothing like where I’m from. Hell’s Kitchen, New York.” -- Despite her willingness to trust Frank, Cassie wasn’t prepared to pin all of her hopes on one person - not yet, at least. People were too fleeting - they could be there for years and then suddenly be gone, and here? They could probably disappear as easily as they appeared, the same as in Mt. Weather. “Is there a lot of paperwork?” She wondered just how legal it could actually be in a completely different world - which this had to be, if the year was right. It was past when the Others had attacked, in her world, at least. “The name is kind of dumb. Tumbleweed. So’s Hell’s Kitchen - why would hell even have a kitchen?” -- “No idea,” Frank said honestly. “I didn’t stop to ask.” He half-smiled. “You were timing me, and this military likes to take their time.” He actually didn’t know how fast their bureaucratic processes went, aside from processing and quarantining new arrivals. But he’d known that it would take longer than either of them would like, and he wasn’t going to sign any paperwork without talking to her first, so there didn’t seem to be any point to talking to the military about it yet. The other part wasn’t any easier to answer. He shrugged. “There’s a lot of stories about the name. But most of them come down to there’s a lot of gangs and criminals.” -- “You took a long time to get food on the way,” she pointed out, but she was joking. Cassie finished off the fries, then set the bag aside to save the other cheeseburger for later - feeling satisfied, for once. Not that she’d starved in Mt. Weather, but with different food shortages almost every other week, it had been hard to adjust to. “Oh. I’m still not sure if that explains the name, but…” Cassie shrugged. “There weren’t any gangs where I’m from - not that I remember, anyway.” Her next words were cut off by a small yawn as sleepiness hit her thanks to the relaxed feeling she had from Frank being there combined with the meal she’d eaten. “Sorry,” she said a moment later, pushing her red curls back from her face. “If I go to sleep, are you going to leave?” -- Frank smiled; he could tell she was teasing him. “Even fast food isn’t all that fast, I guess.” He was leaning comfortably against the wall, not planning on going anywhere, indulging the conversation. He had been prepared to answer plenty of questions and keep her company for awhile while she was still awake, but before he could give her an answer, she was yawning. “No,” he said. “I’ll stay right here til you wake up.” -- “...Okay,” she said, though she eyed him a moment longer, as though to reassure herself. Cassie honestly did want to stay up and talk to him some more - or at least just stay up and sit in silence, but with everything that had happened and a six hour guard shift before even showing up in the base, she was pretty beat. Getting up, she headed for the bed and after a moment, she picked up her pack and set it on the bed, then curled up around it so that she was facing Frank. “Night, Frank,” she said, then reached out to turn off the light so that it’d at least be a little darker in there, despite the light coming in from the window where Frank stood. After a few minutes, she drifted off into a light sleep, a little tense even then, as though ready to jump up at any point. -- “Night, kid,” Frank said lightly. He turned away when the light went off, leaning sideways against the door. He left the comm on, so that he’d hear her if she called him, without her having to get up and turn it on from her side. He stayed within sight of the window, so that she could see him if she woke up and glanced over. And he prepared himself for a long night. |