Chapter Text

~~~

“Success is dependent on effort.”

– Sophocles

~~~

The world is holding its breath.

Everything is up in the air. Everything is tense. Everyone is waiting for what’s going to happen next.

See, humans are creatures with an incredible gift for pattern recognition. It’s a survival instinct. Fantastic for stopping humanity’s ancestors from eating the same berries that killed their buddies, but unfortunate when correlation does not mean causation.

A few years ago aliens showed up. The Avengers and demigods stopped them quickly and miraculously without direct loss of life.

Then there was a small situation with aliens in London. It was solved by demigods, one Asgardian, and a handful of scientists associated with one of said demigods. No deaths, just some minor destruction of historical monuments.

That thing with AIM and the Mandarin happened and no one can forget the exploding disabled military veterans. The President was kidnapped and the VP was a traitor to his country. It was solved by Iron Man, War Machine, and demigods with no loss of civilian life during any of the conflicts(Boat loads of property damage but hey, Stark Industries got the contract for the new Air Force 1). It was just the terrorist bombings that killed people, that can’t be blamed on their enhanced heroes.

After that, Shield came tumbling from the sky revealing their secret Hydra banners raining death from the heavens and violence across the nation. The physical destruction caused by three suborbital helicarriers falling and the angry Nazis was estimated to be in the billions of dollars range. She would know because she was on several of the disaster relief committees. This doesn’t even include the frantic actions taken around the world by Cas and her father to save as many people from the Hydra exposure as possible. The death toll was still well over 1500 regardless of how many people they were able to save. That number can’t even be confirmed because not every person on the Shield payroll had an official file and some people just vanished.

That lovely surprise in Missouri happened where part of a small town was eaten. Demigods, an Asgardian, and a handful of scientists showed up with a surprisingly competent security detail but they were way too late to save anyone.

And now, they’re all living in a post-Ultron world. Again, there was a miraculously low death toll but an entire city was destroyed and the topography of a country was radically changed in less than a day. Enhanced fighters took on a robot army of unconfirmed origin and despite their best efforts, people died.

This is where correlation becomes a problem.

Five years ago, the most enhanced person in the public eye was Tony Stark. Sure, Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes flies War Machine but everyone knows that the more impressive suit is Iron Man(And no one knew that big green dude in Harlem was Dr. Bruce Banner). Iron Man’s first big fight destroyed some cars, part of a street, and private property that he owned. That’s easily repaired.

Now, there are tens of thousands of enhanced individuals not necessarily in the public eye but not hiding either. There are also flying cities.

That’s an escalation.

The stakes are going up as more and more of these people with powers exist.

And people are scared.

Sure, reports have come out detailing breakdowns of the events, who did what, and how the heroes saved the day.

But five years ago, as far as the majority of the world was concerned, there weren’t any enhanced heroes running around outside of movies.

And there certainly weren’t alien invasions and flying cities.

The enhanced populations haven’t caused these horrific events.

But they certainly never happened before they showed up.

…Little does the public know that Cassandra Stark(then Campeao) and all of her demigod friends were running around saving the world before the aliens were a thing(They haven’t gotten to that point of updating the history books yet. They’re at like…the Crusades.). She's also pretty sure Shield had their own unusual shenanigans because Fury was just way too accepting of magic and every Cas grew up with.

Point is, people are terrified. They’re wondering if it’s worth having heroes if it means that their home could be next on the collateral damage list. Legal is doing their thing. Honestly, Cas has spent at least six hours a week with them planning for the eventuality of UN ratification of the Accords. They’ve been working around the clock(literally, because every branch of legal in every country they have a presence is working on this) to ensure that it’s humane. It needs to keep the world safe from overzealous enhanced while remaining streamlined enough that they can still protect the world.

(Cas is quoted as saying that when everything goes to hell in a hand-basket she’s ignoring the damn thing and doing what needs to be done. She was stared at by several lawyers, told pointblank to never say that again, and then they promised her a version of the Accords that accounts for emergent situations.)

Initially, Cas was instructed to have everyone keep a low profile. Well, as low as possible given that they’re trying to rebuild Novi Grad…Still haven’t gotten approval on the contracts. They’re saying it’s a money thing but it’s red tape that’s slowing the process down. She’s anticipating that they’ll agree within the month due to the promise of customized technology and the use of vibranium.

Anyway, Cas refused that whole ‘wait for the storm to pass’ plan. This isn’t a problem that’s going to blow over by pretending to be small. It needs to be faced head on. Right now, a lot of people are only exposed to enhanced individuals when something terrible happens, so Cas is working on fixing that. New York and the tristate area are used to demigods by now. They’re everywhere. Exposure therapy…it’s great.

Her solution is to put demigods out there even more in situations that are distinctly non-violent. She just got thousands of them to sign on to the brand spanking new Delian League and per her wonderful team there are thousands of problems in the world that can be worked on that don’t involve combat. For example, climate change. Percy asked her if there was a way to cool the ocean back down because he hates looking at bleached coral.

There probably is but as Cas is already working with her father on making Stark Industries carbon negative. She contracted Nyssa to develop a way to scrub CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide from the atmosphere. It’s the more permanent solution since no one else is making significant strides in negating carbon emissions.

And to think, she once told her father that she wasn’t in this to save the world(Though there is an immediate side benefit that she’s more interested in).

Given all of the effort she’s put in to keep it spinning, she deserves to have a nice healthy planet to save.

This is a much better use of the Stark Family Fortune than a superhero clubhouse. Honestly, it seems like the more she spends it the faster it grows….it’s a little freaky.

So now, as it stands, people are terrified of the next big bad. To be fair, so is Cas. However, that fear is not also directed at demigods or Stark Industries or any associated enhanced individuals(the Avengers). As long as everyone keeps their noses clean it should stay that way and the Accords will end up as a nice guidepost. 

~~~

When she looks back on this five or ten years from now, Cas will always remember exactly where she was when this wild ass week started.

It’s that impactful…

And of course, it all starts with a phone call from a panicking teen named Harley, “Cassie! You need to get to Pete’s! It’s-something bad happened and…” This call is from demigod Harley who used to have no formal last name. Then he entered the American school system and needed one. Traditionally, demigods take the last name of their mortal parent. That didn’t work out for him because his mother’s a terrible human being, clearly. 

Harley tried to take her father’s name after he met him at Cas’s birthday all those years ago.

Chiron had to explain that he couldn’t just take other people’s last names. If he wanted to pick one then he should pick one from his siblings like Cas did.

Which is how the conversation came to this, “Harley Beckendorf, back it up. I need context. Are you safe? Is anyone injured? Where are you? What happened?”

“Yes. Yes. I’m in Queens so I’ll text you the address,” Cas is already shutting down her equipment and preparing to lock up for the night. It’s after nine anyway so she should be getting out of here, “Something’s wrong with Peter. His aunt’s working nights this week and she never picks up her phone at work so we’re alone but he’s been sick for days now and he’s not getting better.”

Oh, “How sick are we talking?” It’s flu season(They offered free shots to employees and their families.) and Harley’s school friend Peter is a regular person. When they get the flu they can be sick for like a whole week. It’s bizarre, “Like an episode of ER or do I need to bring you chicken soup to take care of your friend?” It’s always important to encourage children of Hephaestus to take care of humans and not just machines.

There’s a conspicuous silence on the other end of the call.

“Harley?”

“So a thing happened,” Well, this is about to be a perspective change, “And I don’t want you to be mad because it’s not his fault.”

Cas has Friday send the elevator to the garage, “Harley, what happened?”

Queue ten second pause, “Remember how the robotics club had that field trip to Roxxon Labs and you told me to keep my hands in my pockets after Nyssa finally signed the permission slip?”

“Yes, because they keep getting around biotech ethics regulations and I didn’t want you touching anything dangerous,” Hold on a second, “Did you take something home with you?” Harley’s impulse control was getting so much better too.

“No!” Harley yells back and at least he sounds honest, “But there was this lab we passed on the tour and there were all these bugs and spiders,” Gross, “One bit Peter! He was fine but now he has a fever and he says his clothes are hurting his skin. I have to whisper when I’m near him because he says I’m talking and breathing too loud….”

This was about two days ago?

Harley keeps going and Cas gets more horrified at what she’s hearing by the second. She thought that she might end up calling 911 for a really sick kid.

This is not something she’s calling 911 for.

Nope.

“Harley, I’m going to hang up.”

“What? No! You can’t-”

“Yep,” The elevator doors ding open and Cas jogs to her car, “I need to call Dr. Cho and have her set up for an emergency case,” Thank the gods she’s here even if she’s avoiding Cas right now, “Don’t let Peter take any medicine okay?” They don’t know what was in the ‘spider’…or for certain that this is from the ‘spider’ but she doesn’t want to risk it. No mixing more substances in the teen’s system, “If you still have the spider, put it in a bag or something. If not, don't worry about it. Get some ice on Peter if his fever’s over….,” What’s that danger zone number for regular humans? Pepper told her once, “Call it 102 F. Stay with him. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Okay?”

“...okay.”

That sad little okay has Cas breaking so many traffic laws.

“Friday, connect me to Helen. Don’t take no for an answer.”

“Understood, Demi-Boss.”

By phrasing it that way Cas bypasses Helen’s ability to ignore Cas’s call. When the signal connects the first thing out of Cas’s mouth is, “Don’t hang up. This is an actual emergency. I need your help.”

Helen must hear the urgency in Cas’s voice because her answer is a simple, “What’s going on?”

“I have a fourteen year old baseline human male about 48 hours post exposure to toxins of unknown specifications. All I know is the route is via a spider bite from a lab in Roxxon,” If only Cas could get them shut down but they are slippery bastards. She hates whenever their executives appear at an event Cas gets dragged too. So prideful and arrogant, “Kid’s feverish and it sounds like his senses are dialed up past eleven.” 

“Who is this boy?”

Well, “He’s a friend of one of the local demigod kids. His aunt, who I think is the guardian, is currently out of contact. I don’t know how aware of the situation she is but I’m concerned. We’re dealing with Roxxon here.” They somehow survived that oil spill nonsense, Cas has no idea how their other branches are thriving. They’re not necessarily bad people but their brand of science morality is different from Stark Industries. Where Stark Industries post Iron Man values innovation over profit margins(but marketing gets it done anyway)…Roxxon likes their dollar signs. It’s led to accusations of cutting corners in the past.

Also, competitor is generous. Stark Industries is better in every way.

“Right, I can treat him emergently,” Helen’s amazing even if she’s being skittish around Cas at the moment, “But I’ll need a legal guardian at some point.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cas somehow managed to get from the tourist regions of Midtown to Queens in 15 minutes. She may have driven in the wrong lane of the Queens Midtown Tunnel while doing so. However, there’s just cause here.

She texts Harley to let her in as she parks and runs up the stairs to the small apartment building. He buzzes her in quickly and nearly throws the  door open, “The ice isn’t working.”

Cas enters while ruffling Harley’s shaggy mane of hair. And damn, he’s up to her chin now, “It’s okay. We’re gonna get him help. Your friend’s gonna be fine.” She follows the flow of the apartment to the only open bedroom, “Harley, I meant ice packs. I did not mean ‘pour ice all over your sick friend.’”

“Oh.”

She sighs and enters the domain of the sick and wet child shivering on the twin sized mattress in the very messy bedroom(That does have a Stark Expo poster reprint with her on it). Gees, this is crazy. Cas crouches down to be at eye level with Peter, “Hey. Parker, right?”

“Dr. Stark?” The kid’s voice sounds like sandpaper.

“Correct. I’m here to take you to a doctor doctor, not a science and lab coat doctor,” Cas doesn’t even own a lab coat. The long sleeves drive her nuts.

He blinks blearily (glassy eyes can’t be a good sign) before squinting at her and Harley, “This is a really weird dream.”

It sure is, “Harley, find a dry blanket.” What’s the best way to do this?

After getting the kid wrapped up in dry throw blankets from the couch, Cas decides to just scoop him up. He’s not that big or heavy, “Get the door,” She says to Harley, “And take the keys…do you know where Peter’s house key is?” After Harley nods she continues, “Lock up behind us.”

“I have the spider!” Harley presents a plastic sandwich bag to Cas as she slides Peter into the back seat of her car. Is this a kidnapping?

When Cas turns to look at the spider a voice in her head that sounds a lot like Annabeth tells her to smoosh it. She doesn’t, “Good job, sit in the back with Peter.” This is going to be a much slower drive back.

Helen meets them at the elevators with a gurney and a team that immediately takes over after Cas places Peter down. She backs up with a hand on Harley’s shoulder, “Friday, make sure there’s no evidence of Mr. Parker’s presence in the tower and get some extra NDAs written up.”

Helen looks up abruptly, “That won’t be necessary, Cassie.”

“It’s necessary. This is a child,” She snags the spider in question from Harley who’s got a death grip on the plastic, “I’m going to run analysis on this thing’s venom and DNA. Maybe check it for organisms in the guts that might’ve transferred to Peter from the bite. Can Harley stay with Peter?” He’s going to want to stay near his friend and he wouldn’t be much help extracting samples from a tiny source like a spider anyway.

“Hold on,” Helen stops Cas from jumping in a different elevator, “I need a more detailed history than this.”

Cas just shrugs, “Ask Harley. He’s been there the whole time.”

She doesn’t run to her private biochemistry and gene sequencing work space per say, but she does get there quickly, “Friday, give us some music to work to and have U or DUM-E bring something that is both caffeinated and safe to drink. Also, please, make this all supremely restricted information. Only myself and Helen can disclose it. ”

Friday answers her by starting Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys which is perfectly acceptable.

Extracting venom from a spider is not something Cas has done before. She needs to read a couple of articles(...eleven) and watch a few videos(five) to make sure she gets the process right. Once she has the sample then the analysis at least should be easy enough with the NMR spectrometer and Friday identifying compounds.

The same can be said for the….stomach contents of the dead spider. Only that’s primarily by microscope and then cross referencing images that pop up. Again, with a being like Friday, it’s very simple to do quickly.

Isolating and sequencing a pure sample of the spider’s DNA is a little bit trickier. She doesn’t want any cross contamination so she pulls from three different sites. Whatever, it’s just a dead spider. Honestly, isolating DNA doesn’t take that long. It’s the sequencing. So boring. So involved.

It’s a good thing that two of her doctorates are in biochemistry fields.

It’s also a good thing that her first meeting is at 12 in the afternoon tomorrow. 

This is going to take all night.

….and most of the morning.

“We got a species for this creepy crawly?” It’s definitely intimidating for 2 inches of yuck.

Friday takes a moment which is never a good sign, “The spider resembles several species of orb weaver spiders native to the southeastern United States, however there are significant differences and I can’t identify an exact match.”

Joy. 

Well then, “We’ll figure it out when we sequence the DNA.” Can’t hide from that with unusual looking chitin….She’s very uncomfortable with the dead(and now mutilated) spider corpse sitting in a dish a couple feet away from her. It's really weird looking as far as spiders go, natural or magical.

After the last round of PCR is done(multiples were necessary…) Friday chimes in again, “Demi-Boss, I’ve found something unusual with the spider’s venom.”

Great, “What’s wrong with it? Is it an unusually slow but potent neurotoxin?” Because that would be par for the course.

“I have found significant quantities of nucleic acids,” What? “I recommend isolating and sequencing the femtograms present in the remaining venom sample.”

“Yeah, yeah,” This is starting to sound very much like an illegal rabbit hole.

What in Hades did those kids get themselves into?

~~~

“Helen!” 

Realistically, Cas doesn’t need to be calling out right now. Friday already dropped the terrifying results in front of Helen while Cas was booking it out of R&D. Additionally, there’s really nothing that Cas can do to change anything.

As far as the available science goes, there’s nothing anyone can do currently. Maybe in five to ten years, Johns Hopkins or Yonsei University will come up with a consistent way to turn off multiple gene insertions flawlessly(Maybe Stark Industries will start looking into it because by the gods this is messed up on so many levels). But for now, the only thing they can do is help Peter ride it out and figure out what the intentionally inserted genetically engineered spider genes are going to do to his body….are already doing to his body.

“I already saw it, Cassie,” Oh good, “Keep your voice down. It’s nine in the morning and they’re finally sleeping.”

Even better.

“So,” Cas really needs to get one of those fidget toy things she saw some kids playing with because the way she’s fiddling with her hands is clearly bothering Helen, “Apparently, that spider was designed to transfer a series of genes-practically chromosomes- with unknown purpose to another being where they would then activate rapidly and modify the organism while pulling from available energy stores-”

“Cassie…”

“...yes?”

“Just say it out loud.”

Cas sighs, “I think Roxxon is trying to use spider genes to intentionally enhance humans. In layman's terms: they’re trying to make a super soldier.” With a spider. Because it’s Roxxon. They won’t be in the market to cure cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s disease. Stark Industries shutting down weapons development and Hammer Industries crashing like the Hindenburg(full of bad ideas and fire) left a big old hole for a lot of corporations to fill. The weapons industry is lucrative so it’s no surprise that the opportunists jumped on it.

This sucks. The paperwork flood from Ultron was just drying up. She went to see the Novi Grad crater and the tent city they currently have set up for the thousands of people who don’t have anywhere to go. The project approvals to break ground are pending review by Sokovia’s(current) governing body. Also, tent city is totally underselling the experience with the environmental control they have. It’s more like fancy camping….right next to their ruined lives.

Point is, Cas was finally back to her regularly scheduled Stark Industries life with R&D, learning the business, and developing deep space defense protocols. 

Now, she has a teenager who accidentally took part in potentially illegal genetic experiments, “Have we heard from the guardian yet?”

Helen purses her lips, “No, but Harley said something like ‘Aunt May crashes hard when she gets home from work late.’ Peter's a good kid so she doesn't normally feel the need to drop in on him when he should be sleeping.”

Fair(?).

“Friday, make a call out every fifteen minutes until she picks up,” This is all terrible, “And can we get breakfast sent up here, please?”

“Who would do that?” Helen’s question breaks Cas out of her circular thoughts.

“Do what?” Attempt to break nature again?

“Super Soldiers,” Helen sits down across from Cas. Both of them need food, showers, and sleep. ASAP. Either her father’s going to have to fill in for her today(on top of his workload) or Kara’s going to have to move Cas’s meetings around. Maybe both, “It’s not-It’s so random and pointless nowadays. In a world where there are literally half-god children running around, why make a super soldier when you can easily hire a demigod. It’s probably a lot cheaper.”

Ummm, “I’m neither cheap nor a mercenary.”

“Would you really stop a random demigod if they wanted to be a mercenary?”

Cas tries not to react. It’s not a thing that she’d encourage but to deliberately stop a demigod from entering a career like that just because she finds it distasteful…no. She wouldn’t stop them. She also cuts those thoughts off before her brain can fall down a rabbit hole.

“Yeah,” Helen reads her anyway, “I didn’t think so. And even if demigods aren’t taking thug applications, the world knows that if they ask for help you’ll be there. Which brings me back to my previous question: why would someone need to do this?” Because people are stupid? “Don’t look at me like that, Cassie. This isn’t a project that you just start on a whim. It’s one you get contracted for.”

Oh.

That’s something different then, especially since it’s based in New York.

If the Argonauts aren’t an option for whoever’s doing this then odds are they don’t view demigods in a positive light.

So then the real question is who contracted Roxxon? And why?

It has to be government funded with a low chance of success but a massive payout. A gambler with influence. Or a moron with influence.

This would be an extremely involved and expensive project with one in a trillion(at best) odds of succeeding. Here’s to hoping that they either got a dud spider where this is all a coincidence and Peter has the flu(The flu swab Helen ran was negative but there are false negatives sometimes.). If they can’t have the dud spider then she hopes it’s the one that works exactly as intended because otherwise….

The side effects of gene therapy are varied in their breadth and severity.

But this isn’t gene therapy. 

This is a top to bottom jailbreak of a child’s genome.

If this goes into a worst case scenario then it could kill Peter, cripple him, or severely shorten his life.

Helen gives Cas a rundown of what she has Peter on…it’s scary to think about but until the aunt picks up her phone Cas is this kid’s adult. Fluids, antipyretics, and antibiotics are all on board. Blood cultures were drawn along with a rainbow of labs. The bite, according to Helen, is mildly inflamed but doesn’t look infected. She cleaned it anyway.

The boys are both sleeping right now so Cas and Helen stay in the hall and wait. There’s nothing further that Cas can do with the spider samples currently other than wait for the computers to finish up their work. This is just sitting….Awkwardly because Helen and Cas haven’t quietly occupied the same space in months.

“Cassie?” Or not.

Cas turns to see Harley peeking his head out of the room, “What’s up?”

“Peter’s awake.”

Oh. Cas motions for Helen to go first. When she gets in the room she can immediately tell that Peter looks better. His color’s improved. He’s not sweaty and his eyes look far more focused.”

He’s also sitting up looking at his hands clutching the blanket in a death grip, “So…not a dream.” 

“No,” Helen quickly assesses the kid and asks him all manner of questions about how he’s feeling. Only one really causes any issues, “Peter, do you have another number to reach your aunt?” Because Friday still hasn’t managed to get through and unlike with Helen, Cas can’t make her phone pick up.

That makes the kid shoot forward and wince, “No, no, no. You can’t tell Aunt May. She’ll freak out.”

Cas let’s Helen handle this, “Peter, do you understand that as you are a minor I have to explain your condition to your guardian?” When he nods, Helen continues, “Good. Let me tell you what we know first and then we can come back to your aunt, okay?” Peter nods again, “About two days ago, during a trip to Roxxon Labs you were bitten by a genetically modified spider. It doesn’t appear that the venom had an immediate effect but after incubating in your body for the last two days ,” It’s very easy to tell that Helen’s annoyed that the kid hid his condition, “A system wide inflammatory response was triggered. You’re very lucky that Harley called Dr. Stark because without intervention you could’ve seriously declined last night. This is what I need you to understand Peter: last night your body could’ve shut down.”

“But it didn’t,” There’s the teenager, “It didn't, right? Because I feel great now. Like, better than ever. These lights are still kinda bright and these clothes are really scratchy but I feel great.”

Crap.

She’d hoped that was the fever talking.

“That’s most likely the steroids and the Ofirmev,” Helen gently pushes Peter back into the pillows, “I had to give you maximum doses over the last several hours as well as fluids. Your blood sugar is borderline low even with the steroids. Low blood sugar can also kill you by the way. Your metabolism is burning through it so you’re receiving dextrose intravenously. Now that you’re awake I need you to eat this,” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out one of Cas’s meal bars…

That thing’s 2500 calories and full of all the proteins a demigod needs.

Or a child undergoing an induced mutation.(Will it have everything the activated spider genes will have his body needing?)

The kid’s looking more and more like a deer in headlights.

Harley clearly has no idea what any of this means. He has no interest in the squishy stuff and she doesn’t know how much of what Helen’s saying is comprehended by Peter.

They need his adult. Yes, Cas is an adult but she needs an adult specifically to help this child edging closer and closer to traumatized.

Eventually, his Aunt May is going to answer the phone so, “Peter,” His attention snaps to her. It’s very quick, “Your aunt needs to know what happened so she can take care of you. It’d probably be better to hear all the medical jargon from a doctor than have you come up with on the fly excuses.”

“Excuses?”

Cas sighs, “The lights are dimmed Peter. It’s not bright. It’s dark.”

“Oh,” He looks around the room and looks distinctly hunted, “That’s not so bad.”

Cas turns to Helen for help but she’s got the scientist gleam going on right now. And so does she, but before she can think about getting answers this needs to be settled. She sighs again. Cas doesn’t want to be the bad guy here but….She raises her hands and claps once. Hard.

It’s a clap. Loud, but not absurdly so.

Peter flinches back into the bed and covers his ears.

Yeah, hopefully that eases up or he gets used to it.

“What’s happening? What are we gonna tell her?” He needs to not look at Cas like she has all the answers to the universe.

She hasn’t had to fake it until things work out for a while, “I’ll take care of it, kiddo.”

Why did she say that?

Cas leaves the room, immediately closes the door, and slumps against the wall. Oh gods, she’ll take care of it?

She’ll take care of it?

Sure, she deactivated Extremis but that was one gene insertion designed to trigger the pre-programmed and natural cell division process the body already had. It was entirely manufactured and tagged. Truly, Dr. Hansen was a genius who made sure that her life’s work was organized and replicable. Made it very easy to silence those HUMAN genes.

PRESENT IN THE TARGET CELLS THEY WERE MEANT TO ENTER.

This is a jumbled mess.

Putting genes in something is easy. They don’t always activate correctly but getting them into chromosomes is so easy. Thousands of gene sequences are currently turning on in Peter’s cells right now wreaking havoc on his systems. Systems that most certainly won’t cleanly translate from human to spider or vice versa.

Spiders lack muscles and bones. Their nervous systems are not like a humans. Neither are their circulatory systems. None of the human body systems are similar. There are obviously analogs that do the same job as human parts but work in an entirely different way both anatomically and physiologically.

And somehow these genes appear to be modifying parts of Peter’s body that would’ve finished development already. That’s the only way it could be affecting his senses so much. For all she knows he could start growing an exoskeleton….or a few extra eyes….Gods she hopes it isn’t extra eyes. There’s already one Argus in the world.

This boy is now transgenic. Boy mixed with spider…

Assuming that this doesn’t ruin his life, Cas might be able to develop some things to help him conquer the sensory stuff and tune out the world. Focusing techniques are also an option. She knows plenty about over stimulation. It’s horrible but she’s been dealing with it her whole life…Maybe Matt might have some suggestions…if she just asks him how he deals with his ‘world on fire’ dramatics.

All of this’ll be symptomatic treatment and management, not a cure.

That’d take years.

If ever….

She’s getting way ahead of herself. They don’t know the full scope of what’s going on and she hasn’t even spoken with the kid’s aunt yet.

Speaking of, “Cassandra, I’ve spoken with May Parker. She’ll be arriving at the Tower in the next thirty minutes. Shall I have her escorted up?”

Emphatic, “Yes.” Her phone buzzes in her pocket with texts from Pepper. Ever since Ultron there’s been a crack down on her all nighter tendencies which is fair. Three in a row was not healthy and left her severely weakened and impaired for the fight. She never signed out of the building last night and she wasn’t expected to arrive until 10:30. 

Cas can’t afford a lab binge three day extravaganza anymore given that she could be needed at any time. Although, the ‘founding’ of the Argonauts in an official capacity does mean that others can be looped in at a moment’s notice if one of the members is at a deficit. Gods, she should’ve gotten over herself and done that years ago.

Anyway, Pepper wants to know what she’s doing and in the interest of Peter’s privacy and safety she can’t say anything in depth so…How about she just says something along the lines of: Medical emergency involving a minor one degree removed from me.

Because that’s a very vague description of her reasoning for doing this.

She tosses her phone to the side and holds her head in her hands. Mentally, she makes a note to ensure that the final Accords document contains regulations for the manufacturing of enhancements for baseline human beings. Something that would stop most nations from trying to create more Captain Americas or Winter Soldiers(Not that it’s hard. Dr. Erskein did it in the 40s. The process can’t be that chemically complicated.). It’ll also need subsections on technological regulations. Iron Man can be considered an enhancement under some definitions of the word and she needs to ensure the document keeps people safe without chaining her father and Rhodey down….

“Cassie?”

She glances up to see Helen lingering in front of her. She keeps quiet though. They really haven’t had any conversations outside of the official type in months and she doesn’t know what to say.

Helen sighs and the silence makes it loud, “I’m sorry. I don’t know if you remember but I once told you that I live vicariously through you,” She collapses in the chair and runs a hand through her hair, “That night and everything with Ultron was a lot closer to that part of your life than I ever wanted to be. I saw what you’re really capable of and it terrified me.”

Huh, “Are you still afraid?” Is this really the best time?

“Absolutely,” Oh, well then, “But not of you. I watched you try to drink the same empty mug three times in a row the other day,” It was disappointing every time, “You’re just….You’re impossible. You and Tony. The impossible happens around you or you do something that was impossible yesterday but somehow overnight you figured it out. It’s terrifying to witness and amazing. I’d be an idiot to not want to be near it but I only recently realized how easy it is to get burned.”

That’s a lot, “I’m getting a lot of different signals here,” Very mixed ones, “Am I your friend or not?” Because Cas thought they were friends until that horrible night.

Helen actually laughs, “Of course. Of course, you break it down to something that simple,” She shakes her head, “Yes, I’m your friend. It wasn’t until the party that I realized what that meant and I’m sorry it took so long to figure out that I don’t want to change it. Even if I end up spending my hard earned sleeping time on teenagers exposed to ethically questionable experiments.”

Right. This came out of left field. Okay. Cas is just going to act like this whole issue never happened because she has more important things to spend her emotions on, “Did you see that 78th floor Dr. Elliot published a rebuttal to 83rd floor Dr. Elliot?” They’re not related but they both ended up in similar fields…kinda, “I mean I get that mathematical constructivism is still a thing that’s important but it’s getting very heated. I’m glad there’s five levels in between them.”

“I saw it and didn’t understand a single thing she wrote about.”

“Do you wanna know?”

“Not really,” She shakes her head.

That’s fair. The philosophy of higher order mathematics and whether an object exists if it’s implied to exist because not having it there causes a contradiction isn’t for everyone. 

“Cool,” She needs another non-awkward topic. How about what brought them together in the first place, “So, I had this thought. What if I could 3D print a heart? And then I ran with it because the Cradle was brilliant and I’m already working on refining the power draw and the need for direct oversight but it's very limited. I’m kind of over limits nowadays. You want in?”

“What do you have so far?” Helen shifts forward interested.

Cas picks her phone up and pops open a projection, “The Cradle micromanages cell division using a simulacrum that the body eventually absorbs and replaces with its own cells. This prevents rejection. Using that same premise, I want to…”

This conversation quickly evolves into a productive debate.

“What about metastasis?”

“That’s the best part. This model projects a 42.3% chance which is already a lot less than the mortality risk for someone who needs a heart transplant but we can mitigate it further by…”

“We can integrate the vagus nerve that way too and if we…”

“Yeah, and if we play with…”

“There’s no way that…”

“Watch me.”

They have perfectly functional desks they could be working at right now. Instead, they’re crouched over chairs in the hallway of the cleared out med bay(there’s still space available for any workplace injuries just not in this area).

While this is a perfectly enjoyable way for Cas to spend her time she probably shouldn’t be gleefully dismantling previously upheld theories about cell signaling cascades outside of the room of a very sick teenager. Especially when she’s not watching the clock for the arrival of said teenager’s aunt and Friday’s a troll who likes watching Cas flounder.

The running takes Cas by surprise.

So do the shouts of ‘Ma’am! Please, calm down!’ and various derivations thereof.

Of course the loud, “Fuck you! Where’s my nephew?” Is both unexpected and reasonable given the circumstances.

Peter’s just such a polite kid(Harley’s had him around a couple of times now and she can tell he’s smart too). She can’t picture him swearing…He can’t have gotten it from this frantic woman.

Then again, this is a new situation all around.

Cas jumps to her feet and quickly brushes herself down while futilely hoping that she looks a third as respectable as Pepper does in the morning. She doesn’t. Cas works in t-shirts and faded jeans whenever possible. She doesn’t remember but she’s pretty sure it’s her A-Mean-O-Acid shirt and that really doesn’t sell her as put together after the night she just had.

At least Helen still looks near flawless.

Sort of. She’s exhausted too and doesn’t hold up under sleep deprivation as well as Cas does.

But her hair is still on point.

Anyway, May Parker doesn’t look anything like Peter but she does look like a determined parent person when she storms up to Cas and Helen. Cas gracefully lets Helen take the reins because angry parents of minors are not something she enjoys interacting with.

In the past, Cas’s interactions with angry and frantic parents of minors are historically horrible. Usually she would be informing them that their kid was dead and she’d bear the brunt of their grief. Then there’s Keener's mom out in Tennessee who slapped her.

So angry parents/guardians?

That’s a hard pass.

Plus, Helen totally knows a fair, gentle, and totally not blunt way of explaining to May Parker that her nephew became a science experiment.

“Mrs. Parker,” Good start, “In the spirit of full disclosure, I have no idea what’s happening to Peter right now.”

Cas briefly considers taking a large step back before thinking better of it. Showing fear is not an option, not when there’s a kid and his guardian that are scared.

There are tears in Mrs. Parker’s eyes, “What does that even mean?”

Helen takes it from the top with everything that they know which is really just that Peter was exposed to a dubious genetic experiment and that his body is in some sort of a transition period, “There’s nothing at this point we can do - that anyone could do - to stop it. I’m managing his symptoms and with your permission I’ll continue to do so; however, we won’t know the extent of what’s going to happen until the process is done. He’s not reporting any pain to me. He’s fully alert if a little groggy. He’s eating. The only notable problem he seems to be having are his senses. He’s very light, sound, and touch sensitive right now so we’re doing our but to keep the environment dark and calm. The room he’s in is actually sound proofed and I receive direct notifications if there are any changes or problems inside.”

Mrs. Parker nods but her voice is strained and quiet when she asks, “There’s nothing you can do? At all?”

Helen glances at Cas and it’s as good as a ‘you have the floor, madam’. She puts on her big girl pants, “Mrs. Parker, I don’t want to put too much on you right now but let me apologize for what’s happening and for taking Peter from your home without permission. He’s awake so why don’t you go spend some time with him,” Because honestly this could go south at any time, “On the medical side of things, Helen has carte blanche from me to do whatever  she needs. Everything else we can deal with later.”

“We?”

Cas winces, “Ah. That came out wrong, maybe. I mean that we’ll do everything we can to help Peter. I already have the lab running the DNA that was inserted into his system. There are models I can use. Protein synthesizing. Basically, I can predict what the genes might do. There’s no guarantee of accuracy,” Because post-translational modifications are tricky as are proteins with more than one polypeptide. Then there’s predicting what part of the body that gene is meant to be expressed in…thank the gods she has the original spider but just because she can figure out where a gene’s expressed in the spider doesn’t mean she knows where they’ll crop up in a teenager. They might get inserted into a non-analogous system. Anyway, “The point is, we’re going to do everything we can to help you and Peter.”

Mrs. Parker wipes her eyes and nods, “I just don’t understand why….” Why would someone try to put spider genes in a human? “Why are you helping? We can’t afford-God, I don’t even know how to begin.”

Ah. That.

Well, at least this part’s easy, “Something terrible happened to your kid,” Due to the incompetence of the Roxxon Corporation and Cas’ll enjoy taking them apart at the first opportunity, “I’m in a unique position where I can help. Don’t worry about money or motivations right now. We’re focusing on taking care of Peter.”

When the door clicks shut behind May Parker, Cas sighs again. Looking into Roxxon is going to be tricky. Especially since they can’t get wind of Peter. There’s actually a very terrifying train of thought in her brain right now, one that sounds suspiciously like the coaching she’s been getting from the legal department. If Roxxon Labs is being protected by some government stooge and the spider genes are successfully integrated into Peter’s genome then Peter will have stolen experimental government technology.

Potential negligence and child endangerment in the face of a child with a signed permission form that had an agreement not to touch anything without permission…especially when that kid may have walked away with the newest generation of bioweaponry….

It’s a toss up and it doesn’t look good.

“We’re helping this family, Cassie.”

“Of course, we are,” Cas pushes a big confident grin on her face, “Welcome to the heroing business, Dr. Cho.”

“In that case, I’ve been a hero for years.”

She needs to get a nap in.

Technically speaking, there are people who could run a lot of the basics of the work they need to do. Hell, an undergrad in Gen Bio could easily do the cloning bits of this process. However, privacy is key here. Not that she has any doubts about anyone working in the company, “Friday, have Kara round up several discrete someones to pick up sequencing the spider. I need to start poking at Roxxon.”

“Already done, Demi-Boss,” Fantastic, “And I took the liberty of compiling all of the publicly available information on the Roxxon Corportation’s open contracts and recently published patents.”

This is going to be a joy to read through.

Helen knows to call her if there are any changes in Peter’s condition or situation.

She also shoots a text to Nyssa because she has to be missing Harley by now.

Chapter Text

~~~

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

- Harper Lee

~~~

Her father finds her napping(Quite a few hours later than she wanted to be napping but research needed to be done).

By napping Cas means face planted on her favorite couch in the garage where no one will bother her.

And by finding her she means kicking the foot of the couch repeatedly until she gives up on sleeping and sits up to glare at the man, “Why?” Just, why?

He answers her question with a question, “Any reason that Friday’s being cagey with access to information from floors in the building with my name on it?” Nope. She’s not alert enough for this. Her face meets the couch again, “Hey!” He goes back to kicking the couch ignoring her wordless pleas to leave her alone, “Answers. I don’t like secrets in this dojo.”

Oh gods, “Medical emergency,” Her words are muffled by cushions but he stops kicking so that’s progress.

“Who’s hurt?” She feels the couch shift as he sits down on the arm by her feet.

Can’t he bother her later? She turns her head to the side and cracks an eye open, “It’s a kid and their adult’s with them.”

“A kid.”

“Yep.”

“Just some kid.”

“Got it in one,” She rolls back over to return to her nap.

Her father sighs and stands up, “Sorry Cas, didn’t want it to come to this.” If he tries to physically remove her from the couch then she’s just going to hold on. He’ll have to drag the whole thing across the garage. She’s mostly asleep again when she feels him come back, “Last chance, kid.” Please, what could he do? She doesn’t even flinch.

Well.

Then she flies off the couch sputtering when the icy water dumps all over her. Sopping wet and glaring with what is probably the effectiveness of an angry kitten, Cas attempts to stare her father down. He could at least stop smiling at her, “Now that I have your undivided attention,” Her father is such an ass, “The kid in my medical wing, what’s going on?”

Nuh-uh. She flops her dripping hair back before answering, “I promised them privacy, old man. Leave it be. If there’s any kind of complication, I’ll let you know,” When he doesn’t look nearly satisfied Cas throws him a bone, “Fri, let the geezer know if you find anything interesting about Roxxon. If they’re on the potential problem list he should know.” They’re corporate neighbors of a type.

“Roxxon,” Her father raises an eyebrow, “They’re still relevant?”

Unfortunately.

She nods and plans the best way to get to her father without giving him time to react. He’s wearing the watch she gave him and five years of near constant action have made him quick on the draw. Regardless, the only response to a water attack like this is to share the love, “Not that I’m going for a monopoly or anything but like…they’re being extra sketchy.”

“‘Extra sketchy’ in a way that hurts a baby demigod?”

She narrows her eyes. Technically answering this question with an affirmative or negative is giving away privileged information and her dad knows that, “Stop being nosy. It’s not cool.”

He crosses his arms and shrugs, “Stop being secretive. It’s not cool.”

She missed him when he was flying around hunting Hydra with the Avengers. She really did. But she got used to a certain amount of independence with her resources…resources that she technically only has access to. They’re all actually her fathers while she’s the heiress, “It's a kid, dad. Leave it be.”

“I realize that,” He turns to leave the room, “If it’d been a demigod you’d be working this with Solace and the magic crowd to fix them up. However, sketchy corporation that hurt some other kid that you somehow know….It’s not Keener, is it?”

“No,” She answers immediately and proceeds to defuse the situation by hugging the stuffing out of her father. He can have some of this cold water back, “So,” She ducks away before he can swat at her and doesn’t bother hiding her smug expression at the Cas shaped wet spot forming on his shirt, “Don’t tell me you came down here and woke me up for that?”

Because she can’t nap in wet clothes on a wet couch.

He makes a decent effort to not show his discomfort at his now wet shirt, “No, that meeting I sat through for you on the,” It’s at this point that he places a hand on his chest and feigns moral superiority, “Importance of diversity and inclusiveness in STEM fields was riveting.”

Cas blinks.

And blinks again.

Then snorts out an aborted laugh, “I thought it was some marketing and PR thing that one of us needed to nod our heads at.”

He shrugs, “It was. Complete waste of time given that we’ve won all of the diversity and equality metrics measured by Forbes.” For the last three years. Her father was climbing up the progressive ladder even before she joined up and he put Pepper in charge. That whole ‘staring death in the face’ thing did wonders for his company plans.

“So…?” What’s he want?

“We’re blowing this popsicle stand,” Ah, he’s bored and petty. Understood. She feels kind of bad about that one because boredom is a terrible thing and it’s her fault, “How about we use our names to cut in line at a Lucciola’s?”

Tempting…, “Is Chef Michele still making that truffle thing with the sea bass?”

“Mhmm,” He nods knowing that he won, “And the demigod sized charcuterie board.”

The seasoned olives…

“Square deal,” She looks down at herself, “Give me five minutes to find something dry.”

~~~

“Urban renewal,” He questions, “That’s your new thing?”

Cas maintains her manners and finishes chewing before responding to that, “That’s Annabeth’s thing. It’s not new and I’m just a backer.” One of many actually. So many people are jumping on the ‘invest in the godly children’ boat. They make for good press. That ‘fear the pagan’ campaign can die a miserable death via irrelevance.

“So you didn’t wiggle your way into approval finalization for the social workers at your community centers,” He doesn’t need to make it sound like that.

She doesn’t sigh but she does make him wait for her to finish drinking before answering, “No one can compare to Chiron when it comes to working with troubled kids but I can make sure we only hire the best ones available.” Including ones she poaches from underfunded and failing programs that only exist because they’re a plug for some councilman running for office.

She knows from experience that when given a real chance for something better people will usually take it.

“We all know they need it. Secondary school hell doesn’t do them any favors,” Her father agrees then, “If these centers show promise we can probably get some scholarship programs going.”

Look at them: The Philanthropic Juggernauts turning their eyes on the American education system.

“Never been to high school technically…never been to public school,” And Cas is grateful to that, “Chiron got me some testing and did some hand waviness….I think I would’ve crawled out a window or something.” Looks horrible.

Her father nods, “If it was anything like it was for me, and I didn’t last very long, then you would’ve been bored out of your mind,” Ew. He leans back and squints at the television over the bar, “Isn’t that your idiot’s neighborhood?”

What?

Cas turns and looks at the muted news broadcast of a shootout at…Metro-General Hospital, “He’s not mine.” But that is his neighborhood…and Claire’s hospital. She fires off a quick check in text and also notes that police either haven’t had time to get there in mass or they’re choosing not to call in extra help. It’s also possible that they have the situation under control…There’s just not a lot of police present, especially considering that the shooter is in a hospital.

“Sure,” He needs to not do that but based on his non-response to her judgmental look he’s going to keep doing it, “Looks like the shooter’s already gone. Man, what is with Hell’s Kitchen? Place is like the only part of the city that still has organized crime.” Exaggeration but he has a point. 

“Don’t remind me,” They're just more overt in Hell's Kitchen. It’s a deeply entrenched problem that’s been going on since Prohibition. It’s not something that’ll be solved overnight, “Let’s just be here for a while. Oh, let’s do movie night. We haven’t had one in a while.”

“I’m choosing to indulge your avoidance,” He says while pouring himself another glass, “And hoping to god that you pick something other than Star Wars.”

She could go for some laughs right about now actually, “Real Genius?”

He sighs, “Could be worse. You could’ve said Top Secret.”

“I could’ve said Weird Science.”

He shudders in horror, “Of all of the cinematic creations of the 80s designed exclusively for teenagers, that’s one of the worst.”

She nods. It’s a mess but she still loves watching it.

“Seriously,” He says, “Do you need to do anything about that?” He flicks his hands at the television.

Cas refuses to turn back around, “Not unless they need it. A guy shooting up a hospital is definitely horrible but there are police for a reason.” And she’s put a lot of effort into improving how functional they are. Even DA Reyes has been going above and beyond since Cas facilitated Wilson Fisk’s relocation to Rikers Island.

“I’m starting to have…well, I’m having even more doubts about your vigilante friend.”

“Next subject, please.”

They loiter for a while longer. No one’ll kick them out and it’s funny watching people attempt to stare at them without being obnoxious about it.

It’s one of her favorite things about being in public in the city with her father.

This isn’t something that they get to do all of the time anymore. In fact, their random public appearances haven’t been a normal thing for the last year. Something else to blame the Avengers for.

But this, movies, garage time, and personal project time are all things that they do together that’ve fallen to the wayside in face of everything going on in the world.

They’ve got a lot of missed time to make up for.

When she heads home that night at a decent hour she feels really good, balanced. Sure, there’s a teenager in the medical wing of Stark Tower experiencing something like the worst puberty known to man but everything’s being handled. She knows the approximate locations of everyone she loves and more importantly than that she knows they’re safe.

It’s such a beautiful luxury. 

And it’s absolutely ruined by her phone in the morning.

“I can’t find Matt!”

Evidently, Friday identified the call as an emergency and just put it through.

She’s still half in pajamas and running dry on caffeine, “Foggy?” That’s Foggy right? She’d considered backing up and calling him Mr. Nelson earlier in their acquaintance but they bonded that night standing vigil over the wet cat Vigilante.

He keeps going without slowing down, “I saw him last night during the shootout but I haven’t heard from him since. Karen was at the hospital so I know Matt went after the son of a bitch,” Wonderful. She considers the possibility of Matt knocking out after a fight without contacting Foggy but when she expresses this thought, “No, I was already by his place. It’s empty. I overheard a police radio saying that there were reports of shots fired on a rooftop on 10th right after the shooter disappeared.”

That doesn’t actually narrow it down. 10th Ave stretches the entirety of Manhattan but Metro-General(Claire wasn’t working last night) is on W 58th and 10th so…, “You want me to help you look for him?” Cas crosses to her closet to put away the office ready attire she was going to wear in exchange for sometime a bit more subtle. Friday is kind enough to start cross referencing devil sightings(The man’s entirely unaware that he has fan-run social media accounts dedicated to snagging pictures of him. The urban cryptid.).

“Please?”

She sighs, “Fri, please tell Kara I’m gonna be late and let Helen know I might have another patient for her.” Joy. Friday puts up a little notification indicating that it’s done.

Foggy lets out a breathless, “Thank you.”

He shouldn’t thank her yet. There’s a high possibility that she’s about to recover a corpse. She warned Matt that something like this was going to happen eventually(She ignores the twisting in her gut at the possibility that Matt’s dead. She…he’s a friend but he’s always been a risk. She knew that going into this.)

Anyway, “Where are you right now? And can you get Starbucks?” There’s one on the corner near there?

“Uh… Standing by the police barricade at 59th and 10th. Why?”

Not perfect but they can work on that, “I’ll start looking…” If Matt was intercepting the fleeing shooter then he probably didn’t get very far yet and distracting Foggy with a coffee run will buy her time if she does in fact find a corpse. Matt wouldn’t want Foggy traumatized. She’ll keep her intended location vague for now that way he has to call her to get directions, “Around the hospital. You head to his place for a duffle bag and a change of clothes.” Cas on the other hand will check for signs of life when she finds him. Dead or alive(please, be alive), transporting Matt Murdock is a lot easier than transporting Daredevil.

In the environment of post War on Terror America it’s very hard to drive a car after an attack like this. She doesn’t actually have a new motorcycle yet but it’s on the list of things that need doing(Low priority). However, if she cuts through Central Park the distance from her home is about 1.5 miles which isn’t very far and won’t take more than a few minutes if she books it and trespasses on private property(rooftops when applicable). There’s a very old and ratty backpack stuffed with her limited medical supplies for if Matt’s bleeding out again bouncing against her back as she runs.

What’s that video game with the hooded people in white that the kids were playing in the lounge the other night?

It was something distinctly cult-like but they had cool wrist daggers.

Anyway, rooftop travel for her isn’t as flippy and flamboyant as those characters in the games but they can’t clear a 30 foot jump like she can. That being said, it is tricky to run like this when she’s trying to keep a hood up over her head because gods help her if someone spots her doing this. As it is, she’s already formulating explanations to her father, Pepper, and her team.

She reviews what she knows to get a better idea of where Matt might’ve ended up. The basic layout of the hospital was available for her to glance over before she left thanks to Friday. There are a number of side exits but without knowing why the shooter was there she can’t figure out where they might try to go after…

Regardless, she hits the edge of a rooftop that she can see the hospital from as well as the police and other onlookers.

She doesn’t know what they expect to see but there are crowds out there and ambulances loading up patients likely to be transferred to a safer location. Kind of pointless given that the shooter’s gone and the place is full of cops but whatever.

So, the fastest way for the shooter to slip away would’ve been to follow the flow of traffic. It’s least conspicuous too. Most people would’ve flooded out the front doors because they know where those are. Even if the shooter went out the sides or back they would’ve likely melded into the crowd in the front of the hospital. Based on the current location of ambulances and police barricades the crowds were sorted out north of the hospital. That makes it best to start looking north along 10th avenue.

Balance of probability and all that…

It’s the most likely scenario and therefore should be exhausted first. All of this information is quickly relayed to Friday who starts checking traffic cams. Matt’s never been caught on one of those in full regalia before but hey, they might get lucky.

She gets lucky.

It takes about twenty minutes of searching around dumpsters, water towers, and drying linens but she finds him and has Friday share her location with poor Foggy.

Gods.

He’s slumped over a cloudy skylight dressed as Daredevil in broad daylight(Suddenly, she’s regretting that whole drop everything and run to find him plan…. What the hell does she do with this? Stupid impulses.)

“Please don’t be dead,” She taps his foot with hers and gets a twitch from one of his hands. Fantastic. Carefully, she turns him over and eases him to the ground. This, at least, is familiar territory, “We have to stop meeting like this, Mikey. It’s bad for Foggy’s constitution.” Quick pulse check reveals a steady, if slow, rhythm.

She doesn’t get any intentional response outside of some very disoriented movements and she can immediately see why. His helmet’s cracked….and there’s a bullet lodged in it. When she unsnaps the helmet and eases it from him it’s evident that the blood on the lower half of his face is entirely from his mouth…the bruising suggests that’s from a punch.

The man got shot in the head last night. He’s lucky to be breathing.

Now come the logistics of getting him back to the tower….Because as far as she’s concerned the man’s not making any decisions. She supposes Foggy will when he gets there but it’s not like they can drop him off at Metro-General despite its proximity. For the sake of expediency, she didn’t take a car…Happy’s at LaGuardia picking up Pepper from a conference.

It’s a good thing she’s over 18, “Friday…”

“Yes, Demi-Boss?” She chirps from Cas’s watch.

This is the sort of thing that gets kids grounded, “I need dad’s car. You know, the one you can drive.”

“The Audi R8 with remote activation?”

“Nah, that’s a two seater. The RS7, please. And respect the traffic laws.”

She’s going to be in so much trouble for this one.

“ETA is twenty minutes.”

It took her under five minutes to get to this side of town from home.

New York traffic. It’s a hell of a thing(At least she found him quickly and could decide what she needed instead of trying to cram gods knows what into the back of a car. Yay impulses.).

Foggy, when he gets there, is a sweaty, terrified mess but he has the bag and that’s what matters, “Oh my god, Matt! Can you breathe?” Matt, being listless like he is, doesn’t answer. Foggy redirects his question to Cas instead, “Is he breathing?”

“Yeah, he is,” For now…From a well maintained gun, a bullet of this caliber can travel roughly 1300 feet per second. His brain didn’t experience piercing damage but it did experience impact damage. Didn’t Claire have to drain fluid from Bulletproof Luke’s brain after he caught a shotgun with his face? She needs Helen, “Foggy, I need you to tell me to take him to my doctor,” Helen’s going to kill her for this, “Then you need to get him changed so that we can move him when our ride gets here.”

“What? But what about…” He waves his hands around everything which shouldn’t make sense but it does.

She rolls her eyes, “Priorities, Foggy. Health and safety first. Including yours.” She sits down to give herself a better angle on Matt’s breathing patterns. Irregular breathing is one of the signs of impending brain herniation and death. Will and Helen developed an emergency trauma assessment thing they all had to pass before they trusted any demigods to triage a baseline human disaster zone.

“My health?” His voice is still strained but it has more bite to it. Good. Snarky Foggy is the best Foggy. Then he looks down at Matt again, huh,…he is in fact bleeding for a cut in his hairline. Looks like the jagged edge from his helmet got him, “Can’t you do something about this guy? He’s some kind of monster, right?”

She raises a brow, “Hospital guy? There are deranged criminals everywhere, Foggy. I can’t just jump in because I want to. You’re a lawyer. I know you understand the slippery slope that would be.”

He sits down too and starts pulling out Matt’s clothes, “But it wasn’t just the Hospital,” Hmm?, “This shooter took out the Kitchen Irish.” The Irish mob…that’s interesting. That was something like 30 bodies in one night according to the news. 

However, it doesn’t actually change much, “Right, I heard about that slaughter fest. I offered help to the police as both boots on the ground and forensics,” She has bored Sword people and demigods with skills. They’re bonding now so she needs to keep them distracted with something, “They turned me down. Why was this guy shooting up a hospital?”

This makes Foggy look down, “One of the Irish boys got away. He was at this hospital and was trying to cut a deal with us for protection. Karen has him down at the station.”

That changes things, “All three of you are in the line of fire on this, aren’t you?” When Foggy looks away and starts taking off Matt’s suit Cas shakes her head and walks away, “I’m gonna have to update your security. I was only worried about minor break ins and now I have to account for paramilitary killers with a grudge.”

Cas takes this time to text a very long and detailed update to Helen because she doesn’t feel like getting yelled at over the phone. At least Helen’s going to get her MRI. There’s no way she’s letting Matt leave without one and Cas won’t help him escape. No one saved her from Will so this is passing the baton along.

“This is crazy,” Foggy’s grunting with the effort of moving Matt around to dress him, “We always planned to open our own office. Use the law to help people. We’re both really good at it. All of our professors had nothing but great things to say about both of us. We’re top of our class but now I’m up here wondering if next time…if the next time I find him…”

Oh.

They’re at this point now.

Okay.

Cas looks over her shoulder and sees Foggy struggling to remove Matt’s pants so she turns back around, “You’re a fantastic friend, Foggy. No one could ever say otherwise but I hope you know you’re not his keeper.”

“What?” A small thud indicates what Cas hopes is Matt’s foot falling back to the roof, “So I should just leave him?”

“Leading the witness, Mr. Lawyer,” Probably not the best time to try and lighten the mood, “I’m saying that Matt’s a big boy and if you keep reaching out to him….Well, if he’s drowning by choice you shouldn’t feel the need to stand there as the water reaches your head too.”

“So, you do think I should give up,” He sounds defeated and that wasn’t really her intention.

Maybe she’s coming across too harsh because that’s not what she’s going for, “I mean that you’re awesome. Outside of your partnership with Matt, you as a person/lawyer/hero to your community are awesome.” She was recently told to give baseline humans more credit and to tell them the truth, “If Matt…Just know that I don’t think he’s ever going to stop doing this.” Even after being half dead on a rooftop, “And I know you’re scared right now. So, what I was trying to say is that you need to accept this as reality all of the time even when you can’t see it or you need to reconsider whether or not you can handle being friends with Matt.”

There’s a pause, “Can we not…He’s dressed.”

Cool. 

So Cas didn’t bring anything to clean Matt’s face off with but he’s also going with gym attire mystique so they’ll pull the sweatshirt hood over his head when the need arises.

“Sorry, Foggy,” Cas feels the need to apologize in the face of his distress, “I wasn’t trying to make things worse for you. Honestly, you two are a great team and if it makes you feel better both myself and a really pissy doctor are going to give him a lot of grief over this.”

“I’m not happy but at least he’s going to a doctor.”

That’s the spirit.

If it seems like Cas is kind of being lackadaisical about the life of a person who’s sort of her friend at this point then it should be acknowledged that she’s seen this man with one foot in the Ferry Man’s barge three times now. At some point, she’s become numb to this sort of thing. Also being emotional isn’t going to help when Foggy needs her to be focused. Then there’s the disappointment curdling in her stomach.

Matt got shot in the head.

How?

A notification from Friday has Cas carefully lifting Matt over her shoulders(again…) while Foggy makes sure the stairs are clear for her to get to the street. The logistics of carefully flopping Matt into the back seat with Foggy are probably more complicated than they need to be but he doesn’t hit his head again.

The drive is unremarkable.

The glare from Helen at the emergency elevator is legendary.

“Your next patient is here to see you, Doc.”

“Shut up, Cassie.”

From there…well. Liberal application of fluids because he’s been out overnight. Something called mannitol to reduce ICP in a way that doesn’t involve a needle behind an eyeball. And preemptive application of anti-seizure medications to prevent Matt from having one due to being shot in the head.

X ray revealed no broken bones because Melvin made one hell of a helmet but the appliance itself is a lost cause. There’s no way to patch it. The structural integrity of the whole device is shot(no pun intended) and she wouldn’t trust it to protect a kid falling off a bicycle anymore. 

Helen actually went for a CT scan and then swore up and down about coup and contrecoup brain injuries and the unpredictable nature of symptoms due to Matt’s unique condition. Meanwhile, Foggy looks paler and paler and the very interested looking team assisting Helen starts asking questions that go above Cas’s knowledge of neuroscience. Impressive to say the least, it looks like she has homework for later. Nothing a handful of hours, Youtube videos of lectures, and some journal articles can’t rectify.

Anyway by the end of it, Matt’s more or less admitted to the Stark Employee Hospital under no name and NDAs are signed more for Foggy’s sanity than any real necessity. There’s an implied ‘these people are Cas’s’ in the air and loyalty is a thing at Stark Industries. She did it for Peter only because he's a kid.

Cas leaves Foggy to sit with Matt who should be sleeping off some Keppra for at least two more hours and prepares to be dressed down by Helen in the hallway, “You did the right thing by bringing him to me,” Or not, “His condition can’t be managed by the average hospital and care team.” Cas resists mentioning that the average hospital would be inundated with petty criminals trying to kill him.

But still, “This is not what I was expecting from you.”

Helen sighs, “You brought me two medical impossibilities within 48 hours of each other. This wasn’t you being stupid. It was you doing your level best to protect two people who needed help,” She sighs, “At this point I’m just flattered at your faith in me and frustrated that I can’t publish any of this.”

Eh, “You can add it to the superhuman treatment protocols you have stashed somewhere.”

“Shut up, Cassie,” Helen shoots a near longing glance at the door to Matt’s current residence, “His brain is literally the key to unlocking neuroplasticity. How much do you think I can get out of him?”

Cas grimaces, “Not much. He’s going to try and leave the moment he can stand.”

“Bargaining it is then.”

Cas has dubious plans to guilt him into sticking around for observation using Foggy but that’s hit or miss.

Just because she’s curious, Cas asks, “How’s the kid?”

The scientist gleam lights up in Helen’s eyes, “He crushed a bed rail by accident,” Well then, “His metabolism is still increasing but it’s slowly leveling off and he hasn’t needed any antipyretics today. He’s eating almost as much as you though.”

Damn, “And the aunt?”

This sobers up Helen, “Scared. But who wouldn’t be in her position. At least the demigod parents usually have the benefit of knowing their kid’s a medical marvel from the start. She’s calm because the numbers look good and the kid's calm for now but I’ll be drawing labs for cancer markers tomorrow.”

Cas tilts her head, “Not today?”

Helen shakes hers, “No, I have enough data for now and I suspect it’ll be negative. It’s just a formality at this point….Cas, his body pushed out three IVs today. His healing factor is definitely on par with yours, possibly better. And now that his blood sugar isn’t constantly bottoming out…Do you know what spider exoskeletons are made from?”

Of course she does, “Chitin. Why do…Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Chitin is a fascinating substance. It’s lightweight and strong and made from readily available materials in a spider's environment. Specifically, it’s a polysaccharide of an amino hexose called N- acetyl-glucosamine, “How’s the kid’s calcium levels?”

“Normal. All electrolytes are normal. I’m not worried about toxicity. Whatever processes are in there…most likely his heart’s consumed the excess but he’s going to need supplements if that becomes his normal requirement. He complained about some minor aches in his bones but I’m going to need a full set of x rays to be sure.”

She needs a full set of x rays to confirm that his bones are being demineralized and rebuilt with chitin.

Gods.

“We need to consider what other bits of spider anatomy might populate in his body. I’m not going to be able to translate and identify the function of all the spider proteins he’s hosting in time to be useful.”

Helen shrugs, “I need to figure out if his spider requirements are going to override or act in tandem with his human ones. Spiders have hemocyanin not hemoglobin. Is he going to need copper added to his diet? Omega-3? Both? I already have him on a high protein diet due to the insane anabolism in his body right now, but how much more will he need going forward? Does he still have human fat and carbohydrate requirements?”

Okay. That’s a lot, “You just let me know if I can help with any of that.”

“I already know that you’re going to read everything you can get your hands on regarding spider biochemistry,” Agreed, “Make sure I have what I need to do my job and we can work on the rest later. Your vigilante on the other hand,” He’s not her vigilante. He’s barely a friend. More of an employee that she likes, “Has a history of swinging first and not being alert later. I want you on hand when he comes to in an unfamiliar environment.”

Wonderful. There are perfectly capable security personnel on hand for something like this but Cas get’s feeling she’ll be in deeper trouble if she doesn’t listen to Helen.

“Let me just go face the music in the boss’s office and I’ll be back.” Pepper’s going to be jet lagged which makes this even more fun.

~~~

She arrives back to a Sword medic eating popcorn as Foggy storms past her to the elevators.

Cas raises a brow hoping for answers but gets nothing…Hmmm…She doesn’t make a habit of butting in on their business however in this case she might check in just to see how Karen is. Being in an active shooter scenario is probably terrifying especially at a hospital while protecting the most likely target.

For now, she sets up near the windows. Another problem, another day she doesn’t get to spend in the dubiously safe R&D department. It’s been 12 days since their last unintended combustion event. The current goal is to make it to 20 but ever since Cas has gotten into the development of ‘lego molecules’ from pre-existing polymers….The idea is to be able to use plastics to build stable…well just about anything from windows to walkways to electronics. That’s easy. What isn’t easy is stripping preexisting plastics to component polymers while maintaining integrity.

It’s why most plastic isn’t actually as ‘recyclable’ as people think it is(Typically, it can only be reused 2-3 times before before the polymers are too short and brittle).

Essentially, she’s trying to develop a process that would make waste plastic valuable again in a way that’s cheaper than creating new plastics. Then Percy can go pick up the France sized plastic island in the Pacific ocean that makes him act like a kicked seal pup and the sea gods might stop sending increasingly severe droughts to California in punishment.

And she can stop getting pictures of turtles tangled in fishing lines sent to her email by the legion of satyrs trying to get her to fix climate change.

It’s a win-win.

Anyway…it’s a fairly noxious and volatile process that’s made some very colorful flames. Others are inspired.

As long as no one gets hurt, Cas doesn’t mind. It’s the dream work environment that she’s not in because Matt Murdock caught a bullet with his forehead. 

She’s just about to virtually sign into a meeting twenty floors down when she hears the screaming. Followed closely by, “Cassie, get in here!”

To be fair, she was already halfway to the door in question waving down the halfway to standing extra personnel when Helen called her. Cas slams the door open expecting to see Matt with a death grip on Helen. Instead, she comes across Helen with her back pressed to the wall. In the opposite corner, Matt’s half crouched with one hand reaching out and another against the wall behind him, “Matt? Talk to me.” No answer. Not even a twitch. Okay, “Helen?”

“I’m not sure,” Cas steps further into the room when Matt makes no acknowledgement of them. If he’s having some sort of episode she wants to be between him and Helen, “He said he had a headache and asked me for aspirin. After I thoroughly explained why aspirin was a bad idea in a person at risk for brain bleeds I gave him a Tylenol. He turned down anything stronger. When I gave him the water he fumbled and dropped it,” There is in fact an empty cup and a puddle on the floor. Fumbled? Matt? He’s as graceful as they come…

Something’s off.

He looks scared.

She’s never seen Matt like this before.

His head isn’t tilting to pick up sound but his hand is on the wall(Is that a nosebleed?).

What would make a man like Matt scream in fear? Because it wasn’t pain. She knows what he sounds like when he’s being stabbed.

He’s also very quick to swing if he perceives a threat so he’s not hallucinating or experiencing some delusion where they’re enemies.

If he perceives a threat…

“Helen, what do you think Matt’s equivalent of blurred vision due to a severe concussion would look like?”

Helen shifts a bit behind her, “Something like a decrease in acuity…”

A sudden loss of his ability to clearly perceive his environment…possibly at all given that he didn’t respond to her voice but he’s clearly aware enough to maintain his balance on his feet and feel the wall beneath his finger tips, “Friday, have one of the guys send my extra nano-tablet down. Helen, meet them at the elevator. I don’t want too many moving parts on the floor. We might spook him.”

“I don’t feel comfortable-”

“Now, Helen.”

Cas takes a slow step into the room but is careful to ensure her shoe hits the ground in a deliberate heel to toe manner. That gets a response out of him. He locks onto her direction and his hand is still held out. Awareness but no recognition.

Without hearing he’s probably picking up vibrations from hard surfaces, scent, and changes in air pressure….something to think about later. Still, a sure fire way to freak out an animal is to remove their primary means of perceiving their surroundings. A blindfold works on most because that’s their most important sense…but Matt relies almost entirely on hearing.

Maybe if she sits then she can get him to do so as well? If his symptoms get worse before they get better his balance could go next and then he’ll fall and bang up his head even more. It’s safe for him on the ground.

So floor it is.

When Cas sits she’s sure to allow her hands to slap the ground on the way down. More vibration through the floor means more perception…she hopes.

Queue head tilt.

He gets the idea and follows her to the ground.

This is bringing back all sorts of Battle for Olympus memories….Nightmares and jumpy, injured fighters.

Without sight or hearing, the only remaining way to communicate is touch which is why she called for the tablet to be sent down. That thing is already proving worth the hours put into programming it. However, contact needs to be initiated first…

She just goes for it and flicks out her leg to tap him on the shin. He flinches but otherwise doesn’t move so she does it again and again…and one last time for good measure. She nearly flinches herself when he snags her ankle to stop her but they’ve made contact. He can tell how absolutely unfazed by this she is and relaxes against the wall with his eyes closed.

Well, he doesn’t look like he’s going to freak out on her any time soon but…

Now she’s stuck.

She sighs and waits for Helen to come back. Matt might be able to meditate(she thinks that’s what he’s doing right now) but Cas cannot handle idleness or boredom. It’s torture.

Blessedly, Helen comes running back in the room but freezes in the doorway at the sight of them on the ground. Cas just waves and hopes that her nonchalance is transferred through her leg and pants to Matt. He doesn’t tense up so either he doesn’t know Helen’s there or he trusts Cas to cover him while he’s down.

If it’s the latter then she’s flattered.

Still Helen slaps the tablet into her hand and gives Cas her thoughts, “I have a theory. It’s not a pressure problem because we’d have other symptoms,” Meanwhile, Cas is connecting her phone to the tablet, “But, people with concussions are told to avoid excess stimulation. Avoid bright lights, loud sounds, and calculus homework. Your boy here can’t avoid that stimulation and irritated his nerve fibers just having a conversation with his friend. If he can keep calm and wait it out, the inflammation should resolve and his hearing should come back.” Well, her phone picked up most of that and sent it to the tablet, “If he can’t relax then I can give him something to help.”

Huh. 

She runs her fingers over the braille to check for transcription errors(none, obviously) before leaning in and tapping the back of Matt’s arm using it. He’s smart enough to figure out what she wants and quickly runs his own fingers over the message before nodding and waving them off with one hand.

“Clear board,” She’ll need something a little clearer than that, “Matt, do you want us to leave you to your meditation?” Then she kicks his leg again to get him to read it. He nods and waves them off. Right…, “Helen?”

“This man is an idiot.”

Cas sighs, “Can you get me my stuff? I’ll just work from here while Buddha un-jellies his jam.”

Now, it’s Helen’s turn to sigh.

~~~

Two hours.

That’s how long Cas works remotely keeping one eye on Matt and the other on the new marketing proposal for the next generation of Stark Phones. Honestly, she doesn’t care that much about these but they’re a hot commodity and everyone is going to want one come summer time. The release is literally this coming summer. Why is she needed at this stage? She gets that they’re a big source of income for the company but she should be able to stand at the end of the line with the Queen and give a big thumbs up at the finished product.

Anyway, after two hours of that Matt finally moves again. He shifts from his lotus pose and snaps his fingers by his ear before smiling. Wonderful, “You with us, Lucy?”

A small nod and a quiet, “Yeah,” Is all she gets before he’s pulling himself to his feet, “I need to go.”

Deja vu.

“Sure, but can we talk about what you want when this inevitably happens again first?” Because this was a standard near death in her book but poor Foggy looked like he lost five years off his life.

He tilts his head to focus on her, “What do you mean?” She can’t believe she’s glad to see his little echolocation twitches again.

Cas stands and leans against the wall in a way that makes it clear that she won’t obstruct him, “If you get like this,” She waves a hand to encompass all of that mess, “What’s the plan? Are you going to have a means to contact Foggy in the future? Will you make check in times where if you miss it then something’s wrong?”

He shakes his head, “I don’t want Foggy more involved than he already is.”

“That’s too bad,” Honestly, “Because he called me this morning, nearly hysterical, to say that he couldn’t find you after Karen almost got gunned down at Metro-General last night,” He squeezes his eyes shut, “I’m not telling you to stop. I’m telling you to be reasonable. Make a system. Keep it. Keep yourself and your friends safe. And for the sake of my sanity, tell Karen the truth because this lying is getting ridiculous. Foggy told me he’s resorted to alcoholism as an excuse for you to be bruised and bleeding all the time.”

He scoffs, “I didn’t ask for advice.”

Uh-huh, “Nope, but Foggy asked me to help you.”

“Well, don’t. He already read me the riot act. He thinks I should leave this psychopath to the police,” He shakes his head, “Cassandra, last night he slaughtered the Mexican cartel and hung them on meat hooks in a freezer while they were still alive. I don’t know if you heard about the Irish but-”

“I did,” Cas cuts him off, “Irish then Mexicans,” That’s an agenda, “Is he military?” Or some former government spook who grew a very crooked sense of free will? Because there’s a huge ability difference between these gang members and the shooter.

Matt sighs. There’s a lot of that going around, “I don’t know but if the police try to take this guy he’s gonna mow right through them. It’ll be a bloodbath.”

“About that,” Cas shrugs, “Are you sure? Because while you were tapping into the Force I was reading,” And listening to marketing presentations, “Security guards who engaged were all mildly injured and not a single bullet or fragment hit a patient or civilian. That’s not mindless slaughter. That’s precision with a clear target.”

Another sigh, “You know about Grotto.”

She’s assuming that’s the halfway retired mobster using Nelson & Murdock for protection, “I know about Grotto,” There’s a pause in the conversation then, “If he can take out most of the Irish and the Mexicans in two attacks…well, if he was a mindless killer then Karen would be dead right now. So, you lost against this guy and he clearly wants something that’s leaving a lot of bodies in his wake. Are you in over your head?” Do you need help?

“No,” Dammit Matt, “I’m fine. I’ll get this guy. Now, where’s my stuff?”

Cas rolls her eyes and points to the closet in the corner, “This isn’t an official hospital so there’s nothing for you to sign. But just so you’re aware, you’re leaving AMA. Helen wanted to keep you overnight in case you have a seizure, fall, hit your head, and die.”

He laughs. Then winces, “Message received. I won’t waste Dr. Cho’s hard work.”

“By the way,” Cas says as he’s halfway out the door, “That helmet of yours is scrap. Melvin did good work but the stability of the frame is shot. You need a new one because what you have is about as useful as a wet sock.”

“Thanks.”

Sure, “Friday, make sure that Mr. Murdock doesn’t get lost on the way out. Call a cab too.”

That cognitive reframing that Chiron’s been working with her on is difficult.

Very difficult.

Also, Cas is starting to doubt how much emotional investment she’s willing to put into this guy. That shooter could’ve killed Matt if he wanted to. He chose to let him live. The next one might not…it’s different than with her team because…well, they are actively looking for trouble now but they don’t go looking for trouble alone.

Cas really doesn’t see the appeal of being a loner.

Chapter Text

~~~

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." 

- Epictetus of Hierapolis

~~~

She debates checking in on Peter but ultimately decides against it. He’s got enough going on and needs rest not to be stared at and asked questions by Cas when she can’t even help him at this point. She already sent down sound dampening ear buds but discouraged constant use because he could grow reliant. Helen agreed. They also gave him sweats and a shirt with an absurdly high thread count that seemed less scratchy to his skin as well as sunglasses for if he feels overstimulated. That’s all they can do at this point.

So, yeah.

Cas passes on visiting him and the aunt who alternates between fretting, pacing, and knocking out in a chair at bedside this time….Cas makes a note to have a bed sent up for her.

And she makes sure that one of Harley’s siblings will be around to take him home. He needs to get back to his routine.

Cas does too which is why her next stop is R&D. She’s scheduled for that final run through of the left arm below the shoulder prosthesis intended to be attached to US Army Srgt. Steve Ditko next week. She’s not entirely happy with the response time on the thumb. It was designed to mimic the saddle-joint present in the human hand and at this point she doesn’t want to restart it from square one. However, range of motion does fall within normal human parameters and she doesn’t want to delay a surgery because she’s chasing perfection on a level that’s going to go unnoticed in the man happy to have an arm back.

So, she’ll probably sign off on it today and leave it in the hands of the other scientists on the project. Her father’s micro repeater tech that integrates with nervous systems near flawlessly(it’s going to take several active cases and years of data tracking to make it truly flawless) and her cooling system that keeps the prosthesis from seizing up or melting the wearers living tissue pass inspection. All of the difficult parts are already done. 

As long as it moves like a hand, wrist, and elbow and grips with strength comparable to a hand everything is golden.

The weight too.

The weight was important otherwise they’d screw up the perfectly functional shoulder the man still has.

Dr. Moon, a neurosurgeon compatriot of Helen's, is flying in three days from now. He’s ready to do the surgery. Now, the limb itself is capable of integrating with the viable nerve fibers in the man’s stump. 

Srgt. Ditko’s family is in town for the whole thing. It’s all ready to go.

Literally, history in the making. 

They’re doing it again and it’s for an entirely non-violent reason.

Pepper is over the moon and halfway to Mars about it….

Ultron really rattled her. That fight really rattled her. Pepper didn’t handle Cas being injured very well…Technically, her father was never seriously injured in a way that she could see which makes Cas her first seriously injured loved one.

Whoops.

If Cas can’t get them a spa day(which she’ll hate but endure for Pepper) then she’ll settle for one of those fancy fruit baskets(no strawberries).

Anyway, the hand moves correctly with all of the pre-programmed patterns that mimic the nerve impulses the good sergeant’s brain already produces. The battery should last for 36 hours of average use and 18 on a really busy day. Temperature readings stay in the green. ROM and response times are good. Grip is precise.

“Sarah!” She calls to the project manager across the room to get her attention, “Looks good on my end. I’ll sign off. Call me if anything.”

“Thank you, Dr. Star-” Dr. Sarah Rabinowitz stops and looks over Cas’s shoulder with her mouth hanging open.

Hmm…Friday hasn’t warned her. She knows she’s not late for anything so it’s not Kara there to chase her off to some office(no one would react that way to Kara anymore). Pepper is currently in a meeting so it’s not her(Pepper would warrant that surprised slack jawed look). Meaning there’s only one plausible reason.

Cas turns, “Hey dad,” He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. That’s his stern #TheLook , “What brings you here?” Deny. Deny. Deny.

Cas used to babble around her dad all the time. He was new and she was nervous. Also, she was terrified of screwing up their dynamic. No longer the case. So, he can stand there in silence for as long as he can tolerate it. She won’t budge regardless of how intimidating he’s trying to be. Merchant of Death? Who that? 

He sighs and brings his hand up to cover his face. Somehow that signals everyone else in the room to clear out leaving them alone. When the door closes her father sighs again, “My car.”

Oh, she’s going to make this like pulling teeth, “Which car?”

“The one with the blood in it.”

That is something she was planning on taking care of. Matt’s head bled a lot, “That sounds messy,” She spreads her arms, “But as you can see it clearly isn’t mine. Friday would’ve told you if I was bleeding all over the place anyway.”

“Kid, this’ll be less painful for both of us if you just admit it,” And that’s a defeatist attitude if she ever heard one.

Still, “Admit what?”

“It was the vigilante, wasn’t it?”

A pause.

Cas snorts, “He can’t drive.”

Silence fills the room. Then her father sighs again, “This is my karma. This is me paying for everything from birth to now,” Then he points at her, “You’re too old for me to ground you and taking away resources could get someone hurt, but,” He’s the best dad. Truly a marshmallow, “I can send your R.S.V.P. for the Red Cross Gala.”

No. Her face falls, “Seriously?” The Red Cross? The organization that bungled the donations to Haiti after the earthquake? Cas does everything in her power to avoid those types. Whether it’s negligence, inefficiency, or something more malicious, they’re not very good at their job. Also, the gigantic red cross is a big do not enter sign for her. It’s a nod to their Swiss origins, but still.

Looks a lot like Templar Knights to her.

“Yeah, seriously,” Her father’s mocking her, “You let Friday take my car for a joy ride across the city in broad daylight. Then you put a bleeding person in my back seat. Now, you can go to San Francisco to be wined and dined by the bourgeoisie.”

She resists the urge to fidget, “Aren’t we bourgeoisie?”

 “Yeah, not the point,” He’s about to go on a roll. She can feel it, “All of this, everything here, I share with you. It’s yours to use because I know you’re not going to do anything stupid with it,” Debatable, “Just…tell me, okay? I know I was long distance for a while and you got used to being the only Stark in Stark Tower,” That’s the first time in a while that he’s called it that, “But I’m here so let me be here. I’m actively trying. Work with me?”

This time she does fidget more than a little embarrassed because she’d gone and assumed that her father would say no to her needing a car…a car? That was short sighted. She fell back on old instincts that shout it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission because there was a severely injured person and she didn’t want to waste time explaining herself…, “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that…” Although, even if she’d called and he'd made her explain he wouldn’t have wasted time on an excessive explanation…, “And I’ve just now had a thought on response time requirements for the Accords. Friday, find me some literature on disaster zone outcomes compared to how long it took to get teams on the ground.”

Her father straightens, “We’re coming back to this,” When Cas nods distractedly he adds, “Friday, make sure you filter with numbers, distance, and what these response teams brought to the table. That way our argument can be tailored to getting everything we need to the ground specific to the situation in the shortest possible time.”

Cas was actually inspired by Helen.

See, when she brought Matt in this morning, Helen started asking Foggy about something called a last known well or LKW. Pretty much, the last time he saw Matt and he was at his neuro baseline so that Helen knew how long his brain was actively taking damage from swelling and possibly bleeding.

That stuff’s important information. Usually more important in ischemic stroke situations but still important. So Cas researched while waiting. Apparently, in order to ensure best outcomes for a person having a stroke, a hospital needs to get the patient from the doors to CT within 20 minutes. There’s a whole bunch of other subsequent time stamps all dependent on knowing the last time the person was normal.

This is important because time matters. 

It’s a useful concept for more than just the medical field.

In her world, if future teams of enhanced get bogged down by excessive bureaucracy and politics then they’ll be ineffective and useless. By installing a time constraint on the meeting to debate the green light to act they can ensure information is correctly processed and best outcomes are achieved.

See, Cas doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. She can take processes that are already proven to work and apply them elsewhere.

Then she and her father breakdown categories that they need to run studies on in order to begin the development of protocols(There’s bound to be some interns somewhere that’ll love this project). The initial response team needs to assess the situation. Then resources need to be allocated whether they be bodies to mount a defense, lead evacuations, or start triage as well as actual supplies…etc.

The most important time to track is the starting point of whatever disaster to boots on the ground versus positive outcomes for civilians and property. If the response is too slow then there should be worse outcomes. If the response is too fast there should be worse outcomes because teams are underprepared. There’s a middle ground in there somewhere. Identifying that middle ground and attaching that to the Accord team debating timeframe will stop people from dragging their feet.

Hopefully, someone somewhere is already tracking this sort of thing because otherwise they’ll need to start from scratch…

Also, a current event thought, “Hey dad?”

“Yeah?” He’s reading over the records of clean up efforts from the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, “Find something useful?”

Possibly, “Just another thought. The Syrian conflict near the Israeli border with the UN blue helmets from the Philippines last year.”

“What about it?”

This could actually help keep Ross’s claws out of the Accords. Or completely obliterate enhanced deployment into government sanctioned wars. Either one works for Cas, “Remember, how the UN commander told the soldiers to surrender but they didn’t want to so they phoned home and got orders to shoot their way out?”

Now he turns to face her, “It would be awkward if teams of nearly uncontainable enhanced ignored orders in favor of their home country…And of course there’s the risk of them being deployed with other objectives from said home country or any other loyalties.”

Cas grins, “Terrifying. It would be chaotic. UN deployed enhanced forces could never be sent into active war zones if there’s a risk of them having a hidden agenda.” This is the horror story that’ll weaken any of the good general’s arguments. The only solutions are not to have teams of that nature or have any members of said team give full allegiance to the Accords Council. 

The latter is highly unlikely and if they try every country will look askance at the team members and where they’re from. Absolutely no one will want a team of American soldiers with superpowers deployed on their properties regardless of who sent them if there’s doubt about their intentions.

The better option is to not have a force working directly under the Accords but leave it privatized. That way the Accords are a regulatory body and not a UN military entity. Essentially, they’re encouraging legislation that puts into writing what they’re already doing.

“There goes Ross’s bid for an army of demigods.”

Pshh, “As if we were worried.”

“We need to develop a tier system. Like how you called it Avengers level threats. Iron Man problems. Demigod problems. Human problems. Domestic. And,” He catches her eye before she can go back to work, “Remember that this doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to function but we can modify down the line after we see what works in practice.”

Cas shrugs, “Sure, it’s a prototype.” She also acknowledges that not every fantastic idea that they have is going to make it into the finished product. There are going to be compromises. The priority is the immediate rights and safety of people both with and without gifts (lol) . If the clauses in place to regulate their actions fail…well…honestly, a document isn’t going to stop Cas from saving the world…again.

They really weren’t supposed to be working on this for however several hours pass but she’s certain Legal and the more politically inclined Sword people will thank them.

That’s going to have to wait though.

“I’m detecting a security breach at the Stark bunker within the Avengers compound,” Those are not words Cas wanted to hear, “There is video of a brief confrontation between the Srgt. Wilson and the intruder.”

Cas turns to her father, “Extra security, huh?” There are Chitauri weapons there. If they’re compromised then Cas is going to have to come up with another place to put them. Preferably someplace easily defended but without curious children. As it is, the Vulture investigation had to be handed off to the FBI in its entirety because she just doesn’t have the time.

He puts a hand in her face, “Hush. Friday, play the footage.”

That’s when the world starts to get weird again.

“That’s new…” Cas crosses her arms, “Tiny man.”

Her father absently nods next to her, “No longer tiny man named Scott….”

“Ant-Man?” …wait just a tick, “Info dump! I remember that! Friday, where do I remember that from?”

Friday makes up for her lapse in memory as always. At least Cas remembers seeing it at all, “According to the files you encrypted that I have easily decrypted,” Ouch, that was hastily thrown together over a period of like 48 hours, “There were several covert missions undertaken by two operatives. Callsigns: Ant-Man and Wasp, also known as Dr. Henry ‘Hank’ Pym and Dr. Janet Van Dyne, respectively. ” Hank Pym from Pym Tech? The other decent but not nearly as cool tech company based in the States? “According to Shield records, Dr. Pym is also responsible for the discovery of Pym Particles which allow him to control the distance between atoms significantly reducing the volume of an object,” Significantly might be an understatement base on the looping footage from Sam’s feed, “Wasp was listed MIA during an operation involving a Soviet missile in 1987 at which point Dr. Pym effectively retired as a field operative and subsequently left Shield following a confrontation with Howard Stark on the application of Pym Particles in other covert projects.”

They glance over the specs thrown up by Friday but there’s not much to go off of. Apparently, while Shield was happy to throw Ant-Man and Wasp at the world, they had no clue how any of it worked…

“Reminds me of how Shield treated you,” Talk about history repeating itself. Smart scientist with an abrasive personality wants to help the world using technology that no one else can conceive only to run into Shield and become disillusioned. 

Her father ignores that, “Clearly, this isn’t old Hank anymore. Guy’s a real piece of work; be glad you’ve never met him. His daughter’s alright but for some reason she didn’t inherit the company. Went to-”

“Dr. Darren Cross. I know the competition. The man makes me look modest,” And for some reason, Cas got maneuvered into a conference room by Kara three weeks ago where Happy and a handful of Sword people were waiting to give her a 90 minute presentation on all major threats to her person…including business ones weirdly enough. They wanted permission to begin investigations starting with Ross, “He started out as Dr. Pym’s intern and then muscled the founding father out.” But kept the daughter…Maybe she was in on it.

“Facial recognition match: 96.428%. This is Scott Lang a.k.a the VistaCorp Robin Hood.”

Right. The smart guy that didn’t understand the criminal justice system. He gave the money back to VistaCorp’s victims but they lost it all again during the investigation because it was evidence. Eventually, the government will get it back to them.

So the ex-con who stole from bad people to help normal people now has a Cold War era shrinking suit created by Hank Pym who had a falling out with Howard Stark and he used said shrink suit to break into Howard Stark’s old bunker(now the Avengers Compound), “What are the odds that Howard Stark is Edison and Hank Pym is Tesla?”

“No,” Her father shakes his head, “The old man was way too proud of his own genius to try and pass off someone else’s work as his own but he did have some old Shield work up there as well as inventions he didn’t think the world could handle.”

Joy, “Weapons?”

“Possibly.”

That’s a yes.

She sighs before turning to her father and holding out her fist, “Rock, paper, scissors for who gets Pym and who gets inventory?” A childish but fair method.

He pushes her hand down, “I’ll take inventory. Old paper records and handwritten logs. Also, Avengers. You’d be there for weeks. I’ll take Maria and a small team. You can have fun talking with the little guys.”

She’ll need to see who’s available to go with her.

Cas plays back the video one more time and considers a major weakness revealed by the existence of the Ant-Man tech, “Sam’s lucky. If I’m looking at this right, that Lang guy entered the exo-suit’s hardware. If he sabotaged Sam too high up….”

Her father hums next to her, “Bye-Bye Birdie. We can work on a harder seal and emergency landing protocols. I should probably consider an update for myself and Rhodey. This tech is from the 80s, someone’s going to work it out eventually.” The longer something’s around the more likely it is that someone somewhere either had the same idea or got inspired.

There’s no telling whether or not someone saw any of that Ant-Man data before they buried it last year.

Time to text the gang to see if they think it’s just a Stark Industries thing or something she should involve them in too.

Oh fantastic.

PymTech’s in San Francisco with Mt. Othrys and the entrance to the underworld.

~~~

“Ms. Palamas?”

The woman is ignoring her.

“Ms. Palamas?”

Nothing from the woman in the seat across from her.

“Kara? Come on,” Cas doesn’t know how much more of this she can take. Beside her Piper starts snickering so Cas elbows her. She takes another glance around the jet and represses a sigh, “Is the security team really necessary?”

Silence.

“We just want to talk with them!”

That makes Kara pause and place her tablet down in her lap, “Dr. Stark, it is my job to ensure that you can do your job to the best of your ability. This includes ensuring that adequate security is in place. The man we’re going to see is a former Shield operative. You’re getting a full team to watch your back around his apprentice.”

Apprentice feels like a strong word. Scott Lang can’t have known the Pyms for very long. He only just got out of prison, “This doesn’t feel necessary.”

“Then we can enjoy a relaxing trip on your dime.”

Piper cackles, “The real backstage view of Cassandra Stark. All the rumors about you trying to take over the world are clearly false. You get bullied into safety by your own staff.” She feels like she should address that taking over the world comment…

Kara sighs, “If only. We all know if something were to happen then we’d all be working to keep up with Dr. Stark. Having more of us on the team just means she has to stay close if she wants to cover everyone.”

Wow. How dare, “I hate all of you.” 

Now it’s Piper’s turn to elbow her, “Lies.”

This trip is actually happening in a very short amount of time. Following the incident at the compound it was easy enough to reach out to Ms. Hope Van Dyne who clearly has a fulfilling relationship with her father seeing as she doesn’t use his last name. Initially, there was a hard denial then Cas mentioned her desire to keep this conversation casual. If they wouldn’t play ball then she’d just go more official and request a meeting through Pym Tech.

Ms. Van Dyne had a sudden change in opinion after that.

Now they’re meeting at a pier which is just all kinds of suspicious and it triggered Kara to put an entire security team together. Evidently, Cas isn’t trusted to see to her own security against a retired inventor, his daughter of questionable morality, and the non-violent convicted felon. Piper came along to serve as Cas’s bullshit meter and possibly dig out more detailed information with the right questions. Which is how it came to this.

A jump across the country.

Cas’s yawn cracks her jaw and she slumps over the bench. Piper stretches before turning and using Cas as a back rest, “Those guys can really blend into a crowd.”

She tilts her head up enough to glance around, “Not really. Marcus is over by the waffle cart.”

“Huh,” Piper shifts to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, it has the side effect of digging into Cas’s shoulder, “Well, to the not trained from childhood demigod, they blend in decently well. Anyway, how long until the Pym squad shows up?”

That is the question, “However long it takes for Ant-Man to run through the crowd and not find the security team that followed us here.”

“Isn’t he a thief with no tactical training or experience?”

Hence why Cas got comfortable until Piper turned her into a lounge chair.

She sighs, “I just want to ask questions about the science.”

Piper denies her this one simple request, “We’re here to find out what they took, then why they took it, and how they plan to use it.” Obviously, but she can always ask more(interesting) questions after.

It takes Ant-Man twenty minutes to show up with Dr. Pym and Ms. Van Dyne. Of course, he’s no longer dressed as Ant-Man but there’s a distinct rumpledness to his look that suggests he dressed in a hurry. Cas considers getting up to greet them but these guys made her and Pipes wait and Pipes makes no move to get up either.

She could start this shindig…or she could look out over the bay and watch the screaming sea lions. This city is so strange. Like New York, it has beautiful sections while other parts have even Cas keeping her head on a swivel. That could also be due to Mt. Tamalpais(Mt. Othrys to a demigod) stretching into the sky from across the bay, not that it’s visible due to the fog.

She yawns again, “You guys could’ve brought coffee, you know. We flew out here to talk and you kept us waiting.”

It’s possible that she’s a little cranky and short on caffeine.

And hungry.

She’d wanted to stop and grab a burger but the cart she went up to was vegan…

Not gonna cut it.

Since when does street food come in vegan?

This conversation begins largely unproductive and thus everyone deserves to be spared the can of worms that Cas unwittingly opened. Apparently, Howard Stark was a bastard that tried to steal Pym’s life’s work after he refused to work as a Shield operative anymore and Dr. Pym won’t stand to be hounded by any more Starks. The man says he’s entitled to his intellectual property and she has no right to instigate anything seeing as she’s a child.

It should be noted that Cas hasn’t even greeted anyone yet….

Anyway, the start of this interaction feels like Stark Industries circa 2010 when no one knew who she was or what she was capable of….Meaning, old dude that Cas has to indulge(too a point, her father would say. Then remind him that she doesn’t need him.). Yes, she set the dismissive tone but why’d they have to be late? She could’ve been flying back home by now.

A glance at Mr. Lang shows confusion disguised behind team loyalty and a glance at Ms. Van Dyne shows a lot of exasperation at her father’s behavior. 

Relatable.

Obviously, the woman cares about her father seeing as she showed up today so it’s unlikely that she’ll be an ally but she’s probably the more approachable option of the trio…Cas should probably sit up properly and redirect this conversation before Dr. Pym attracts the attention of everyone on the pier. Piper did a little bit of Mist work but that’s as useful as paper chains these days. People are going to notice them eventually.

A small shrug of her shoulders has Piper sighing but also sitting up properly. 

This could be seen as disrespectful but Dr. Pym’s coming across as disrespectful too, “Ms. Van Dyne,” Cas holds out her hand and smiles the smile she learned from Pepper, “It’s great to meet you. I hope this discussion will be productive and resolve this situation quickly and subtly.”

Ms. Van Dyne cautiously shakes her hand and there’s a slight amount of amusement in her eyes, “Same.” Sadly, her tone is still brusque.

Fine, “Only reason I’m here is because I need to know what you took and why you took it. From what I understand,” She glances briefly at Dr. Pym, “It might be yours but we have all sorts of things in storage upstate so if your story matches with inventory, you’re good.”

Ms. Van Dyne draws her hand back slowly and looks between Piper and Cas, “We’re good?”

Cas nods but Piper picks up the conversation, “Look, we all know Howard Stark was a jerk but he was a smart one. He locked up a bunker full of very dangerous for the world items that his brain thought up. We also locked some dangerous things up there. It would go against Stark Industries policy to let something they’re responsible for loose upon the world.”

“The smartness varied by the situation, when you think about it,” Cas shrugs. The man was a brilliant scientist. She’ll never deny that but he fell short in quite a few equally important categories. Human decency being a key one.

Cas valiantly ignores the glare from Piper.

There’s some silent exchanges from the Pym court across the table. Many glances and glares are shared between the three of them including two that completely shut down Mr. Lang when he opens his mouth to say something. The last look exchanged between Dr. Pym and Ms. Van Dyne is a standoff that ends with Dr. Pym tossing his arms in a way that probably translates to ‘to hell with this.’

Ms. Van Dyne takes the stage, “It’s a signal decoy that Hank designed while he worked for Shield. We need it to stop the recreation of the Ant-Man technology and prevent its sale to the military.” …First name drop. Cas would never call her father by his first name.

Oof. 

Cas does her best not to react and she thinks she does a decent job of not showcasing her discomfort at the thought of anything made by Stark Industries in the last five or so years becoming weaponized. She’d be pissed too. Dr. Pym must be as angry and torn up as her father was when Vanko stormed onto the scene wielding an arc reactor powered weapon. 

Piper whistles, “That sucks. Are you going for total destruction or just sabotage? Because you can totally get project funding shut down by making it fail on purpose.”

“I’ve been doing that for that last two years,” Ms. Van Dyne replies, “He’s gotten too close.”

He? Someone that she’s been around for two years…Ah. Cas glances back to Dr. Pym. It’s the former assistant, “It’s Cross then?” They conceded to a meeting when Cas threatened to go through PymTech directly. It’s a good thing they did if Dr. Cross is planning on selling the Ant-Man technology to the military. She’d have given the game away by accident.

Dr. Pym’s face sours and Ms. Van Dyne nods, “The last thing any of us want is for this to fall into the wrong hands.”

Cas sighs. Ugh. At least it’s for a somewhat good cause that Sam got his ass kicked by the current ‘deer in headlights’ Lang, “Fine. If the inventory checks out that we’re missing one Cold War era signal decoy,” And Cas doesn’t understand how it’s still compatible with what’s in use today unless PymTech is behind on the times, “We won’t put up a stink. But next time? If you made something just call and ask for it? As long as it’s not to kill anyone, we probably won’t have a problem handing it over.” That ‘probably’ was stuck in there because she can feel Pepper’s eyes from across the country…

In business, blank check promises are bad.

Lang finally leans forward and joins the chat, “That’s it? We break into the Avenger’s compound and you’re fine with it?”

Cas makes it a point not to laugh at this, “No, I’m not but Srgt. Wilson wasn’t hurt and as long as the evidence corroborates your story there’s no reason to escalate this. You’re lucky the team was out. They’re not known for being gentle.” She has no idea where they were but whatever.

They’re Shield’s problem now, “However,” Cas sits up straighter and addresses Dr. Pym directly, “I have questions.” There is something that Cas wants and she'll pass on pettiness to get a shot at it.

“Oh gods, Cassie,” Piper sighs, “Really?”

“I need to know!” She leans forward over the bench, “On the most simplistic level, your stuff works by shrinking the distance between atoms thereby increasing density while decreasing volume, right?”

Please answer her, Dr. Pym. This is so important to future ventures.

The man leaves her in silence for a solid fifteen seconds before answering, “It does.”

Thank the gods, “Then what happens to the weight? Is gravity altered when you cram atoms that close together? Does the energy demand to compress the electron clouds have something to do with it? Because if they’re trying to spring apart then it could maybe offset some of the force but not all of it.”

Piper covers her eyes but Team Pym stares at her, “What are you talking about?” Is all Dr. Pym has to say.

Cas wants to yell to the heavens but pulls out her phone instead and sets a looping hologram of when Srgt. Wilson threw Lang to the ground from about twenty feet in the air, “Look at this,” She points at Lang, “You’re what? Like 75 to 80 kg? And your mass is obviously conserved during the shift so that means you go from you size to bug size while still being 75 to 80 kg. When you hit the ground at that size with that mass and velocity you should like…tunnel under the dirt at least a few inches due to the change in surface area but you land perfectly,” Like Legolas, “And you don’t disrupt Srtg. Wilson’s center of balance when you’re climbing all over him. He doesn’t notice 75 to 80 kg of bug sized man on his back. So,” She turns back to Dr. Pym, “Since you’re increasing density and decreasing volume and weight, does your method somehow temporarily weaken the universal force of gravity ? If so, how? Please and thank.”

Dr. Pym sits in silence rhythmically clenching his clasped hands while she holds his gaze. Then he answers, “It’s proprietary,” Before getting up and leaving.

Her expression falls. She knows it does, “But…” Space travel…If they could literally pause gravity for a hot second then leaving the atmosphere would be so easy.

Hope Van Dyne gives Cas a tight lipped smile before getting up and following her father. Lang hangs back for a moment, “You know, I have a daughter named Cassie.”

Ordinarily, Cas would comment on having a name twin but she’s so bummed. She’s never had a big brain not want to talk shop with her before, especially if she’s willing to compliment their work. Dr. Pym is a genius. She has no personal interest in shrinking so he doesn’t need to worry about her trying to take that. She just wants a spaceship…

Piper answers Lang for her, “That’s nice.”

What a disappointment.

Chapter Text

~~~

“Everything is weird and life is magic.”

- James Gunn

~~~

There’s some highlights to run through here. Some are more mundane than others. To keep it snappy…

Well Aaron Cross was declared dead and a whole neighborhood got shot up by lasers(What is the deal with energy based weaponry? Do people not understand how easy it is to block/absorb that sort of thing? Don’t they see the risk for self injury due to flammable/incendiary materials? Do they no longer value projectiles? It makes sense for Iron Man due to size and efficiency but for everyone else all of the time...)

Anyway, Aaron Cross died and his whole legacy was dragged through the mud. “Old Hank” got his seat at the table back and now runs his own company again.

This is allegedly a good thing.

Hopefully, he can update his systems so that they can’t be fooled by code scramblers from the Cold War. That Ant Man tech needs better security.

Some other stuff….

Well…

Anecdote form should work.

Begin the time lapse.

~~~

It's a veg day. An official veg day even. This means that Cas, Pepper, and her father all managed to delegate(or reschedule) in such a manner that they get the hours of noon to 7 PM entirely to themselves.

Of course, it fell apart almost immediately when the DOJ called to speak to Pepper so she’s handling that. And…without her to temper Cas and her father…well. Those chocolate chips have been sitting unused in the pantry for over a month now.

They joined the snacks.

The idea was to just watch some low intensity television, a movie maybe. Something like monopoly is right out. Cas is self aware and doesn’t trust herself not to get competitive. The Queen doesn’t need to see her like that….family game night in general is a no go. She has played her father in backgammon but they got distracted before they finished and never picked it back up.

So, movies and television it is. 

It’s not like the three of them can skip into an amusement park with a family pass.

With Pepper out of the room, Cas got to harangue her father into letting her pick their mode of mental decompression.

“Are you two watching cartoons?” Pepper’s back.

Cas doesn’t deign to answer that question. The tone is too judgmental.

“This,” Her father answers in her stead, “Isn’t a cartoon. It’s an animated series.”

“What’s the difference?” Pepper asks as she interrupts her view of the screen causing her to frown up at the Queen, “It’s for children. Animation is for children.”

Cas and her father say in tandem, “Animation is not a genre, it’s a medium.” She’s fully converted him. It took a lot of effort but it was worth it just for this moment where Pepper looks at them both so fondly.

Pepper gives up and focuses on Cas, “And why are you sitting like that?”

‘Like that’ is upside down with her legs over the back of the couch and her head dangling with her hair brushing the floor. Her answer, “It’s putting just the right amount of pressure on my neck,” Reducing some of the frustration of migraine day two.

The Queen raises a brow, “Doesn’t the light from a display make those worse?” This is such a brutal interrogation.

Her father waves it away for her, “Cassie’s testing out blue light contact lenses.” They work exactly as intended after they got the AR to stop randomly throwing up statistics and research data sets.

“I cannot handle wearing glasses all the time,” She can handle going from place to place with sunglasses if they’re necessary but she’s constantly aware of their presence on her nose and pressing over the back of her ears. It’s no bueno. 

Pepper just nods before succumbing to the pull and joining them on the couch, “What’s this even about?”

It’s The Clone Wars. They’re watching The Clone Wars. The show has everything which Cas fanatically explains to Pepper while her father runs to replenish the snack bowls. There’s an obvious child level plot as well as intrigue, war crimes(“So many war crimes, Pepper.”), betrayal, humor, love, loyalty, and everything in between, “This show literally tells the story of how the Jedi went from galaxy wide peacekeepers and protectors to a myth and a fairy tale in less than a decade.”

It’s amazing.

“I guess I’ll have to see for myself.”

Heck. Yeah.

“Back to season 1 then,” Friday resets the board before Cas finishes her sentence.

It’s the simplicity of this. Pepper doesn’t sit next to her father. She sits next to Cas and she ends up not quite sandwiched between them but it’s a near enough thing. Gods, her family is the best.

They make it through three episodes with Cas jabbing her father every time he starts talking(“We’ve already seen these ones. I don’t even know how many times you’ve watched this but I don’t need to watch it twice, Kiddo.”) before the Queen decides that her chocolate covered pretzels do not a meal make and it’s time for a vegetable. 

Cas doesn’t remember how she survived before them.

Or rather, she chooses not to remember Annabeth aggressively dragging Cas to meals when appropriate.

It’s during dinner that’s around a table, home cooked, and slightly too salty that Pepper chooses to start the conversation, “So Cassie,” It’s the tone that halt’s Cas’s fork halfway to her mouth, “Your father and I have been talking,” Well, this could end horribly. The fork is returned to her plate, “The wedding: how do you feel about being the Maid of Honor?”

“What?” Is her eloquent response.

Definitely a good idea to put the fork down.

“I understand that you’ll likely have your hands full with Percy’s and Annabeth’s wedding,” What? “But we’re going to hire a wedding planner anyway so most of your work would be helping me make decisions for someone else to enact.”

Annabeth isn’t going to ask Cas to be her Maid of Honor…right?

She hasn’t yet…

Does she know that one’s needed? Things to consider…

Pepper’s waiting for an answer. Huh, “I know absolutely nothing about weddings other than Father of the Bride.”

The smile she gets out of Pepper for that one is scary. It’s the ‘buckle up for the lecture’ smile.

~~~

So yeah, she didn’t see that one coming.

Maybe she should’ve but she didn’t.

Anyway, next juncture.

~~~

Cas survives the lecture and gets sent home with a more mocking than sympathetic shoulder squeeze from her father. For the most part, she does her own thing with regard to appearance but anytime she has to meet a certain criteria it’s usually Pepper and even her father that weigh in. Appearances and conforming to certain standards are important. Understanding trends is also important…Meeting expectations at their wedding is apparently also important.

But a wedding is supposed to be a celebration.

Why is it so godsdamned complicated?

And they have to invite people that they don’t even like because offending them isn’t worth the headache of dealing with them after.

Is this Renaissance Italy? Or the reign of Louis the Sun King?

Anway, she gets home after swinging by to check on Peter. He’s stable. Stable doesn’t mean better. Stable means holding steady or not changing. It’s better than declining but it also means that he’s plateauing. 

If anything his senses have gotten sharper so much so that Cas had to give special approval for the kid to get 1500 thread count viscose sheets otherwise he felt like the pillow case was scratching his face. Similar concessions were made for some clothes as well. He’s currently eating more than Cas does on moderately active days and all he’s doing is laying around.

Oh yeah, and she can’t forget that when he tried to open the door he got stuck to the door knob, panicked, and pulled it off the wall. According to Helen(a very excited but attempting to contain it Helen), Peter has grown setules out of his fingers and toes…

Those are the microscopic hairs on a spider’s legs that let it lurk on walls and torment people with the possibility of jumping into their hair.

The strength thing….the average spider has a strength to size ratio 10 to 20 times that of a baseline human being. They have no idea how strong Peter is but his muscle density is up and his body fat is low….and his bones are no longer made of crystalline hydroxyapatite. 

Once Helen gives Cas the all clear they’ll be sneaking Peter into the workout room to figure out his limits because this is getting terrifying. 

Onto the other senses, he’s started turning his nose up at his favorite snacks(rice crispy treats) because they’re too sweet and hard to chew. Meanwhile, he’s eating as much spinach and black coffee as they’ll let him get his hands on(“Cassie, bugs taste bitter!” “Why do you know that, Helen?”). He’s got a handle on his vision but that’s in the controlled environment of the exam room. Smell is knocking him for a loop and Cas didn’t really need to know that engine oil, coffee, and chocolate were baked into her being but it could be worse(?). Anyway, it’s causing literal headaches, as is sound.

Cas and Helen have a running theory that his human central nervous system is better adapting to the visual improvements because that’s the human body’s primary means of perceiving an environment. The others tend to be supplemental to vision in most scenarios. 

Also, while the changes are slowing down, they aren’t finished yet.

This is a mental detour.

The kid’s okay. That’s the point. The aunt is still a bundle of nerves but Helen believes they’re out of the danger zone.

Because the kid got the functional spider.

Something like a one in septillion chance of a modification like this working and the kid got it.

Cas went home relaxed believing that everything is well in hand for him health wise. She just needs to prepare for the potential exposure. First, she needs data on the project and who’s funding it. Evidently, it wasn’t stored on Roxxon Lab’s local servers which is dodgy and concerning.

Yes, asking Friday to break in was illegal but it’s for a kid, okay?

She accepts that she likes kids regardless of origin.

She’ll always believe that’s justified.

So Cas went home, had some more food, reviewed her schedule for the next day(packed because she’s going to be in Sokovia in a few days), and happily fell into bed.

Which is where the carefully cultivated routine fell apart, again.

At least it’s not Foggy.

Or Matt.

And she’s not being called when asleep or half asleep.

Nah. She gets called as she’s leaving a very productive meeting with the Board of Directors who’ve honestly given up having opinions as long as her father and she keep their bottom lines nice and padded. Over 60% of the company’s shares are in Stark possession anyway so it’s hard for them to form an opinion that would even matter.

Regardless, it’s the other member of the Franklin & Nelson trio that reaches out to Cas.

And isn’t that something?

She answers by reflex, “Go for Cas.”

“I need help. You said to call if anything, so I’m calling,” Ms. Karen Page states full of nerves and determination. As far as opening lines go when asking Cas for something…well, it’s direct which she appreciates. 

Still, doesn’t hurt to be herself, “Is this a physical, emotional, or financial emergency?”

There’s a pause, “More like a breaking and entering kind of emergency…” Before Cas can respond to that, “Except, I’m the one…doing the entering.”

Huh, “I’m, uh, I’m going to need more to go off of than that.”

“The hospital shooter, the DA’s office is calling him the Punisher and I found his home address.”

Cas is frozen in the middle of a hallway right now and people are sort of parting around her. She’s so glad that Friday mastered the art of screening for discretion, “Why isn’t this information being sent to the police?”

“His name is Frank Castle and he recently woke up from coma after some suits from god knows where pushed for a DNR and turned off life support,” Okay then…her point still stands even if this is starting to set off warning signs, “Look, I am trying to figure out the truth. There’s more to this than some maniac firing a gun into a crowd. I wouldn’t be alive if that was the case.”

A quick detour into an empty conference room gives Friday space to pull up everything she can find on Frank Castle and it is illuminating even at a cursory glance. Military. Special Operations. New York City native, “You know, Ms. Page, I’m surprised you didn’t go to your boys with this.” Why reach out to Cas?

“Both of them are convinced that Castle is just another killer but I know there’s more to this story. Something’s wrong here and it starts in the DAs office. Reyes nearly got Grotto killed and then she threatened us,” What? “Grotto ended up dead anyway. His body turned up the other night. Single gunshot wound to the chest. We just had the funeral but….something’s off.”

Some many problematic statements there, “Can we back up to the part where DA Reyes,” The woman that Cas praised for her drive and efficiency before, “Threatened you?”

“Does that really matter right now?”

“Absolutely.”

“She pretty much said that she’d get Matt and Foggy disbarred if we keep pushing and that she doubted our office would last long with our ‘indigent clientele.’”

That malaka, “She…okay. Reyes is clearly not the woman I thought she was,” Which is such a disappointment. She’s so intelligent too, “But I’m still not following why you’re breaking into an armed killer's house.”

“Because no one else is trying to figure out why all of this is happening. Maybe if I can understand him…maybe we can stop him before more people get hurt. This man is more than just a killer and I want to know why he’s doing this.”

There’s a desperation here, “You’re doing this with or without me, aren’t you?”

“...yes.”

Cas sighs, “I should be reporting this,” She should be calling Matt or Foggy to take care of this.

“But you won’t,” The spine of this woman.

She’s right though. If Cas reports Karen and she really was telling the truth about Reyes(There’s no reason to lie there when she can easily confirm this with Foggy and Matt.) then the whole of Nelson & Murdock would go up in flames. If she tells Matt and Foggy then the next time Karen gets an idea in her head then she’s going to go off alone without telling anyone, “You just want to investigate? Get an idea of who this man is?”

“Yes, I just need to know,” Well, Cas will give respect when it’s due.

“If he’s there then we bail and call the cops.”

“From what I saw at the sting, you would stand a much better chance than the cops.”

Maybe, but the last time she apprehended a fugitive for the NYPD she got a little too enthusiastic. Cas sighs. Here she goes, wading into this mortal crime mess again.

~~~

The suburbs.

Of course, it has to be the suburbs and it has to be a perfectly adorable and unassuming house.

The craziest part of all this is that Karen wanted to take a taxi. Yes, because leaving any sort of trail that they came out here is a brilliant idea. Cas sighs and plants her head against the top of the steering wheel. Everything about this is a no win scenario for her and it sucks.

“You know,” Karen huffs, “You didn’t have to come out here with me.”

Uh-huh, “Yes, I did,” This woman asked for help. Cas needs to encourage that, “You would’ve come out here alone and, assuming it goes as well as I hope it does, you would’ve done something like this again. Only riskier.” Also, Karen is very good at getting shot at, “I’d rather be here to prevent a problem.” Better than ignoring it and having something go wrong.

The old street lamps cast a dull orange on the neighborhood. No one’s outside that Cas can spot as she closes the door behind her but someone’s sprinkler system is running across the street to keep their award winning lawn green, “I can take care of myself.”

There’s no reason for this woman to get offended, “I’m aware but you did call me,” Actually…Cas pauses in her route to the side entrance of the house, “Did you want me to say no?” Did she call hoping that Cas would just not help her?

Karen pauses in the middle of the driveway, “No. Just, does it make sense that I have doubts about this Castle guy? Doesn’t something seem off?”

Oh, “Absolutely,” Cas turns to face her opponent, a classic brass doorknob with a pin tumbler lock. Thank Hermes for his trouble making children. She squats down and takes out her little breaking and entering kit that hasn’t seen the light of day in almost a decade. Hopefully, the former Marine doesn’t have the same kind of paranoia for his home he likely had in the field, “And generally speaking this kind of investigating would be better done by the police, however, your story about the police sting that was using a human being as a worm on a hook to catch this Punisher has me concerned.”

She hears Karen shift behind her, “I’m glad it has someone worried.”

“Don’t get too mad at your boys, Ms. Page,” Cas grins as the lock pops open and the knob turns smoothly. She opens the door with a flourish and waves Karen in, “They’re lawyers. The evidence is supposed to be gathered for them. Then they build a plausible story for the audience.” Nelson & Murdock do their best to keep their clients human which in and of itself is amazing.

There’s a brief moment of hesitation before Karen steps up to the plate which is fair. However, as far as financial records go there’s nothing currently running to this address. Utilities have all stopped and there aren’t any records of any home security accounts. Although, someone with training like Castle might have a custom job set up. 

Well, that’ll just make catching the man easier.

She isn’t hoping for that per say. It’s just that if Frank Castle presents himself in front of Cas then she can knock him out(gently) without more loss of life and egregious gunfire.

“Yeah, well,” Karen cautiously enters, “The only story I care about is the truth.”

Cas doesn’t have anything to say to that and heads inside. 

It’s dark but she doesn’t try to turn on any lights or pull out a flashlight. There’s too much risk for a neighbor or good Samaritan calling the police.

This home is just as adorable on the inside as it is on the outside. It makes the juxtaposition between Castle’s behavior even more severe. Cas got the rundown from Karen on the way over using a single manila envelope and it’s more than Friday was able to find online. Someone wanted all of this to be forgotten.

Frank Castle was admitted to a local hospital as an unresponsive John Doe with a gunshot wound to the head. She saw the x-ray. It’s not like it cut through his mouth or jaw. Castle was shot in the skull. Him surviving that is a miracle. Him waking up spontaneously after all of his drips and life support were turned off is beyond that(Cas doesn’t like to look at a situation and go ‘oh yeah, a god did that’ but…).

Her cursory glance over the first floor is interrupted when Karen bumps something small and plastic on the floor.

Cas’s breath stops.

It’s a child’s toy….

There’s a whole bin of them by the stairs.

Karen wraps her hand in a cloth and grabs a child sized flashlight from the top. At Cas’s reluctant face Karen rolls her eyes, “I’ll be careful.”

Uh-huh.

Now that Cas is looking for it, there are traces of family life all over the first floor of the house. Crayon drawings and little crafts litter the tables and decorate the walls. It looks like someone hit pause on this house. If it wasn’t for the layers of dust coating every surface then Cas would think a family was about to come home.

A car passes by outside and Karen flinches into the curtains but Cas just looks at her…and the flashing green of the motion sensor in the upper corner…

Malaka.

“Friday, I thought you said there were no active home security accounts for this address,” But that’s not a model you can buy off Amazon or ADT. 

“Shall I block the signal, Cassandra?”

Karen’s still frozen in the curtains like a deer in headlights but Cas just rolls her eyes. The nearest law enforcement office is at least 20 minutes away. They still have time to sweep the house and leave, “Trace it. I want to know who’s running security at the Castle house.” If it’s the Punisher…well, Cas will be more careful. She’d take Karen and leave now but Karen’s right. There’s something about this whole situation that’s rubbing Cas the wrong way, “Can you find any evidence of Frank Castle and his family?”

“I’m afraid not, Demi-Boss. There are startlingly few records on a man named Frank Castle living in this area.”

Okay, then. Definite conspiracy. Cas makes her way up the creaking stairs.

“Should we leave?” Karen asks while following Cas further into the house.

But she shrugs, “We’ve already tripped the motion sensor. Sorry about that. It’s been a while since I broke into a building the quiet way.”

Cas could give a room by room description of the house.

It’s not necessary.

There’s a nice master bedroom, some bathrooms, a guest room, and two children’s rooms. The kids’ rooms are set up for a boy and a girl.

There are photos everywhere of a man(must be Castle) and his family.

And yet…this house hasn’t been lived in for quite some time.

And yet…Frank Castle was the only one that some spooks pushed a DNR on…

Something very bad happened and someone doesn’t want everyone knowing about it.

Then Karen finds the Congressional Medal of Honor framed on the wall with photos of Castle in uniform with his squadron.

Cas finds the money shot on a table full of dried out flower bouquets. It’s of Frank Castle, his wife, daughter, and son all standing on a carousel. It’s too up close for Cas to recognize the specific carousel if it’s even a local spot. Still…she doesn’t know what this is proof of yet but there’s something there.

This isn’t really Cas’s area of expertise anymore either…

But she has ideas.

“Hey Karen,” Cas waits for the woman in question to look up from her browsing, “Can I introduce you to a friend of mine? She’s a journalist and really good at this sort of thing.” Pipes would get a kick out of Karen Page.

“What sort of thing?”

“Digging for the truth. She’s the one who published the Kilgrave story,” Honestly, only a demigod could get away with telling the public that mind control is a thing. However, Cas did help with the science and they found third parties to corroborate the findings.

“I don’t know-”

A flash of movement catches Cas’s attention and a white unmarked van rolls up to the front of the house…it’s a good thing they parked a block away and walked. A few men in unremarkable suits spill out of the back.

Interesting…9 minute response time. They were close at hand or prioritized this alert.

“Seems we’ve worn out our welcome.”

Who would be running around the clock surveillance on the house of a man who by all accounts should be dead but is instead sending criminals to early graves? Because those are not police.

“Did you know there would be people watching?” Karen hisses.

Honestly, “I’d considered the possibility…this is…. You’re definitely right about there being some sort of a conspiracy,” She thought that something hinky was going on but this. This was unexpected. But they need to leave before they reenact Watergate,  “Let’s slip out the back. I’ll boost you over the fence.”

They’re driving back to the office when Friday puts herself on speaker, “Cassandra, the Punisher has been apprehended.”

Huh…so much for that.

Karen does agree to meet with Piper though.

Cas doesn’t stick around for the Nelson & Murdock team meeting but she does promise Karen that she won’t bring up what they found. It’s not relevant to Daredevil anyway.

She…

She wants to help. She wants to get involved but she can’t. There is so much on her plate that needs her attention and yes, the Castle stuff deserves attention too but Cas can’t provide hers personally. Luckily there’s a panel of demigods that this can be shared with and either delegated or shelved.

She has her own work that needs to be done.

Frank Castle will get the justice he deserves but Cas won’t be the person to oversee it.

There it’s done.

She wipes her hands of the New York criminal justice system.

Evidently, it’s already corrupt again and she just cleaned it out last year.

~~~

To fast forward through the whole miserable vigilante justice junk…well.

“Why is there a dog in the lobby of my building?” Her arms are crossed as she stares down multiple satyrs on the ground with a blanket burrito wrapped pitbull at the base of the Iron Man statue(painted for…honestly she’s not sure but it may be the Ides of March.) 

The answer?

Daredevil dropped the dog off.

Because of course he did. She was a bait dog for the Irish mob’s dog fighting ring. Now she’s going to be spoiled by satyrs and demigod college students/young adults. 

Fine. But Cas isn’t taking responsibility for this one.

Frank Castle: Arrested.

Irish Mob: Mostly dead but a little arrested.

Mexican cartel: Deceased or south of the border.

Frank Castle murder trial: Upcoming. We’ll come back around to that one later.

Piper has decided that Karen Page is wasted on Nelson & Murdock and she will be steering her towards a more interesting use of her time.

Cas hasn’t asked and she doesn’t particularly want to know the details of that working relationship.

~~~

This is not work.

This is really not where Cas should be today but it feels like she should be here(She should be standing in the viewing room of the OR where the miracle surgery is going to take place in about 10 hours to ensure that everything is perfect).

She’s standing a few feet away from Peter Parker.

He still looks at her like she can fix anything.

That in and of itself isn’t novel. What’s new and unusual is that Cas has no plausible solution to the problem he’s placed in front of her.

Physically, the kid is perfectly healthy. He’s getting stronger everyday.

Emotionally, the kid’s a teenager.

Cas remembers being a teenager.

However, according to Helen, this kid worships the sacred ground she and her father walk on. He’s a huge fan and feels guilty that Cas and her father are going out of their way to help him.

Like he’s some sort of burden.

Sure.

He’s not but okay…teenager thoughts.

The kid’s also been cooped up in here for the last couple of days and the medical personnel all agree it’s time to take next steps. That means the kid needs a physical evaluation of his abilities. There’s no one in this building who’s done more of those on enhanced kids than Cas.

This is an evaluation to set his personal baseline, not to start a training plan to keep him alive. This kid isn’t going to be up against monsters. He needs to know how to not crack a car window when closing the door. He needs to know how to not bend silverware or crush people's hands when shaking them.

Basic life skills like that.

And she definitely needs to get rid of that scared look in his eyes that sparks up every time he does something new.

So here they are.

Cas kicked the entirety of the tower staff out of this space…This space being a gym/training room from when the Avengers were in residence. There’s special targeting challenges and magnetic weights. There are bars that were put in on the off chance that Cas warmed to their presence in the tower. Who knew that her father could be such an optimist?

Anyway, there’s more basic equipment because Hawkeye and Widow aren’t enhanced and allegedly the team that trains together is less likely to cause a disaster. That’s occasionally used by staff because otherwise it’d be collecting dust like everything else.

Not literally because it would drive her father up the walls but the space isn’t being fully utilized.

Until now.

“Step up, kid,” Cas gives Peter’s shoulder a healthy shove, “Let’s see how fast your spider legs are.” That treadmill was designed with her in mind so she’s curious to see how it holds up against Peter.

The treadmill is up and running and Peter’s gait is…meh. His form could use some tweaking but for someone without any formal training in distance running/sprinting he’s doing well. It’s not like it’s really impairing him. He’s running at 75% of the treadmill’s max speed, his breathing is steady, and his heart rate is holding around 135. So Cas bumps it up to 100%. She can do this for about 15 mins but….

“Hey, Dr. Stark,” He asks without even sounding winded or jostled by the adjustment…Captain America couldn’t run on her treadmill at 100%, “Did you mean it when you said you would show me your lab after this?” And Cas can’t talk when she’s moving that fast….

“Absolutely,” Cas works to sound unimpressed and like this is expected because if she freaks out then the kid is going to freak out, “We’ll get pizza too. I’m sure I can find a place that makes spinach and kale edible on a pie.” Because she refuses to put liver or kidneys on it.

She has Peter make his way through various strength and agility evaluations after 24 minutes of him not getting tired running at near her top speed.

It’s…humbling, which is also kind of painful, to be so physically out classed by a teenager at base like this. He’s also so awkward and gangly like a baby giraffe. His flexibility is great. His strength is great. His endurance is great. What’s not so great is his control. Over balancing and tripping are a problem. Throwing things he meant to lightly toss is a problem. Jump scaring himself onto the ceiling from a poorly timed(intentionally) loud noise is a problem.

She’s dealt with worse. After all, Cas taught Percy Jackson how to not die.

So Cas designs a training plan with input from both Peter and May. Hopefully, it’ll exhaust some of the anxiety the poor kid has and then he’ll zoom through his homework which is a complete waste of his time. The chemistry homework alone is tedious and non-challenging, just repetitive. She can give his brain something more interesting to do than that.

Come to think of it….she needs to do some proofing for the upgraded Aegis matrix. Peter might enjoy that. More thinking and less memorizing.

~~~

The surgery was a resounding success. The man is crying as he wiggles his new fingers in the bed. Physical therapy and occupational therapy are going to be working with him for months to master his new arm but it works. Cas leaves him in recovery with his family. This is now out of her wheelhouse unless there’s an issue with the prosthesis itself and even then she’s not the first, second, or fifth person to be called if there is a problem.

She meets up with the project team and pops several bottles of champagne that she purchased on her last trip to Toulouse with Piper.

There are now hundreds of doors available to her. Further refinement of the prosthetics can be left to other team members, it doesn’t need Cas anymore, but the applications of the neural link technology are infinite and it has the little engineer in her brain dancing.

~~~

Last but not least of the detours….

~~~

Novi Grad is crater.

The rubble has long since been cleared out but all of that history…poof.

There were structures and roads from antiquity in that city.

There’s not enough money in the world to fix that but she can give them a brand new creation to be proud of. It doesn’t hurt that this became Annabeth’s big project. This is going to be her monument that stands for thousands of years.

Cas ensured it.

This city will be getting a Stark Tower as well because it’s the only way Cas, Pepper, and her father will allow an arc reactor in any country. The technology is too valuable to leave the security up to someone else, especially this one. The electrical grid, the primary communications tech: all of that is going to be vibranium. There is a proposed subway line as well. The arc reactor itself is being structured with vibranium and the numbers look…well…world changing in theory. There’s more than enough vibranium to figure it out in reality too.

The optimum ductility of vibranium hasn’t been worked out yet but she’s having fun playing with it. Her father is enjoying outshining Howard Stark and his comparatively primitive methods of working the metal. Maybe she’ll let Peter and Harley in on it when she’s back stateside. It seems like something Peter would enjoy but he’s still a little skittish without a buffer. Regardless, Cas has a lot of it to work with. Her father only asked for a little bit of it and Leo is in full agreement with Cas’s plan to give the rest to the people whose lives were ruined with it.

So here she is giving the final presentation, crater-side with Annabeth, to the last standing government leaders of Sokovia. Let it be said, Ultron well and truly put an end to the whole civil war in this country and the current leadership is perfectly willing to let Stark Industries and the European Union work all of this with them.

Hopefully, it remains that way after the building is done.

Hands are shaken. Photos are taken. Allies are made and working relationships are forged.

It’s a very productive day and a groundbreaking date is set…More like ground filling given the crater but the meaning is there.

They’re due for some kind of lunch and then Cas and Annabeth get to fly home again but for now they’re standing next to the starting point of their largest project yet.

Meaning this is the perfect time for a surprise.

The surprise comes by way of entitlement(probably on both sides of the argument), differing priorities, different cultural backgrounds, and a stubborn unwillingness to compromise premised by the previously stated points.

“Dr. Stark,” An unfamiliar but clearly foreign - even to Sokovia - accent breaks Cas and Annabeth out of the imagined city they were picturing in the crater, “We need to have a word with you.” When Cas turns there are several tall women behind her. Now, she’s not perfect at identifying accents at all. She’s getting better now that she’s better traveled. For example, she can identify a Paresian accent versus one from Lyon very easily. American accents are simple to her because of where she grew up but this one…It kind of reminds her of Dr. Emmanuel Besigye, a Ugandan conservationist and activist she got to hear talk a couple of years ago at a climate change conference in Germany. 

So based on that and the appearance of the people behind her, Cas comes to the conclusion that these guys are from central Africa…not that it really narrows it down all that much.

“You are?” Annabeth asks leadingly while stepping forward. It’s not really an aggressive move but it does take her further away from the ledge they’re standing near. Probably smart given that she doesn’t have a spear that allows for teleportation if she falls.

Cas turns around but remains where she is with her hands casually placed in her jacket pockets. Her perusal of the group's attire isn’t done yet. Their suits are tailored from some really nice looking material in western cuts but the jewelry is definitely something she would identify as African. Although, given how much she's been working with it, Cas recognizes one of the materials on sight.

The tallest one in the middle gives them both an empty smile, “We represent King T’Chaka of Wakanda. He has sent us to recover the vibranium which was stolen from our country by the criminal Ulysses Klaue.”

Ah.

Well then.

This just got awkward.

Cas doesn’t say any of the first things that pop into her head such as why did their king send people to Cas when Sokovia has government representatives who should be involved in this conversation first? Or why they only showed up now and didn’t send a message of any kind when this was first proposed? And, of course, how are they wearing so much beautifully worked vibranium and gold accessories when Cas thought they were an impoverished nation that viewed the vibranium as a gift from their god meant to be worshiped, not as a pretty metal for beadwork?

The country is also famously isolationist so it’s entirely possible that all the information Cas read about them during and following the Ultron debacle is inaccurate.

What to do when expectations and reality don’t match up?

“That’s unfortunate,” Cas says, “You see, we’re going to use the vibranium that we won off Ultron to rebuild the city he destroyed.”

Did Klaue steal all of that vibranium? Absolutely.

Did every kilogram of it come from Wakanda? Maybe. Cas knows that several large caches of it were found in Antarctica once upon a time unfortunately went missing. And there’s no record of where Howard Stark got the frisbee samples from.

So…is every gram of vibranium on Earth from Wakanda? No.

Is all of the vibranium currently being discussed from Wakanda? Statistics say that’s improbable. Klaue had records of looking for the stuff all over the world.

“Did we mention it was used to kill native Sokovians?” Annabeth adds.

That hangs in the air for a moment before the woman on the far left opens her mouth and takes an aggressive step forward. The one in the middle raises her right hand a fraction and the other woman’s mouth snaps shut with an audible click. The ‘leader’ says, “The destruction of Novi Grad was a tragedy,” That’s an empty platitude if Cas ever heard one, “But if anything, it highlights the responsibility that Wakanda has to guard the vibranium against misuse.”

And that’s where they lost Annabeth’s sympathy. That was condescending. Annabeth hates condescension. It really itches that pride of hers.

“We acknowledge your country’s beliefs regarding this highly versatile substance that arrived on Earth via meteor about…how long ago Cas?” 

“12,000 years, give or take,” Cas is content to let Star-Girl handle this for now, “That’s based off of the other samples scattered across the globe. Hey, did you know that it was in one big meteor that fragmented into hundreds of them when it hit the atmosphere? It would’ve melted under the intense temperatures regardless of its unique kinetic energy distribution properties.”

“Wild,” Annabeth hasn’t looked away from these women once, “But we won the vibranium used in this tragedy by right of conquest. It’s an old demigod thing. You might not have heard of it but we beat the bad guy so we took the spoils and we’re using it to help the people it hurt.”

This is what we call a cultural standoff.

Both sides have a claim and with how subjective morality can be it’s difficult to convince one side to stand down.

Cas is obviously for the use of the vibranium in Sokovia. She can also marshal a lot of global support for this. Sure, there’ll be some backlash against her for valuing her beliefs over those of other people but she doesn’t feel the need to compromise on her beliefs especially when those beliefs are directly helping another party.

She can’t make everyone happy but she can build a city and see to the safety of a population.

As everyone knows, safety comes before comfort.

Vibranium jewelry is a luxury but homes and infrastructure are a necessity.

The woman in the middle sighs, “I had hoped that we could resolve this matter quickly. However, it seems we are at an impasse.” No shit. Neither Annabeth nor Cas feel the need to respond to that obvious statement and the silence stretches, “We will bring your words to our king.”

“Wonderful,” Cas says when they turn to leave, “But do me a favor and make sure you include the actual Sokovians when you come back with his response. I’m sure they would love to consult with the world’s experts on utilizing vibranium,” The minute stiffening of shoulders tells Cas that she struck a nerve. The moment they’re out of earshot she says, “Fri, increase security on the vibranium. I want it good enough to keep Cabin 11 out.”

A small beep is the only response.

Annabeth has something to say though, “I’m glad I’m not the only one that pinged them as an extraction team.”

“No way that little group has the manpower to transport all that vibranium alone. This was a courtesy…”

“Hmm…,” She nods after a moment, “They’re casing the situation. You think they’ll send people after it.”

Absolutely, “I hope not. This country doesn’t need more problems.”

Chapter Text

~~~

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

– Archimedes

~~~

“BARF?”

“Shut up,” She can’t think of another name and she went through the entire project team trying to come up with a better one.

He’s fighting the laugh so hard right now.

It’s physically painful to watch.

“Gods,” She sighs and crosses her arms, “Just get it over with.” Child.

Her father starts sniggering and she just stands there and takes it. He’s the one that wanted to see Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing once it was finished and cleared for use. Now they’re here and she made sure that no one else is around to see what she has to share.

And yet, the person she did all of this work for is laughing at her efforts.

He’s completely unfazed by her glare too.

“Okay,” He chuckles more than a little breathlessly, “I’m good.” And has the audacity to wipe at his eye like he’s been tearing. 

Without saying a word, she snatches the device from his hand, fits it on the back of her head, and hooks it over her ears while ignoring the small ‘ow’ said snatching caused. 

This isn’t the first prototype. Or the second. Or the seventh.

Those worked pretty well by the way. The problem was that the technology couldn't handle trying to render Olympus and catastrophically failed when Cas tried to force it. It couldn’t handle the seat of the gods and it certainly couldn’t handle the worst of her trauma. This one can’t either. It did survive her memories of Camp Half-Blood though, “I know that one of the plans for this tech is exposure therapy.” 

“For which it is way too expensive,” Her father adds oh so helpfully.

Cas nods anyway because he is right, “True. But we don’t just have to project traumatic times,” It’s something that she’s been waiting to do since this became a possibility, “Friday, run the sim, please.” She spent hours thinking about which memory she wanted to share with her father. It would be easy to show off something purely demigod like diving off the back of a pegasus into the lake or charging through the woods carrying the opposing team’s flag. There’s a lot of those but that’s not what she wants to show him, “In the future, this could help Alzhemer’s patients or people with TBIs. It could help witnesses and victims of crimes give irrefutable statements. And you know…it could just be nice to remember things.”

Instead, Cas picks a more quiet day.

The sun is warm and has her practically dozing on the beach. She’s more or less hummed and nodded her way through every option Silena dropped into her lap with regards to hair and the full facial she got after arriving back home. But not this one, “Nope. No pink.”

“It’s not that pink of a pink, Cas. I really think you’ll like it.”

“Nope. Blue or green.”

Even without the help of BARF, Cas could remember this day so clearly. Odd because it’s not actually all that special. She had dozens of days just like this one but when Cas is feeling nostalgic this is one that frequently comes up.

Silena sighs, “The pink would look so pretty with your tan. It would really compliment you. Trust me?”

Cas doesn’t even open her eyes, “I trust you but I’m not feeling the commentary I’d get from the peanut gallery. Pick any blue or any green or I’m picking black just to be difficult.”

“Sucks to suck but I didn’t even bring black,” Because Silena knew Cas would pull this.

But she has another option, “I could always make a break for it. Starting to get hot. I could use a swim.”

“I will call Charlie to pin you down.”

Pshh, he’d never catch her and Cas would be up a tree like a squirrel until dinner, “You have him wrapped around your finger. When are you going to bite the bullet and ask him out?”

There’s a flop next to her and a small puff of sand, “Ugh, it’s so old fashioned but I want him to do it! And I know he will if I just-Wait a second, you don’t care about this,” A shadow obstructs the warmth of the sun’s rays on Cas’s face, “Don’t try and distract me.”

It’s Cas’s turn to groan, “Worth a shot. Seriously though, no pink. You’ll destroy my hard earned street cred.”

Silena huffs that inelegant distinctly not bell-like laugh she only allows out around Cas, “What street cred? You’re a weird nerd that keeps weirder hours and is somehow still one of the most violent people around here.”

…“Mean. I do have feelings, you know.”

“I know that now!”

That has Cas flopping back onto her towel and cackling while the benevolent queen bee of Camp Half-Blood goes on a rant about Cas’s many eccentricities and idiosyncrasies. There are a few and a lot of them have mellowed over the past couple of years. Silena takes pride in that.

A flicker of something has Cas shoving Silena to the side and bringing her other arm up to catch the volleyball flying in to take them both out, “Hey! Watch it!” She shouts as she jumps up. Of course, the shit eating grin aimed at her from the other side of the net tells her that the perpetrator did this on purpose, “You want me to join the other team, Pretty Boy?” 

“I'm game if you are, Cassie!” Luke shouts back. She promised Silena that she'd spend the day with her but how can she turn down a challenge like that?

“No way, Luke,” Silena answers for her, “She’s mine today!”

“Ladies, please, we don’t need to fight,” Cas turns her own grin onto Silena, “I can always kick his butt in your name, your highness.”

“My hero,” It’s never sounded more sarcastic, “But not until your nails are done. This is a spa day. You can wreck the mani/pedi tomorrow.” Cas just shrugs at Luke while ignoring the insults thrown at them by both teams. Her smile doesn’t dim as she’s dragged down to a ‘quieter’ stretch of beach. If it’s in sight of the forges, well, Cas doesn’t say anything.

Instead, she just enjoys the warmth of the day.

The simulation fades as Cas just leans back and waits.

Her father is staring intently where the 15 year old version of her was just walking arm in arm with a dead girl. He clears his throat, “No pink?” And glances at the pink blouse she’s currently wearing.

Cas just shrugs, “I was in my MCR phase. Lucky for me, I was too lazy for eyeliner so there’s no photos of me looking like a wet raccoon anywhere.”

“My daughter was emo?”

“Your daughter was on a full ride to MIT and taking a higher than recommended credit amount by day while being viciously hunted for sport day and night.” I’m Not Okay was an anthem when it came out.

“Touche.”

There’s a brief pause where neither of them says anything before his arm comes up to hug her to his side, “Thanks for showing me this, Cas.”

“You’re welcome, dad.”

Then the moment’s over, “Let’s head up to the lab. I have a new armor weave I want to show you. It should absorb and disperse heat better than what you have now.”

Cas eagerly takes that out for what it is. It took her days to work up the emotional courage to share this with her father and that’s about to run out. 

“So I might need a favor…about Roxxon and the upcoming gala…”

~~~

“What are you looking to cover with this?” Peter asks while reading through her Aegis Matrix proofs. He’s visiting for his training session but she told May that she’d feed him and make sure his homework was finished.

This is way more interesting than homework.

She leans back with a small smile when he stops to pick up a linear algebra book for reference while displacing a few papers on light fields. Sometimes hard copies are easier to work with and hers are annotated, “I was thinking…Everything.”

That makes him snap his eyes up and gape at her, “Like everything everything?” She just keeps smiling, “The power draw alone….”

Yeah, that is a struggle, “I’m working on it but when I was convalescing in Germany, Thor came to visit me. We got to talking about space stuff,” As one does, “He was telling me about this planet called Xandar,” Which she loved because of its similarity to her own name, “And its defensive structure.” At this point she has all of Peter’s attention fixed on her. The book, her math, and their food is forgotten, “See they have these fighter jets that can achieve low orbit around their planet and, he doesn’t know how it works exactly, but they can link together and channel this energy membrane. Thousands of them form up into an energy net that can capture combatants or even dangerous debris fields.” Now that she knows that something like that is physically possible it’s just a matter of time before she figures out how it’s possible. 

“Like fishing!” Peter jumps in. Then turns to look at her work again, “But your energy field is too rigid to be a net.”

She nods, “Correct. I don’t want a net. I want a wall with a gate. I don’t have x-wing fighters and I don’t have pilots for those non-existent x-wing fighters.”

“If you…” He bites his lip and looks down.

Nope, no good. He was doing so well. It kind of felt like he forgot she’s a famous person for a while there, “If I what?”

“Do you think this would stop the aliens if they attack again?” He says while staring at the table.

That is the big question, “I don’t know,” Peter’s eyes shoot back to hers in surprise, “I know it’s crazy but dad and I don’t actually know everything. What we are good at is identifying problems and gaps in our knowledge and filling them. Doesn’t mean we get it right every time though.”

“If you’re putting all this work into this gap, when there’s all of these other things too…you think you’ll need it?”

There he is. This kid is smart. He was smart before too. It’s just that then he was shy and a little star struck. Time is definitely helping with that. However, this is still a child and not even a demigod child, “It’s possible. It’s also possible that something like this won’t be needed for another thousand years.” She winks, “I’m hoping for that option.” But she’s ready for the other.

“Right.”

She rolls her eyes, “Enough, doom and gloom, kid. I get it. You’re a teen. You’re emotional but don’t worry so much.” That makes him sit back and look all offended like a fluffed up bird, “Try and work your way through a few more lines. It's as easy as reading after a while.”

Peter gets back to it and it brings some thoughts to the forefront of Cas’s mind. She needs better reasons for the kid to be here. He’s way too young for a job and he’s too young for the current internships offered through local universities…He’s so smart though…

She’ll talk to May about it but maybe she can open a young scholars program/internship for high school students in STEM fields. Obviously, he can’t be here as often as the more grown students are but there’s so much…Or Cas needs to check herself and not get too attached to the teenager who’s a victim of circumstance.

She’ll talk to May and Pepper first. Her dad will agree with her so there’s no point in talking to him about it.

“Hey Dr. Stark?”

“Yeah, Pete?”

“What if you did it this way instead?”

She looks over at the formula he just wrote down, “Well…that’s pretty interesting. Let’s follow it and see what it does.”

Turns out Peter’s line of thinking doesn’t quite work out for this but it shows promise. So she tells him to keep poking at it if he gets bored because he might figure something out. Maybe it’ll be immediately applicable to her current project but maybe it’ll split off into something new. Who knows?

Regardless, Friday tells them it’s time to pack Peter up and send him home. She’s helping him stuff his books into his backpack when Friday forwards a call to her phone. It’s not even an emergency which is an improvement. 

“Cassandra, I need a restaurant.”

It’s definitely Matt’s voice.

She just finds that sentence…strange?

So sue her for being confused, “Like, you need me to buy one?” What does Matt the lawyer/vigilante need with a restaurant?

“No,” He says like she should already understand what she needs, “I’m taking Karen to dinner,” He’s what? Karen that he works with Karen? The one of three people that works at Nelson & Murdock Karen? The Karen he saved during his early forays into vigilantism? That Karen? “And I’m not exactly one for expensive tastes.”

Right. He’s not one for fancy things, “But you want to take her to a fancy dinner?” Even though it’s in no way like him.

“It’s a first date, Cassandra.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Cas is valiantly ignoring Peter’s curiosity, “Look I’m with someone who has super hearing. Don’t ask. Just answer this: have you told her how we met? Because she really should know all about that if you’re going to give it the old college try.”

Silence and then, “Probably not on the first date.”

Right, Chiron was telling her that she should take care of her friendships outside of demigods and work. Matt for all her reluctance is a friend, “You can have my table at Marseille . What day? I’ll send you the info.” He’s not a regular human like Chiron meant but she’s kind of friends with Foggy now, “It’s French so read up.” If only because Matt made a set check in time which has reduced but not eliminated Foggy’s stress levels.

“Friday at 8. I owe you one.”

Lovely.

Peter is practically vibrating in place.

She hangs up her phone, “Don’t ask. Shoo.” And chases the kid to the elevator. It’s the first time he really grins at her.

~~~

To say she looked into DA Reyes is an understatement.

It honestly wasn’t on purpose at first.

Oh, this lady.

As long as Cas is breathing, Samantha Reyes will never be the mayor of New York City. 

Cas and Piper kind of met in the middle with regards to the investigation.

Cas made the connection that Reyes has something against Frank Castle in particular. She’s being so aggressive and pushing for all of the legal processes to be completed as quickly as possible. Usually, the prosecution wants more time so they can ensure an air tight case. Sure, this is pretty cut and dry but still. So, she just looked for the link. It’s disturbing to say the least.

It’s a carousel. 

That carousel that Cas couldn’t identify on sight in the family photo from Castle’s home is the answer to everything. That carousel has one notable news story in recent history. There was a shootout. The newspapers marked it as gang on gang violence. They also said that there were no civilians harmed or involved with the shooting.

Because that makes sense for violence in the middle of the day in a park designed for families.

However, it’s the same date that Frank Castle rolled up to the hospital with a bullet in his head per the file Karen shared with Cas.

And just because Cas had a terrible feeling and had Friday…it’s the same date on three death certificates: Maria Castle, Lisa Castle, and Frank Castle Jr. Death certificates without the cause of death are public information. She didn’t have to go digging for this.

This is a whole family destroyed in a single day. The family of a war hero no less….And it was the same day as a mass shooting as a spot they were known to visit.

Why isn’t this in the news too? This is the kind of tragedy that people eat up. So where is it?

Obviously this carousel is a spot that’s important to the family. The photograph took center stage on the mantle. So, why weren’t their deaths that most likely occurred as a result of the carousel shooting reported?

The answer is that someone wanted this to disappear.

So…cui bono? Who benefits from this? 

That’s where Piper came in.

“This woman cannot be mayor. She’s a heartless bitch who’s looking to build her political career on a tragedy that all of my instincts are telling me is her fault. She’s going to get Frank Castle the death penalty and that’s going to win her votes. Oh and of course he’s going to be the precedent that she uses to come down on every vigilante in New York City from Jessica Jones, to Daredevil, and even to us!” She practically spits as she paces in front of her fancy desk in her private office. Oh Piper, so high up in the world now. Cas is so proud.

She also doesn’t think that Piper’s stopped for air at all, “I really don’t think we count as vigilantes, Pipes. I work really hard to get us permission and if I can’t get that then I get a ‘thank you’ from someone with a fancy desk after we save the day.” 

“Don’t mess with me right now,” Her finger is in Cas’s face, “I’m on a roll and I’m pissed. This is a terrible person we’re dealing with here.” Then she continues on her tangent, “The worst part is that they’re going to give Castle a terrible public attorney that’s worked with Reyes in the past. I’m pretty sure they have a deal.”

“Ummm….,” Karen cautiously raises her hand from where she’d been quietly observing, “What if it wasn’t a public attorney? What if Castle got fair representation from a law office that wasn’t under Reyes’s boot?”

“Well,” Cas sucks in a slow breath because it’s not hard to see where Karen’s going, “You’d have to build a very compelling argument because I bet your boys are still mad about the whole breaking and entering thing,” Cas knows because Matt actually yelled at her for encouraging Karen and thanked her for keeping Karen safe in the same sentence, “Because they’re going to need convincing evidence to even consider giving Frank Castle a chance after he shot at you.” Matt will do it regardless but Foggy may need some extra help. That man has a solid survival instinct, “I think it’s time we break for dinner though.” Because it’s Friday.

Karen looks at her phone, “Shoot!” And quickly trots out of the room without a goodbye.

“I’m stealing her. She’s so much better than a secretary and the Bulletin can’t have her either.”

“Yes, Piper.”

“Shut up, Cas.”

Anyway, the link. Cas hasn’t told Piper or Karen her thoughts yet because she doesn’t have any evidence but…Police report 2119.74 states that Castle and his family were shot while in a vehicle stopped at a redlight. It has time stamps and everything. Yet, there’s no footage despite the cameras being fully functional the day before and the day after. She doesn’t think the Castle family was killed anywhere other than the carousel that day.

And that motion sensor that was in Castle's house...It didn't pan out and give up a guilty party but it did reveal government training, almost military...

This stinks of a coverup. Why would someone hide the fact that a nuclear family was murdered as a result of gang violence unless it wasn’t just gang violence? If it is Reyes that’s covering it up then it would have to be something harmful to her and the DA’s office.

It would have to be something that she sees as a threat to her, the career woman with political aspirations. It would have to be a major gaffe from her office then.

Cas has Friday to look for evidence of police activity around the carousel that day. Nothing immediately pops up but…

If she can prove that this information is falsified…

“Hey, Cas?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you kind of…agree with Castle?” Cas looks up from her phone to see Piper chewing her thumbnail in thought, “Those people he killed, they were terrible and I don’t feel bad that they’re dead.”

She sighs, “I don’t either but I don’t agree with Castle.”

“What does that mean?”

Cas rolls her head back and looks at the ceiling, “We’re not gods, Pipes.”

“I know that. We’re not supposed to kill humans because humans power Olympus but these people? These kinds of people? I don’t see how we’re supposed to pull our punches.”

Well, she asked for the lecture, “It’s not just that. We’re not gods. The Olympians are so slow to change that they’re practically immutable. Apollo had to become a human in order to learn, remember? Humans can change. That’s the point. I can’t look at a person and decide that an action is the sum total of all they’ll ever be capable of doing.” She needs lines. She’s too dangerous beyond her physical abilities not to have them.

Piper crosses her arms and doubles down, “You really think those people can change? What about the people they’re hurting? The victims should come first.”

“That’s different and you know it,” Now it’s Cas’s turn to point at Piper, “Our first responsibility in a fight is to protect people. So I will do whatever I need to do to protect them, including taking a life. But I won’t just kill someone because it’s easier than taking them down and getting them thrown in a cell. People are worth more than that and I’ve…I’ve killed enough people, okay?” 

Piper’s hands fall to her sides, “Yeah. Yeah, I see what you’re saying but with what I’ve seen…sometimes I look at these people and I think ‘I nearly died over and over to save that?’” She shakes her head, “Then I meet people like Karen and I think ‘oh, that’s the kind of person I risked my life for.’”

Cas chuckles, “I could drink to that. You want to get Indian tonight?”

“Only if we get ice cream after.”

Obviously.

~~~

Now that Peter is stable and home and back in school, her direction with him shifts. He’s showing progress with regards to his control and his training is going smoothly so she can get to work on exactly how this happened to him.

The Roxxon Corporation is a conglomerate. It’s massive. Possibly bigger than Stark Industries if all of the nebulous connections to other companies are included like how through a long line of technicalities Disney owns Bic pens. With Stark Industries, what you see is what you get but with Roxxon…well most of the glacier is below the surface.

Nothing public revealed anything that could be connected to a super soldier project. Not that Cas expected it to. Something like that would have to be very, very secure.

However, Friday broke into their online servers and couldn’t find any records either. She really went digging too. 

That means that everything for this project is being stored off the record and disconnected from the internet. Local hardware only….Which means if Cas wants access then she has to physically get inside the building and open a line for Friday directly. 

The problem is that Roxxon is definitely not a friend to Stark Industries or Cassandra Stark. However, society has rules. They’re throwing a gala to show off…something and social requirements demanded that the Starks get one.

Ordinarily, Cas would’ve burned it once Pepper or her father brought it up.

Instead, she’d sighed and said, “I need it for Peter.”

And they nodded along.

So now, she’s arriving intentionally alone to a party she doesn’t want to go to, thrown by people who didn’t want to invite her in order to steal possibly incriminating information. It’s not like Stark Industries is interested in whatever Roxxon is doing but if she’s caught…

Corporate espionage.

But it’s for a kid and she’s not going to get caught. 

She needs to get into one office. Just one. The tech in this building pales in comparison to what she carries in her pocket because yes, Cas found a gown that has pockets. It can fit her phone and one other thing that she borrowed from her sister for emergencies. It’s a bit of effort to make sure that the skirt still flows properly with the pockets in use but once she’s slipped off the floor it won’t matter.

This ugly building screams ‘trying too hard’ and so many of these slimy people swarm her…that’s not fair. There’s bound to be some decent human beings here, it's just that they picked awful company. 

There’s a main dance room with a bar and multiple other overflow rooms for chatting.

The lighting is yellowish which isn’t doing anyone any favors.

The live jazz band isn’t all that jazzy either, if that makes sense.

So far, she’s been taunted by several suits from Roxxon in that subtle polite way. She’s been glared at by random women for reasons that she has yet to figure out. Finally, she’s been stared down by the ‘imposing’ security detail lining the room. None of them look armed but all of them look trained.

To be fair, she wasn’t supposed to accept the invitation and show up. Her being here is highly suspicious and she knew that was going to happen.

She wasn’t expecting someone nearby to loudly comment about how dangerous enhanced people are. That he and all of his friends have been openly supporting measures to ensure they know if some superpowered freak owns the lawn next to theirs. 

It’s sad that he feels the need to use such high school tactics in an attempt to get attention.

In the face of all of it Cas smiles and says how she’s there to promote good will and cooperation between business neighbors. And pretend like she’s interested in picking up any useful information(read: gossip).

Because somehow, even though all the available information says that Cas is a genius, people still believe that she could be so predictable and stupid. 

Surprisingly enough, there aren’t many cameras in this room. However, they were present in the hallways and elevators. There are some blind spots. Small ones but they exist. If she can lose some of this attention…well Friday can pull some 007 and loop some innocuous footage then she can skip her way to where she wants to be, return, suffer in silence for a little while longer, and tastefully leave as soon as is feasible without anyone knowing what happened.

That was the plan anyway.

So the unexpected, “Cassandra?” Followed by Matt the vigilante placing a glass on her table has Cas doing serial math to not make a scene.

“No,” Cas does her best not to stiffen or show any outward signs of alarm, “No, no, no, you are not here right now.”

“I’m not here?” He acts all offended, “What are you doing here?”

Oh gods, “I’m working, genius. I’m usually working.”

“Matthew?” A voice she wouldn’t hesitate to call coquettish asks, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Cas follows the voice to a tall, dark, and thin woman in a red gown with a mediterranean accent and snakes behind her eyes.

Cas looks back to see a very uncomfortable Matt squirming, “ Marseille didn’t work out, then?” She says with a raised eyebrow.

Which snaps Matt back to reality, “That’s not- no-, look,” He puts his foot down, “I didn’t know I was coming here tonight. I’m supposed to be with Karen and Foggy convincing the Punisher to take a plea deal,” Ah, Karen convinced them. Wonderful, “This is Elektra Natchios. Elektra, this is Cassandra Stark.” Cas does not laugh at the woman’s name. She wants to though.

Cas takes in the possessive way Elektra leaves one hand on Matt’s arm and reaches out to Cas with the other, “Charmed to meet you.”

In that moment, Cas understands why her father stares at stranger’s hands like they’ll bite him but she doesn’t let that slow her, “Same,” Cas replies instead as she returns the handshake and represses a shudder. Something is off with this woman…After the manners are over with, “I need to do some things here unnoticed. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t cause a scene,” Cas says directly to Matt falling into business mode because demigods adapt and regardless of Cas’s thoughts on her mother, she’s still a daughter of Nike and winning is what she does. But if something goes wrong and Cas isn’t accounted for then it will be blamed on her baring another person being caught in the act.

This Elektra woman smiles like Christmas came early, “What a coincidence! We’re here for a similar reason,” No shit. Matt wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this unless he had no choice. Opulence makes him twitchy. Elektra glances between the both of them and grins like this is the best thing ever, “We should help each other.”

Still Cas keeps her eyes on Matt and he elaborates for her, “The scrawny bald guy by the bar drinking his boredom away with sake has a key card we need for his boss's office on the 13th floor.”

She sighs, “That is a coincidence,” Because she too needs access to the head honcho’s office. A quick glance at the bald guy in question reveals, “Oh, Gibson…yeah. He would have access.”

Matt leans forward, “You know him.”

Eh, “We’ve met,” Cas narrows her eyes, “Please tell me you both had a better idea than ‘steal his ID badge’?” Matt says nothing and Elektra shrugs in a move that screams ‘C’est la vie’ and annoys Cas on a personal level. Right, here she comes to save the day, “That’s adorable. Matt,” When she has his attention she holds out her phone, “Take my phone,” Cas quickly downs her wine and Elektra’s bitter champagne, “And go get us refills. Make sure you brush as close to his side as you can. It’ll clone the card.” As he walks away she says, “Friday, smart stitch the footage so it just looks like we’re chatting and Matt’s chivalrous.” All Cas needed to do to get into the cameras was stand close to one for a few minutes when she arrived.

Wireless isn’t always better, people. In this kind of situation, the only real threat to her is the human element, not the technology. 

When Matt’s far enough away that he can’t react even if he’s listening to what Cas has to say, she says, “So you’re…the ex?”

That snake smile never leaves Elektra’s lips, “What’s it to you?”

Cas returns it, “Consider me a concerned friend that likes the current girlfriend.”

A brief flicker of irritation is all Cas gets for her efforts but otherwise their little table stays quiet until Matt gets back and passes her phone back to her, “Thank you” Along with another glass of red wine. 

“Cassandra, I have enough footage to seamlessly loop the party and the building.”

At least something is working out in her evil plan, “Friday, you’re the best,” She takes another cursory glance around the room. Since Cas hasn’t done anything or reacted to a single person more than absolutely necessary, the security team is more drawn to the noisier patrons.

People get bored and Cas isn’t nearly as interesting as she used to be.

There’s also the simple fact that there’s only so much entertainment to be derived from an unreactive target. 

“Right,” Cas steps away from the table, “Meet me at the elevators in five minutes. If you’re not there I’m moving without you.” Because in this situation, Cas would leave them behind.

It’s been quite a while since the last time Cas stole something from a dangerous anything. Sure, she was tasked by gods plenty of times to recover( steal ) a shiny thing for them but this is the first time she’s stealing from people. 

She drifts through the room with a plastic smile and manages a lap near the elevator when the hallway is near empty. No security though because no one should be able to access floors without a badge. Just as the door is closing, Matt and Elektra slip inside, “Well, this is cozy.”

If this woman turns out to be Eris then Cas would not be surprised.

She sighs and taps her phone on the card reader while hitting the button for the 13th floor, “Do you think they picked 13 on purpose?” It’s unlucky in like every culture but for Japan(which seems to be the premier group for the evening oddly enough) it’s especially unlucky so much so that some buildings skip 13 all together.

Matt huffs but says nothing until, “You’re aware that we’re dealing with the Yakuza, right?”

Huh, “No kidding?” She looks to Elektra for confirmation but gets another soulless smile, “Fun.”

While waiting for the elevator Cas pulls her other trick out of her pocket. Annabeth lent Cas her Yankees cap and Cas shakes it out against her leg. She also ignores the looks she gets while she does so.

The problem with being a famous person with super strength is that if there is any sign that people were taken out by someone with an enhancement then the blame will fall squarely into her lap.

Cas cannot be noticed. Hence the redundancy of the cap when Friday is manipulating the footage for her.

When the doors open she slips it on and steps out of her shoes before striding out into the hallway. Matt obviously doesn’t miss a beat because nothing’s changed for him. Elektra hardly hesitates, which is sort of a point for her.

This is so annoying because it should’ve been an easy in and out. She could’ve run to the office, found what she needed, and been back to the party within 10 minutes but now she has to babysit Matt and his ex.

Instead she’s darting ahead and coming back to push them behind corners and into open offices when patrols that she can just walk by come around.

It’s immensely frustrating.

That said, all of these guards are heavily armed for an office building like this.

Sword doesn’t patrol like this…but they have Friday and on occasion Vision in the building.

These sterile hallways are absolutely dull. There’s no life in them and very little natural light would make it to the central offices. All in all, terrible design for the building.

And when they make it to the bossman’s office? Warm wood is inlaid into the wall with inset shelves displaying books, artwork, and artifacts that all look Japanese in origin. There are even some old weapons…old weapons that look used and well maintained.

Matt might’ve been onto something when he said Yakuza.

Cas removes the cap but keeps it clutched in her hand.

Meanwhile, Elektra makes her way straight to the second mural on the right wall and opens it to reveal a safe. She knew exactly where that was…How? Doesn’t matter. She’s not interested and she trusts Matt not to get up to anything too illegal. She doesn’t even comment on him obediently moving to open the combination safe.

No, Cas is already searching the room for any kind of electronic device. Desktop, laptop, tablet. There are no locks on any of the drawers that she checks. None of the other paintings have a safe behind them. The safe that Matt opens just has paper, much to Elektra’s visible and audible disappointment.

She’s missing something. Cas stands back with her hands on her hips and surveys the space. What she wants is here. It has to be. It’s just…hidden. Her eyes are drawn to Matt where he’s lounging in the desk chair. Maybe he can find it.

“We need to go back downstairs,” Elektra says through her frustration, “It’s not where it was supposed to be. They might’ve known I was coming.” Meh. Cas isn’t worried just yet.

Just then Matt’s head tilts. Perfect, “You got something, Mikey?”

“Maybe,” He spins in the chair and leans forward, “There’s an electric current running through this wall,” He stands up, follows it to the bookshelf, and stops by a little bonsai tree, “It disrupts right about here.” Then he places his hand in a gap by the tree.

Elektra nearly dives on it.

Cas did not have Scooby Doo lever on her bingo card but here they are. The wall behind the desk opens up to reveal a walk in a safe and oh look…it’s a computer. Thank the gods, “Thanks Matt.” She nearly skips in and pops it open. It’s not even one of the ones where you have to unscrew it to access the circuit board. It has little latches. 

Roxxon was really confident that no one would get in here…

Or they don’t actually value the things in here all that much.

Hmmm….

Still, she slides a token off the back of her watch and attaches it to the internal hard drive, “Show me what you’ve got, Friday.”

“The encryption is far from impressive, Demi-Boss,” Behind her, Matt and Elektra have found a book of some sort that she seems very excited about but Cas, “I found records on the spider project,” Good, “And something else you’ll be interested in. Check your device.”

On checking her phone, Cas stiffens.

It’s…

“Cassandra?” Matt noticed her issue so she quickly drops her stance.

She turns to leave after securing the computer back where she found it, “I hope you found everything you needed because I’m going to bury this company.”

Elektra finally looks at Cas seriously, “Why? What did you find?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Chapter Text

~~~

“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” 

— Ralph Ellison

~~~

Cas splits off from Matt and Elektra at the elevator without saying a word to either of them. She’s too deep in thought to indulge their curiosity. At the first opportunity, she leaves the party and drives. Not home, as one would expect, no. Cas drives to Camp Half-Blood because this can’t wait and it wouldn’t feel right to deliver this information over a call.

During the drive, she has Friday relay the information on the project which ultimately resulted in Peter Parker as he is today. It makes her tense further into her seat but that can’t come first right now.

No.

Chiron needs to know.

It’s exceedingly late when Cas arrives and she’s still dressed for the gala. But, she trudges along the pathway up to the Big House, her shoes abandoned in the passenger seat.

A quiet flapping of fabric drifts alongside her, “Good evening, Cassandra. May I say you look lovely this evening?”

Cas glances over at Vision but doesn’t slow down, “Hey. You could say that but I know it’s not true. I’m a little windswept now. Good try.”

He lands gracefully into a stride next to her, “I must disagree. The color suits you,” The green was chosen by Pepper, of course that part looks good.

“Thanks Vision,” His presence is enough to break through the mood she’s fallen into. It’s bittersweet but she does like the being, “You doing alright here?” Turns out that the gods aren’t opposed to winning over another Infinity Stone. So, Vision gets to practice being a person around people that don’t care what he looks like.

“Ah. Absolutely,” He sends his own little smile her way, “This is an excellent environment to learn about people and develop social skills.”

“Glad to hear it,” She sighs when she hits the stairs to the wrap-around porch, “Is Chiron up?”

“For you, I’m sure he’ll make an exception.”

True.

It takes a few minutes for Chiron to come down and in that time Cas has already started both the tea and the coffee while pulling out some snacks.

Vision is idling, likely because he isn’t sure if he should stay or go. He’s curious but also aware that this might not be for him. Cas waves him into a seat because she could use some of his cool presence for this.

When Chiron does make his way into the sitting room and sees Cas staring out into the ether with a chipped and faded mug clutched in her hands, he sighs, “It’s one of those visits then.”

Cas takes a deep breath of her own which does wonders to ease some of the tension she’s been carrying for the past few hours. It’s the smell of this place, “Fri, do us a favor and project that list you grabbed for me.” She then sits back and watches while Chiron looks over the tables that’ve rattle her so much.

She can see the exact moment the old centaur realizes what he’s looking at, “Cassandra, where did you get this?”

‘This’ being a neatly sorted and compiled list of every demigod child under the age of fifteen and currently residing in the United States as well as their home addresses. Be they Greek or Roman, they’re on this list.

The youngest of which is a two year old son of Silvanus and an outdoors woman who lives in rural Washington State.

Since the Alabama Clusterfuck, Watcher teams have been reinforced and their procedures have been refined. It was a bit difficult for the old fashioned satyrs to accept oversight and enhanced safety protocols but these are different times. Regardless of the pushback, there haven’t been any other attacks on baby demigods and everyone they’re keeping watch over, whether they’re aware of their status or not, is accounted for.

This is highly protected information, some of the most secure information in Camp Half-Blood actually. No mortals are supposed to know that this information exists. Her father doesn’t know this information exists.

And yet.

So when Cas answers, “Roxxon.” It’s like the air’s been sucked out of the room.

They’re supposed to be a mortal company. They shouldn’t know this and they shouldn’t have the means to gather this information. There’s also the fact that it wasn’t in that ledger that Matt and Elektra didn’t think Cas paid attention to. They talked about that thing having human trafficking and drug shipments in it but this information was on a hard drive…

It’s easier to share information if it’s digital but it’s a lot harder to secure so risk benefit optimization.

Who would they want to share this information with?

“Well,” Chiron deftly makes himself a cup of tea and offers another to Vision who grasps it carefully, “There’s no use thinking about the how right at this moment. The priority is deciding what to do now that we know this information is compromised.”

He’s right and Cas presents her problem, “This was turning over in my head the whole drive. Short of shipping all of these kids here or to New Rome there’s nothing we can do. If we move their whole families around then they’re just going to pop up in the system again at a later time we don’t know about. Social media, talent shows, and social acceptance of demigods will result in, not necessarily their exact address, but their general location being out there. The issue isn’t only that someone knows where these kids live, it’s that this is clearly organized and suggests in depth monitoring.” To what extent and purpose? She doesn’t know.

“Ah,” Chiron stops her, “But you’re compartmentalizing again. Remember that for the majority, this generation of demigods has at least one parent directly involved in their care and in communication with us.”

And fine, he’s right but, “That doesn’t mean we don’t have some kind of responsibility here. The Watchers are run by Camp Half-Blood and New Rome. Somehow we missed this. We need to figure out how closely these families are being monitored and why.”

“That sounds like an excellent job for the Neo-Argonauts, don’t you think?” He’s not wrong but Cas falls into silence.

“If I might make a suggestion?” Vision adds into the silence, “It wouldn’t be difficult for me to keep an eye on activity around these addresses. Anything out of the ordinary could be quickly investigated that way.”

Chiron just looks at Cas and waits for her.

Oh, to still be a child and not in charge, “I appreciate the offer, Vision, but you’re here to learn what it means to be you. I don’t want to drop a job on your shoulders.” Cas leans back, “I can share this with the team and I can inform them that I’m planning the corporate death of Roxxon as we speak.”

Vision nods slowly, “If you will not allow me to monitor the young demigods then I would like to observe the Roxxon Corporation for weaknesses.”

He’s stubborn alright. He just has much better manners than Cas or her dad, “Have it your way. Just don’t do anything illegal. Leave the rule bending to me. Also, come by for dinner on Wednesday. We’re doing a potluck in the gardens and I think you’d enjoy baking.”

“Wonderful,” Chiron says over the rim of his cup, “I will handle contacting the families of Greek demigods if you could handle informing Frank and Hazel now. I would speak with Lupa but gods know she’d see this as a challenge for would be Roman heroes to survive.”

Yeah, she would.

~~~

She grabs a few hours of sleep because she’s not as stubborn and impulsive as she used to be.

Also…she needs to be alert for this conversation.

By the time Cas makes it to Queens it’s in the realm of six in the morning. Peter’s up and getting ready for school while May is getting ready for bed. So honestly it’s the perfect time to catch them.

“You two have a few minutes to talk?” She says from the doorway while trying not to let on as to the nature of her news.

Peter looks both excited and nervous to see her in his home for the first time(last time he barely remembers) meanwhile May is holding the coffee pot. So relatable, “Dr. Stark,” Cas looks back down to Peter, “I have to catch the train in 20 minutes.”

She waves him off, “This is important. I can drive you,” And looks to May for permission. 

She shrugs, “He’s probably safer with you than on a train.”

Cas doesn’t correct her.

She lets herself in and sits down on the chair across from the couch so Peter and May have to sit next to each other. It’s better that way.

Cas breathes and counts backwards from ten to organize her thoughts, “I wanted to update you both on the status of my investigation into Roxxon. I managed to acquire all of their data on the spider, the mechanism of action, and the goal of the project,” Across from her, May takes Peter’s hand and leans forward.

“So?” She asks, “Do you have a cure? Or a reversal agent?”

Cas shakes her head, “It’s not going to be that simple,” She holds up a hand, “But I’ll get to that. First, I want to explain what the purpose of the project was. It is another take on a supersoldier project similar to what created Captain America but the Investor is never mentioned by name or affiliation anywhere,” Point of fact, this individual is referenced in the same manner in the demigod documents which is a problem because those are the only two projects referred to that way implying it’s the same investor. The Parker household doesn’t need to know that though, “All I know is that they’re one person with a whole lot of capital.”

Peter stays quiet and thoughtful but May, “Okay, but why does this matter? All we need to do is get this out of Peter, right?”

But Cas shakes her head, “They put well over a billion dollars into this project in the last two years alone. It’s been active since 2012,” When the demigods came into the open. This all started in a direct response to their presence. 

“When the Chitauri happened,” Peter says. 

He’s right so she nods, “Even if I was able to deactivate all of those gene sequences…I can’t remove them. The risk is too high. I could cut out something important by accident. Roxxon didn’t develop any measures to undo mistakes,” Which says a lot about them, “And I can’t guarantee that it’ll become possible to revert some of the more drastic changes to his anatomy back to baseline.” Those scientists at Roxxon were very thorough with their gene integration designs. Even the primers are works of art.

Still, the whole genome rewrite is a chaotic horrible jumbled mess that if discovered could result in a child becoming a lab rat.

“So you can’t undo it,” Peter says while looking down at the table and swallowing.

Cas shakes her head, “Even if I could undo some of it, like the sensory issues and the wall climbing, I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“Why not?” May asks, “He’s adjusting but it’s still hard.”

“I know but…” She stops and takes a breath, “Peter needs everything he has to keep himself safe, May. Anonymity only goes so far, believe me I know. If his condition ever gets out, people could come for him, the kind of people who pay billions to crack into the human genome,” At their scared looks Cas pivots, “Now the good news, Roxxon won’t be a problem for much longer. I’m working on getting the evidence I need to get the company dismantled. A project like this is highly unethical and extremely illegal. Odds are they’ll destroy all records of it rather than risk it coming to light.” Especially if they’re the kind of people who work with the Yakuza, “Once that happens the billion dollar backer will probably slink away to find another unsavory past time.”

There’s a couple of minutes of stunned silence that Cas decides to ride out before Peter speaks again, “So…I’m possibly in danger.”

“That’s right.”

“But once you get Roxxon shut down, I won’t be?”

“Also right…to a point. Someone could try to finish what they started but if I needed to, I would make any record of this project vanish myself.” Not only for Peter but for the threat it represents to demigods and the world. Bottled essence of supersoldier is not something she’ll risk landing on the black market. This doesn’t mean that someone won’t come up with another method down the line but that’s a later, maybe never, kind of problem.

May releases the breath she’s been holding for a surprising amount of time, “Oh thank god. How long until you take those fuckers down?”

Huh.

“Well,” Cas shrugs, “They’re already shady and everyone knows it,” Plus, if Cas can tie them to drugs and human trafficking like Elektra has implied… “And it won’t take me long since it’s a priority. So, I’d call it six to eight months.” She has money and Sword and Friday and of course the drive to see it done.

After that, Cas drives Peter to school(stops for breakfast sandwiches too) but he makes her park up the street which is just….

“Please, just do it, Dr. Stark,” He hits her with those puppy eyes which aren’t super effective due to exposure to tiny children that want to throw themselves off cliff sides. 

Before he leaves, “Hold up a second, Pete,” She opens the glove compartment and pulls out a little badge, “I dub thee, my intern. This should get you past the front desk even if I’m not there to escort you. Even if I’m unavailable, I expect you to keep up with your exercises. Caspice?” Not that anyone would give the kid a hard time at this point.

“Yeah, yeah,” He says airily, “Is this real?” He looks up at her like his teen voice didn’t just crack in the middle there.

“No, I gave you a fake ID to get into my family’s building,” She reaches across and opens the door, “Of course, it’s real. Get out of my car.”

Now that the basics are taken care of, she needs to set up a conference call with the Neo-Argonauts so she can explain everything to them. Maybe one of them will have a better idea than watching and waiting for what the child stalkers want to do.

~~~

The team is not amused.

They aren’t satisfied with her timeline of Roxxon’s destruction either but she put Sword on it so she just knows that someone will find something usable soon.

And if there isn’t anything usable…they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.

~~~

It’s a struggle, a genuine struggle.

“Dr. Stark,” Truly, she hasn’t struggled like this in a long time, “I’m so glad that Ms. Palamas was able to pencil me in for five minutes.”

Cas isn’t, “Yeah,” she says over the rim of her current source of caffeination, “Ditto.” 

Kara came to Cas so early this morning, like, as she stepped out of the elevator early. This is not an uncommon occurrence as it’s a fantastic time to review the plan for the day and address any potential issues. This morning was different because Kara looked both embarrassed and angry which is not a look you want to see on a semi-retired assassin/spy/secret agent.

Seems that Director Fury decided that it was time to break radio silence with Stark Industries. To be fair, it wasn’t an official radio silence. It’s that Cas had nothing to say to them and as far as Cas is aware no one on her side of the river had anything to say to Shield.

However, this may be a good time to improve relations between two administrations going in the same direction with similar goals but different methodologies. 

Cas will never work with the Avengers again. This is an established fact. The Argonauts will not work with the Avengers and neither will Sword. She can’t speak for her father and ‘oh gods, the sky is falling’ scenarios but she imagines he’ll at least help them stop the explosions. However, should the worst happen, Cas will be finding a separate front far away from the Avengers to fight on.

Regardless of these truths, Cas most assuredly does not want to be sitting in a tinted conference room across from Nicholas Fury while a pacing Kara Palamas stalks the hallway outside. She’s getting very tired of these situations.

“I thought it was time we talked again and reevaluated with cooler heads.”

Her mug can’t protect her from this. It’s empty anyway so she places it on the table and pushes it away. She barely stops the desire to drum her nails on the table while she thinks over why Fury is here, “My head was pretty cool the last time we spoke. The answer hasn’t changed even if you’re here hoping for a different one.”

Fury doesn’t frown or show any outward signs of disappointment. He rarely shows any outward signs of anything. It’s disconcerting with how expressive most people in her life are. “The Accords,” Is all he says before placing his loosely clasped hands on the table. 

Ah.

Right.

“Civil liberties and human rights,” This should be good, “That’s right up your alley, isn’t it?”

“The most recent version of the document is taking some major heat,” That is true. A lot of people aren’t happy. Who’d’ve thought that poking the hornet’s nest would tick so many people off, “I want to know if Ross is a problem you’re equipped to handle.”

It’s Stark Industries. Stark Industries is the hornets nest in this metaphor.

Nevertheless.

Today is supposed to be float day. Cas loves float day. She gets to dance around R&D and get hands on with everyone’s projects. It’s the one day a month where it’s entirely open collaboration. Someone posits a question and anyone available helps to find solutions. It helps cleanse the pallet when someone’s been working on the same problem for too long.

Instead, Cas is spending precious time discussing politics in that roundabout Shield way which really isn’t that roundabout.

“Our beloved Secretary of State?” Gods, this is surreal. Six years ago, she would’ve been running for the hills if Shield Director Nick Fury so much as glanced in her direction, “Yeah, foreign affairs is his wheelhouse but the United States still only has one seat in the UN and even if we’re on the security council it doesn’t change their voting power on this. The Accords will represent what the world wants.” Hopefully…and hopefully in a way that benefits everyone.

She could wax poetic about this but Fury has something interesting to drop on her instead.

“Rumors are he plans to resign,” What? “I see I have your full attention now. Seems the old Thunderbolt wanted an executive appointment because he thought he’d have more say in domestic policy,” That must be about enhanced with birth certificates. Ross did initially try to have them excluded from the protections afforded to all American citizens like the fifth amendment, “That didn’t pan out and he’s since set his sights abroad.”

Unnecessary alliteration aside, “I’m aware. How does that evolve into him possibly resigning from office?” Because she’d love for Ross to quit. It’d be a stress reliever if he were the type of person who understands the concept of quitting. However, this is just another move in an attempt to get what he wants.

“He misses the hands-on work. Wants to lead men again and as the premier American top brass military expert on applications of enhancements in the field,” Say what now? “If the UN approves an enhanced taskforce and education program, he is the United States’ best suggestion for leadership.”

That sounds horrible.

“How’d Rogers take this?” Given that the Avengers are his team.

“Per Agent Romanoff,” Naturally, “Captain Rogers has rejected the notion that politics are the Avengers’ responsibility. He maintains that their role is to protect the planet irrespective of borders and divisions.”

“Gods,” Her eyes fall closed, “Well, at least he won’t have some unseen move to get in the way of me preventing indentured servitude and brainwashing schools.” Everything is about politics. People are by their nature social and therefore political creatures. Even people with short social batteries are a part of the populace, to say otherwise is pointless.

And what was it Plato said?

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.

Cas isn’t a politician but she’s definitely engaged. About that dumber bit though…

“As far as I know,” Fury says, “Ross’s current ambition is to sit at the head to sit at the UN security taskforce outlined in the current version of the proposed Sokovia Accords.” He leaves that to float in the air for a minute before continuing, “So, what are you planning to do about it?”

Cas doesn’t answer. Instead, “I thought Shield was currently a defunct agency with terrorist ties. How are you still getting White House insider information?”

The stare down….

Before he blinks and changes gears, “You know all of this rampant vigilantism is making waves in DC, too. A lot of people have their eyes on the Punisher trial.”

And it makes Cas want to act defensively. How dare, “I don’t know what to tell you about New Yorkers that you wouldn’t already know. Special breed and all that.”

“New Yorkers?” He questions. When no response is forthcoming he continues, “Well, it’s got a lot of people rattled. Frank Castle is just a man, a Marine, but still a man and he did all that damage? Makes you wonder what one of your kind could get up to if you set your mind to it.”

Freeze frame.

Record scratch.

“My kind?”

He nods.

Cas valiantly crushes the urge to roll her eyes, “I think we already saw that. Kilgrave vs Jessica Jones and Piper McLean equaled one dead rapist and a lot of traumatized but alive people.” 

Her kind.

She’s just human with some extra spice.

“And it’s still vigilantes calling murder heroism.”

“Hey, saving people,” That’s just generalizing, “And Piper never touched that man. She was too busy stopping the mob from beating each other to death.” Nearly gave her charmspeak away while doing it. In the wake of a sadistic mindcontroller with a textbook case of ASPD, keeping that a secret is for the safety of all children of Aphrodite.

“And the Punisher?”

The Punisher is a very complicated situation. 

No.

That’s a lie.

Calling something complicated is a lie people tell themselves when they want to justify or ignore something bad.

Or they’re just being lazy and don’t want to put their thinking power into untangling a problem.

The Punisher tortured and killed human beings that were very bad people. That his targets were evil men doesn’t change the fact that his actions were wrong. Stopping the horrible things those people did was good but if Frank Castle did this out of some twisted search for justice for the murders of his wife and children then the fact that those people were evil and committed separate atrocities is incidental to him.

He didn’t do this for anyone other than himself and that’s what makes it vengeance, a delusional selfish thing. Cas is glad that some people feel safer and sleep easier because a bunch of gangsters, drug dealers, and rapists are off the streets but it’s a very dangerous thing to happily benefit from the deaths of others.

No one should get used to it. It’s a gateway to the kind of thinking that led to Shield Helicarriers and Project Insight.

So, “I’m keeping an eye on the trial too. The lead prosecutor is planning to run for mayor and she’s caught my attention.” Frank Castle will likely be convicted of multiple homicide but not in this trial. DA Reyes has her own motivations and she’s hiding something. After a mistrial ruling the DA’s office can reorganize a prosecution(without Reyes) and do the whole thing again.

Next time they’ll do it correctly.

His one visible eyebrow raises, “Is that good news for her?”

“No.”

She can almost imagine the debate in his mind about whether or not to push for more information there. Then she mentally applauds him when he circles back to another subject, “If you’re going to stand up to Ross you should know this,” Oh? Fury stands to leave, “He is acting under the assumption that he will get the votes for the Accords. The man’s mighty confident,” He turns, “Or he knows something. Goodbye, Dr. Stark.”

“Director.”

~~~

When the proof of concept(less than a prototype) manages to produce two tiny little mouse cardiomyocytes, Cas and Helen get so excited. The cells don’t last very long and the contractility isn’t quite up to snuff but…

“That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen,” Cas says while staring at the amplified image in front of them.

Helen pauses and squints at Cas, “I don’t think you’ve ever experienced physical attraction before.”

“So?” Ocean’s 11 was her background noise the other day.

There’s so much work for this project before they can even get near human organ growth but they’re going to do it.

~~~

They left the door unlocked. 

Adorable. The three amigos are about to lead the defense for the most controversial criminal trial in decades and they left the door unlocked the night before. Sure, there are other security measures in place but still…

“Oh Three Musketeers! I bring offerings before you ride off into battle tomorrow!” Whoa…Cas pauses in the doorway due to the excessive amount of files haphazardly stacked in the office. It looks tear inducing.

She should probably keep the soy sauce away from all of that.

Surprisingly, the only lights on are the ones on Karen’s crowded desk and Foggy’s office which is where both Karen and Foggy are currently sitting and staring at Cas.

Awkwardness abounds. 

Karen recovers first, “Cassandra,” Matt’s means of address is contagious and no matter what she does…whatever, “What are you doing here? It’s…,” She checks the time, “Really late.”

Cas nods, “Yeah, but you guys have a huge thing in less than 10 hours. I figured you’d all be here nitpicking.” Her conspicuous glance to the other darker office does not go unnoticed.

“Oh! Right!” Karen exchanges a look with Foggy, “Matt is…working on his opening statement for tomorrow.”

Cas looks at Foggy and sees that Matt is in fact not doing that. Matt is probably picking fights right now which is very poor timing on his part.

“He is,” Foggy insists despite them both knowing that isn’t true.

Fine. She can work with this, “More sushi for you guys then,” She holds up one bag, “It’s from the absolute best place in Manhattan. The owner looks like Mr. Miyagi and he always gives me extra spring rolls with my orders,” And then she holds up the other bag, “The espresso and Pellegrino are from an amazing cafe run by this ancient married couple that might’ve arrived to the States via Ellis Island.” Which is possibly the truth. They’re not human.

Foggy looks grateful but it’s Karen who continues to question everything, “Where did you get fresh sushi and coffee this late at night?”

“I ordered yesterday,” And paid a lot for it but this seems to be worth it. The food gets eaten despite Foggy’s grumping about photo induced nausea. To be fair, the pictures scattered across the tables detailing the Punisher’s gruesome work are very graphic. She hopes this isn’t something he learned from his time in the service and that it’s something he developed when his mind cracked at seeing his family gunned down. It does steel her resolve for the other reason she came in, “So, there’s something I need to ask you for, Foggy.”

The man in question pauses with a piece of tuna sashimi half way to his mouth, “What?”

“Tomorrow, before the trial starts…” She kind of feels bad but at the same time, “I need five minutes with Castle,” Cas sees the incredulous looks building on both of their faces, “The man is a loose cannon and I want to make sure he knows that I’m backing you, Nelson & Murdock.”

The silence fills the room before Karen’s anger breaks it, “You want to intimidate him? The Punisher? Our client?” Foggy seems to be having similar thoughts but with a different tone.

“Not intimidate,” She replies, “He’s a man that suffered something that none of us can understand,” None of them are parents, “He’s still in pain and raring to lash out at something. I just want to make sure he knows that if you are in the crossfire then we’re going to have a problem.”

“I mean,” Foggy puts his sashimi down, “It’s not technically against any rule but with Reyes…she’s just looking for an excuse.”

Cas grins, “By all means, put me in a room with the DA. I need to talk to her too.”

~~~

Early the next morning she gets an unexpected message from Harley. He’s having trouble with a project. 

He asks her for help developing adaptive lenses and gradient tinting of all things. She didn’t think he needed glasses.

Chapter Text

~~~

“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.”

– Hippocrates

~~~

Cas waits patiently in the hallway of the New York City Criminal Courthouse. She’s getting what she wants so a bit of a hold up is no big deal even if she had to get here at the asscrack of dawn.

Oh, there’s the grouchiness. Still worth it though. 

Karen and Foggy both look like they're running on pure adrenaline and caffeine right now which coincidentally is exactly what Cas looked like when she was defending her first dissertation at MIT. So, this is all the voice of experience looking at people staring down the barrel of the scariest and most important day of their careers. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Foggy asks while someone is running a metal detector over Cas. She’s already emptied her pockets and politely asked if they want her to leave her spear with them. They asked her not to bring it so she didn’t explain that that’s not how it works.

It is nice that Foggy seems worried though, “Sure am. It’s just a conversation about respect, Foggy. You’re worried but you don’t need to be. I’m not here to ruin your case.” That’s Reyes’s job. She takes one more look around the hall before going in, “Where’s Matt?” He should probably be here already.

Karen looks up from her phone, “He’s…not answering.” The slight tensing of Foggy’s jaw is the only thing that gives away frustration there. Matt sounded the all clear that he arrived home last night but no word since…

Alright then, “It’s not like you guys need him to hold your hands,” Still this isn’t a day where he should be late, “I’ll pop in on Frank and I’ll rattle the DA for you. Then I’m sure he’ll get here and we can laugh at him for missing out.”

Foggy now sighs, “Please don’t use psychological warfare on the DA.”

“That’s insulting,” Cas isn’t going to go Plata o Plomo on the DA but, “We’re just going to have an honest little chat. What she takes away from it is on her.” She cherishes the looks on their faces as she enters the room. She, also, immediately hates the room. Evidently, Cas is privileged enough to not require a guard in the room with her while she talks with Castle but the man is still chained to the table which is in turn bolted to the floor. They didn’t even give him something other than his prison orange to wear. He also looks like he recently went three rounds with one of the Hekatoncheires.

Now, Cas isn’t the biggest fan of zoos. Something about tigers in cages.

However, it is the only type of place in the world where two completely different kinds of creatures from environments that may as well be different planets can interact with each other.

Like a macaw and a meerkat or something.

Cassandra Stark and Frank Castle may as well be from different worlds and this would probably be very interesting for the mob outside to watch. 

Despite that, her first impressions of the man? She was right. He’s still looking for a fight, a target, or an exploitable weakness. If he wants to screw himself over that’s fine but he doesn’t get to take her people down with him.

There’s something else more glaringly obvious to her.

“Ma’am,” Castle nods at her. That’s weird. She’s never been called ma’am before, “My legal team says you want to speak with me.” She does but the words she wants to say have sort of dried up, “Well, are we gonna talk or are you gonna stare?”

“You’re a dad.” 

...

That wasn’t supposed to come out.

The pain in Castle’s face isn’t something that he can completely hide, “Don’t see what that has to do with anything.” He looks away from her.

“It just occurred to me,” Cas finally takes her seat across from him, “You’re a dad and all of those people are dead after taking your family from you. I’ve been dealing with crap from people who want to know what’s going to stop me if I snap like you but the loudest thought in my head now is what my dad would do if I was killed.” She does a lot of things that could get herself killed. Her father after Happy…

Iron Man on a rampage like Castle would…She’s not biased enough to ignore the fact that her father has been driven by revenge in the past. He stopped but…Frank Castle was a hero once.

“Those animals his missiles ran back into their caves can answer that,” Hmmm…Castle would’ve used or seen Stark ordinance while in the service.

Fair enough. She should change the subject, “Have you visited them yet?”

He knows what she’s talking about, “No,” He shakes his head, “Not while those bastards are still breathing.” There’s probably more to it than that but it’s not like they’ve spoken before today. He has no reason to elaborate on the really personal stuff.

“Regardless of the trial outcome, I’ll make sure you’re given the chance to visit,” It would be wrong to deny him that, “You can say no but you deserve the right.” He nods and they just sort of look at each other.

“You know, my little girl, Lisa,” He swallows, “My little girl, she, uh,” He shifts, “She wanted to be you. ‘Course she thought her old man was cooler than Iron Man. She thought I could take him.”

“I’m honored,” Cas nods along. Gods, this sucks. Everything about this is wrong. This man should be sitting on a blanket with his family in a park while getting therapy every other Thursday. At minimum, “But my dad knocked out the Hulk, so…” She shrugs.

He chuckles once but it’s sad, “You know, she’d be so mad I met you without her. She did this thing where she’d stomp when she was mad only she was too small. She wasn’t big enough and she’d fall but I’d catch her and she’d laugh, all the anger gone.” He doesn’t have anyone to talk about them with.

He’s like an extremely violent May Castellan: he wakes up every morning and remembers that his family was murdered. 

The mood sobers and Cas gets to the real reason that she’s there, “The people defending you today have the biggest hearts in the business. They’re going to do everything in their power to get justice for you and your family,” She now has the soldier’s attention.

“Ms. Page, made that…very clear, Dr. Stark.”

Wonderful. Back to formalities, “Everything in their power includes me. Nelson & Murdock are with me and we are looking into what happened to your family. That doesn’t change.”

“Huh,” He nods, “Then what does?”

“Your access to that information,” She doesn’t want to threaten but… “Like I said, they have big hearts,” So does she, “You have a goal that they’re helping with the only way they know how,” Except Matt because he hits people too, “Don’t hurt them and we don’t have any problems.”

He smiles, “Is that a threat, ma’am?”

Yes. Cas takes a breath, “Reyes is going to fall from grace. I promise. She’s dirty and I’m getting real tired of corrupt officials where I live.”

“So that witch is involved,” The wheels are turning in his head. He’s not stupid but he’s not brilliant seeing as he resorted to hanging men from meat-hooks. He didn’t need Cas or her resources to find those people either.

She needs to convince him that cooperating is the best option.

“I don’t know the details but I will,” It’s really just a matter of who puts it all together first: Nelson & Murdock, Piper, or Cas.

He nods again and leans back as far as the chains will allow, “And when you have all of your answers and information? What then? What happens?”

It’s a good thing that Cas thought about this part ahead of time, “There’s nothing that can balance the scales. You know that. Reyes knows that. She’s probably trying to forget.” She doesn’t understand how using the Punisher trial to become mayor would enable Reyes to forget what she did but Cas doesn’t need to understand stupid.

“I do know that. You see, you’re as bad as Red,” He shifts forward and leans over the table, “You think that you can come in and knock these people down but it doesn’t change a damn thing. Tomorrow, another lowlife is goin’ to take their place.” A small part of her brain makes the connection that Red must be Matt. The rest of her brain sees this opportunity for what it is.

Cas leans forward too because she sure as hell isn’t intimidated by the Punisher, “And how exactly does killing the first guy change anything for the second guy?”

“Nothin’,” Of course not, “But now there’s one less dirtbag out there wasting air.”

Wow, “That’s a load of bull.” And a gambit for her.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” She won’t sit here and listen to this either, “That’s bullshit. You don’t care about the rest of the world. You’re angry because you live in a world that could kill your family but let morons like the people you killed survive.” 

“You’re damn right I am!” He tries to stand but the chains around his ankles restrict his movements, “You think my family deserved what happened to them? Huh? You think those sons of bitches deserved to live?”

“What in Hades convinced you that we all get what we deserve?” Damn, her cynicism is coming out. She was spending so much time around hopeful people she forgot it was still sitting in the back of her head, “I should be dead,” Castle probably wasn’t expecting that because he looks all confused now, “The battlefields I’ve crawled off of, the things I’ve seen… I’ve burned the bodies of hundreds of other people, who were better than me, who were kids. In this world, fate is not the same as fairness. You’re a soldier. You should know that.”

Sokovia didn’t deserve what happened.

Johannesburg didn’t deserve what happened.

Her father didn’t deserve what happened to him in Afghanistan.

Gods, Steve Rogers didn’t deserve to be an iceberg man displaced from everything he’d ever known.

“So,” Castle falls back into his seat, “What then? You say taking them out is off the table, then what? We all hold hands and sing kumbaya? Yeah? Forgive and forget?”

“That’s adorable,” She can’t help it. The atmosphere is that bad, “The thought of you singing. Did your kids make you?”

That confusion is back, which is exactly what she wants, “What?”

“I want to be very clear,” Because this matters. She makes sure that she maintains eye contact, “The dead are done. But you, Frank Castle, dad to Lisa and Frank Jr, are still here. I don’t care about what’s happening in hell or Hades to the people you killed. I care that when you finally kick the bucket your kids are reunited with a dad they recognize.” Why does she care? Probably because of that stupid association her brain made(without her permission) when she entered the room.

It's too late now. 

“Where they are ain’t where I’m going.”

“Again, who told you we get what we deserve?” Maybe, just maybe…, “And anyway your kids deserve to keep their dad more than you deserve to burn in hell or whatever.” This is a manipulation, plain and simple, but a physical threat was never going to work on Frank Castle. Offering to make things easier wasn’t going to work, but it doesn’t mean she lied.

Odyseus and Metis for the win.

He swallows again and looks down, “Get out.”

Fine. She’s probably rendered enough emotional damage at this point.

She stands, “Cooperate with your defense team, Mr. Castle.” And leaves the room.

~~~

“Who the hell is that?” Says the angry female voice as she steps into the hall, “What is she doing here?” Ah. Cas sees Foggy and Karen being loomed at by Reyes. 

Fantastic. She shakes off the gloom of that conversation and gears up for the next one. This one is going to be a little different. Maybe she should channel her dad from when he verbally beat down Senator Stern at that emergency hearing. 

It’s nice to see how tall Karen and Foggy are standing up to Reyes. It doesn’t look like anyone has done anything other than lick her boots for a while now. She does have a powerful personality which is a respectable trait.

But she’s also trying to profit off the deaths of human beings to push her political ambitions. The phrase she’s heard in particular is ‘ she’s going to turn all of this shit into gold.’ Like the Castle Murders are just some dirty little thing that can be alright if spun a certain way.

…oh. Dead kids. Right. Cas wasn’t thinking about it like that before. No wonder she wants to hit Reyes where it hurts. Profiting off of dead kids. Gods.

Piper was right about people. It’s a good thing they have Karen and Foggy and Claire.

She really needs to shake off the gloom.

Still, time for Cas to meet Reyes, “Foggy! Karen!” She calls, “All taken care of. I promise Castle will behave.” She completely blows past Reyes and plants her hands on her hips like she’s Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman. 

“What…,” Foggy hesitates, like he doesn’t want to know, “What did you say to him?”

She decides to be facetious, “The truth and nothing but the truth.” And it works if the increasingly frustrated DA is anything to go off of.

Cas really doesn’t like Reyes. 

From the available evidence Cas was able to put together part of what happened(It’s not like she’s asked the boys and Karen for privileged information.).

Castle and his family were killed at the park the same day as a major shootout between the Kitchen Irish, the Mexican Cartel, and the Hell’s Angels(stupid name for a bike gang). Now, for whatever reason, Frank Castle survived but someone pushed for a DNR which backfired. It’s possible(but highly improbable given how thorough the FBI was with Cas’s assistance) that someone in one of those criminal groups managed to put together the money to buy a DNR like that. But what would be the point?

There isn’t one.

The Castles had no connection to the gangs prior to the rampage Frank Castle went on in the aftermath.

Now, why does Reyes care about this in particular?

Why is it that Frank Castle was able to find all of these men so easily but the NYPD didn’t make one arrest in the aftermath of the shootout?

Why are there police reports hiding the Castles’ presence at the park that day?

What about this could poison Reyes’s career unless it’s her fault?

And how could a gang fight be the fault of the New York District Attorney’s office?

Unless it wasn’t a gang fight. If it wasn’t a gang fight and the police were there….She needs more information before she can make that conclusion stronger than conjecture. She doesn’t want to be throwing things like that around even in her own head.

These are the thoughts tucked behind Cas’s smile as she turns to Reyes and holds out her hand, “DA Reyes,” The woman in question hesitates before she takes it, “I was just helping the Defense out. You know I handle security for their firm?” And she does technically, “Franklin & Nelson are real pillars for their community. I wanted to make sure they’re safe.”

Reyes lets go of Cas’s hand as soon as she can, “I wasn’t aware you knew them, Dr. Stark.”

“Well, no reason to out my friends like that,” She shrugs. Insolence is such a useful tool, “I am so glad we got to run into each other though.”

This is such a confused group of people with the exception of Cas. She wishes Piper was here. Piper would be laughing.

“Oh,” Reyes says, “I wasn’t aware you wanted to meet, Dr. Stark. If you like we can set up an appointment at my-”

It’s amazing how quickly people shift.

However.

“Indigent clientele,” Cas cuts her off by going straight for the throat, “That’s what she said, right Karen?” She looks at both members of the legal team though. 

Foggy is wide-eyed but Karen catches on and nods, “Yes, she did.” 

Cas turns back to Reyes, “I heard you wanted to be mayor but then, well, I was talking to some of my other friends about how I feel about being represented by a mayor with such negative opinions about the hard working people of this city.” She deliberately uses ‘wanted’ instead of ‘want’. It really clears up any misunderstandings.

She deliberately leaves out any mention of Reyes’s theorized agenda against vigilantes. That’s only for if she needs it.

Cas will give Reyes this: she is one tough cookie.

After a blip where she looks startled, she pulls herself together and locks into what Cas is going to refer to as ‘courtroom ready.’ The woman even straightens her jacket, “Thank you, Dr. Stark, for your concern but I have to get ready for the trial.”

Since Cas is channeling her father’s inner chaos today, she can’t leave it at that, “I hope you’re ready now, Ms. Reyes. The trial’s about to start. It’d be a shame if justice didn’t prevail.” With a sharp nod Reyes leaves, her loyal man-puppy trailing behind her(Cas thinks that’s the assistant DA who stands to inherit the position of DA if Reyes makes mayor. Now if things go belly up….). Cas just smiles blandly and relaxes her stance.

Her work here is done.

“Why are you like this?” Foggy says. Dejection clear on his face.

She grins at him, “You know how often I get to do what I want? Like, actually want to do? Never. Let me have this.”

Karen laughs lightly, “I find that hard to believe.”

She could say something about how often she wants to ignore this or that law. How often what she really wants done gets blocked by what others says should be done. Instead, “I haven’t gotten rid of your coffee machine yet.”

“Gotten rid of?” She shakes her head, “You offered us a funeral pyre for it.”

“It worked hard in this life,” It’s possible that Cas shouldn’t be so committed to this bit but they both seem so nervous, “You need to let it go with honors.”

~~~

Matt doesn’t show.

There’s no more room for stalling and even Cas’s presence isn’t enough of a distraction to slow down proceedings anymore. She respects the judge(the HoNoRaBle Judge Cynthia Batzer…that remains to be seen) for the look aimed at her spot on the defense’s side of the court room. It tells Cas to behave without using a single word and lasts less than three seconds. It also keeps her contained to her spot on the bench within the empty radius no one else in the room seems to want to cross.

Reyes doesn’t so much as glance at the audience. Her only interests are in the front of the room, after all.

She does have to respect the process that demands the jury maintain an objective viewpoint to the best of their abilities throughout the process.

Cas has the thought that she should’ve brought a couple of the pre-law students with her to observe. This whole scenario would benefit them. Also, Cas would like to point out Reyes attempting to exclude the crimes of Castle’s victims from consideration while simultaneously pinning every vigilante crime in New York on the man. Sadly, she has no one to talk to at the moment.

She feels a lot of sympathy when Foggy is forced to (1) follow that opening performance by Reyes and (2) take over a role that wasn’t supposed to be his from Matt the No Show. At first the man fumbles, relying more on his notes than his own mind. But then he rallies, “So, you’re nineteen standing in hot sand, sun burning down…noise…yelling, gunfire,” He leaves the defense side and approaches the jury, “The only thing that you know for sure is that you’re surrounded by an enemy that wants you dead. But you do it, you endure it. Why? Because you have orders and you have a duty. And also because your life doesn’t end here. You have people you love waiting at home. Because…aside from being a decorated marine…the man before you is a good husband and an excellent father,” Foggy is capable of producing a surprising amount of gravitas, “Frank Castle returned from the hell of war wanting nothing more than to pick up his life. But his wife…young son and daughter were brutally murdered by criminals, and no one, not the police and,” He pauses to scoff, “Certainly not the District Attorney stepped up to make it right. See, Frank Castle never came home. He just traded in one war zone for another.” 

The door to the left opens and a frazzled Matt Murdock nearly stumbles into the court room escorted by an officer. She whispers under her breath, “Gods , Lucy. Way to put Foggy on the spot.”

As Matt locates and scarcely nods in her direction, Foggy continues without missing a beat, “This trial isn’t about vigilantes,” And she is glad he noticed Reyes’s intentions earlier, “It’s about the failure of the justice system. And how one man, Frank Castle, is being used as  a pawn to cover up that system’s mistakes. The prosecution wants blood,” The man scoffs again. His dislike of Reyes is not boxed up anymore. Cas’s biggest concern for this whole trial was that Foggy would be too meek to take on the DA’s office.

Evidently, she was wrong because this man shines in a courtroom.

Good to know. 

“But as the judge just said,” Foggy continues, “To get it, they have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. So all I’m asking of you today…keep an open mind,” All of that confidence and certainty crescendos right there and all the nerves fall back onto Foggy’s shoulders, “That’s all, your Honor.” Then he returns to his seat.

She wonders if one of their goals for the trial is to humanize Frank Castle to the point where people don’t want to kill him. Keeping him out of prison seems almost impossible, but enough sympathy should keep the lethal injection off the table. 

Matt makes it to the defense’s table as the first witnesses are being called and is immediately scolded by Karen. Cas can’t hear what’s said but it's all in the posture. 

All in all, a fairly uneventful first day at court.

When court is let out, Cas keeps her distance. This isn’t her team and it’s not her rodeo. She wants to help but she’s learned her lessons well. Her presence at the courthouse today was just to show support. If the team at Nelson & Murdock needs further assistance then she’s a phone call away. For now, she’ll use the trial as an opportunity to more closely investigate Reyes while she’s distracted.

~~~

The next day while Cas is meeting with Legal again in reference to the Accords and the progress they’re making, she receives a text.

Franklin called Foggy?: Did you attack the Chief Medical Examiner last night?

Cas blinks at the words. She doesn’t know if she should be offended or not. Before she can respond she gets a follow up message also from Foggy.

Franklin called Foggy?: Nevermind

Its something else

Well, okay then.

She returns to the debate on the difference between ‘contained’ and ‘restrained’ with regards to the use of sedatives or ability suppressing drugs/equipment to imprison enhanced criminals. One says it’s an acceptable practice and the other says such measures should only be used if other methods fail.

~~~

It’s entirely possible that vigilantes are becoming something a fad.

Someone glued a mugger to a wall in Queens and it took ages for the police to cut them down.

She told Peter to watch himself when he was headed home from school. It’s hard to tell what side of the line people like that are on sometimes. At least the mugger was unharmed so that’s already a step above Castle and Matt. The story was dismissed after that because it clearly wasn’t Daredevil or Punisher related. 

It’s only going to give Reyes more fuel for her case though…maybe?

People seem to be liking the more proactive approach to justice even though it’s a really slippery slope to Cas.

Then again, not everyone has the societal pull to fall head first into despotism if they fuck up like she does.

Things to consider…

~~~

It’s a little hard to believe but Cas has gone two whole days with uninterrupted sleep. She hasn’t heard from the Hell’s Kitchen team and she’s been following the various news stories to track how the trial is progressing. 

Or not progressing seeing as that Chief Medical Officer got arrested for falsifying reports and his entire testimony was subsequently thrown out. 

Fascinating. 

Anyway, uninterrupted sleep is not interrupted per se. She would’ve been getting up at 6:30 this morning so losing half an hour wasn’t that bad. However, Cas received a call from Matt of all people(who can use the transcription software proficiently but prefers to call anyway) about 44th and 11th again after having dealt with that godsdamned bombing. It was one of the few properties that Annabeth wasn’t able to get her hands on despite how damaged it was because the owner didn’t want to sell it. 

Then they sold it to another party privately.

It’s where Maria Cardenas used to live. 

That’s the only reason why she put her plans on hold.

This morning was supposed to be a solid workout, followed by personal project time, followed by business lessons ala Pepper. Instead, she sneaks into a construction site that’s currently empty. Odd, since it’s almost blue collar working hours. People should be arriving but she won’t complain about the ease of entry or investigation.

And it is an investigation.

This makes her sound old but having survived a battle or two in urban areas, she can identify where a major fight has been. Especially if the ground is coated in a thick layer of dust. She can see stains where someone bled out. She can see the spray from where a blade bit into someone and kept going. She can see the marks in the ground, scaffolding, and pillars from where blades glanced off and arrows had embedded themselves. More importantly, she can see where several bodies were dragged away.

However, that perfectly carved hole in the ground holds the vast majority of her attention.

There’s a slab of concrete abandoned near the edge that’s maybe six cubic feet, so give or take 400 lbs. Hmmm…she has neither listening equipment nor a Matthew so the traditional rock isn’t going to cut it. This is technically vandalism and it’d be very unfortunate if there was anyone down there…Cas shoves the rubble into the hole and hopes that it shattering on impact is loud enough for her non-enhanced ears. 

One Mississippi.

Two Mississippi.

Three Mississippi.

Four Mississippi.

Five Mississippi.

Six Mississippi.

Seven Mississippi.

What.

In.

Hades.

Matthew.

She never hears it…

Either she didn’t hear it(This is the better option) or…quick math check. That hole is deeper than 200 meters. Only half a lap around an Olympic sized track. Not that far…

Were they digging for the Underworld?

Or China? Australia?

Jules Verne? 

“Friday,” Cas says deep in thought, “Keep track of who comes in and out of this site. There’s more than enough public surveillance thanks to our updates.”

“What am I looking for Demi-Boss?”

Oh…, “Weirdness? I don’t know. They’re not looking to put in a finished basement here and it feels weird.” 

She has no idea what she’s looking at but there’s something ominous about this hole.

Like it really shouldn’t be here.

Not in the sense that it’s really godsdamned weird to dig a hole like this out of nowhere. (They cannot be zoned for something like this…)

But now that she’s checking…paying attention… listening …There’s an increasing sense of not-belonging . Like Cas really should not be there. That her being there is disrespectful. That it’s not for her.

Which is ridiculous because this is New York, the seat of Olympus.

She still listens to her instincts and gets out of there. Then she opens a new file on it and plops in smack dab in the middle of the Argonauts alert server. She wonders what her team will think of this. 

~~~

In lighter news: Castaway is real life now.

A kid claiming to be Danny Rand turned up in New York City. Apparently, he and his family went missing fifteen years ago and he’s just now returning to the States. 

His family owned Rand Enterprises before they all went missing in China. 

“Do we care about this?” Cas stops eating her yuvarlakia so that she can watch for Pepper’s reaction.

She sighs, “Yes, Cas, we care that the boy who went missing found his way back after years away.”

And Cas rolls her eyes, “Not what I meant. I mean, how’d he even get in the country…not like he had a passport anymore. Also, is there some sort of welcome back I’m supposed to do even though I don’t know him because technically we’re both rich?”

That’s enough to make Pepper pause, “I didn’t think about that. How did he get here?” She shakes her head, “Nevermind. If there’s some kind of a welcome home event then you could say something. Donate a bench in the name of his family. It’s not like you knew each other.”

No, she was twelve when the plane crash happened. She was still drinking the ancient Greek cult coolaid at the time.

Chapter Text

~~~

“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Rep. John Lewis

~~~

Eight people around a table full of both mandatory nutrition and all of the junk food debate whether or not they need to act for the sake of their people.

Kara got back to Cas with a highly disconcerting report on Roxxon just in time for everyone to arrive.

Cas is quietly munching on her churro while watching Frank pace back and forth, unable to remain seated any longer. Annabeth is still scowling at the data Sword compiled for them and Piper is cross referencing their leads. Not that it’ll help much at this point. Hazel is deep in thought so Cas makes a note to ensure that the soft-spoken leader says her piece. Leo, Percy, and Jason, three very different men, all have near identical looks of discomfort. The differences are that Leo is taking apart what looks like a 19th century pocket-watch but most certainly isn’t before reassembling it, Percy is gripping his chair hard enough to leave divots, and Jason is pale with crooked glasses slipping down his nose. She knows that her team has been digesting the implications of Roxxon's list. Of their connections to the Yakuza. 

Everything else has been put on hold in the wake of this.

“I thought that the basis of Roxxon was the Yakuza. Japan,” Annabeth nearly snarls, “We can go to Japan.”

“Which is probably why they put everything in China, where we have a travel ban,” Jason says. He travels almost more than Cas does nowadays with his ambassadorial duties and his American pie smile. It was a real hit in Italy.

Piper shakes her head, “Look at this…there are so many shell corporations. Hill’s people are good but, are we certain they got to the bottom of this in a few days? China might not be the end of this.” 

“China isn’t the only source, Piper,” Hazel says quietly, “We know there’s one in China but if you keep reading there is evidence of communications between them, South Africa, Japan, and here. Putting as much of their enterprise in China as possible gives them some protection from us but we have other…avenues.” No one feels the need to address the elephant that is the deliberate placement where the Argonauts cannot go.

“That’s…” Piper huffs, “That’s not the point. There has to be a central point, a head, that we can go after. It was supposed to be in Japan with Roxxon.”

Percy speaks for the first time, “Not if it’s a Hydra.”

“Hydra’s gone,” Jason is quick to add, “The actual Hydra and Nazi Hydra.”

“We’re demigods, Jason,” Leo says, “Things, ideas, they don’t die. Could be them just hiding. Nazi Hydra was supposed to be scientists, right? Maybe they were smart enough to not bet it all on Shield. My mamma used to say something about eggs and baskets…never got it.” 

Fury said something similar once.

Cas sighs, “Based on the evidence, we need to consider the possibility that we have several equals at a round table.” The evidence being similarly running criminal empires in several locations around the world that shouldn’t be running with such lovely synchronicity. They aren’t even hiding. They’re just centered in and keep to locations where government authorities are too weak to exert any kind of control. It’s loose insubstantial evidence that would never hold up in an American court but…well, there’s only so many missing people, drug dealing/overdosing stories, gun violence, and fear symbols on social media that a government can censor at a time. That with anecdotal evidence and the token investigations done by authorities paints a surprisingly clear picture.

And for some reason, these underground criminal lords are tracking the locations of baby demigods.

And investing in a company that’s developing super soldier initiatives in demigod territory.

“But are they the people funding that genetic shit show you told me about?” Piper doubles down.

…well, “I don’t know,” Roxxon is a singular loose thread in a very large and convoluted tapestry, “All I know is that it’s bad and that Midland Circle project in Hell’s Kitchen is also bad.” But there’s nothing she can do to slow construction. Kara already looked into it. There’s no evidence directly liking this group to the spider project.

Regardless, a shark is circling New York. Actually, a whole shiver of sharks is circling New York.

“Cas,” Frank starts, “Are we looking at another invasion? This could be the basis of a recruitment strategy like the Titans.”

If whoever these people are have decided that New York is to be a new addition to their conglomerate then Cas is going to destroy them.

She leans back in her chair and slowly lets out her breath. It’s a possibility that she’s considered. One reason to monitor all of those kids is to look for a low point in their life where it would be easy to grab them, “Who?” She grinds her palms into her eyes, “The Titans are gone. The Giants and Gaea are gone. The Emperors are gone. Hydra is flatlined…I think. If this is an attack…gods, who even is it?”

She’s feeling very overwhelmed here. 

“Let’s just,” Percy eases off the chair he’s throttling, “Back up. Because there is a hole to nowhere a few blocks from the Lincoln Tunnel that feels like it’s screaming at us to go away. Can we deal with that first? 44th and 11th, you know how close that is to my little sister?”

Yes, she does. It’s closer to her in the Upper East Side.

And it’s even closer to them in Stark Tower but that’s not the point.

“How did they do that without anybody noticing?” Piper asks.

But Percy cuts her off, “I really don’t care about how. Can we do something?”

“We don’t have a reason to, Percy,” Annabeth says while reaching for his hands which he grasps onto like a lifeline, “It’s a creepy hole…” She swallows, “But it’s not a creepy hole to Tartarus. We don’t have a justifiable reason here.” 

Cas leans back in her chair and surveys her nervous friends, “Whatever this is, it isn’t Olympus related and it's not human either. I don’t have any good reasons to travel anywhere other than Sokovia. Annabeth, you’re due in Sokovia for a few days next week too but maybe you can drop by Johannesburg instead of coming home? See the recovery progress in person?” It feels weird calling her by name but this isn’t the ping-pong table anymore and childish nicknames don’t fit with these conversations. Also, “I’m sure Percy would love to meet the South African shark population.”

Annabeth glares before the would-be fight drains out of her, “When I get back, we’re sitting down to talk wedding details.” Cas concedes immediately to that demand.

“If I could cite my dream to trace my ancestry…” Frank starts but quickly fizzles out.

Hazel puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Maybe one day.”

Maybe.

China was one of the first countries to outright ban demigods. It sucked(A lot of Chinese people that Cas has met during conferences are so nice and understanding of the fact that she cannot make heads or tails of Mandarin. Her father makes fun of her for it. But not Dr. Zhao who specializes in the pharmacokinetics of pain and addiction.). 

At the time, Cas hadn’t been that bothered by it. Then her hard won passport came with a side effect of wanderlust. Then came other cultures with particularly strong views about…certain things. She’s worried about any demigod children born in cities like Hong-Kong. They have a couple in Camp Half-Blood now but they can work on that after they have the Accords in place. 

Sadly, some bits of the world and part of her own country doesn’t want her or others like her around. At least the unknown kids can travel if they really want to, it’s only the really open demigods that have been affected. It’s difficult to prove who’s a demigod and who isn’t.

Also, nowhere in the states has the authority to actually ban her based on her having an immortal energy construct for a parent. That does come in handy.

“Calypso hasn’t been to Japan,” Leo says once the room is silent, “I haven’t either. It could be nice to take her somewhere neither of us has been.”

Cas nods in thought, “Normally, I’d say go for it and have fun but this time…I think you should take some human back-up from Sword.”

“Take advantage of the spy types on our side?” Piper continues.

Percy’s head tilts, “Do you think they really have contacts everywhere with passports and safe rooms?"

“They did,” Annabeth says with a wry smile, “Until Hydra came down and everything ended up on Google.”

Cas rolls her eyes. It wasn’t on Google. Not at first. But any data that wasn’t immediately quarantined during that mess did eventually make its way to the public, “This is an investigation only, which I know is weird for us.”

“Used to be, we'd roll up and kick ass, right General?” Leo smiles. The mischief is still there but it’s not a mask for nerves anymore, “Now, we gotta look around.”

“We scouted plenty when we were fighting the Titans, Valdez,” Cas defends, “The difference with the Gaea was that we were behind enemy lines the whole time. Nothing to report back on for that,” Then she sighs, “I’ll see if I can book you some time with our people in Seoul. A flight to Japan from Korea because you can’t resist fits what people think of you.”

There’s that basic plan outlined. Annabeth will be taking a team with her to Sokovia to inspect everything there(In the event that anyone from Wakanda turns up, Cas will fly out and take over.). Her return trip will be diverted to Stark Industries Johannesburg branch to ostensibly assess and help as needed there. In reality, she’ll be looking into this centralized criminal empire that’s hiding itself behind ‘war lords,’ drug dealers, and pirates. 

Leo will be doing something similar.

She wishes she could do this herself but her capacity to investigate abroad is severely hindered by her identity as Cassandra Stark. It would make waves for her to fly in. It’s easier for her to investigate here because she can move around more freely in her own backyard.

Frank and Hazel won’t be staying on the East coast per say, but they do plan to fly out immediately if something comes up. They have the numbers to respond to an initial attack on New York at present and any reinforcements from California would serve to squeeze the opposition into a surrender. She doesn’t like the idea of king of hill tactics with the intent to break a siege…Cas just wishes she knew where this attack will come from. 

Piper grabs Cas on the way out, “You, me, a good couple of vintages, Korean BBQ, and a movie.”

Cas finally cracks a smile, “Damn girl, you asking me out?”

“You’re not my type. Too sporty,” Piper grins, “This is me not wanting to use my credit card.”

“My poor used and abused heart.”

“You’ll recover.”

“Cassie,” Percy calls and something about his tone makes Cas stop and listen , “This can’t bite us in the ass. There’s too much…it’s not like when we were kids.” New quest unlocked. But the solution to this problem won’t appear overnight. It won’t crop up in a week.

She nods before folding all of it away. Cas turns to Hazel, “Stick around? We could use a ladies night. It’s been way too long.”

Hazel smiles and loops her arm with Annabeth already knowing the score for this.

Whatever is happening, it’s going to be rough. Time to build up all of those good memories to use as fuel. 

~~~

“Cassie!” Piper’s screech in her ear cuts through her string of thoughts, “Put the damn phone away and watch Elle Woods slay.” She makes a dramatic lunge for Cas’s phone too which only leads to Cas half crawling over Hazel who just looks so damned confused by all of this.

Which is fair.

Hazel spends more time in New Rome than New York and forgets that Cas can and will behave like a child if given the opportunity. Girl time is one fantastic opportunity. 

“I will. I promise,” She’s still typing by the way, “I just have to finish this-,” She’s cut off by her own squeal when Piper grabs the back of her leg to drag her back.

Annabeth sighs, “Can you act like an adult just this once?”

“No,” is Piper's response at the same time as Cas’s response.

“I’m off the clock,” Then she finishes her email from the refuge of the floor she just rolled onto, “I just had to confirm some import modifications. Tariff percentages shifted again. The Board so hates when the raw materials aren’t optimally priced.”

Annabeth leans forward to look her in the eye, “That requires you?”

Cas shrugs, “Friday could do it and send the plan through to be confirmed but…”

Hazel hums, “It probably doesn’t look good to have an AI program run all of those numbers unchecked.”

Hazel isn’t wrong. Friday can optimize the numbers for them all they want but she’s not legally a person so she can’t have final approval for anything. The financial guys who actually move the money around never disagree with her though and they’re happy to focus their efforts elsewhere. It’s a nearly mindless task for Friday to do and she doesn’t mind.

“Done,” Cas says because she doesn’t sign anything that she didn’t read herself. 

“Finally,” Piper mutters, “What are tariffs for anyway?”

What?

Cas leans forward and stares her down, “You attended an American public school. America. The same America that celebrates the Boston Tea Party? And you don’t know what a tariff is?”

Annabeth snorts while Hazel just smiles.

Piper kicks Cas before she can wiggle away, “I’m asking, aren’t I? I’m an investigative journalist. I don’t write the financial stuff. I just hear everyone complaining about gas prices.”

Cas huffs and shifts to the other side of her coffee table where feet can’t hit her, “That’s a different animal. A tariff is an import tax that the buyer pays to the government who imposed the tariff. So if…and this is simplified…if I want enough chromium for the electronics we’re developing - not manufacturing for sale, just testing purposes at all of our global R&D facilities - then we have to buy it from multiple locations. So, we mine some here in Montana for example, but that’s not enough. Russia, Kazakhstan, China and South Africa also sell to us but the US government has different tax rates based on where it’s from. So does Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Korea, and pretty much any country.” So different amounts from different places end up going to other different places in an attempt to optimize the budget.

The manufacturing part gets even trickier if some steps in the process involve transporting half made products across borders to be completed in countries that also have tariffs. 

It’s all petty government power plays. 

“And this is legal?” Piper asks while staring off towards the television like Reese Witherspoon will stop teaching people how to bend and snap just to answer her questions.

Cas shrugs but Annabeth takes over, “Yes, it is,” She sighs, “But she left out the part about how a government might use tariffs to protect and support domestic industry. If it’s produced here then there’s no import tax. Fantastic idea when the country was just starting off. Not that it would work now. If we started making and buying everything American the prices would sky rocket,” When Hazel looks confused again Annabeth puts her ranting pants on. Cas gives Piper #TheLook for starting this, “We have labor laws! There are no sweat shops in America! Anything we produce is going to be expensive here because we protect and pay our workers. They don’t do that in some of these other countries. It’s not fair but it’s the truth! Then! Then! Don’t forget that this is the government interfering with free market trading! They put tariffs on a country because they don’t want us buying from them! Why are we allowing that?!? That’s literally why the Boston Tea Party happened! The colonists didn’t want to only buy their tea from Britain!”

That was because the colonists didn’t want to foot the bill for the French and Indian War…that was primarily fought by Britain to protect them. 

But yes, tariffs and taxation without representation.

No one ever said that Americans make sense. 

Cas is just here to defend the civil rights of demigods and play with science. The location’s irrelevant. 

“Anyway,” Cas cuts in when Annabeth stops to breathe, “Tariffs are a trade tool. They raise prices only for consumers and governments use them to be annoying and get more money. That’s all.” She stays where she is on the floor and shifts to watch the movie.

The couch has become a little tense. If Annabeth is a little aggressive when she opens her bag of Reese’s Pieces…well, no one comments.

It’s understandable. 

Trade wars are terrible things that raise the prices on necessities. It leaves trade dependent countries impoverished. This isn’t just about cellphones and toilet seats. Some countries cannot produce enough food for their population. They have to get it from somewhere else. If there’s no one to trade with and producing it themselves isn’t an option then they have no choice but to take it by force.

Which is the logic that led to Japan invading Manchuria when America raised tariffs in an attempt to recover from the Great Depression.

Which is also the logic that led to further squalor in post-Great War Germany that grew an Adolf. 

Which is also the logic that further destabilized Spain and led to their Civil War.

Mussolini might’ve also found some crevasses to seep into while everyone was too concerned with finding food and needing someone to blame.

So yeah, tariffs and trade wars are pretty fucking stupid. Starvation and poverty make people desperate. Desperate people shelve things like morality and critical thinking in favor of perceived safety from liars with ‘easy’ solutions.

She gets why this kind of stuff really pisses Annabeth, daughter of Athena, off.

But Cas just wanted to watch a movie with her girlfriends before the world catches fire again. 

“If China doesn’t want demigods in their country then why do they still buy Stark Tech?” Hazel quietly asks.

Hazel has a point. 

It’s surprisingly easy for Stark Industries to sell products to China.

And Cas snorts, “Because we’re the best. And I don’t think they actually care that much about us having a non-human parent. I think it’s lip service.” But Cas is very liberal and doesn’t care about what other people do or think so long as no one hurts her people.

As that old Rabbi said 1,500 years ago, we’re all in the same boat. Don’t sabotage it while at sea because everyone will drown, not just you. That’s some serious paraphrasing but the point stands. 

She imagines that her thoughts wouldn’t be very popular under an oligarchy though.

Demigods are also notoriously difficult to control…

See: Cas attempting to get Clarisse and Michael to stop fighting each other so that they can all fight Kronos in New York.

Anyway: MOVIE NIGHT

They’ve just gotten to the good part where Elle calls out the victim’s daughter for claiming that she was taking a shower after getting her hair done when the world reasserts its presence. Friday interrupts their broadcast to put the news on…

And Cas’s jaw drops.

The news story is ostensibly about the growing weirdness of Enhanced persons in New York.

Fair. 

But…

It’s a person in a hoodie with sweatpants, gloves, a mask, and some goggles on.

This person is maybe 5’ 5’’ with a narrowish build. It’s difficult to make out with the sweats on but this is not a large person.

This not very large person is currently on her TV back-flipping into a clean tuck before landing almost perfectly planted to catch a bus. 

It’s not the bus catching that’s the problem. It’s not even the clothes and gear. It’s the stance. It’s the back handspring routine and the just outwardly turned back-foot that she’s been harping to the kid about since he expressed a desire to learn gymnastics. 

She catches herself pointing at the frozen image from camera footage in Queens.

Oh, she’s going to kill him.

“I’m going to kill him.”

There’s suddenly a cacophony of noise behind Cas that can all be simplified into, “Why in Hades are you promising to kill the person that just saved the lives of the thirty or so people on that bus?”

Well, “That’s my intern!”

The silence is suddenly deafening.

Until, “Unfortunately, Peter has not yet mastered landing at the ready.”

Friday would point that out. 

Piper whistles, “Your intern can catch a bus.”

Cas glares, “My intern is dead.”

~~~

She gets there when she knows that May is home but before Peter gets home from whatever club he has on Wednesdays. It goes something like this.

1. Cas gives May an update on Peter’s status.
2. Then she introduces May to Instagram. 
3. May…well, “What the fuck?”
4. Then May tears his room apart and finds his little costume hidden somewhere in there. 

Cas doesn’t know. She stays in the living room where she’s fuming at the audacity of this kid. 

Yes, May knows that Peter is learning from Cas and that it’s diverged from control over his abilities to science and technology. 

May is all for it. She knows Peter isn’t challenged in class. 

However, May did not know that Peter had - without her knowledge - become the scourge of petty thieves in Queens. She didn’t know that he was helping people using his abilities to…catch overturned public transport for instance. 

Not at all.

So, when she brings the little costume to Cas with its interesting gizmos on it, Cas clenches her teeth, “Harley…”

The goggles are absolutely the handiwork of a child of Hephaestus working on a budget. The devices on the wrists are something else entirely. Cas uses the little trigger and coats the armchair in what looks like a web.

The child with an accidental genetic overhaul from the insane corporation that is still very present in the city is advertising his spider powers with wrist gauntlets that fire spiderwebs, “He’s smarter than this. I know he’s smarter than this. I’ve had long talks with this kid. He’s so smart.”

‘What the fuck?’ is a mild response.

May has other thoughts, “I know he’s a teenager but I didn’t think he was that kind of teenager. I mean he’s never been in trouble. Ever. I’ve never had to ground him. Do I need to ground him? How can I ground my kid for saving lives?”

Somehow, Cas feels guilty. She tattled on this kid to his aunt which is the opposite of the ride or die behavior that she displays with her teammates. If someone tattled on her back in the day she’d be mad as hell. Cas respects this kid’s autonomy.

But, she also knows that Peter Parker is fifteen years old. He is not a fifteen year old demigod in a hostile world that doesn’t know about them. He’s a fifteen year old formerly-baseline human boy with no built in warrior instincts or needs.

So, she ignores this guilt thing because Cas is an adult that was trusted by Peter’s adult to look after the little shit. Ultimately, Peter is under May’s protection so she needs to know all of the information that Cas knows in order to properly care for him.

Right?

That’s how ‘not traumatically aged by experience’ children work…right?

Gods, this kid is great but he’s backed her into a corner here and she’s certain that he doesn’t even understand why. She’ll be sure to explain in detail how stupid and dangerous his actions were to everyone and everything she’s built. 

Later, when she’s not concerned about losing her temper.

They’re both existing in this limbo of not knowing how to deal with the deviant child that’s using his not-so-gods-given abilities to help people when the door opens admitting one(1) Peter Parker to the room. He spots them and freezes in place while his backpack dangles from one arm(Cas notes that the other strap looks ripped.).

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” May doesn’t give the kid a moment to process the implications of them being there either, “Get in here right now!” No, she points angrily at the webbed chair and Cas makes it a point to keep her face blank.

She’s so…

Cas taught this boy so that he could keep himself safe.

She did not do this with the intent to set him loose upon the street level criminals of Queens. She’s not Batman. She’d never willingly train a child with the intent to send them into danger.

She feels…used and lied to and more than a little betrayed.

Cassandra Stark is supposed to protect children. So Cas remains cool and detached while May berates a quiet Peter, “What were you even thinking? Were you thinking? Was there any thinking involved when you stood in the middle of a street and caught an overturned Greyhound?”

That lights a small fire in Peter’s eyes, “There were people on that bus. You can’t expect me to sit there and do nothing. I could-”

“This,” May waves his little costume in the air, “Is not some spontaneous shit. You made this and planned…you,” Her face crumples, “You could’ve been hurt. You could’ve died and I would’ve been at work. Dr. Stark told you people might be after you and you just paraded around back alleyways showing off your powers!”

“Dr. Stark taught me how to use what I can do,” He says and her heart clenches, “What’s the point of learning how to use my powers if I don’t-”

“Do not,” Cas cuts in, “Use me as an excuse. I taught you control. I did not teach you to cosplay as a superhero.”

Peter swallows and leans back. He takes a few deep breaths using relaxing techniques that Cas taught him. It’s a bittersweet sight to see him using her lessons effectively but at the same time she can’t stand him using it to rally against her. 

“What’s the point,” He starts again at a far more reasonable tone, “Of me having these powers if I don’t use them to help people? Uncle Ben said-”

“Stop,” May snaps, “Please, don’t bring him into this. I don’t want to think about what he would’ve done.”

“May,” Peter sets the full force of his puppy eyes on his aunt, “I can help people. I can really help. And when I sit there when bad things happen and do nothing, isn’t it my fault?”

Why is this kid so godsdamned good?

But this?

May stands there with her hands fisted at her sides and her eyes scrunched shut. Cas is pretty sure that she’s willing herself not to cry. Then the tension drains from her and she approaches Peter.

Her kid.

“Oh Peter,” May’s anger runs dry, “Of course not.” And she hugs him instead.

This is that dangerous line again.

Cas sighs, “Peter,” This is Matt all over again but without the Catholic guilt, “You can’t save everyone. That’s not how the world works.” Just a bright-eyed kid who still believes he can make a difference. 

“Dr. Stark, I know that,” He looks her right in the eyes from where his aunt is wrapped around him, “But what about the people I can save?”

This kid is going to get himself killed.

And it’s going to be Cas’s fault.

She sighs when May picks up the conversation, “That is way too much responsibility to put on a teenager’s shoulders.”

“Well, what about the demigods?”

“ Half-Olympians are different, Peter.”

“They don’t like that word,” Peter diverges from the chat, “All the ones I talk to prefer being called demigods. Ask Dr. Stark.”

“That’s not-,” May sighs, “That is not the current topic of conversation, buddy.”

Cas tunes out of the conversation again while trying to figure out what to do. Interfering in Peter’s self-determination is wrong unless his caregiver says what he’s doing is unsafe and forbids it. Once the kid is eighteen he can do whatever it is his altruistic heart desires but until that day comes, she will do her best to keep him safe. 

May isn’t so much scolding Peter anymore as she is trying to squeeze him to death with the force of her hug. The kid is rather skillfully navigating the conversation. He’s clearly been listening to her when she gets calls during their sessions. 

However, Cas needs to set the record straight because apparently Peter decided he was being trained to be some sort of sidekick, “Peter,” She hopes the kid can see how little his words have changed her mind. If anything it’s only steeled her resolve, “If you continue to use the lessons I taught you with the intention of keeping you safe to deliberately put yourself in danger then those lessons will stop.”

May squeezes the bug eyed kid one more time before stepping back and wiping her eyes, “And you’re grounded. One…no two weeks. You go to school and you come home.”

“What?” He stiffens, “But-”

“Listen to your aunt, kid,” Cas stands and brushes the creases from her pants, “She cares. Respect that and I’ll consider letting you back in my workspace.” She has to be so careful. 

This kid wants so badly to help people and he respects her but he made a mistake here. That needs to have consequences. Better he get some temporary restrictions on his freedom and his fun now than accidentally get someone(or himself) killed.

~~~

It’s important to remember that people will always respond better to emotion than a statistic.

It’s why the SPCA has those horrifying commercials with Sarah McLachlan and the sad shaking emaciated dogs instead of 30 seconds of animal abuse rates by state. That kind of emotion generates a certain kind of urgency in people that a table of numbers simply cannot. 

This is why it's important to generate the desired emotion in a target audience in order to achieve the desired outcome. From a certain point of view, this is manipulative. To others, well, it’s steering a ship through hazardous shallows.

But in order to create a lasting change people need to be invested in the success of that change. There must be an urgency. Otherwise, they resist because they’re comfortable with the familiar.

You can tell someone that 33 billion pounds of plastic end up in the ocean each year or that burning fossil fuels speeds up natural greenhouse gas accumulation raising ocean temperatures at an unprecedented rate. That will change exactly nothing for them.

Show them videos of marine life slowly dying while trapped in fishing nets or a family of starving polar bears with no remaining hunting ground and some of the message might just stick. Tell them about the rising water line and show videos of storm systems wiping coastal towns off the map with heartbroken families for maximum impact.

Something needs to be done to fix this or that problem....Hopefully, as long as they don't have to foot too much of the bill and it's not an inconvenience or something.

When it comes to making important decisions…too many people listen to their heart or their gut to make a knee jerk reaction rather than face the challenge head on and think it through. The anxiety that pushes them to take immediate action wins more often than not.

Most people feel more than they think. 

Her life is playing to the audience so that when the majority make that knee jerk reaction it’s in her favor. They have to trust her.

It’s marketing.

It’s politics.

Which is why Cas outsources this sort of thing to the relevant departments so that she can focus on the numbers. The numbers mean something to her. 

All this to say that the publicity on the Sokovia crater has made Cas look like a saint.

A real one, not one of the people that bought sainthood in the 1400s.

She doesn’t quite get it but it’s helping her keep her promises there…and she gets to play with all of the vibranium. The blast that sent her across the room when it got overcharged with kinetic energy gave her so many ideas. 

Not so long but feeling a heck of a long time ago, Cas stood on the edge of the Novigrad crater with Annabeth while she put the finishing touches on her designs for the city. It’s going to be so functional. Finally, there will be a properly designed modern city that is functional. It’ll be walkable. Public transportation routes will be built in. Housing districts, mercantile districts, and business districts are designed to anticipate growth. Theaters, stadiums, public gardens, parks, libraries, and museums have been accounted for by Annabeth.

She even designed them a university. It’ll be massive. Students from all over the world will want to study here. 

Cas is so happy because her job in all of this is to make the numbers work. The architect makes it beautiful and the engineer finds the math to ensure it can be a reality. When this doesn’t line up you end up with structures like the Duomo that took hundreds of years to complete because it took that long to figure out the math for the dome. Right now, Cas has quite a few redundancies in place for any potential hiccups like limits to supplies, manpower, and unexpected weather. It’s more of a formality than anything. Annabeth is more than capable of this but no one wants her getting bogged down in the details.

Not when she so clearly holds a Muse’s favor.

Honestly, the market price of this consultation is astronomical and everyone knows it. The fact that Cas took a comparatively nominal fee, design autonomy for Annabeth(with local consults for approval), and a guarantee of a continued Stark Industry presence is peak charity. It’s also an investment.

If this Accords thing doesn’t work out then she’ll enjoy the irony of moving to the country it was named after to maintain her civil liberties. 

( It’s going to work out. It has to work out. It needs to work out. It’d better work out. )

Cas is here to oversee the installation of the vibranium cables that will run underneath the city. Wireless is great but having an underlying network to fall back on and deliver electricity at the same time…satisfying to say the least. 

She wanted to be here the first few times that the crews actually worked with the metal. They all got a crash course in how dangerous it is as well as a demonstration that included Cas intentionally taking a hit. The lesson should stick but for the sake of their safety she’d rather be a little overbearing. 

As part of the recovery efforts, many of the construction crews include Novigrad citizens and people from Sokovia in general. They’ll likely need to hire outside help eventually but the goal is for as much of the work as possible to go to disenfranchised Sokovians in a bid to stimulate their stagnated economy. Ultron can’t be blamed for that one. These people have been unstable for decades but they have a real shot at something amazing here. 

Anyway, she’s on the outskirts while workers cautiously install the grid structure. That’s not vibranium but it’ll hold the vibranium eventually. That means this needs to be perfect and so far it looks good. 

It’s huge.

There are cranes and all manner of equipment around. It looks like a parkour playground.

They’re on schedule and the vibranium will start arriving within the hour to be worked in. 

Some people have asked Cas why she isn’t using the Iron Legion for this.

She asked those people what in Hades is wrong with them. 

This city was destroyed by a genocidal android. 

Cas isn’t going to rebuild it using humanoid drones puppetted by Friday.

That’s just disrespectful.

The tracking software keeps up a steady stream of information as the truck gets closer and closer to the crater. It does that right up until it doesn’t.

Instead, it does the other thing the software is designed to do.

It starts alarming.

Because, of fucking course, it does.

Cas sprints for her car. Kara is already in the passenger seat and there are several Sword members leaping into other vehicles when Cas already has hers in gear. It’s important to note that Sword has diversified. It’s not just former Shield people in need of a community anymore. 

They’ve blended with some former military employees(the ones that never quite adjusted to civilian life) and oh, yeah, the young demigods chomping at the bit for some action and an opportunity to prove themselves. 

They’re getting along…

So that’s what’s following behind Cas as she speeds towards the transport vehicle screaming its distress, “What am I looking at Friday?”

“Several assailants, Demi-boss,” She chirps through the speakers, “This is a coordinated assault. One male in all black is on top of the transport container. There are two vehicles following behind with towing capabilities.”  

“I want those vehicles disabled,” Cas says, knowing that her words will be disseminated to her little convoy. 

Kara flexes her hands in preparation for possibly taking the wheel from Cas, “Prioritize driver safety?”

Cas says nothing as she barrels down the road towards the truck screaming like R2D2. That’s standard operating procedure with her and everyone knows it. Her mind’s on the vehicle and the silhouette coming into focus balanced on top, “Kara, take the wheel.”

What could be awkward but isn’t shuffling results in Cas shifting to the back seat while Kara takes over driving towards the approaching truck. As they line up, Kara performs a hairpin turn with the handbrake and continues alongside while Cas lowers the window to perch on the side. Her legs are braced against the door as she leans out with her spear to line up the shot.

The two cars that followed Cas blare past to intercept the vehicles that this interloper brought along. A deep breath to confirm her sights precedes her jump from the car to the roof of the under siege shipping container. Now that she can see this alleged thief better…well…cat ears? And pitch black armor in the middle of the day…

“Wrong convoy, Calico Jack,” She lands lightly with her spear held loosely at her side. The other man is crouched to pounce. It’s all very catlike. But he’s not carrying any other weapons and that skin tight, may-as-well-be-painted-on armor isn’t hiding anything. He’s not armed beyond close quarter combat.

The cat man straightens but maintains his center of gravity slightly forward on the balls of his feet. He’s ready for the slightest provocation.

But he doesn’t say anything.

No. He’s just standing like he has the right to be defensive.

She huffs out a breath, “I knew some idiot would be stupid enough to take a shot at the vibranium,” His shoulders tighten and his little kitty cat claws flex. Those look sharp, “Which is why I planned for a decoy truck.” She did not. This is the real truck carrying the daily allotment of vibranium for the construction site.

She is lying.

Cas always planned to reinforce one location for the vibranium and guard it while it was in transport because splitting her defenses unnecessarily felt stupid. That whole ‘find the lady’ schtik only works if she can sneakily remove the lady from play. That’s not possible when moving a truck full of one of the most valuable substances on the planet.

The man straightens, “I know that the vibranium is here.” Confident.

Interesting.

…But.

That accent…

She sighs, “Wakanda? I told your little messengers to go through the proper channels if you wanted to plead your case for this vibranium. Sending a wet team doesn’t help you at all.” In fact, this is going to decimate their claim. 

“This metal is sacred and stolen from our people,” He says, “It belongs to Wakanda.”

It belongs in a museum!

Cas resists the urge to snort, “Yeah, whatever you say you sanctimonious highwayman,” She points her spear at him instead, “Get off my truck before I throw you into oncoming traffic.”

“I would like to see you try,” He says while easing back into an at the ready stance.

He’s going to lunge for her. The way his muscles are bunched up and the intensity of his convictions tell her that he won’t wait for her to move. 

He proves her right.

Now, this is a bit of an ‘oh, shit’ moment for Cas. Cat Man wouldn’t know this but she can, with some effort, pierce vibranium with celestial bronze. She knows this because apparently she may have dented Captain America’s shield during that confrontation around the cradle when she deflected it with her spear. 

It was repaired. She almost wishes that it wasn’t.

The edges on a blade made from celestial bronze, imperial gold, and stygian iron never need to be sharpened or polished. That’s part of their innate power. 

Armor can be pierced, though.

However, when Cas intentionally tried to damage vibranium…well she had a much easier time sawing through CrCoNi than she did cutting bits of vibranium.

It’s a hell of a substance and given the belief system centered around it in addition to its base scientific properties. The Wakandan people really believe in the power of their super metal.

So, it’s like going up against other Olympian metals. They can harm each other.

Back to the ‘oh, shit’ moment. This man is attacking her but Cas does not want to be responsible for maiming, harming, or killing a Wakandan national while on Sokovian soil. That feels potentially problematic. So instead, Cas goes full Heracles and she hates it a little bit regardless of the effectiveness.

Cat Man pounces. Cas dismisses her spear and rolls underneath, gets her legs under her and countertackles the man…off the storage container. They go flying off the roof which is roughly fourteen feet above the road and into the drainage ditch which is a trench another five feet down.

Cas isn’t a monster. She doesn’t know how much punishment this man can take even in his fancy get up. So being the merciful saint that this part of the world believes she is, Cas takes the initial impact with maybe 220 pounds of man on top of her.

But he gets the secondary roll.

Her fist in his gut.

And as an added bonus…

She’s sure to slam the back of his head into the ground before rolling to her feet.

She stretches out her back as she steps away because that did not feel good. 

He jumps to his feet not long after she did and while she’s still rolling out her shoulders.

“Kara,” Cas says into her wrist, “Continue with the truck.”

The man glances towards the road like he wants to run the truck down and Cas tenses to intercept.

He won’t actually do it…

…

He takes off for the truck.

He’s pretty fast too.

He probably wasn’t expecting Cas to slam into him while doing her best impersonation of said truck. They both go sprawling across the ground. She tries to twist his arms up behind him and manages to plant her knee in his back. He contorts himself out of her hold(stronger than ordinary man…okay) and rakes those claws down her arm, easily splitting skin. Rather than impale him like she wants to do, her response is to punch him across the jaw with her other arm. 

He goes down but now Cas has aching knuckles/wrist/arm because there is in fact vibranium in that helmet and one arm that is bleeding quite profusely.

Still, “No, you can’t have the truck.”

That’s when she hears the heart-stopping words, “My prince! We must leave.” Come bouncing down the embankment.

No fucking way. 

No.

No way anyone, even an isolationist nation like Wakanda, is that fucking stupid when it comes to international relations. No way would they not only send a team stupid enough to casually claim their country in a sentence but also send the heir to their throne into an illicit operation on foreign soil.

Her bleeding arm is hanging down, dripping blood along her fingers. She has a bit before the volume loss hits. Probably. It’s possibly the explanation for the insanity in front of her. 

“Please, don’t be the prince of a sovereign nation attempting military action in a foreign land that was already invaded by a third party this year. Please.”

She must’ve rung the man’s bell even with the vibranium because he’s a bit slower to roll to his knees and push himself up.

“Cassandra!” She hears the pounding of feet and doesn’t need to turn to know that her reinforcements are here.

The casual use of her name means there’s a demigod amongst them, “Σπεῦδε βραδέως.” Hasten slowly. Move with intent but don’t rush.

This just became so godsdamned complicated. If it was just some morons stealing from her then they could just call the authorities but now…

One of those female warriors pulls their prince up and behind them. They glare at Cas like she’s the problem and maybe she is from their perspective.

But they’re the ones that escalated this.

She clenches her jaw when someone starts applying pressure to the deepest wounds on her arm. They sting but not as much as this whole situation stings. She is trying to build a lasting peace here and these randoms are sabotaging her. 

“You should know that I’ve recorded all of this,” She says to the prince while disregarding his hoard of angry protectors, “I don’t know what the plan was but you’re lucky I’m nice.” Really, she doesn’t want to deal with the kind of international fallout a situation like this would turn into, “You leave and tell your king all about this little tiff and let him know that I’m awaiting his apology.” Expecting a conversation and that apology is more accurate.

“You have no right to make demands of our king!” Says the angry woman holding a very interesting spear, “You have no right at all in this.”

“She does though,” Says the voice beside Cas…oh that’s Malcolm. She’s glad Malcolm came with her now. That boy isn’t bothered by anything anymore, “She could’ve killed your prince. He attacked her. She didn’t go for blood even though he did. And he’s still the one that ended up on his knees.”

Dammit, Malcolm.

That woman tightens her grip on her spear and Cas readies herself for another round.

“Okoye, enough,” The Prince says while removing his cat helmet. He’s relatively young and royalty and pretty damned strong. He’s confident in his authority but reckless in his delivery, “I am Prince T’Challa, son of King T’Chaka. We are here for the vibranium.” One of his hands carefully prods at his jaw and she is vindictively glad when he winces. 

He deserved it for opening her arm like that. 

“That so?” Everyone around Cas shifts again as the tension ratchets up with every word the Prince says. 

His own face doesn’t betray a thing. He’s a well trained prince even if he thinks he’s too big for his breeches, “It is sacred to Wakanda. A gift from the heavens themselves.”

“Wild,” Cas says, “That’s what we call demigods.” She hides the wince at someone wrapping something around her arm. It’s not like she can look without taking her eyes off the danger in front of her.

He continues like she hasn’t spoken, “Much was stolen by the criminal Ulysses Klaue. We will restore it to its rightful place within our borders and under our protection.”

Well…

At least, he’s straight forward, if repetitive.

Cas doesn’t have any kind of compromise for this. They’ve already had this same conversation, “I’d say over my dead body but we’ve already established that you don’t have what it takes,” His jaw clenches but she’s grasping here. There’s almost nothing Cas can say to diffuse the bomb that’s in front of her. This level of intransigence is what generates primary adversaries. Examples of these include monsters, Titans, Giants, and General Ross. They are opponents that want total defeat of the opposition. There isn’t any wiggle room with this. Conceding to these Wakandans demands isn’t something she’s willing to do here. However, she really doesn’t want another primary adversary….She wants to speak to the manager, “But tell you what, after you’ve brought your King up to speed,” It’s the minute shift in weight that confirms it for Cas, “And I’m guessing that’ll take a while since he doesn’t know you’re here,” Silence. Her smile is more of a bearing of teeth now, “But after you have that conversation, I’ll speak with him.”

Should Cas be demanding to speak with a foreign king?

Probably not.

But she is seething right now.

Cas is trying to give something back to a people who lost everything but here is the Prince of Wakanda standing on ceremony and tradition. 

Another one of the women sneers, “How dare you-”

“Ayo,” T’Challa calls out evenly, “That is enough. It is clear that we will not achieve our objective here today and we have overstayed our welcome. Dr. Stark, you will hear from us soon. Hopefully, you will be more receptive to what we have to say.”

Cas lets them back away and return to their unmarked vehicles that look more than a little beat up. They won’t be getting the deposit back on those.

That was a terrible first impression.

Chapter Text

~~~

"Success tends to create pride and blindness in the hearts of men, while suffering teaches them to be patient and strong." 

— Xenophon

~~~

Cas took a normal jet home this time. For official Stark Industries business, a Quinjet is overboard. Those things are for emergencies only even if it means that the jet was redirected to JFK Airport which was incredibly kind of them. Air traffic is unusually high currently and otherwise she’d be circling the skies above Newark for another 90 minutes before getting to a small jet sized airstrip. 

But she so badly wants to get in her fluffy, very expensive, and entirely worth it bed/sheets/blankets followed by just sleep. 

Cas is currently curled up in her softest hoodie dealing with the itchiness that is the godsdamned cat scratches butterfly bandaged together. It pairs magnificently with the fully bloomed bruises along her spine. Those do ache.

Did Ms. Palamas try to stitch the admittedly deep slashes?

Yes, she did.

Did Cas threaten to cut them out and duct tape her injuries shut if the woman dared to try?

Yes, she did.

It doesn’t hurt. They’re not bleeding. They’ll be fully closed tomorrow once she’s properly eaten and slept. She doesn’t even mind that they’re going to scar despite the use of ambrosia. Kind of matches the ones she has on her thigh from another animal based misadventure…

But right now they itch, which is the worst part of wound healing.

So Cas, in her jeans, work-boots(she was on an active construction site), and MIT hoodie. The boots were just too much effort to unlace when moving her fingers sent sparks of pain radiating up her arm. Now, it’s pure laziness.

When the plane touches down and her ears finish popping, Cas organizes her papers so that the immigrations people(who at this point she knows by name, godsdammit) can more easily do their jobs and jumps down the stairs back into her regularly scheduled New York City air.

Ah. Queens.

In deference to the occasion, her phone waited until her feet were on the ground before it started to ring.

Is it someone who only wants to talk?

No. That’s not why people call her.

Three guesses.

Matthew.

‘Slayer of her Sleep Schedule.’

Murdock.

“Please, Matt,” Truly. She’s not up for this now, “Not tonight. The crisis line is tired.” And in fluid/calorie deficit.

“I’ve got a hostage situation with kids involved,” He says and while Cas can’t hear like him she thinks she can feel just a little bit of his guilt, “I’m following one of the parents. You remember Gibson? He’s the accountant for the Yakuza.”

Roxxon…with the demigod list.

And he’s given the victim’s parent a face.

She can picture his weaselly little expressions.

“I’m currently in Queens,” She sighs, “But make sure your location’s on. I’ll come to you.”

With the time difference, it’s still dark as the Pit and she doesn’t let that slow her down despite the exhaustion dogging at her heels. Her Sword team, which was also at her heels, further taxes her energy with their stubbornness but eventually concedes to being on standby. That’s for the best because Matt would not appreciate them at all. They use guns.

Now, the car that Cas is driving with reckless abandon uncomfortably tangential to Peter Parker’s neighborhood is blessedly silent and she can mentally prepare for another fight. Under normal circumstances, Cas would go out of her way to conceal her identity when going after people that would target children. Or she would have last year.

However…

However, she’s not going to make Matt or the kids wait for her to toddle along after finding some sort of disguise. Moreover, she wants Roxxon to know that she’s coming for them.

It doesn’t take her all that long to get there this late at night. Even the ‘city that never sleeps’ dozes for an hour or so while late transitions to early.                                

She finds them crouched behind a dumpster.

Gibson’s pleading voice is begging Matt to let him go too. 

Matt dismisses him immediately before he looks up at Cas, “Besides, Dr. Stark is here to ensure all of the kids get out safely. Isn’t that right?”

Gods, she wants to yell at this man. But…

At least he’s providing her with an outlet for the frustration she couldn’t unleash on the CROWN PRINCE OF WAKANDA. 

She considers sketching a formal bow but decides against it, “Your cavalry, Daredevil.” She glances at Gibson before continuing like she doesn’t have any kind of familiarity with Matt. She’s going in as her so they can’t actually know each other, “Can’t say this is what I meant when offered help when lives were on the line.”

“Well,” He jumps the fence, “Lives are on the line.”

She follows but not before saying to Gibson, “I’ll be back with your son.” 

The building they approach is yet another nondescript warehouse. It…there must be hundreds if not thousands of buildings like this that Cas could walk past at any time and something awful is happening inside. That it’s here in Hell’s Kitchen where she’s put a good amount of time and money…well, “Who am I fighting?” Cas breathes.

“Yakuza,” Matt answers just loud enough for her to hear.

These guys again.

Although, she has to revise that when she enters the building and stifles a gag behind her hand. Something is very wrong with this place.

ABOMINATION!

This place is bad.

It’s dark and gritty with shelves of weapons, ammunition, and other things labeled in symbols that Cas can’t read.

But beyond that basic level of it being a den for criminals, it’s a bad place.

abomination…

And when she hesitates Matt tilts his head in question but she just waves him on. That feeling isn’t going to keep her from those kids. If anything, it sharpens her focus.

Cas isn’t a ninja like Matt. 

Cas is trained in stealth by life experience but not like Matt. The way he hides in shadow…if she didn’t know better she’d wonder if he was related to Nico. He’s not. The man looks like his father…she wonders if he knows that. She’ll be sure to tell him when the opportunity arises. 

But this? This is startlingly easy for the two of them. These supposedly elite Japanese mobsters fall before they recognize the threat in the room.

When Cas fought the Russians with Matt, they each took a room and that was that.

This is different. 

She defers to his superior senses when needed. He defers to her speed and strength when multiple targets need to be dropped within the span of a few heartbeats. It’s like having one of the Argonauts with her. There’s an easy push and pull between their strengths.

It’s so easy that Cas seamlessly shifts behind a door frame when he signals her. She hears some talking but not in English and too quiet for Friday to translate from the microphone in her watch. An older phone rings.

And Matt strikes from the shadows with his blunt force weapon. Looks like eskrima to her but he throws them with vicious precision. One man drops, she hears another man scrambling to slide a magazine into a gun, and Matt slips from the shadows.

It must be terrifying to men like these ones. 

She can’t hear what Matt says and she can’t understand what the other man near the phone says but she hears metal scraping along the floor. The gun.

“There are more men outside,” The well spoken but still accented voice says. 

She doesn’t hear Matt’s reply but she does hear that same man laugh.

Moron.

Neither of them are in the mood for that. 

Emphasized by the sound of him getting hit by Matt.

Then she hears Matt, “What’s in the basement?”

His question is immediately answered by vague poetry, “The rising is coming.” She doesn’t like that. It dances across her brain like a prophecy sending dread signals everywhere. Her hand tightens on her spear. Matt still had control of the room but if it slips even a little…, “You are but one man Akuma-San. You cannot stop what we have started.”

She hears movement in the room and all it takes is a little tap. Matt double taps a table as he walks by and Cas just knows to step out. There’s one other man with silver hair whose hands are shaking. He doesn’t get the chance to process her appearance before she warps to his side and breaks his nose against a desk. 

When she turns and looks at the man Matt has pinned, he doesn’t look so ready to laugh anymore.

Good.

Matt shoves the man forward and he leads them to a stairwell. It goes down several floors. It’s dimly lit, dank, and even Cas can smell something wrong with the air.

abomination…

And that too.

She keeps far enough back that anyone looking would only see Matt or Cas at a glance. It’ll give them time to react should the unfortunate happen, “There’s something very wrong with this place,” She breathes.

It’s triggering all of the danger sirens that a monster ridden hole would have back in the day.

This is a very bad place.

She stays up a flight when Matt enters the basement, “Is someone there?”

“Someone…” The man trails off.

Cas waits until they’re a few steps inside before joining Matt and their unhelpful guide.

It’s…

Gao and her slaves were a lot for Cas to comprehend.

This is worse.

There are children. Filthy, dirty, sweaty children in cages.

The smell is so horrendous that it feels like it's coating the back of her throat. She can’t imagine what it feels like to Matt.

They look Peter’s age…

A poorly ventilated room of sick, unwashed bodies and when she manages to confirm they’re breathing and yanks her eyes away she sees the tubing running along the ceiling towards a sarcophagus(avoid thinking about that nightmare fuel). Her processing of the room moves on towards hearing next. The bubbling draws her attention to the glass vats of…blood. That’s blood.

One groans startling their guide who tries to run. Cas kicks his legs out from under him, “You stay there.” When he tries to crawl away she loses her patience and wacks him over the head with the blunt end of her spear, “Lucy,” Cas whispers, “Roxxon had…” She swallows, leading Matt to face her, “They had a list of demigod children that they’re watching.”

He turns back, “Are any of these…?”

“I don’t know,” But, “Does it matter?” Not right now…But…

“Jesus,” Matt twists back to the kids and follows the tubing to the glass vat, “What are they doing to you?”

With the benefit of time and the merciful effect of going noseblind, Cas notices that the blood is going into the glass tank from the kids, “Gods, we need to clamp the tubing.”

Before she can get started Matt’s attention shifts to the door, “Daniel!” And Gibson comes running in, “Daniel!” Screaming before crashing into relief, “Daniel. Oh, Daniel.” He falls to his knees before one of the cages scrabbling for the locks.

“We’re gonna get them out,” Matt attempts to reassure the man, “Stan, we’re gonna get them all out.”

“Daniel, my boy,” Gibson cries, unable to acknowledge anything beyond his son.

Matt lunges across the cages and grabs something that jangles.

Keys…

Cas doesn’t have the patience for keys right now. Her spear acts as a lever for her to snap the locks clean off.

She moves on to the next cage.

…danger…

Threat creeps up from all of the horror pressing down on her shoulders. 

Her spear is up to deflect the dagger hurled at her back. Matt’s head darts to the side from his crouched position in front of another cage.

There’s a man in black on the other side of the room and he is an abomination, “They weren’t finished.” He says. There are no identifying marks or sigils on the man. Nothing to signal his allegiance to any specific authority.

But he definitely looks like a ninja.

Cas crosses to the middle of the room, “Triage and stabilize, Daredevil.” Without taking her eyes off of the ninja in front of her. He threw those knives very quickly…almost as fast as Rogers can throw his shield.

She falls into a defensive position. There are wounded children behind her.

He will not get to the children.

“Ca-...Dr. Stark,” Matt starts but the ninja charges.

He is fast for a human .

He is fast, skilled, and wrong. He shouldn’t…He feels wrong. He moves like a very graceful human. There’s nothing that he doesn’t which gives any indication of speed or strength beyond that of a human so Cas does her best to not give him the Wilson Fisk treatment while remaining aware that this is a ninja who threw a knife at her back.

At close range he could still slip a knife between her ribs. Especially when she came here in an MIT hoodie like the lazy, arrogant, dumbass that she is. 

Cas blocks a kick on her arm and counters with her knee but he shifts away with only a graze. Fast and too close for her spear. This needs a clean take down and answers so she can’t snap him in half on one of the cages despite it being tempting. The man hasn’t pulled any more blades so she dismisses hers to mitigate the risk of excess damage to her target.

She didn’t flinch when she blocked that hit. It didn’t hurt despite being the same arm held together by butterflies.

But when the ninja backs up realizing that Cas wants him in that half of the room and wedged towards the wall, he says, “A hemitheos of your skill comes to fight me injured?” He shouldn’t know that. 

A flex of her arm confirms that the bandages are still in place. She allowed Ms. Palamas to use some stinging adhesive wipe to make it stick better so…not open. Whatever. She is fighting a ninja. 

“Don’t say you're concerned.”

“On the contrary,” He winds up, “I’m insulted.”

The ensuing fight…odd. He’s not a hard hitter. But he’s faster now. 

However, Cas is a hard hitter and she’s fast(est)…For all his skill, he still has human speed. This must be how some of the larger immortal beings felt while being jabbed at and fought by demigods.

That doesn’t mean that the demigods don’t win. The weaker fighter can win. It’s Cas’s entire shtick every time she fights above her weight class. 

No, his speed isn’t the problem here. Ah…that stings a bit. He’s a better fighter. That shifts the perspective. The ninja is a higher quality fighter than Cas is. His moves aren’t something that she easily predicts and this method of moving is totally unfamiliar to her. So of course he manages to tag her bruises and land a blow right where the deepest gashes are on her arm(that one pisses her off). Especially when she’s holding herself back to prevent serious damage.

It’s like trying to herd a particularly violent squirrel into a box.

Damn her lingering sense of morality present even when there are tormented children behind her. Chiron’s therapy helped. Impressive given the recent…more recent events in Sokovia.

With that in mind, Cas doesn’t feel like playing nice with the non-demigod human any more.

No, Cas just needed a single moment to drop her shoulder while the ninja tried to be fancy to catch him in the chest, send him slamming into the edge of one of the cages, and sprawling into the floor. His breathing indicates that she did some damage but he’s still conscious which is good enough for her.

The whole exchange lasted maybe two minutes.

Maybe she wanted to drag it out a bit….

She doesn’t take her eyes off the cold gaze of the ninja on the ground. Nor does she stop him from rolling to his feet. His movements are more wary now, “I’m guessing, you’ve never fought a demigod before. Not judging but,” Bit of a lie, “You’re outclassed.”

“In strength, yes,” He concedes, “But that is not all that decides a battle.”

“No, it really isn’t.” But it’s not going to help him here.

“Cassie! Weapon! It’s sharp!” 

Faster than before, the ninja pulls some sort of chain weapon.

No.

No, no, no.

Cas needs some fucking coffee or at least some more ‘sneak and take down’ with Matt because that honestly made her feel so much better despite this being one of the creepiest places known to man.

(Phrased as such because Tartarus isn’t known to man and thus wouldn’t qualify.)

She ducks but also grabs the blade by the hilt.

Time’s up. Her last shred of patience is gone. The vague concept of ‘be gentle with the non-demigod warrior’ is depleted. 

Cas tightens her grip and pulls. The ninja staggers forward. Her knee empties his lungs of air. Her grip on his shoulders tightens and she throws him into the side of the cage again. This time he can’t contain the gasp that the impact causes.

“That’s impossible…,” Matt says, “You’re dead.”

The ninja drags himself up the side of the cage and pulls off his mask, “You will find that there is no such thing,” To reveal a face made up of burn scars. His skin looks waxy and inflexible, yet he has eyebrows set over functioning eyes with eyelashes.

“Nobu…”

Nobu? The ninja from the docks that caught fire…

“I know a couple of deities that would disagree with you,” Cas pulls the ninja’s focus back to her.

Nobu straightens, eliciting a disgusting cracking noise and something in his eyes changes.

Abomination…not human.

Wrongwrongwrong…

“It has been an honor to witness the strength of the hemitheos in person,” He grants her the shallowest bow without breaking eye contact before making a break for another door. She contemplates chasing but…Cas is here for the children. If Matt wants he can track the undead ninja down later…with her help.

She really doesn’t want him facing that thing alone.

She can’t figure out what it is…is it human? It looked human and it moved like one but it was so… wrong . She thought it was a really off human right up until the end there.

Then she saw void eyes….Eyes like…

Cas shudders.

Abomination.

“We need the police…and ambulances.”

No, again. Cas turns to observe every single one of the broken bodies. Her spine straightens, her chin lifts, and something in her makes Matt’s head tilt, “I’m taking them under my protection. They’ll be treated and cared for at Stark Tower.” A little ping notifies Cas that Friday passed that message along to the team, “If the city of New York wants to provide transport then I’ll accept but every single one of these kids will receive care from me and mine.”

He huffs a breath, “That’s better than any idea I had.”

~~~

Cas stands with her arms crossed while the horrified officers mill about the room. One had to go back to the stairwell so that his vomit didn’t compromise the crime scene. 

She knows that she’s hovering and whatever aura she’s putting out into the world is working because no one even hints at Cas leaving the scene. She watches the paramedics with their gurneys as they load each one up and move them out. 

One officer asks about the sarcophagus…

The sarcophagus from the room with a vat of sacrificial children’s blood.

Gods, that is too much like…

Evil thing.

It’s an evil thing.

“Keep it away from the kids. Other than that, make it disappear.”

The man on the floor is carried off as well.

She doesn't ask before getting into the passenger seat of the squad car following behind the fleet of ambulances. Then, she belayed the detective's order to scatter and converge on Stark Tower. After her issues with Wakanda trying to hijack her vibranium…it's unrelated but it's still present in her mind. Friday can bring the car to its designated parking spot so they can get the circus on the road.

And Matt? He slipped out somewhere but Cas has a feeling that he's nearby too.

Just like she suspected, the drive is quiet. The ninjas lack the audacity and immediate numbers to attack her.

There is a diverse team waiting at the drop off in the parking garage. She doesn't know what her medical people have planned but she watches every Child of Apollo pale when approaching the kids. That flurry of activity is disregarded in favor of greeting Happy, Maria, and Kara at the entrance to the loading dock.

“You here to review the security protocols?” Maria asks without looking up from her ever present tablet.

Cas sighs and stretches. A wince slips out…yeah, butterflies broke, “Sure…Am I bleeding?” She knows she's sweaty. That basement was a sauna of unwashed bodies but her maroon MIT hoodie seems extra wet on her arm.

Kara rolls her eyes, “Should've let me stitch it.”

“No,” She tries to get a visual but her shoulder doesn't fit out of the top. Oh, well, “I'll let one of the others practice later.” With butterfly bandages.

Happy is…He might be disassociating. 

The security is better than what the President gets.

That's her security situation.

Given what Stark Tower houses regularly and the data that sometimes passes through here…they're not being paranoid.

Helen is ready to receive their patients. Her team is amazing so no concerns there. Sword has this all locked down. A very vague update regarding cooperation with the NYPD was sent to her father. That means Cas isn't needed right now.

She should…go home?

Get home? Get her prickling arm treated?

Or…

Gym. A few hours of running forms should solve that drive to fight left over from foreign and domestic problems and she’ll be close to her bed. 

It’s a wonderful idea.

“What happened to your arm?” Echoes out across the parking level. It’s still dark, so there’s nothing but the sparse garage lamps.

Cas pauses in the middle of the crosswalk to shoot a nearby camera a questioning look. Even if Matt managed to climb inside, Friday still should’ve alerted her to the man’s presence. From there she shifts to where Matt is walking out of the shadows hunched over with a hoodie pulled over his head, “Why are you walking like you’re in Gangster’s Paradise?”

“Just because I asked Friday to let me in doesn't mean I want everyone seeing my face,” He says.

That is not a consideration she ever expected to hear from someone outside of her family.

“You asked Friday,” She might be a little incredulous.

He shrugs, “She was kind enough to hold the alarm.”

No one other than family, the demigods, and the Stark Industries community has treated her father’s AIs as anything other than quirky computer programs, “If she likes you that much then you don't have to worry about. Camera or not, no one’ll see your face,” Especially not the Avengers.

“Call it personal preference,” then he shifts back to business, “What going on in there?”

She sighs and shakes her head, “Other than me learning a whole new swear vocabulary from angry medical staff? A whole lot of nothing. Tox screen is negative for the typical drugs but according to Helen they're all ‘actively trying to die.’ Her words, not mine.”

“That's it?”

She shifts her arm again. The stickiness of the partially dried blood and hoodie is annoying, “They just got here. Give it some hours to rule out natural causes.” Because that's not some overdose or infection.

Matt's focus intensifies and it's weird that she can tell because he doesn't bother with faking eye contact or anything, “You're sure?”

The chills come back, “That place was wrong. It was…it's a bad place. The kids…they're just ordinary kids. We haven't identified them yet,” their fingerprints are gone…, “But we'll figure something out.”

“Then this isn't about the Yakuza anymore.”

No, it's not.

And Cas is scared.

This is what Roxxon/Yakuza/??? does to ordinary children. She shies away from all the ‘what ifs’ her mind is generating around the demigod list…and Peter. Her fists clench….running through forms and combinations probably won't be enough to shut her mind up tonight.

“What did you do to your arm?” Matt pulls her brain out of nightmare land, “I noticed the old blood earlier but Nobu reopened it.”

How to explain that the crown prince of a sovereign nation that everyone mistakenly thinks is full of wool farmers is enhanced and attempted to steal a precious resource from another nation in front of her eyes without the authorization of his king?

“...it was a cat.”

Now Matt gets to be incredulous, “A cat?”

She approximates the size with her hands, “Man-sized with razor sharp claws.”

Absolutely none of this is a lie.

And yet Matt still gives her a look that drags the barest hint of amusement into her soul.

Worth it.

“Come on,” She waves him on, “I'm feeling charitable. Let me drop you off. It's too early.” She also shouldn't talk about the incursion until Sokovia decides what they want to do and Wakanda responds. It's still a possibility for this to be resolved quietly and amicably.

“It's not that far,” he attempts to decline, “I won't be seen.”

She crosses her arms, “Don't you have court in a few hours. That cross examination with Castle was intense but that bit about refusing to diminish his brothers’ PTSD diagnoses by attempting to hide behind it…impactful, to say the least.”

Matt's huff of a laugh turns into a dry, “He didn't put it as politely.”

“That's because he's a soldier not a Strategos,” Cas shrugs, “No BS on the battlefield.” Officers on the other hand have to know how to say something in order to get it. Rhodey calls it the DC two step, “But that doesn't matter. You have an early morning and I don't. Let me save you some time.” 

He stands there observing her for a whole minute before sighing, “As long as you're not putting me in a Ferrari.”

It catches Cas by surprise and she laughs, “I'm taking the Audi today, actually. Does that meet your needs, sir?”

Cas doesn't live to make other people uncomfortable but the way Matt's hand clenches on the handle over the door when she turns a hair too fast out of the parking garage is very satisfying. She's still dealing with two problems though: sleep and sustenance. Then she sees the light, “Oh gods, that's perfect.”

“What?” Sadly, Matt cannot.

“Ramen bar,” Fluids, salt, carbs, and goodness, “Tonkotsu, my beloved,” She turns to park already planning toppings for her ramen bowls(It’s more than a little bit possible that Cas has hit the exhaustion wall of ‘everything’s a great idea after 3 AM’ but that’s okay.)

“Cassandra,” Matt complains, “It’s four in the morning.”

“It’s closer to five,” She pauses halfway out of the car, “You don’t want any?” She doesn’t give him the chance to respond, “Too bad. You’re eating too. I’m not about to sit here and eat in front of you with you getting something too.” Cas may have pulled a 180 with regards to her intent to shorten Matt’s trip home but…food.

“I don’t-,” His head tilts, “Is it open?”

Is it open? Gods, “This is New York. A woman can get ramen during any of the twenty four hours in a day.” She can see his mind sorting through the toppings.

A smile flickers across his face, “Miso,” He unclips his seatbelt, “But I’ll order myself.”

Whatever, “It’s not like it’ll change who’s paying.”

They wind up sitting cross legged on the hood of her car not far from his building.(“You won’t dent the fiberglass. Relax.”) Cas feels a lot more like herself now that she’s on her third bowl. There’s just something about ramen.

“So, I have a question,” Matt asks after he’s put a dent in his own bowl.

She pauses with the chopsticks halfway to her mouth, “Okay?”

“What kind of a cat can cut your arm to ribbons, is man sized, and lives in Eastern Europe?”

Her noodles are returned to the bowl. Lying doesn’t exactly work with Matthew Murdock, “Are we excluding mythological creatures?”

“Hmmm,” He takes his time with his egg, “We can. If you were in a fight with something like that then you would’ve said so. You’d never be able to resist the shock factor.”

She blinks, “Shut up.”

He actually laughs for once, “You were very clear about it being man-sized. I’m wondering how it happened,” He knocks her knee with his elbow, “Don’t say a tiger. I might be blind but I do know those are larger than man-sized,” Her answering eye roll is nearly painful. The man probably knows that there aren’t any tigers just hanging around over there.

“Look, Mr. Lawyer,” She says, “Every once in a while, I get caught up in what’s known as an international incident. Until I know the official story, I shouldn’t say.” Hopefully, the Accords will help reduce the potential for enhanced taskforces from different countries clashing. That could get so messy. It does have her wondering how different groups of enhanced from different parts of the world measure up.

His eyebrows attempt to reach his hairline. Such is his surprise, “So…man-cat. Is man-cat new?”

“Unfortunately,” She sighs, “At the risk of going full lower east side, man-cat is a schmuck.”

“Not a malaka?”

She shouldn’t have been surprised. Witty is definitely a word for Matt when he’s not being dour. And she needed a laugh, “No, didn’t qualify.” And while she needed the laugh, it didn’t stop her back from twinging in protest. She brings her opposite fist up to dig into the muscle.

And of course, bat-ears notices, “Even though you have split knuckles and deep tissue bruising down your back.”

“Gods,” She wants to hunch over her ramen but that would be displaying too much weakness, “Is this how you feel when I’m attempting to get you medical help? It feels unfair. This,” She uses her chopstick wielding hand to gesture to her injuries, “Will all be gone in a couple of days. You stay all feeble and damaged for ages.”

“Or,” He counters, “It could be that I don’t like seeing my friends hurt, Cassandra.”

Huh.

That’s…

She’d originally planned on avoiding that…Matt is self-destructive, angry…high risk. Positive aspects include a level of loyalty and determination she’s never seen outside of Percy Jackson himself. She already had a friend like that once and it didn’t work out. He was fun too. But Cas prefers to avoid repeating history.

Yet here she is eating ramen at five in the morning on the hood of her car with him.

She clucks her tongue, “You can’t see.”

“You know what I meant.”

He’s not looking at her. To anyone else, his focus appears to be on his ramen bowl but she knows it isn’t, “Yeah, well, the point of this was to get you home so you could get a token hour of shut eye, not diagnose my injuries and dig up the story. Go to bed.” She quickly finishes her remaining broth and gathers her trash. There should be a dumpster around the corner.

“Cassandra, really? Your heart rate finally dropped back to your normal. I can tell you’re still in pain but you’re less tense. And your arm still needs to be cleaned out.”

“And?” She does appreciate that she can walk off but not raise her voice for him. His hearing is convenient most of the time.

He, however, raises his voice for her, “Let me take care of it. You’re already here. Consider letting whatever exhausted med student you were going to bully into treating you sleep.”

That hits her right in the morals. Cas was going to ask one of Lamark High-Rises med students to help her out but it is in fact a school night…school morning. She wasn’t going to bully them though.

Doing it herself would be messy and awkward. She’s been trying to learn some more emergency aid given that so much of the Sword staff she’s been working with are fragile but that doesn’t translate to both holding a wound shut and bandaging it with one hand. Also, Matt wasn’t wrong about her finally coming down. She almost feels tired now. Looks like excesses of carbs did the trick.

Once she’s dumped her trash and returns to the car, she finds Matt pretending to be chill. He’s not chill but he’s pretending to be, “My blood is really bothering you, isn’t it?” His shoulders tense, “Sorry. This is honestly more annoying to me than anything.” It’s a truthful statement even if her arm is throbbing now that she’s relaxed and thinking about it. The thing doesn’t want to be ignored anymore. She’s eaten but she won’t be sleeping until after it’s taken care of, “Fine. I’ll consider it a payment for the ramen.”

~~~

That’s how Cas finds herself on the same couch she once napped on and once used to pin Matt while Claire stitched him back together. Without her hoodie, Cas can see the extent of the mess she brought on herself. There’s dried flaky blood all over her along with fuzz from her ruined hoodie(It’s in the trash…that may be the worst part of this.). Also, the parts of lacerations that dried onto the hoodie…Cas didn’t wait for Matt to get the peroxide. So, that’s oozing blood again.

Is she being unnecessarily stubborn? Yes.

But she hates this sort of thing. Cas has a preference for licking her wounds in private. Letting a student practice on her serves a purpose and trusting one of her doctors or medics is heavily ingrained by now.

This?

It's different.

“Hold still. This is going to sting,” For some reason he holds onto her shoulder as if he intends to keep her still while dabbing at her arm with antiseptic(unnecessary but the man insisted). It prickles but this is a subjective pain scale thing. She sighs and resists the urge to fidget, “You really should let me stitch these.”

“I already told you,” She tries to turn towards him but relents when he increases the pressure on her shoulder, “Now that I’ve eaten,” And she already had enough ambrosia for this, “My body will kick into gear. Once I’ve gotten enough sleep, I guarantee it’ll be nice and closed even if you can poke my humerus right now.” It’ll be scabbed and maybe a little puffy for a day or so after that.

“It’s not that deep but whatever did this was very sharp,” It was vibranium. It’s hilarious that Matt’s still fishing for information.

She attempts to get more comfortable without disrupting his work, “You know, when you got shot in the head, I did not interrogate you, counselor.” 

“I’m not trying to interrogate you,” He neatly puts away all of the soiled gauze and tweezers. For some reason, he’d been offended when she told him paper towels were fine. They worked perfectly well when she was a kid and Matt actually needs the gauze, “But considering the last time you were injured involved a ‘genocidal robot with imposter syndrome,’ I think my curiosity is justified.”

“Believe me,” She forces a smile, “So’s my silence.”

“Fair enough,” He begins the laborious process of pinching the skin and bandaging it back together. So she zones out, allowing him to work in silence, “What did you mean when you said Roxxon has a list of demigods?” And there goes the relaxing atmosphere, “You found it during the gala?”

“Yeah, it’s addresses and names for kids. Some of them are…very young. A couple weren’t even on our radar yet,” Cas falls back into a few breathing exercises before continuing, “The why would take forever but the gods always claim their child by thirteen. They have to but it’s a newer thing…Before…something really bad happened when someone got to all of those unclaimed kids and made them promises. A lot of kids died and a lot of them were my friends. Them having that list…it's too similar.” She lets out another long and steady breath, “Subject change, please. Or sullen silence. I’ll take either option.”

His hands pause in their work, “But how do you keep them safe?”

And he denies her request.

Typical.

Cas coughs out a bitter laugh, “They’re kids with a human parent. We helped the parents, the ones who agreed anyway, move quietly but that’s a delay tactic until their kid’s old enough to defend themself. Some refused to uproot their child like that and I agree. So, we quietly increased our presence in the area,” She’s getting tired of this one sided discomfort though, “That’s the benefit of having a community, Matt the Solo Devil with way too many balls in the air,” He sighs his own irritation, “It’s amazing what I can get done when I ask my people for help. For example, if you’d told Foggy you were dealing with a lot, maybe he could’ve planned for the opening statement. Honestly, if that’s what he pulled out of his ass, I bet his planned opening would’ve had Reyes scurrying home in embarrassment."

“Alright, I get it. Foggy’s a better lawyer than me,” He goes back to taping her arm back together. 

That annoys Cas and she flicks his forehead.

“Hey!”

“Bullshit,” Cas is so glad to be on the other side of the discussion again but that was just dumb, “You’re a great lawyer. You’re also a great fighter. The problem is that it’s difficult to do both at the same time. You end up being mediocre with brain injuries and getting to work late.”

He pokes her arm just a little too hard, “I can’t delegate Hell’s Kitchen, Cassandra.”

She resists the urge to flick him again like a spiteful twelve year old, “You can’t delegate sleep either,” She considers how to push this topic…she could give him something else, “You want to know why Ultron was able to pummel me into bedrest…beyond him having a supercomputer brain?” She takes his silence as encouragement, “I helped the Avengers with a raid, spent the next three days working on a scientific breakthrough sans sleep, celebrated the end of the Avengers cavorting through Europe, fought Ultron the first time, flew to South Africa and fought him again, lost badly,” Experienced a horrifying mental assault, “Got four-ish hours of interrupted sleep, went back to New York to work on something to beat Ultron,” Got a nephew, “And then went to Sokovia to fight Ultron. Then I nearly died.”

That hand on her arm flexes but never halts its work.

“I tried to do too much, Matt,” She says after a few moments of silence, “We all have limits. When we do what we do…when our purpose lies in helping and protecting and we push too far, we collapse. That’s unacceptable because the people we’re doing all this for get hit with the consequences of our failures.”

She watches his jaw clench, “So what am I supposed to do? I can’t let the Yakuza overrun my city but I have the office too. Foggy and Karen…”

“Foggy and Karen can pick up the office workload if you tell them that you’re dealing with something. I’m still pro ‘add Karen to the secret circle’ but they both care about you. Tell them you need some time. They’ll help as much as you let them,” She can’t keep the humor out of her voice for this, “And I hate to break it to you but I’m supporting your office too and now that Yakuza has turned into evil cultic murder basement, I will be digging into it. Roxxon was already on my radar but this is too close.”

“Are you sure that you’re not picking up too much?” The ass has the audacity to poke her arm again.

So she rolls her eyes, “I had people with me in Sokovia. I had you with me tonight. My team is digging into Roxxon as we speak and this will only give them more fuel for that fire. If it gets any bigger, I can always escalate.”

Matt remains quiet as he finishes the last butterfly, “Done. Bear with me, but I’m checking your back too.”

She blinks, “Why? I let them check me out over there.”

“That was before Nobu landed a hit there.”

…

He waits with his hand outstretched. Not touching but asking for permission to investigate further, “I’d have felt it if something happened, but knock yourself out.” 

Being a demigod that grew up primarily at Camp Half-Blood in the overcrowded Hermes cabin is different. They quickly got used to being in close proximity to each other, privacy was nonexistent, and physical touch was inevitable when you owned a sleeping bag of surface area. So, skin exposure? Meh. Quickly changing in front of the others was normal and relaxing in shorts and a bathing suit or something to that effect was routine during the summer months when it was hot. 

So sitting in filthy jeans, a sports bra, and her camp necklace isn’t weird per say. It’s just different because Matt isn’t a demigod and she thought normal people were weird about skin exposure. Cas doesn’t care.

To her a body is a body.

It wasn’t actually weird until Matt slid his hand across her back and abruptly stiffened.

“What?” Cas tries to read the non-expression on his face, “Am I dying?” It’s just bruising.

“The scars,” His fingers barely start to trace the almost imperceptible map of old agony across her back. It’s hardly noticeable anymore. No one can see them unless they get way up close. That’s how thin and faded they are. 

Of course, Matt can tell. She’s up and off the couch before he completes his thought, “Those are old and very healed. Don’t worry about it.”

“What did-,” His head tilts, “How? Is that all over your back?”

She faces him with her hands on her hips, “And if it was?”

“No, not…” He holds up his hands in some kind of apology, “How did it happen?”

Her finger taps out a brutal pace on her hip. Shock factor is the way to go here, “I was dragged along a river bank made up of glass shards,” By Arachne. In Tartarus. After intercepting a blow meant for the downed Annabeth and pissing off the spider bitch even more, “Gods,” She pinches the bridge of her nose and scrunches her eyes shut. More counting and more breathing. Stupid. That was years ago. She shouldn’t…It’s not like Cas, Annabeth, and Percy talk about the collection of scars they picked up Down Under. They just call each other on bad nightmare nights. This hasn’t been a problem in ages but that’s because no one notices the scars any more. 

Of course, Matt did.

And he’s now off the couch looking like a man praying a bomb’s not about to go off, “Sorry, Matt.” She heaves out another deep breath, “That one’s not a good conversation starter. I have a wolf bite on my thigh though. That one’s an embarrassing story.” She has a smattering of old faded scars but most healed up cleanly. Her back isn’t even the worst one technically. Just the worst experience.

“Thank you for telling me,” He’s still holding himself too carefully, “I won’t ask.”

He eases back into a seated position which was clearly intended to help Cas stop impersonating a bowstring. It does help and she returns to the couch in an effort to show Matt that he didn’t do anything wrong. That’s a soft spot that he didn’t know about. Well, now he does.

His face is pinched in concentration, “You’re right about the bruises. They’re deep but healing,” Then he shifts the topic again, “You understand that I’m going to research glass river banks in Greek mythology, right?”

She shifts in irritation. Odds are he won’t find anything. Chiron was so hesitantly fascinated by their trip through Tartarus because so little was known about it, “I looked up Matthew Murdock forever and a half ago so fair’s fair. Just don’t expect more of an explanation if you figure it out.”

“No,” He shakes his head, “I don’t.”

Right.

She falls back against the couch and shuts her eyes. 

That's when she realizes exactly how tired she really is. 

Her eyes snap back open when Matt kicks her in the leg, “Go to sleep, Cassandra,” he says like it's that simple. She's a prime nightmare risk tonight.

“I'm not imposing on you again and-”

“You're not,” he heads off her potential objections, “I actually sleep better when I know someone I trust is nearby.”

What.

“I have to tell Foggy,” She goes for distraction while she attempts to think, “The secret to Matt Murdock's sleep regularity is slumber parties.”

“Cassandra,” he stops her, “Get some sleep.”

She sighs, “Throw me some sweats and a pillow.” This isn't a worthwhile argument when she's this tired but she doesn't want a blanket. Not when her mind is where it is right now. She needs to be able to get up quickly.

Good thing she knows where the light switches are.

Chapter Text

~~~

“To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” 

– Elie Wiesel

~~~

(...the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s Kitchen Lights)

She hopes that Matt doesn't mind her turning the kitchen lights on. (Light bulbs buzz, that might be annoying.) Even the demonic billboard across the way is welcome until the sun comes up. In an effort to minimize disruption of Matt's sleep, she'd told Friday not to try and wake her should her vitals indicate she was having a nightmare, but she can't imagine she'll be invited for another sleepover after this performance.

Gods know that she never would've tolerated her sleeping bag after the gigantomachy.

Still, she did her best to keep the noise level down(She’d contained any episodes of jolting awake to the couch and avoided calling her spear so that’s a win.).

She’d vaguely grown aware of an awake Matt moving around the room sometime after dawn broke but it was easier to doze than it was to get up. There was a time limit on her couch time. Then she’d have to leave and get back to her own bed. She wanted to maximize it.

However, Friday is an intuitive being that knows when to override Cas’s preferences.

Her phone emits a loud chirp which snaps her upright, “What the hell, Fri? I’m literally off today. There’s nothing but lasagna night on the board.” It’s the one thing her dad can make from memory.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Demi-Boss,” Friday says from Matt’s coffee table, “But I’ve just overheard a notification to the 5-0. Frank Castle has escaped Riker’s Island.”

In the kitchen, a ceramic mug bites the dust when Matt drops it. 

She flops back onto the couch with a groan, “Why? His case was going well. I actually thought he had a chance at getting the psych hospital.”

“It seems that he disagreed with your method of getting justice for his family,” Oh? “Frank Castle killed an inmate referred to as Dutton with an improvised piercing weapon and subsequently eliminated the entirety of cell block A when they attempted to retaliate. Odd, given that Frank Castle was assigned to cell block D. Shall I acquire the footage?”

Cas doesn’t want this sort of issue in her life but she turns towards Matt’s general direction. This wouldn’t qualify as her sort of problem were it not for the fact that Nelson & Murdock are on retainer for her. She’s invested in their success. Castle being at large puts them in danger.

“Sure, love excessive violence with my breakfast.”

Cas sits up and stretches while ignoring the mounting tension in the room. It’s not yet eight in the morning.

“Cassandra, I regret to inform you that such footage does not exist,” Friday says. Damn. Cas had a feeling it was going to go something like that, “This is not a case where the footage was deleted. The cameras were off at the time of the incident. There is also a lack of documentation as to how Frank Castle was transferred to cell block D. That is not a holding area for alleged criminals.”

No, it’s not.

“Frank is out,” Matt finally says.

Cas nods, “I hadn’t accounted for corruption in the prison system when we cleaned out the police force. That’s gonna be hard. Private companies bid for lowest rates from the government, you know. Staff get paid jackshit for the work that they do. It’s no wonder people go looking for better offers.” 

A hand slams into something. It’s possible that Cas should actually get up, “Fisk is in that cell block.” She agrees with Matt’s assumption there. Fisk did something but it’s not like there will be any evidence that can be tied back to him.

“Yep,” And that just illuminates so many possibilities, “Friday, who was Dutton?”

“Dutton was arrested for working a drug deal with the Mexican Cartel, Kitchen Irish, and the Dogs of Hell,” Friday says and Cas’s head falls into hands, “The date of the incident in question is the same as the date on the Castle family death certificates.”

Well, shit.

“This now makes the message from Piper that I held far more relevant,” Friday continues, “Would you like to see it?”

Cas properly turns to look at Matt, who’s hunched over his counter with his poor coffee maker in a white knuckle grip, “Might want to delay that one. I think we have some information overload. Will it keep?”

“No,” Matt’s other hand releases the counter and waves at her, “What did Ms. McLean find?” She didn’t know he knew who Piper is.

“Oh, it was Piper and Karen,” Of course, it was, “She wanted you to know that there was an undercover officer gunned down in the park the same day as the Castle murders. It wasn’t a criminal drug deal that went predictably wrong. It was a police sting in a public park that went predictably wrong.”

It was a police sting.

Reyes’s sting…It has to be. Why else would the woman be so invested in this?

She’s glad that she’s able to keep her anger at a distance with this one. Although, it helps that she knew there was some kind of conspiracy involving the police and the DA’s office regarding the park that day. This is just confirmation.

There’s another crash. It would appear that Matt’s coffee maker just died.

Fortunately, it was already on the way out.

She waits for him to do his own calming routine. Cas knows better than to interfere with that. This is a situation where Matt knows his lawyer skills are more useful than his vigilante skills. Also, the sun is up so he can’t run out and knock skulls together.

“Thank you, Friday,” She gets up and prods at her arm. It’s less painful and she could use another five to seven hours of rest but that’s going to have to wait. Then she starts up some stretches. Matt’s couch isn’t terrible. It’s comfy but definitely better for sitting than sleeping.

“I have to find him,” Matt almost startles her when he starts talking. 

Cas pauses mid stretch, “Friday’s already looking. We need to make sure none of this falls on you, Foggy, and Karen. They’re going to question you. Go make yourself look not injured.”

“How can you be so-,” He runs a hand over his mouth, “Did you already know?”

This feels like dangerous territory, “I had a feeling. Reyes’s ambition crossed into hubris a while back. She was way too determined to see Castle executed. Something was wrong. Karen picked up on it too.”

“I don’t-” He steps back with his hands on his hips, “We’re going to talk about this later. For now, expect a request from the police to answer questions. You spoke with Castle the first day of the trial.” Then he walks off into his room.

Right.

“Okay?” Cas rolls her eyes, “I’m going to get cleaned up too then. Bye.” He can have his sweats back later.

From his little brooder den she hears, “Don’t get your arm wet.”

She wonders if he can hear her middle finger as she leaves.

~~~

They give her thirty minutes from her arrival home.

That’s how long it takes for an unmarked police car to roll up outside of Lamark High-Rise.

Luckily, that is more than how long it takes for Cas to grab a shower, grownup clothes, a demigod approved protein bar, and a Cassandra Stark approved dose of caffeine. She did not comply with getting into the car though.

No.

But because Cas is such a good citizen, she complied with the ‘polite’ request and drove all the way to the south of Soho(during commuter time) without stopping at her favorite Nonna’s (of the many Italian restaurants with nonna in the name) for a bite along the way. Her compliance also has something to do with the reason for the call.

It’s a courtesy.

Because while Frank Castle respected Cas enough to remain ‘well behaved’ in court…he slaughtered an entire prison cellblock and then vanished.

Poof.

Like a ghost.

Asshole.

Malaka.

Vlaka.

The bastard did exactly what she asked by avoiding any kind of harm to Matt, Foggy, or Karen. If he hadn’t…well…she’s certain that her control is better than it was when she brought Wilson Fisk in. Regardless, the only reason that she isn’t physically hunting Castle down is to avoid making things more difficult for the team at Nelson & Murdock (& Page). Also, she’s not Matt. She can’t pose menacingly on a roof top while she sniffs the man out.

She needs some kind of basis to start looking and right now that's Sword but they're focusing on Roxxon and that's not going to change any time soon(Gibson only gets so much time playing victim before Cas let's them jump his throat.). Friday is actively looking for Castle and that’s as good as it's going to get.  

She exits the car with a brisk ‘thank you’ to the man who closes the door and points her up the stairs. This New York City courthouse looks like a Greek Temple. The grand white columns lead up to elegant depictions of justice carved into the facade. 

Welp. Here there be cowards afraid of justice. Oh…there’s the anger that she thought was at a distance. It was buffering.

Given Frank Castle’s track record of killing people he knew were criminal lowlifes, anyone seeking shelter here was questionable at best so she has zero sympathy for the bustling herds of frightened people running past the police barricade. 

Now, would she let Frank Castle kill them?

No. 

However, if it quacks like a duck….

She takes a good breath and just gets on with it. Her unhurried stride and nod to one of New York’s finest stand out in the sea of hurried people in suits. He flags down an agent who intercepts Cas, asks her to wait like they didn’t just escort her to this building, and promises to bring her through security soon. 

The sunglasses were a good idea. She can judge unnoticed.

“Cassandra!” 

Cas turns to see Karen waving her down with a patient Matt holding his cane in both hands. As much as she likes them, she’d hoped that she wouldn’t run into them so that she wouldn’t have to pretend that she’s not in a mood. She’d hoped that she’d be brought in, questioned, and set loose. 

It’s not like they need to offer her protection.

She snorts.

Still.

Cas pastes a smile on her face before ambling over to Karen and civilian!Matt. It’s still too funny to see this man play at being harmless. It’s also funny to see him in his lawyer clothes after ramen night. Now, he’s pretending like he doesn’t know an officer just tripped up the stairs fifty feet behind him.

Oh, he also has to pretend he doesn’t know Karen was investigating with Piper last night while Cas and Matt were fighting ninjas.

If he came clean about his abilities and nightlife then he wouldn’t have to put on such a show for her to watch.

When she reaches them she says, “Murdock and Page, where’s the Nelson part?”

Karen runs her hand through her hair. It’s quite breezy and keeps blowing around her face. It must be maddening, “He’s…uh, already inside. The agent said she’d be back.”

Cas nods because she got the same message. Then she really observes the space between Karen and Matt. There’s a whole lot of awkwardness going on there. She kind of wants to know how the date went but that’s probably wildly wrong to ask in the current environment. Still…something happened.

She looks at Matt who has to pretend he doesn’t know she’s observing him.

Yeah, his grip shifts on his cane. A thing happened that she doesn’t know about. Ah, well.

Cas makes it a point to flick her gaze over both Matt and Karen, “No one's hurt and no one’s been approached by Castle?”

They both shake their heads. Karen shifts more towards Cas…is she…is Cas being used as a shield from awkward interactions?

She makes eye contact with Karen and attempts to ask a question with her eyes. Karen’s gaze slides to Matt before falling to the ground. Matt’s grip on his cane tightens again.

These guys have fantastic timing.

They’re savants. Honestly. 

“Fabulous,” Cas pulls out her phone so that she can answer and calm all concerned parties that are worried about her. There’s no reason to be. Cas wasn’t involved in the escape and Frank Castle has zero reason to come for her.

She’s here because Reyes is panicking.

Security eventually comes for Karen, followed by Matt, with Cas bringing up the rear. That’s when Cas realizes that she is actually here to see Reyes, not just give a statement. It’s odd to say the least…

The respect for protocol is admirable but she really wonders what it’s supposed to do against a man like Frank Castle. He’s not going to stand in line and try to bluff his way in. That’s not how an opponent like him works.

Foggy is nervous as they’re led down the hall, “According to my buddy, Reyes is most likely about to grill us like fish.”

“She has no cause,” Karen attempts to reassure him.

And Cas backs her up. The only one that ever seems to get in the way of Foggy’s competence is himself, “She can’t blame any of you for this. It’ll be fine.”

“On paper,” Matt, like he wants Foggy’s anxiety levels higher, says “We’re still Frank Castle’s attorneys.”

Cas clocks an emergency exit as they continue down that linoleum tiled hallway. The police that line the walls are heavily armed and again, she has to wonder what exactly they think they can do. A large weapon like that in a hallway is more likely to harm them or cause collateral than aid in bringing down a dangerous attacker.

While she’s doing that Foggy is still freaking out, “And I am so proud of that, Matt. Thank you.” Actually, he feels a little frosty towards Matt too.

What happened while she was in Europe? She wasn't gone that long and they're usually so self-sufficient.

“Frank’s out,” Matt continues, “But instead of going after him herself, Reyes is dragging us into the lion’s den. What could we possibly know about his escape?”

“Precisely dick,” Foggy sighs, “But if Reyes can find a way to blame us for all of this, she will.”

“Karen?” Matt asks, “You spent the most time with him. He say anything? Anything at all that could help us right now?”

Karen scoffs, “Nothing about an escape.”

There isn’t much for Cas to do here. Honestly, she’s surprised that Reyes is keeping the four of them together. Surprised, but grateful. It makes it easier for Cas to keep an eye on them now that she can observe something weird is going on in their dynamic. Matt didn’t give anything away last night but nothing really came up either. 

The trio still communicates effectively in this tense situation but there’s a wall up around each of them. 

They get dropped off in another office where they’re promised it’ll only be another minute.

The group is incredibly tense and nervous. They’re cooperating but they’re also fragmented. This is not good. It’s absolutely suboptimal when there’s a woman on the other side of another door that’s probably looking for a way to tear them apart and let them take the fall for all of this.

Not going to happen.

Nope.

Cas can’t let that one stand, “I know this isn’t my arena, but I won’t let Reyes pin this on you. She doesn’t get to hide from this.”

Matt clears his throat, “Cassandra, maybe it would be best if you let us do the talking in there. Like you said, it is our arena.”

Devil said what?

Cas blinks before looking at both Foggy and Karen in question. She wants to be sure that she heard that right.

Foggy shakes his head but Karen looks indignant on her behalf which Cas appreciates.

“I’m gonna let you have that one because you’re under stress but next time ask me what I meant instead of assuming,” Gods, “I will not be engaging in legal jargon speak with the Columbia grads and the Fordham grad on the other side of the door. However, she doesn’t get to threaten you.”

Foggy steps between them, “What Matt means is that we appreciate your support, Cassandra,” Ever the conciliator, “This isn’t something you should have to deal with for us but you are. So, thank you.” When Foggy says thank you he’s facing Matt and it’s quite aggressively stated.

The conversation invariably turns towards how Castle might’ve gotten out. They need to plan for what they’ll say to Reyes. It’s fascinating to watch Matt, Foggy, and Karen brainstorm. Matt is hooked on it being Fisk, as is Cas, but for different reasons. Foggy is more hesitant but Karen is more interested in the ‘why’ of Frank Castle.

Karen is intensely focused on this, so she’s glad that Piper’s been watching her back.

The door opens and the assistant DA pokes his head out, “She’ll see you now.”

The room is richly decorated with darkly stained woods and carpet. The worn leather chairs have probably seen decades of negotiations. Four on one side of the desk and one on the other.

Reyes isn’t looking half as put together as they do. Her hair is messily tied up. She’s in an old sweatshirt and the only thing keeping her in place is the telephone cord on the antique piece of plastic from the 90s, “Yes. As soon as possible. Please, as soon as possible."

Please.

Please, from a woman like Reyes.

She hands up before addressing them, “Thank you for coming.”

Right, like it was an invite.

Cas bites her tongue knowing that Foggy and Matt are working but Karen scoffs, “Kinda hard to say no when the cops pick you up.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that,” Reyes sounds like she means it, “Could you, uh- Please, have a seat.”

They don’t move.

“Please,” Reyes asks again.

Cas takes the chair furthest into the room. When they leave, only Cas’s back will be to Reyes. Foggy takes the one next to Cas followed by Matt and Karen. Works for Cas, it puts the two lawyers in the middle where they’re the focus of Reyes’s attention. 

Foggy crosses his ankles and sets his hands in his lap. He looks like a consummate professional, “I don’t know what your play is, lady, but let’s cut the shit.” But speaks with irreverence, “You brought us in expecting to sweat privileged information about our client out of us.”

“Yes,” Reyes immediately concedes, “If that helps.” Her voice wavers a bit at the end there. 

She’s terrified. 

Unsurprising. 

With Dutton dead, there’s no telling what he told Castle and Castle isn’t stupid. He might’ve officially added Reyes to his list, “We have to get Frank Castle off the street before anyone else gets hurt.”

Now, Matt gave Cas a polite and professional request to shut up but said no such thing to Karen. That’s probably for the best, “You’re asking for favors after all the shit you’ve pulled?”

Matt realizes his error fairly quickly, “If you want our cooperation, then we need to know what you know…all right? All of your cards on the table, right now.” He doesn’t sound the least bit concerned or stressed about this. All of that anger from earlier is neatly tucked away probably by the knot in his tie. 

Reyes wavers and focuses her eyes on her desk, “I’ve made mistakes.” Then she pauses.

Karen is offended by this. In fact, Cas would say she’s offended by Reyes’s very existence, “Excuse me?” 

Reyes meets Karen’s eyes, “Central Park. Castle and his family. I screwed up.”

“Frank Castle’s family being gunned down is not a mistake,” Karen says, “It’s a massacre.”

Cas watches this exchange while also keeping an eye on the assistant DA, Matt, and Foggy. Matt and Foggy have their attention fixed on Reyes like they’ve scented blood. Look at the little sharks go. That assistant DA, on the other hand, he looks anticipatory. He’s waiting for something. With all of the ambition in this office, he probably thinks this is the end for Reyes and an open door for him.

Something to keep an eye on.

Cas doesn’t want a repeat of all of this drama later. 

Ah, the boys wanted Karen to latch on here. They knew she’d drive Reyes into talking.

“Wait,” Reyes raises her finger to defend herself, “I swear to God, if I had any idea that people might get hurt, I would not have done that.”

And Matt pounces, “You-Your office were part of it?”

“Why am I not surprised?” Foggy’s sarcasm is still on full display.

“They were more than just a part of it,” Karen crosses her arms and stares Reyes down, “It was a sting.”

Foggy stiffens and Cas realizes that he’s the only one that didn’t know.

Oops. And Matt still has to pretend that he didn’t know until this exact moment.

“How do you know that?” Reyes sounds crushed.

But Karen doesn’t have any sympathy for her, “I’ve gotten really good at digging up shit people like you wanna keep buried.” That seems to be a little too much because Matt attempts to calm Karen down but she’s not having it.

“Ma’am,” The assistant DA finally breaks his silence, “They need to know.”

This is quite fascinating to be perfectly honest.

Cas still doesn’t know why she’s here but it’s all very interesting.

And frustrating.

She’d also like to go back to bed.

Reyes nods and turns to the window but the assistant DA, whose name Cas doesn’t care to remember, picks up the story, “Last year, the DA’s office learned there was a new player in the drug trade. Calls himself the Blacksmith. He wasn’t gonna flood the market, he was gonna be the market. And we were tracking kilos, but this guy dealt in metric tons. Volume like that should have made him easy to find, but he was a ghost. No sign of how he was getting the product into the country, where it was coming from, nothing.” This is why Cas opened consulting opportunities. Partly, it was to keep Sword occupied but mostly to help if the police got overwhelmed. That Reyes’s pride is the most likely reason that wasn’t utilized really stings. Ten minutes with Cas’s equipment and she could’ve identified where it was coming from. 

“Then,” He continues, “One of the cops we planted deep undercover got word that the Blacksmith was arranging a meet between three unaffiliated gangs.”

“Dogs of Hell, Kitchen Irish, and the Mexican Cartel,” Foggy supplies.

“Blacksmith wanted to broker a deal,” The assistant DA nods, “They set the meet for Central Park, midafternoon. Look, our guys were there. They were ready.” Clearly not. A massive drug sting in the middle of Central Park during the day. Idiots, “But the sting, it just, it…it went south.”

“You didn’t clear the park, did you?” Matt sounds like he can’t believe what he just heard.

To be honest, Cas is having a hard time processing it.

Then Reyes makes it worse, “I thought about it. But I decided an empty park would show our hand.” 

That breaks Cas’s silence, “You used civilians as a smoke screen for an operation to take down known violent criminals.” Oh…she’s angry. Her jaw clenches and she does her best to keep still.

This isn’t a place where her yelling at people is going to get anything done. But gods, how did someone that stupid get elected to public office?

“Yes,” Reyes hangs her head, “I greenlit the operation.”

“And it oh so predictably all went to shit,” Foggy finishes.

“Blacksmith didn’t show,” Reyes says. That takes Cas’s mind on a detour. Because now she has to wonder, did their cover get blown and the Blacksmith pulled out at the last minute or did the Blacksmith set all of that up to remove a plant from his operation?

While also weakening the gangs.

Weak clients dependent on the Blacksmith’s business would make him more money….opportunities to expand the enterprise.

Or is she missing another angle?

Foggy walks the room through how Reyes attempted to cover up her failure to save her political career. He dismisses her and prepares to stand, so ready to leave the woman to her fate. 

Reyes scrabbles for a manilla envelope on her desk, “Wait, wait,” She pulls out some papers, “This is not about me anymore,” It’s a print out of a skull x-ray. Based on the bullet hole, Cas would guess it’s Castle’s. But why? “I found this in my daughter’s backpack before sending her off to school.” Reyes stares at Cas now.

Ah.

That’s why she’s here. Not because she could know something about how Castle escaped but because Reyes’s daughter was allegedly threatened.

Her eyes narrow on Reyes.

How dare she.

After her greed got Castle’s family killed.

“You know,” She taps the picture again, “Once he gets his sights on a target, he never stops-”

“Where’s your daughter now?” Matt interrupts. Is he concerned?

“Upstate…”

“Stop,” Cas interrupts, “Don’t say anything else,” Confidentiality. Wow, this is beyond the pale, “Your daughter is not in danger from Frank Castle.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Reyes glares.

Cas narrows her gaze again, “I never said she wasn’t in danger. I said it wasn’t Castle. This Halloween boogie-monster song and dance is not his MO,” She pauses in the hope that someone will use a brain cell, “Castle doesn’t play games. He hunts his targets down and brutalizes them. Without warning. His only goal is elimination. But there’s never been a single incidence of collateral even in the hospital and even when you used a human being as bait,” Reyes crosses her arms and looks away, “He’s never targeted family members and he’s never laid a hand on women, children, or the elderly. Did someone with access to your daughter use imagery that alludes to Castle to frighten you into a predictable pattern of behavior? Far more likely. So, DA Reyes, is that the only skeleton in your closet?”

Everyone in the room seems to realize what’s going on at the exact same second.

She’s so glad that she only had to drop all of the pieces into their hands and assemble the picture for them…

She pinches the bridge of her nose. Reyes should’ve opened with that picture immediately.

Of the six people in this room: four are fluent in law, one is excellent at digging up information, and one is far too experienced in war to deal with this shit.

She can feel that question in the air, though.

Is this room safe?

Probably not. 

There’s suddenly plenty of talking again. Voices that Cas doesn’t listen to. She’s thinking about where Frank Castle will actually go, if he’ll actually come after Reyes, and who would be after Reyes now.

Matt stiffens.

Echoed less than a second later by Cas…

MOVE!

Cas has a grip on Foggy’s shirt and opposite shoulder before Matt finishes yelling, “Get down!” Then she has a flailing Foggy Nelson pinned to the ground in time for the bullets to start flying.

Ten seconds.

Ten seconds of continuous fire before it cuts off.

“Are you hurt?” She shouts at Foggy.

“What?” His frightened eyes try to jump around the room.

“Were you hit?” She shakes him. She’ll let Matt handle Karen.

“No? I don’t think so?”

Fair.

Cas is on her feet immediately after confirming Foggy’s not hit, “Stay on the ground!” Is barked to the remaining four occupants of the room because Reyes is slumped over and empty eyed on her desk. She doesn’t wait for confirmation before hurling her spear out the window and warping to the middle of the street. Across the way and two floors from the top there’s another building with the window blown out. 

She warps there next.

There’s a large gun mounted on a mechanized stand with a blue tarp on the ground. She hears a harsh, “Shit!” From a male voice(not Castle) followed by a slamming door and pounding feet.

Cas kicks the door to the hallway open but immediately jumps back into the room when another gun goes off. She only got a flash of inky black hair before her line of sight was cut off. More glass breaks. She ducks out and sees a window to a fire escape busted open.

Godsdamned coward.

Cas bolts down the hallway but gravity is a great equalizer when it comes to creating distance with a pursuer like her. The door on an unmarked van slides shut and it pulls out onto the road. No license plates.

But no Castle either.

She circles back to the room with the gun. There are shells all over the place. She scared the man off before he could police his brass. Good. While she already has the gun, any further information she can get on customization is important.

Hopefully, this equipment has been used somewhere before that the authorities know about.

She has Friday take a complete scan of the room before she warps out the window back to street level and then immediately back into Reyes’s office.

That took less than five minutes.

Nelson, Murdock, and Page remain seated on the ground. Thank all the gods that they listened to her. The assistant DA crawled into the corner and it’s going to take a crowbar to get him off that table he’s clinging to. 

She has Friday use her phone to record the room. The angle of the gunshots…not by hand. If she hadn’t seen the mounted assault rifle, the contained spread of bullet holes along the back wall would’ve told her that much. Not a marksman. A machine that tried to paint a solid strip along the back of the office with no regard for anything else.

So much waste.

Officers bust the door in Cas can’t stop herself from asking, “What kind of a response time was that?” Not the time, “Across the way, one male, unidentified, and a mounted assault rifle. I followed but he opened fire and used that as cover to get down the fire escape. He got away in a white unmarked van. Got dark hair. Maybe 5’11’’ and definitely not Frank Castle.”

The officers stare at Cas bug eyed and alert before that clicks and they holster their weapons.

There’s some sort of informal debrief that takes place while they’re shepherded down the stairs. Cas pushes for the four of them to get out quickly since they might still be targets and she’s concerned about safety(Police escorts are hardcore denied). Foggy and Karen look a little dazed but Matt looks pissed and primed to run off.

Nope.

He doesn’t get to do that right now. 

This is not the time. This is the time to pull back and regroup. There are multiple issues to be addressed which cannot be done if Matt runs off in broad daylight after nearly being gunned down. That is not an appropriate response for what should be a relatively young, blind lawyer that nearly died.

Di imortales.

What does she even do with this?

This isn't a time where she can be patient or nice.

Not if she wants everyone to see the other side of this madness.

Cas’s phone starts ringing and she knows who it is before Friday announces it, “Dad, I’m alright. Friday, share the stuff.”

“You’re alright?” He echoes back, “Fantastic. I can let the whole thing go now that I know my kid is alright after having been in the DA’s office when it was shot at.”

Cas halts in place, “How did you know I was in the room?”

“You were in the room? I thought you were in the building to provide information!”

Crap. Her mind isn’t fully on this conversation. Security is leading the strained amigos and Cas down the back way to get out of the building. So, she has some time to handle this while she can enact her half formed plan to deal with the Nelson, Murdock, and Page drama. They cannot splinter at a moment like this. It leaves them vulnerable. She doesn’t care how capable any of them are at taking care of themselves. 

“Yeah, I was there,” Cas answers as steadily as she can. She has to give his concerns the gravitas that they’re due while reassuring him at the same time, “The district attorney is no longer with us but no one else was hurt.” Thanks to Cas and Matt.

“Give me one good reason not to get involved myself.” Other than him being retired from all but the most extreme situations that would require Iron Man?

“In the same vein as last year, it’s really not an Iron Man issue,” Cas refuses to flinch when one of the officers blatantly stares at her, “I was asked to come in because the DA had concerns but that’s not a problem that will need pursuing by me.” Poor kid. “This isn’t a situation for us directly and you know that. Let the police do their jobs,” Cas blinks when they step outside and covers her eyes only to realize that her sunglasses are probably in the street somewhere. That’s…fine. She has others.

She’s keeping herself a few steps away from Matt, Foggy, and Karen to create the illusion of privacy her phonecall needs but she bets anyone can hear her father’s response over the phone, “You were in a room while it was shot to hell. I think that qualifies.”

“That sounds like a genuine abuse of power to me,” The team at Nelson and Murdock converges at the base of the stairs, “If I hadn’t been there then this wouldn’t have caught your attention and you know it.”

“But you were there,” Her father counters.

Cas tilts her head as the group seems to devolve into some kind of argument. That won’t do. Matt and Foggy have been sitting on this for way too long. They’ve ignored the strain on their friendship while Cas was content to let them work it out.

She thought they would.

She also thought they would trust Karen more than they have.

Evidently, Cas doesn’t do friendships like ordinary people. Commit or don’t, gods. 

The worst part is that Cas is fairly certain that she fully embraced having Matt as a friend last night. So now, she’s committed. 

But that means…it's going to suck. Really bad.

Doesn’t matter.

The most important thing is that they all make it through this intact.

“Dad, I’m gonna have to ask for some trust. I’m about to go somewhere secure with some people that clearly need my help,” Gods, this is going to get ugly.

Matt turns to walk away.

Yeah. That’s not happening. 

“Cassie, do not undersell the danger you’re in right now.”

Hmmm…, “I’m not. I promise. Let Friday show you the scene….and…the kids downstairs? Look in on them?” She’s unlikely to be available for a while and only Gibson’s son Daniel has someone visiting.

Her father doesn’t sound happy when he says, “Yeah, sure. But kid, no more shootouts.”

“Don’t make me a liar,” Then she hangs up…and immediately starts yelling.

“Matt!” She calls, “Where in Hades do you think you’re going?” From the base of the stairs, Karen and Foggy stare at Cas with wide eyes.

He wavers, “Home. I think we could all use some peace and quiet after that.” That lie was rancid.

Cas looks at Foggy and Karen. Foggy looks enraged and Karen looks so disappointed and confused and hurt. This is the kind of scenario that sent her running to Cas before breaking into Frank Castle’s house. Problem is, Cas is about to be very busy and so is Piper. Karen cannot run off right now. Foggy should not be left alone. And Matt should not be running off right now.

There is no one to babysit.

Gods.

She really did want them to sort this out amongst themselves. 

“Friday, bring the car, please.”

A small beep is the only confirmation.

“Not a good idea,” Cas attempts to reason with the man, “None of us were the targets but our survival might’ve painted some. You never know with these crazy types,” Now time for a little lie, “I don’t know much about your home security,” She knows a lot actually, “But I know your office security both inside and out. Let me take you guys there. Get some take out? And then I can handle all of this without worrying?”

Be reasonable, Matt Murdock.

“I’d rather take my chances,” He turns away again.

Nope. Nope. This double speak is going to drive her up the wall. Cas jumps the rest of the way down the stairs and proceeds to plant herself directly in Matt’s path, “Matt, get in the car before I break your little stick and throw you in myself. It’ll look bad. Embarrassing for you and rude for me but I think I’ll emotionally recover.”

Matt’s voice drops, “Cassandra, I need to speak with Fisk.”

Sugar Honey Iced Tea.

“That’s not going to give you any useful information,” Cas shakes her head, “I already know why Fisk got Castle out of prison and I will tell you after we get everyone to the office. All visiting Fisk will do is draw his attention and piss you off more.”

That muscle in the line of his jaw flickers in place. He’s probably contemplating mutiny but that would give his little secret away. Her Audi pulls up alongside them and Friday honks the horn, “Cassandra…”

“Do not walk away,” Cas answers, “Do not abandon your family,” She leans in, “They need you here.”

“Matt?” Karen calls, “I think we should. Please.”

And that does it. Cas loops her arm through Matt’s, “This way to your chariot, Mr. Murdock. Karen can have shotgun. She’s my favorite, right now. Sorry, Foggy.”

“Yeah,” The glare he shoots at her is impressive, “Same.”

The liability that is her favorite legal team is successfully herded into her car. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice that there was no driver. She’s really been abusing that feature since her father installed it.

Now, she gets to step into yet another role.

Arbitrator.

Chiron is the best arbitrator that Cas has ever seen in her entire life. When she was a kid and got into fights with the others it was always the steady Chiron who facilitated the discussion. It was only after talks failed that the issue was taken to an arena. 

He believes that using words to settle an argument requires more strength than any physical battle. Cas agrees.

But Cas is good at having arguments and promoting a side.

This is something completely different.

Arbitration requires neutrality.

Cas doesn’t think she’s ever been neutral in her life.

There are also two lawyers involved in this...inconvenient.

The only noise during the drive is human breathing and a notification from Friday that she used their previously noted preferences to order Chinese. It's for the best because she spends it attempting to pull back and generate some distance between her and them. This will hopefully end well for them but it won't be good for her and them.

When they arrive and Cas parks, she steps out with her arms crossed. She must radiate some sort of ‘very much not in the mood’ energy because Foggy and Karen don’t even glance her way. For half a breath, she thinks Matt’s going to try and leave again but he lets Karen guide him up the stairs. When everyone's out of earshot she whispers, “We’re past the point where your secret serves any useful purpose. It’s going to get them hurt. So, think very carefully about how you want to do this.”

Somehow the line of his shoulders stiffens even more.

Fantastic.

Chiron has this thing about strengths and flaws…maybe she can start with that. Get them talking to each other about what matters.

She follows them inside and once the door is closed behind her she stares at Karen’s desk for a moment.

“Cassandra, this is ridiculous,” Matt says, “You can’t expect us-”

“Hold on,” She holds up a hand that she and Foggy know he can perceive but Karen does not. It’s messed up, “I’ve had another idea. Stand somewhere out of the way.” And maybe this whole thing is a bad idea and she’s wrong for backing him into a corner like this.

Maybe this is exactly what Chiron meant when he said Cas has to respect other people’s choices even if they were being stupid.

However, this stupid decision is going to hurt someone more seriously than it already has and ruin the relationships Matt needs to keep his head above water.

She also still needs Nelson & Murdock….but that’s minor.

She thinks…Cas really doesn’t want them to fall apart. They do so much good for their community…and…shit.

There’s a chorus of complaints and exclamations when Cas upends the desk and drags it in front of the door. Then she sits on it, “While I don’t have any kind of enhanced senses, I am a genius. So, sorry for deceiving you but this is an intervention as I saw the unhealthy levels of tension at the DA’s office. With all of the danger going around, you all need to rely on each other. Whatever it is that’s messing up the dynamic I originally came to Nelson & Murdock for will be addressed today.”

“Are you…locking us in our office?” Karen asks.

“Yep,” Cas nods, “And if you try to crawl out the window, I will use the hose that we all pretend you don’t use to shoot the rats.”

They all start shouting at once. Great, they’re united against her. She crosses her legs with a smile, “You all have some blame for this mess but the sad part is that it all stems from some of your best traits.”

“You can’t-” Foggy runs his hand through his hair, “Oh, my uncle told me I was crazy to get mixed up with you! I knew I should’ve been a butcher.”

Huh. Time to try and be like Chiron.

To do this, she can open the discussion but after they pick up momentum it has to be their show.

“Foggy, you are an immensely talented lawyer but you want to know what makes you a great one?” Cas grins at him, “You have the ability to look past a person’s failings and see the humanity in them. It allows you to table your biases from the start and look at them as a human that needs help.”

“Uh…” He looks at her a little slack faced, “Thanks?”

“That said, for the people close to you,” And she softens her smile to lessen the sting, “You have a habit of ignoring those same failings. You generate this idealized version of them and then get disappointed when they show that they are more than what you choose to see them as. It’s unfair to expect others to live up to that. Regardless, I have great respect for your loyalty to your friends even when you disagree with them, even when it hurts,” That hits Foggy over the head with all the subtlety of a salmon.

He looks down and away from the bitter compliment sandwich.

“Karen, you next,” Cas maintains her smile because honestly, Karen is the least problematic for Cas. She calls for back up.

Karen looks from Foggy to Matt before settling on Cas and lifting her chin.

“You are an incredibly brave person. That is second only to your determination to find the truth,” Cas sees a spark of pride in Karen’s eyes, “I can’t say I’ve ever seen such natural talent before. It’s not that you want to know either. You need to understand. Even someone like Frank Castle, who anyone else would’ve dismissed as a psychopath, earned your time but also your kindness. You risked your life for that man. You wanted the world to know the truth so that real justice could take place. His family will be able to rest in peace thanks to your efforts,” Karen blinks rapidly like she’s fighting back tears. 

Cas doesn't bother trying to be nice because this one is going to sting no matter what, “You have two great friends in Matt and Foggy even though they’re keeping a secret from you,” Matt and Foggy stiffen, “It’s fair for you to be frustrated. If they were so determined to keep their secrets then they should have said they didn’t want to talk about it. However, you have to understand that being their friend does not entitle you to those secrets. None of us have gone digging for yours. People run away to New York City for a reason and it’s not to become a secretary at a baby law firm.” Karen clenches her eyes shut and nods.

Cas leans back while Karen wrestles herself back under control.

Then Cas turns towards Matt. She keeps an eye on Foggy in her peripheral vision. He looks a little freaked out. Yes, Cas’s strengths lie in science and mathematics but she’s gotten pretty damn good at this people thing. This can work.

She already had one family die because of secrets and lies. 

…Oh. Of course. If this works…

Huh. She should thank them for helping her confront the lingering issues caused by Luke, Silena, and Charlie all dying in one week. Chiron’s going to be thrilled.

Regardless, the ragtag family in front of her can still get it together.

“Matt,” She finally says after the silence has stretched out long enough.

He tightens his grip on his stick. He’s both angry and terrified, “Dr. Stark.”

Cas doesn’t take the bait.

“You are the most caring person I have ever met in my entire life,” The best part is that he knows she’s not lying, “I care about my circle of people. I would do anything for them, but you? Your capacity to care for random strangers is singular. And your faith in humanity? You genuinely believe that people can be more than they were yesterday. When it comes to the people lucky enough to be considered your friend, you are ferociously protective, trustworthy, and safe. It is a privilege to be your friend.” He swallows and looks down.

He’s fidgeting.

“Unfortunately, you do not extend that same care to yourself. You attempt to balance too much and as a result you drop too much. Moreover, that drive to protect your friends can reach smothering levels. When you should respect and trust in their wishes to stand next to you, you keep secrets like you have a say in whether or not they can handle knowing you. They want to and in order to be your friend they need to. You hold back not just out of a misguided attempt to keep them safe but because you don’t believe that you deserve them. Truth is, your opinion is irrelevant because only your friends can decide if you’re worth the effort to them. Plot twist: you are.”

There should be crickets chirping right now, “That’s entirely too much talking from me. Hop to it.”

She gets a little ping on her phone, “Ah, the food’s here.” Cas slides to her feet and moves the desk, “I wasn’t lying about the hose. If you try to bolt, I will drench you with cold water.”

She smiles and shuts the door.

Cas takes her time getting the food, tips the delivery man incredibly well, and even stands for a SnapChat to his daughter. Then she carries the food inside and is supremely happy to hear talking. She knocks and it cuts off but she goes inside anyway, “I can sit in the hallway in case you need me. The entire point is for you guys to talk. If I’m a barrier then I’ll stay out of the way.”

“No,” Karen steps forward to take the bag from Cas, “Ummm…” Then she brings a hand up to her mouth, “You…intervention. I think we needed that. We weren’t…” She casts a hopeful gaze to Matt and Foggy, “There’s been a lot going on and I think that I need to apologize. Cassandra was right. Whatever it is that’s going on, I don’t need to know. I’m worried about you both and whatever it is that keeps getting Matt hurt but I just need you two to stop lying. I can’t…no more lying. Please.”

“Karen,” Matt takes a step forward and hesitates to reach out towards her, “I never wanted…,” He swallows, “I only ever wanted to keep you safe.”

“But we’re not safe, Matt,” Karen throws up her hands, “Today proves it. We are not safe. What we do isn’t safe but I’ll still come here everyday and do it. We helped take down Wilson Fisk and we were helping Frank. That’s worth it to me!”

“Don’t say that when you don’t know what Matt has us lying about,” Foggy says, “It might change everything.” It might but Cas doubts it.

Karen only had good things to say about Daredevil and she doesn’t know Daredevil and Matt are the same person. She’s helping Cas work on the Accords in her spare time by sending in notes that the legal department has utilized. She broke into Castle’s house and had Cas refused to help, she probably would’ve gone alone. Gods, when the woman was entirely alone in this city she attempted to get to the bottom of suspected Union Allied corruption.

She even has a soft spot for Frank Castle.

So, will Karen be upset if Matt comes clean? Yes, but only because she’s been lied to. 

“Which is precisely why I didn’t want you knowing, Foggy,” Matt replies, “I didn’t want to burden you with this. These are my actions and my choices.”

“It is burdening us,” Karen says, “Because I don’t know what it is that has you so distant and letting strange women in your apartment,” What? Elektra the Snake-Eyed Woman, maybe? “And…and bruised or cut up. But I know that I want to help you. Because I care. You just won’t let me and I don’t understand why.”

“Then maybe we should stop, close the doors for a while,” Foggy says, “Because this is not what I envisioned when we made this office. I wanted to become a great lawyer, Matt! You’re the one who convinced me to open an office here, that we could make a difference using the law!”

Karen rounds on Foggy and she argues about how much good work they do. She so fervently believes in their firm…

There they go.

That’s the argument that’s at the heart of this.

Foggy hasn’t balanced Matt the Lawyer with Matt the Vigilante. He’s viewing them as two separate parts of a whole. Matt doesn’t have two separate identities. He’s just Matt Murdock. The person who accepts tupperware full of home cooked meals as payment for legal services is the same person who beats criminals into an inch of their lives. 

She’s also certain that Foggy’s still dealing with the betrayal of Matt never sharing his abilities with him willingly.

Cas is not trained in this. She’s mimicking what she thinks Chiron would do.

“Maybe you’re right,” Matt says and Karen gasps, “Maybe we should take some time. Reevaluate. If we’re not on the same page…”

Cas snorts and they suddenly remember that she exists, “Don’t mind me. Run away when things get difficult. That’s what real men do.” Well…Chiron wouldn’t have done that.

“Can you not-?” Matt’s hands find his way to his hips, “I’m trying to do the right thing.”

“Nah,” Cas is really bad at neutrality. She needs this to work out for them, “You’re being scared, selfish, and disrespectful. Foggy offered you an easy out and you're trying to take it so that walking away can be his idea. Then you have proof that you deserve to be alone,” Cas turns to Foggy, “Don’t throw away this kind of friendship, Foggy. Matt’s an idiot but he’s your idiot. Think of how long it will take you to train another best friend.” That day on the rooftop, Cas told Foggy the truth. He doesn’t have to stick around if Matt decides to let himself drown but she never intended for Foggy to quit without really trying to salvage what they have here.

Foggy still looks stunned that Matt actually said those words out loud. Then something changes. It looks like that day in court from right before he rallied, “You had better be right about this, Cassandra. Matt, tell Karen, or I will.”

“Foggy, no,” Karen says, “It’s okay. This isn’t something that you can take back.”

“Oh, I know that,” Foggy braces himself, “This is the mother of all leaps of faith but I’m pretty certain that our warden won’t let a fight break out.”

“No…you’re not demigods so that’s not appropriate.”

He doesn’t look reassured.

“Don’t do this, Foggy,” Matt shakes his head, “Please.”

Cas slips her hand into her pocket.

“One! I’m counting to three, Matt.”

“Don’t!”

“Two!”

“Come on, Foggy!”

“Don’t make me say three, Matt! Don’t make me say it!”

“I’m not making you say anything! I am begging you not to!”

This is a ping-pong match that Karen is riveted on.

Cas never wanted Foggy to be the one to tell Karen…while it still achieves the same result it might irreparably damage their friendships. They’ll still be close but Foggy will always be the person that stripped that secret from Matt.

No…

She can’t do that.

Cas’s arm is out before Foggy can say three and Matt’s distracted so his arm is up to snatch the fortune cookie she just pelted at his forehead.

Silence reigns.

“Nice catch,” She smiles. 

Shortest friendship of her life. 

~~~

Cas enjoys her wontons while Matt explains his abilities to Karen(She’s getting confirmation on so many little observations she’s made). It’s not difficult for Karen to come to certain conclusions. Her gaze lingers on his jaw line, the one part of him that’s always exposed as Daredevil. Especially when he was running around in his army surplus gear.

Absently, Cas wonders if Matt remembers how good the human brain is at recognizing familiar faces.

“You saved my life,” Karen says nearly breathlessly, “Oh my god, you saved my life.”

Matt attempts to minimize his contribution to Karen’s continued existence but she’s not having it. She’s hugging Matt for dear life now. Across the room, Foggy makes eye contact with Cas and she reads the gratitude in his expression. Her response is the smallest of nods. 

“Oh my god,” Karen steps back and shoves Matt, “I watched you fall out of a window and bounce off the fire escape.”

And now Cas makes sure that her mouth is occupied with food.

Otherwise her Stark genes might have her saying something out of hand just to stir that chaos.

Karen starts chewing out Matt for lying to her and for putting Foggy into a position where he had to lie to Karen for Matt.

To which Matt replies, “I never wanted Foggy to lie for me and I don’t want you in that position either.”

Karen puts her hands on her hips, “Who else is there that I’d care about lying to?”

Matt says this next part slowly like it should be obvious, “The police.”

Karen’s mouth drops open, “I’m not going to tell the police!”

That sets off a little bomb where Foggy and Matt remind Karen that lying to the police is bad while Karen reminds Foggy and Matt that betraying friends is also bad. Cas smiles before packing up her remaining meal. They have this handled now so she doesn’t need to lock them in anymore.

They’ll be just fine.

“Where are you going?” Matt asks as she commandeers the paper bag.

“Home,” She answers, “I need to analyze the crime scenes some more. I think I missed something during my first pass at the DA’s office,” Understandable, all things considered, “Don’t worry, I’ll share if I find anything and I’ll ask Friday to keep you looped in about Castle and the thing last night,” She doesn’t know if Matt intends to share every case or just the ones that affect them all, “After all of this is over, I hope we can continue to work together.” She looks around the office, “You guys have done some amazing work here. I enjoyed contributing.”

Matt’s brow furrows, “You say that like you’re expecting that to end.”

And that’s when Karen realizes what Cas is saying, “Oh no, you can’t think-,” She glances at Matt in comprehension, “I mean it’ll work out. You helped, right?”

Cas smiles, “I hope so. But the first time I got this sort of treatment, I was hog tied and two people sat on me. I was bitter for ages.” She’d also broken a lot of things, including someone else’s arm outside of sanctioned combat. So, restraining her was justified.

There’s a moment of silence followed by Foggy’s quiet, “What the fuck…”

Cas shrugs. She’s confrontational and competitive which was worse when she was a kid.

“Cassandra,” Matt says, “Can we talk outside?”

The man is tense which is fair. Breaking trust like Cas just did is enough to set anyone off.

She shrugs before replacing Karen’s desk and leading the way out the door. Cas meant what she said about hoping to maintain a professional relationship with them…but that may take some time to achieve. When Matt closes the door he leaves his hand clenched around the door knob. He heaves a deep breath before straightening and turning to face her.

“Fisk,” he says.

Right. She did make him a promise, “Fisk,” she nods, “Fisk is a conqueror,” Like recognizes like, “And he wants his throne back. He's also gifted at reading people, finding what they want, and convincing them to do what he wants. He's currently severely weakened with almost no capital. Anything he has squirreled away won’t be enough for a triumphant return to power. If he wants to take back his former territory after he secures a release then the opposition needs to be weakened or eliminated prior to his return.”

“You say that like he's going to be released,” Matt places his hands on his hips.

Cas leans back against the wall across from him, “He intends to be. This proves he hasn’t given up yet.”

He nods, “Fisk had Frank released to eliminate the competition. But why would Frank work with someone like Fisk?”

She shakes her head, “Castle is objective driven. Fisk gave him Dutton and it panned out. After that all Fisk had to do was point Castle at their mutual enemies.”

“And Frank will carve up the city looking for the Blacksmith.” Because the Blacksmith set up the deal in Central Park.

Cas agrees and has concerns, “There was military grade hardware in that room. Well maintained and customized to a mechanized rig. The Blacksmith is dangerous.” And who else has a connection to both Frank Castle and Reyes?

“So am I.”

True. 

“But the Blacksmith has no regard for collateral damage,” Cas focuses back on Matt instead of the ceiling. He still looks shaken, “I'm worried about Karen. Foggy knows how to keep his head down and you're you. But she's the one who worked closest with Castle. That's why I made sure everyone knew the attack wasn't him…otherwise,” her gaze hardens, “If I was trying to sell the world a story about Frank Castle being a deranged lunatic, then I'd make sure the people who helped him got a Punisher ending.” She has no clue why that story is for sale but…. 

Someone tried to pin Reyes’s death on Frank Castle…why? Her mind circles the possibilities. It had to be someone who knew ‘The Punisher’ would spook Reyes…

“That's why you did it?”

Cas comes back to the present, “Hmmm?”

“That's why you pushed my…abilities into the open, to keep us safe?”

“Yeah,” That's all there was to it, “There's too many moving pieces to guarantee everyone's safety and keep your secret. It might've come out at a bad time, caused delays, and gotten someone killed. Better it's out now and the emotions settle before the fighting happens.”

His fist clenches, “You shouldn't have done that.”

She returns her head to the ceiling. Maybe, “I knew the outcomes. A possible, mild safety risk to Karen later with severely damaged trust between us but also significant improvement in your safety now and overall coordination.”

“Severely damaged?” Matt's hand comes up and he points right at her face, "No, you broke my trust.”

Ah, there it is. That hurts.

Cas nods, “I decided as we were leaving the courthouse. Preferably, you were going to tell her but l knew this was going to end with Karen learning that you're Daredevil.”

“You decided? About my life? Do you even hear how that sounds?”

That's more than a little ironic, “A little like lying to someone you care about every day and letting them live with the fear that you don't trust or care about them half as much as they care about you.” She scrunches up her nose because she wasn't supposed to punch back, “Sorry.”

Cas made a choice to keep them safe at the expense of Matt's trust and respect.

He gets to be angry and she gets to wish it hadn't been necessary.

“You wanted me to be…no, you wanted all of us to be mad at you,” He's worked up now, “I don't understand why. Why would you do that?”

That surprises Cas because she thought Matt got this sort of thing, “Common enemies are a great unifier. I only had to push a little bit for you to close ranks. I have family to fall back on but those are your people,” she waves towards the closed door, “And you need them.”

People need their people.

“Jesus,” Matt's head thunks when it hits the wall behind him as that sudden influx of energy vanishes. He pulls his glasses off so that he can massage the bridge of his nose, “Cassandra, I don't know what to say to that,” She doesn't think her default sarcasm would be helpful here so she keeps quiet, “Were you even going…Did you think that I wouldn't forgive you?”

She shrugs. Betrayal is a very serious thing. It's a conscious decision to commit an action that an individual knows will hurt others that care about them. People don't let that go. 

Even though Cas weighed the pros and cons, it doesn't change the fact that she hurt him.

“You…,” he stops and shakes his head, “I don't know if I'm more angry at you for what you did or for thinking that I'd cut you out after. After everything, after the last year, you thought that would be it? I just…I…” he takes a steadying breath, “Am so angry with you because you haven't told a single lie.”

Cas shifts and clears her throat, “I did tell you, I don't lie that much.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, “You did.”

“So…” her head tilts to the side as she examines Matt. He seems…not relaxed, but loose and ready to move, “Where does that leave us?”

At first he leaves her hanging but then, “Groveling.”

Huh…

“What?”

“You have a lot of groveling to do to make up for this.”

Cas’s eyes narrow, “I don't grovel.”

“You will,” Matt shakes his head, “Foggy could guilt a nun if he tried hard enough and he's already making a list of demands. Be ready to compensate him for emotional damages.”

… “I'm so confused.”

“That's a first.”

Cas crosses her arms, “You're so….you people are weird.”

“You got that right, at least.”

He falls silent again and Cas wonders if she's supposed to be leaving now. This has been a weird couple of days to say the least.

“Who were they?”

Cas focuses back on Matt, “Who?”

“The people you see when you look at us,” Matt keeps his eyes shut but Cas knows he's paying attention to her…he looks tired. She feels tired. Even more so now that she knows what he's asking, “That night after the docks, Foggy told me what you said…an idiot with a hero complex?”

This isn't where Cas expected this to go and she feels distinctly hunted, “...oh.”

“Oh?”

It’s not fair that he locked onto that when she only just figured it out. That must be one of his people reading skills shining through, “It wasn't on purpose, you know. I didn't mean to make that connection. My brain just did it,” Watching for cycles and rhymes in history is vital to her survival…. “I'm the oldest one left. I'm twenty six.”

Matt's brow furrows but he keeps his silence.

“They all died. They all died within seven godsdamned days. I wasn't supposed to be the oldest,” she shakes away the sniffling because that doesn't get to happen now. She's busy, “Charlie was the oldest and he died first. Charlie was amazing. He gave me engineering and stood back with a smile when I took off with it. The love of Charlie's life was Silena. Silena was the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out. She…she helped me figure out what I liked. Silly things people don't think about. Movies. Albums. Talking about nothing. Pizza toppings and the importance of dipping your fries in your milkshake. Hugs. And Luke…Luke taught me what family is and how to be a part of it. Now, there's just Annabeth and me.”

“Fuck,” Cas grinds her palms into her eyes. So much for her steel core. She was supposed to take this loss on the chin and walk away, “Don't lose your family, Matt. We were lucky enough to get a second chance, but a third one? That won't happen. Don't give them up.”

A few seconds pass.

A minute where Cas is denying the urge to be emotional.

A full two minutes of quiet.

Matt sighs. She's good at making him do that, “You wanted me to blame you so that I would keep my family together.”

So, Cas wasn't expecting him to slide to the floor.

It very much catches her by surprise.

He kicks his leg out and it mirrors the day he got shot.

She hopes she reads him right when she slides to the floor and flicks her foot out to nudge his, “Do I want to know how filthy this floor is?”

“Can't be worse than the Hudson when you dragged me out of it.”

That's true, “These pants are a lot more expensive than everything I wore that night.” They are Armani and a gift from Pepper.

He laughs, “You don't care.”

She shrugs because dry cleaning is a thing, but lets the quiet slip over them again. Eventually the surreal nature of the situation has her breaking the silence again, “What are we doing?”

His answer seems out of nowhere but also unsurprising.

“I was going to cut them all out,” He says to the ceiling.

Cas nods, “Had a feeling that your head had gone there.”

“I noticed,” He kicks her, “When you locked us in our office.”

Yeah.

Questionable but effective.

“I fed you, though.”

He huffs out what barely qualifies as a laugh. It reads like terror, “I can't…I can't let them get hurt because of me…”

Cas sighs, “You were already hurting them.” So much melodramatics from all of this.

He doesn't flinch but it's a near thing, “Foggy’s never going to accept that other part of me.”

Other part? He has to be making up excuses but it’s not like they can put the devil-cat back in the bag.

Cas sits up a bit more, “You’re just you? What other part?” Her confusion about this weird mental division is unlikely to ever resolve itself.

He rolls his eyes at her, “That’s twice, now,” Cas is just going to have to accept that she doesn’t always understand what these people worry about. Then he kicks her foot again, “Groveling, I want to know what happened.”

This man is like a yo-yo sometimes, “Please, clarify. Apparently, I’m stupid today.” 

“Everything, I want to know everything about what happened to them.”

Ah. That’s a bit of an ask, “You realize that I don’t talk about this?”

“Hmmm,” He almost smiles. Cas considers it an accomplishment, “Too bad. Think of it as penance.”

That’s just ridiculous. She’s not anywhere near Catholic, “Look, you know how we’ve been doing the history lessons? I timed it. What you’re asking for will be public knowledge in time for the Accords.”

“Perfect,” He says, “Then we get to know first.”

This is not what she wanted to be doing tonight…

Chapter Text

~~~

“Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.”

– Antisthenes

~~~

Their blank stares are something to see.

And that includes Matt.

At some point, a bottle of whiskey appears from Foggy’s office.

That’s probably around the time it really clicks that she had dozens of near death experiences before she was what an American would consider a legal adult.

For some reason, the fact that Cas was an unaccompanied thirteen year old living in Boston and attending MIT while being hunted for sport isn’t something that they’d fully comprehended before. She doesn’t know why. Everyone knows that she graduated young.

Then that bottle of whiskey is handed to Cas because she’s supposed to have a double(?). Foggy has thoughts on all of this that involve alcohol. This is in response to the Sea of Monsters. Because this is allegedly an apology thing…she gags but she finishes what she’s supposed to drink. Then it happened again when she explained that terrible winter she thought Annabeth was dead and Percy held up the sky for a minute.

Cas thinks that her team has done an excellent job spreading information on ancient Greek history around because she didn’t have to explain Daedalus. She has to explain why she knew Daedalus and then she has to explain what Percy and Annabeth found at the end of the labyrinth in that sarcophagus.

Matt has an actual fucking epiphany. It’s almost like Cas is a rational human being and doesn’t have excessively emotional responses to something unless it’s really screwed up. 

It’s a mindblowing concept.

The first hiccup is when Cas is asked to explain how many pyres were lit after the Battle of the Labyrinth. It’s different when it’s real people with names. That’s what she’s discovered. People don’t care when it’s a number. Oh, thirty five human beings stopped existing because of this singular event? Wow, that sucks.

No, give them a name and a favorite color or time of day and suddenly people can’t handle it. They end up looking away usually.

It doesn’t matter how many times she explains her rationale for her actions, they’re all upset. Which Cas doesn’t get. Yes, some of them died but Cas made the best possible decisions she could given the information she had. There isn't anything else to do so they shouldn't waste their energy. Cas already did everything in her power to prevent things like the second Titanomachy and Gigantomachy from happening again.

The explanation of Ancient Greece’s direct democracy(more or less), her election as Strategos, and her responsibilities also cause a bit of a stir. This is different from her experience telling her family. 

“You were nineteen!” Karen sounds a little bit shrill so Cas happily passes her the bottle that she really doesn’t want to hold anymore.

Cas looks at the two men in the room like they might have something to add before she occupies herself with a fortune cookie. She doesn’t like them but it buys her some time.

‘Minor aches today are likely to pay off handsomely tomorrow.’

She can’t stop herself from snorting at it before she stuffs it in her pocket while shaking her head. That one sticks with her, “Yes, I was a senior camper by then.” Because the others had died or changed sides remains unsaid.

“That doesn’t-” Karen sputters, “Nineteen year olds are supposed to be making questionable dating choices or sneaking beers….not…Jesus.”

Cas’s smile tastes a little bitter, “How old do you have to be to enlist in the US military, Karen? And I wasn’t the youngest.”

“No, you were just leading an army of baby heroes.”

It makes her think of her family being indignant on her behalf all those years ago. Honestly, it’s bizarre to discuss these topics with people who are for all intents and purposes, quite ordinary. The three of them are amazing but their locus of understanding is so normal. Her family has had years to get used to the demigod things that Cas accepts as normal parts of life. But from the beginning, Cas’s family was different thanks to her father.

So Cas smiles when Karen finishes going off about how unfair it is and says, “Thank you, but I’m fine.”

After discussing the Labyrinth, she gets into that last year of guerrilla warfare. She glosses over a lot of details for them. The extremes and the brutality. Cas realizes that while she's been in combat with Matt, only Foggy and Karen have seen what it looks like when Cas goes all out. Cas has never utilized her full abilities in a situation that Matt would be able to perceive. Foggy and Karen have seen the footage of her fighting chitauri and dark elves and Ultron. Wild. And more backwards than she would expect. 

It's that last week where everything went wrong that still trips her up in places.

In the year 2016, it is far easier to discuss topics like magic. 

Prophecies are still a little on the ‘meh’ end of things but belief in fate works out just fine. The Big Three’s oath, the subsequent fates of their children in that era, and the weight nestled squarely on Percy’s shoulders starts a whole other conversation. Cas has to repeatedly ask that they do not say anything against the gods or Olympus because technically they could call on Cas at any time.

She doesn’t want to deal with that sort of awkwardness but she appreciates their anger on behalf of her and her friends.

Now….Charlie…talking about Charlie and that godsdamned cruise ship still hurts. And Luke…seeing Kronos. Seeing what remained of the person that she used to believe was her person. The weight, the terror, the feeling of being insignificant….Powerless. The guilt at being the one to continue the mission despite feeling that something wasn't right…

Her division of Manhattan, organization, and coordination of their forces while stuck at a pavilion near the Empire State Building garners more frustration. She understands now that her strengths were better served from that position where she could manage the battles. Now, with Friday’s help that isn’t a concern and she can do both but back then, her central placement was needed. Cas thinks it’s the clinical way she talks about sending teenagers and young adults into battle that really bothers them. It's the only way she can talk about it.

They attempt to dissect every tactical decision she made throughout the three days Manhattan was under siege, not that they have battlefield training. They do but they don’t fathom the magnitude of Kronos’s power, of putting a city to sleep. Then again, they’ve never experienced anything remotely similar. New York City under attack in 2012 was the worst they’ve ever seen but that’s different from a prolonged battle of attrition that Cas knew she couldn’t win directly. 

The bridge and Michael Yew…

Of course, it was a losing battle anyway and she was only ever buying time. Eventually, Cas was fighting on the frontlines. She admits that while she doesn’t know if any of her strikes killed any of the opposing demigods directly, she also doesn’t know that they survived the injuries she inflicted on them. She tried to focus on the monsters bearing down on her but whoever swung at her was an enemy.

The Lydian drakon is still just as terrible to remember. Silena and that silver charm don’t hurt to remember any less than they did a few years ago. Her capacity to glare has improved though so she’s proud of how all three members of Nelson & Murdock look away(even if it’s only symbolic for Matt). No one will ever say a single word against Silena in front of her. 

Never.

These people are so different.

But they know Cas at least a little. With that in mind, she has to wonder how the rest of the world will react to the end of this story.

That final moment when Luke buried a dagger in his body to defeat Kronos is still…Explaining what she saw when she arrived at the throne room still takes a couple of tries and it always will.

But she does finish and ends up with an empty whiskey bottle in her hands for her troubles, “I am…concerned.” They really hammered this thing back and she needs them mostly sober. Sure, too much of it was forced on Cas but to the best of her knowledge…it's supposed to be potent for them.

“Welp,” Foggy throws his hands up in the air, “We’re still stuck here so…”

Cas nods, “Only until we know who killed Reyes.” The Blacksmith is only a title, after all. Thankfully most of what she planned to do can be done remotely. It’s just inconvenient on a phone. She scrolls through the updates and her stomach bottoms out. 

She knows for a fact that there’s no outward reaction from her but something was audible because Matt’s head snaps up, “What happened?”

“Piper wanted me to know that the medical examiner Foggy accused me of intimidating is dead,” She taps her finger on her leg, “That’s another person connected to the sting,” Her attention jumps to Karen, “Don’t go home tonight. I’m sending some guys to watch it but go somewhere else.” In other news that she on the sly sends to Matt’s tablet, the rescued kids are in and out, a bit delirious, with freaky blood results that have unfortunate implications. Not only was their blood being siphoned out continuously (and based on the damage to the kidneys and bone marrow it’s been happening for a while), but other things were being pumped into them. 

Those kids were being used as incubators for thus far unidentified organic compounds. It feels a little like Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and that alone makes Cas nauseous. Cas offers up her mass spec to get the identification done faster but per Will’s experience and the Sword medic that Hellen deferred to…this all falls into the category of ‘unusual’.

It’s the sort of thing that demigods take care of. She’s so glad that she got all of this emotional stuff taken care of before this issue came up.

There’s another problem. If those compounds still exist in significant quantities within their blood streams, then there’s a distinct possibility that someone is going to go looking for their missing product. They need a means of filtering the blood faster. It should be possible once she identifies the active sites on the compounds….

A fortune cookie hits her in the cheek and Cas blinks, “If this becomes a thing, I’m going to start keeping little projectiles on hand.”

“What were you thinking about?” Matt asks not at all concerned that he hit her, only that she actually got hit. She was pretty focused…

Truthfully, “Chelation therapy. A few years ago I had an idea to modify the process so that I could customize it to filter a specific poison in a person’s blood.” She never dropped the idea even after they solved the palladium problem. It’s just never gone past theoretical applications. Organic molecules are much larger than metals…

“What does that have to do with Frank and the Blacksmith?” Karen asks.

She shakes her head, “Nothing. I’m also dealing with a freaky drug/poison thing. Temporary dialysis might not work,” She shrugs, “I can multitask.” And that’s when Cas gets a more serious alert on her phone…, “Shit. Ummm…” She looks around the room, “If I go deal with what are probably cult ninjas, will you all be smart enough to communicate and not make yourselves into targets?”

They aren’t in the building. There’s no way the ninjas can get into Stark Tower. They are, however, far too close to home.

Matt stiffens but Foggy develops a sudden spark of comprehension, “Cult ninjas? Like Yakuza?” He turns to Matt, “You were telling the truth?”

“It’s not like I always lie to you, Foggy,” Matt says but he’s not at all happy with this turn in the conversation.

Huh. Cas did not know Foggy knew about the Yakuza.

“You’ve been fighting with the Yakuza?” Karen asks, “That’s why you’ve been so injured…”

“No,” Matt attempts to reassure and then realizes his error, “The worst of it was actually Frank.” Which is not at all reassuring.

Cas maintains that the worst of it was Nobu the first time, but what does she know? She looks down at what she’s wearing and realizes her political fight clothes are not well suited to fighting ninjas. She misses her motorcycle. She should really see about getting herself a new one because it would make navigating the city so much easier. As it stands, her brief trips to LA are spent primarily stuck in traffic .... Cas snags one last egg roll for the road, “See everyone later. I have a cult to hunt. There are people actively looking for Frank Castle, so Matt there is no need to stand on a roof while you try to sniff him out.”

“Stark Tower…,” Matt asks, “Is there space for them there?”

She realizes immediately what he’s asking her for and Cas wrinkles her nose, “Eggs and baskets,” Damn Leo for getting that stuck in her brain. She shakes her head, “But if they want,” Cas turns to Foggy and Karen, “My apartment is available and I’m meal prepped for the week.” Allie on the eighth floor wants to be a chef and is in culinary school.

“Oh, no,” Karen raises her hands to ward off Cas’s offer, “We couldn’t impose-”

“Yes, we could,” Foggy cuts her off, “After what we’ve been through today, I will impose myself on the rich woman’s penthouse.”

Cas bites her tongue because she doesn’t feel like she has the right to laugh with them yet. Instead, she says, “But I offered? Either way, I need to get something a little more durable to fight ninjas in.” Then she turns to Matt, “You doing the same?”

He nods and leaves the room without even pretending to need his cane. Cas resists the urge to roll her eyes and she probably will be for a while, “There are others preparing to intercept. Seems like ninjas are very good at avoiding Friday but they won’t slip past my very frustrated law student friend.” She says into the air.

“Frustrated law student?” Foggy asks.

“Clarisse but I call her Clar.” Or Piggy. Depends.

That’s about the same time that she gets a call from Will that the rescued kids have turned violent and uncooperative. Apparently, they say they need to leave. They need to get back to the Hand. Whatever that is.

~~~

“Do you do this a lot?” Karen calls from the other side of Cas’s closet door. It takes a bit of effort to get her armor on and run diagnostics.

Still, “Do what?” Cas opens the door to see Karen snooping around her space. Taking in the photos that are her primary form of decoration. She seems fixated on the pegasus.

“The ummm…running around with Daredevil,” Karen shoots her a look over her shoulder.

Cas snorts, “Gods no. I’d overdose on his Catholic guilt. Your boy is a bit of a brooder and I’m too busy to trail after him wailing on purse snatchers at two in the morning,” She focuses on a personal favorite of hers on the wall. It’s the crew of the Argo II from when they were about a day out from the straight of Gibraltar. They hardly knew each other then. There was almost no trust but Hedge insisted, “I help Matt when it’s something big or if two hands aren’t enough.”

“Like cult ninjas.”

“Exactly like cult ninjas,” She leads the way back out into the hallway and towards her living room where Foggy’s looking at the memorial picture wall. He’s probably wondering which ones are alive and which are in Elysium. Hazel’s paintings are displayed opposite in a location of honor with minimal sunlight exposure, “You can have my room, the guest room, or the couches if you feel like sticking close together. Go to town on the fridge. You’re free to leave but please let Friday call some back up for you two?”

She heads to the elevator with the lobby in mind without waiting for an answer. Going on foot will be faster than driving.

“Cassandra,” Foggy calls as the doors close, “Thank you.”

She nods as the doors close.

The run feels good. There’s been far too much intensity and too little action for the past several hours and her body’s been itching to move. So, yes, that sprint from Lamark High-Rise to the area around Stark Tower gets her blood pumping.

What really sets her off is a very familiar bellow, “Hold still you stupid rat!”

It’s Clarisse. Cas comes to a stop at the edge of a building where she watches Clar use her grip on one ninja to throw him ten feet into another person. Gods, she’s pissed off and it’s more than just them being under attack. It’s also possible that Clar can feel that imposing sense of wrongness emanating from the ninjas(Will she get tired of using the word ninja? It’s a little novel, currently.) They’re even more incorrect than Nobu.

Wrongwrongwrong….

She’s literally averse to their continued existence anywhere near her or hers.

Cas doesn’t wait. She launches herself into the thick of it while wondering how Clar got herself onto the roof in time to intercept the nine real life ninjas with harpoon guns they abandoned on the ground. Cas looks out and makes an obvious leap of logic, “You were not about to blast yourself through our windows!” It’s possible that she kicks the ninja harder than is strictly necessary. She feels the bone crack under her foot.

“That’s what I said!” Clar yells from her side of the skirmish. Now that there are two of them on the roof the remaining ninjas back up into a loose formation, “Awe, look at that, Cassie. They’re trying to overwhelm us. They couldn’t even scratch me with their little butter knives and now they think they can take us.”

“Precious,” Cas says while tilting her head, “You know,” And observing the unnatural stillness, “I really don’t think those are humans.”

“Thank the gods,” Clar pulls her spear out and the tip crackles with electricity, “I wasn’t sure.”

Cas’s spear comes out to play as well but she holds back. See, Clar has an entirely celestial bronze weapon. If those are humans, it’ll pass right through them as if they were smoke. Cas’s spear is an alloy so she’s not helpful for this litmus test. 

Clar’s chosen ninja tries to get away and his little cohort tries to cover for him but Cas steps in to swat them back. All traces of gentleness and consideration she’d provide to a human are gone. When Clar’s spear meets flesh, there’s a violent sizzle and the ninja convulses before dropping. It didn’t make a sound. Everyone on the roof top halts in place before Clar grins, “Oh, you’re in deep shit, now.”

The experience of sneakily dropping those Yakuza goons with her bare hands was cathartic after encountering the Crown Prince of Wakanda. However, she didn’t really turn herself loose, not like she did against Ultron or the Chitauri or any of those types of threats. 

On that rooftop, with Clarisse at her back, Cassandra fights.

And the difference between veteran demigod warriors and whatever the fuck those ninjas are could not be more evident. Their strikes are parried viciously and it staggers them. When Cas or Clarisse go on the offensive, the ninjas hold up as well as wet paper chains.

Whoever sent them here sent them to die…because they drop and they drop quickly with broken bones and spears in vital organs. 

Clarisse ends up nudging one of the corpses with her foot, “Do non-human ninja creatures not have an underworld to go back to?”

Cas takes a closer look at one she dropped, “Some of that cloyingness is gone. Maybe they inhabit human bodies?”

“What? Like a bible demon?”

“I was thinking like an eidolon but that works.”

There ends up being another group trying to get in through the Grand Central entrance.

Another in the parking garage.

Another through some maintenance entrances.

They don’t hold up.

But they keep trying without regard for the ones that already fell. Even the monsters that Cas is used to fighting tend to hesitate when confronted with a losing situation. There is no sign of that here. Just blankness.

(In the back of her mind, Cas chases a thought: what were they really after? Because there’s no way that they really thought that they were going to win like this. No way.)

Cas checks her phone afterwards to confirm that someone ran into Matt. Which is both good and bad. Bad because Cas gave the greenlight to use whatever force felt appropriate. And good because she knows he’s not overwhelmed or dead somewhere.

She sends her theory on the human marionette possibility, so hopefully that will defuse some tension.

Cas calls the med bay only to find out that their guests have been sedated…They’re not playing around with safety but, “So…I’m going to need someone to examine at least one of these ninjas. We need to figure out what we’re dealing with.”

On the other end Will’s frustration is very evident, “I don’t have a medical license, yet, Cassie.”

“That should be fine…because while this used to be a human person…I don’t think it was one when I fought it.”

There’s a good long pause on the phone, “Just wheel them in, I guess…it’s not like anything’s making sense anymore. When you said that we’d be able to go to school and have actual lives, I thought that meant separate from things on the other side of the Mist.”

Cas rolls her eyes, “Shut up, Will. You and Nico signed on.”

“Λαίκαζε.” Laíkaze.

And Cas laughs because it’s better than thinking about what just happened, “I’d consider it but Nico would murder me. I’m enjoying my life way too much.”

“Just hurry up,” He snaps, “I’d like to sleep some time tonight.”

~~~

Cas arrives to yelling with Clarisse in tow. She recognizes that yelling because she just experienced it a handful of hours ago when she locked the source in his office with his two closest friends. 

“You can’t just-” He cuts himself off and some piece of equipment takes a hit, “We have to call the police!”

“If you call the police on us, then you get to stick around and explain what happened,” And that’s Ms. Palamas. That is not a person combination that Cas ever saw coming, “Are you prepared to do that? Because I will not let all of this fall solely on Dr. Stark. Not when she tells me that this is outside human law.”

Cas turns slightly towards Clar, “Should I go save him?” Matt head reorients in a way that lets her know she’s been noticed.

Clar leans down to whisper, “Don’t you mean ‘her’?”

Cas shakes her head, “No. Kara is terrifying.”

Clarisse slaps Cas on the back sending her stumbling forward, “Have fun with that. I’m heading-”

“Holy fucking shit! What the actual fuck?!?” A familiar head pops out of one of the nearby exam rooms before jumping back in, “What in Hades cursed underwear am I looking at right now?” The swearing continues and transitions out of English into the depths of ancient Greek that gets very creative with where to shove radishes.

It has Cas cringing and Clar laughing while they follow the angry Child of Apollo, “Friday, call Nico. I think we need him…” It's rare that Will is this angry. When it happens, the best option is to drop the shadow child on him.

Although, when Cas enters the room she kind of gets where Will is coming from. Only she doesn’t have any words. Cas has her degrees in biochemistry and such. She’s well read on anatomy given her work on the Cradle and current projects. But, “Is that what I think it is?”

Will, who has just paused to breathe, looks up at Cas like he wants to curse her, “No, it’s body art.”

“Oh…,” That’s…creative(?).

“Shut up,” He snaps, “It’s an autopsy incision, you moron.” Not many people could get away with calling Cas that but honestly…body modifications make more sense than healed autopsy scars.

“Right…”

Clar shoves her way past Cas to get a closer look, “You going to pop it open?” And completely ignores the look that Cas gives her for that.

“No, you damned war pig,” Will shakes his head, “First thing I’m doing is purifying it because there is some seriously dark energy clinging to it. It’s not healthy for people to be around it.” 

“An autopsy scar?” Matt says while still suited up with a very unhappy Ms. Palamas not far behind. 

Will glares but decides repeating himself is beneath him. Cas takes over instead, “Whatever we’re dealing with either reanimates corpses, controls corpses, or moves in like hermit crab.”

“So, they’re not alive?” He sounds very confused. The man’s probably not used to his senses being screwed with like this.

This at least, is a worthwhile question for Will, “Debatable. Cas is right. The original occupant of this body is long gone. This is a violation of the darkest kind.”

Maybe she can be right about another thing tonight. A spark of inspiration hits her and she takes a step closer. What if? Yeah, what if? She considers everything that she’s seen in the past few days and reminds herself that coincidence is bullshit when she’s a demigod, “Will, run the blood for the compounds you found in the kids. Let me know what you find.”

Will freezes where he’s standing explaining the darker aspects of magic and the things they don’t touch but know exist, “You have to be kidding me.” 

But she shakes her head, “No, I’m not.”

Clar ditches them not long after. She says something about a paper that needs a final read through prior to submission before she vanishes. Cas is glad she doesn’t have to deal with that kind of shit anymore. People ask her to look at their stuff now to see if it’s good enough. She’s only worried if she’s trying to get published and to be perfectly honest that's a ‘been there done that’ for her.

Will has his own work to do and Nico will be there soon to support him but Cas has a problem. Ms. Palamas is glaring but it’s late now and Cas is at both a sleep and calorie deficit so she’s not dealing with that today. She turns to Matt instead, “You heading home or do you wanna see the others?”

He can probably tell how forcibly Cas is avoiding looking at Ms. Palamas. It’s painful.

Matt tilts his head, “The others.”

“Great,” She says, still ignoring the (alleged)former assassin that’s about to blow a gasket, “Let’s go.”

Quickly.

Cas is surprised that Foggy and Karen are still awake when they get back. They’re watching the news and wrapped up in fuzzy blankets. They’d at least changed into the emergency sleep clothes that Cas keeps handy for any stranded demigods that spontaneously need a place to bed down for the night. 

She flicks a small wave at them because she's not spending any more time answering questions today. She's tapped out on them. No, her shower and bed are calling.

Also, Matt's behind her. She put a lot of effort into clearing the path to her elevator so that no one would see Daredevil walking in. He can talk with them.

~~~

There's an art to moving quietly. It's easiest barefoot across hard surfaces like the tile of her halls and kitchen. The kitchen directly oversees her living room because Annabeth knows that Cas likes everyone in sight except when she retreats to her room. It gives her a perfect view as she slips into her kitchen on the balls of her feet.

Silence in the morning around people that have crashed due to exhaustion is different. She has a feeling that she could drop a brick right now and Foggy wouldn't move. Karen seems like a much lighter sleeper and Matt's unlikely to be in anything other than a doze(he probably already noticed her). Those two aren't in their safe spaces but fell asleep because they needed to.

Anyway, her guests must've stayed up late into the night talking. They're sprawled out across the sectionals. It's a good thing that Cas is accustomed to hosting multiple people at a time.

But she needs caffeine and so she flips the machine on and starts her morning. She doesn't bother looking up right away when she hears movement. It's a bit obvious who’s the first one up, “Morning,” and since he's moving Cas doesn't feel bad about food now. Once she has her coffee in the works, she says, “You look less dead on your feet.” And he does. He hasn't actually gotten up yet but he looks a little less like an Atlas impersonation today.

And that earns her another sigh. She should start keeping track.

“Thank you, Cassandra.”

That's the driest sounding thanks she's ever gotten, “And to think, I was going to share my bacon.”

He sits up, “Consider bacon part of your grovelling.”

“We're still on that?” To be fair, Cas expected a lot worse than sarcasm and bacon sharing. She expected the eternal cold shoulder.

“But I meant about letting them stay here,” Ah. That's what he's talking about, “It's…knowing that they're safe makes this easier, less like I'm flailing around for something…thank you.”

Cas shrugs as she sips from her beloved dumpster fire mug. It was a gift from Piper and it just feels right today, “This apartment was used to shelter in place during Ultron. Between Stark Tower, Camp Half-Blood, and here, there's no place safer in New York.” There's multiple floors of stressed collegiate demigods between Cas and the front door. Plus, Friday lives here too, “I'd never leave you guys out in the cold.”

“Even if I hated you?” 

She slurps unnecessarily loudly just to annoy him, “Yep.”

Rather than stand like a normal human being, Matt vaults himself over the back of her couch. Huh. They're couch surfing buddies now, “Where is everything?”

Cas doesn't look up from her tasks, “Mugs are above the sink. Plates to the right. Silverware in the drawer beneath them. You wouldn't know what to do with a fully stocked fridge so leave it at that.”

He doesn't even deny it.

The magic that is the symphony of coffee and breakfast smell wakes up the sleeping giants on the couch. (Gods, she really has been stretched if she's thinking all obnoxiously poetic this morning.) And Cas intends to greet them. She does.

Then Matt does his head tilt thing, “Are you expecting someone?”

Uh…”No?”

“Someone's coming up the elevator. A woman. She's angry.”

Huh.

“Friday?”

“I've been asked not to warn you, Demi-Boss.”

Well…that shrinks the list of possible invaders.

She doesn't know why whoever’s coming is mad at her but there's nothing to be done about it now. Friday wouldn't let someone up if they were going to hurt her. Or her guests.

So, she's not worried about it. 

Nope.

The elevator door dings, “Cassandra Fucking Stark!” 

Foggy and Karen jerk up which is unfortunate. It's only nine in the morning. 

Piper comes storming into Cas’s kitchen, fuming.

Cas takes in the whole image and makes a decision, “That's not my middle name,” she doesn't have one, actually. 

Piper crosses her arms, “Clarisse,” she spits, “You called Clarisse.”

Cas narrows her eyes in thought, “Haven't you been running around trying to vanish your little birds?” Pipes looks exhausted.

“I was shot at!” Shit, “I was shot at no less than six times in four different locations!” Piper turns to Karen, “You need to call your super by the way. We were trying to flush out the Blacksmith but instead your walls are now swiss cheese.”

Cas stands aside after grabbing the first piece of bacon. She owns it but Piper needs to cook, “What does this have to do with Clar?” Commanding the space makes Piper feel better even if she doesn’t eat meat. 

It is entirely possible to angrily drink coffee and that's what Pipes does before saying, “I needed to hit something and you took the Child of Ares to fight the ghost ninjas! I don't need to fight that much but I wanted to last night!”

Cas nods and makes sure to stay out of Piper's reach while she's armed with those grease covered tongs. She makes the executive decision to wave Matt back towards Foggy and Karen who are attempting to wake up fully. That's unlikely to happen without coffee.

But there's an overstimulated and exhausted Piper stress cooking in between them and the coffee(If Cas is careful then Piper won't notice that Matt isn't looking at anything).

“I’m sorry,” Cas says, “Getting shot at sucks. I would've called you for the ghost ninjas,” Why is that a thing? “But they're really more like automatons with pulses…” Cas trails off when Piper makes an angry noise. She recalibrates her approach, “Clar arrived before me and I didn't know they weren't people until I got there. It happened very fast.”

“I didn't even know until this morning when Hazel texted the group chat to see if we needed help,” Piper huffs, “Why wasn't I alerted?”

Cas tilts her head in thought, “I might need to tweak the algorithm. It's designed to not disturb or otherwise distract from certain qualifying events…like getting shot at and hunting a drug dealer.”

Piper slumps, “Fine. Get out. I want muffins.” 

Cas gets to the other side of the kitchen island, “So…I was going to wait for everyone to be more alert but I have something that might make you feel better.”

“I doubt it,” Piper grumbles.

She resists the urge to laugh, “Maria found something,” Piper's eyes shoot up from the frying pan, “Exactly. So you know it's good.”

“Are you going to tell me, oh great and noble Strategos?”

It's so rare that Piper gets worked up like this. In fact, Cas hasn't seen her like this since the Emperors, “The police have nothing but the Blacksmith’s call sign.” Everyone seems to be on edge right now. It's probably due to the lariat encircling them.

“Helpful.”

She holds up a hand, “But we have information on the Blacksmith’s biggest competitor. Honestly, they're not in the same league but…”

“Enemy of my enemy?” Piper raises a brow.

Cas nods and this is where her eyes glance away to the wall, “Yeah…after the Blacksmith, most of New York’s heroin and narcotics are coming out of Chinatown.” She occupies her hands with her mug.

Piper pauses and thinks it over, “Chinatown?”

“Correct.”

“Heroin?”

“That's what I said.”

Piper stares harder, “Gao?”

…

“...gods, I hope not.”

Piper cracks up, “You're going to find the creepy old lady that took you out and ask her for help after you burned down her slave enterprise and ruined all her drugs!”

Now, Cas is fairly certain that's what Piper meant to say. She was cackling the entire time but Cas knows her. That wasn't exactly what Cas wanted to hear though, “She was surprisingly agile! She was shuffling with her little cane and then bam! I'm fifteen feet away with muscle spasms! Stop laughing!”

“No! You let me miss out on ghost ninjas!”

“They're not even ghosts!”

A throat clearing has Cas looking over her shoulder at Foggy, who seems to have elected himself as speaker. Sounds about right, Foggy talks and then Matt listens for openings, “What was that about the Blacksmith? You found a lead but you know him?”

Or her…statistically speaking a man is more likely but the only heroin dealer that Cas has met is Madame Gao.

“Oh, Cassie here knows Madame Gao,” Piper's grin is mean, “She burned down her little slave and drug trafficking empire. That was when she was running around with the crazy vigilante from your neighborhood that she won't talk to me about.”

Cas chokes on her coffee.

She may have forgotten about that. It's just not something that she really thought about. Leo figured it out from context clues. Matt had the audacity to walk into the lobby of her home and Leo put two and two together.

Leo also took off immediately after getting his new brother set up so it never came up in conversation again.

“Pipes, we’ve talked about this.”

“But it's interesting.”

“Really isn't…” Piper stares Cas down but she's not budging on this, “Maybe, it's Jolly Olde St. Nick,” Cas says, “He wears red, right?”

“Ugh,” Piper rolls her eyes, “You don't get muffins.” 

“I don't get muffins made in my kitchen?”

“It's not your kitchen when I'm using it.”

Cas lays her head on the island so that she can ignore the room. Nelson, Murdock, and Page eventually grab themselves some coffee and servings from what was made. There is a certain oddity to all of this. Having people in her house is one thing but this group is made up of her best friend and three people that are part employed by Cas and part friends with Cas. What a brave new world. She doesn't mind per say...it's just...different.

Then, “Back to the Blacksmith,” Karen eventually says, “Will you be looking into this…Madame Gao today?” Her gaze hesitantly flicks between Cas and Matt like she's nervous about being caught.

She should be. Piper's very perceptive and Karen knows that. Piper is also dead on her feet and almost burning eggs.

“Allegedly Madame Gao. And not today,” Cas says, “Have you ever heard of ECMO before?”

Piper refocuses her attention on Cas. Which was the goal, “What are you talking about?” It gives Cas the opportunity to sneakily lower the burner.

“ECMO,” Cas repeats, “Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation? Ever heard of it?”

“No,” Piper says, “But I bet you're going to tell me.”

Cas is not going to question her good fortune because she hasn't had anyone to share this with, “When baseline humans mess up their heart and lungs to the point where they're clocking out but everything else still works they can be hooked up to this machine that will do the work for them! There is literally a nurse whose job is to manage everything that blood does! Oxygen, sugar, acidity, osmolarity, electrolytes, fluid status. Everything. They keep track of every drop of fluid that goes in and out of their patient.”

“Wow,” Piper says, “Go on, why do you care?”

“Some are transplant patients, you know like Helen and I are working on right now?” Cas meant this to be a distraction from Matt but this is too interesting, “These are the people on the wait list we're trying to make obsolete. Anyway, I was invited to New York Presbyterian to see the ECMO unit today and I am not missing that for anything. As fascinating as it is, can you imagine micromanaging the minutiae of the human body? I bet I can make it better in like six months tops.”

“Six months,” Piper says, “You finished the Lamborghini, didn't you?”

Cas's brow furrows, “Yes, but that's not relevant.”

“It is when you told me you're planning to auction it in Monaco and I want to be there to watch the world's wealthiest fight over a car touched by your magical Stark demigod fingers.”

“And I told you that wouldn't be until after the Accords,” Cas huffs, “You didn't even pick a charity yet.”

“The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.”

Right.

Well, she's ready.

Cas waves that away, “Stop distracting me,” Honestly, “I was trying to tell you that I'm spending the afternoon at the ECMO unit and I am very excited.”

Piper slams the door on Cas’s oven, “I’m using your shower. Don't touch my muffins. Check them in twelve minutes.”

Wait, “But then how do I check them?”

“Figure it out, genius.” Then she stomps down the hallway and slams the door to Cas’s bedroom and bathroom.

Cas’s eyes narrow and she swivels to face Matt, “Is she actually in the bathroom?”

He waits a moment, “Yeah. She just turned the water on.”

Cas face plants onto her counter and just laughs, “I wasn’t sure if that would work or not. Sometimes, Piper  tunes me out and lets me keep talking,” Then she sits up and turns to the three in her living room with a grin, “That could not have gone better.”

Matt’s face does something complicated that Cas can’t immediately translate, “She doesn’t know?”

“Why would she?” Cas asks. Leo only knows because Matt was obvious right in front of him. Demigods don’t look at people like baseline humans do. They threat assess nearly every person they meet.

They have to.

His face does something weird again, “No reason.”

Cas turns to look despondently at the muffins. Piper’s mastered baking in the last three years, “Those blueberries are fresh….” Her chin sits on her crossed arms.

“Ummm…Cassandra,” Karen asks, “Have you always had those scars on your arm?”

Oh, right. Cas runs her hand over the lightly ridged scars. In another week, they’ll be silver and in a week after that they’ll be faded and hardly noticeable outside of certain lighting, “No, picked these up the other day.”

Matt huffs but invades her space and completely ignores her complaint, “From a man-cat, she said. You do heal very fast.” He shouldn't sound so surprised. Ultron was a thing that happened.

She jerks her arm back, “That I do.” Her back is green now instead of a violent shade of purple.

Foggy gives himself a shake, likely to remove some of the oddity of what he's experiencing, “That's good to know. But about the Blacksmith, I get that advancing science is your…thing but we can't stay here indefinitely. As nice as this place is, I do have my own apartment to get back to.” And if he shoots a guilty glance towards Karen, well, no one says anything.

Matt's head shifts to thinking face. That one she's familiar with, “She said she'd be at New York Presbyterian today…tonight?”

Cas nods, “If Pipes is too tired to notice that then she shouldn't be running with me.” She shudders, “Looking back…Madame Gao is kind of like Nobu but she hid it better.” Until that last moment.

“Like the people from last night.”

That's a problem.

“Former people,” Cas counters, “Think body snatchers, if it helps.” Parasites. Grave robbers. Monsters. Any of those accolades will do if Apollo's children were that discomforted, “Haven't thought about how I'll find her this time. She probably stopped using her worker bees.” No easy tracking this go around.

And it’s like Matt can feel her question in the air, “I can find her.”

“Never doubted,” Cas replies, “But remember what I said about her not being human? Please, don’t try to be all, ‘I’m the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.’ It’s not helpful.”

Foggy’s aborted laugh triggers Cas’s smile at Matt’s deadpan face.

It’s a lovely moment all around.

Then her focus shifts back to business, “We need to decide how we’re going to approach Castle. I have no doubt that he’ll locate the Blacksmith. Maybe it’s before or after us, but it would be messy to take on both simultaneously.”

“Approach Frank?” Matt plants himself with his hands on his hips, “We need to stop him before he kills anyone else.” 

They probably already failed at that. Odds are the Castle has already killed people in his hunt for the Blacksmith.

Still, Cas nods and contemplates life while she refills her coffee, “That’s a goal, not a plan. I’d like to have something more thought out. That can wait until we know where to go, though,” So after Gao, “I’d pull some more help but I’m not willing to distract anyone from the cult problem.” Also, everyone but Cas and Piper are out of reach right now. Cas is hesitant to ‘activate’ the reserves for a drug dealer when Roxxon is the bigger threat that might require her to show her hand later. 

“What if we find Frank before he gets to the Blacksmith?” Karen asks.

And that makes Matt backpeddle a little, “Wait, no,” He huffs a little panicked laugh, “‘We’ is me and Cassandra. You and Foggy need to stay out of it.”

“Stay out of it?” Karen says.

At the same time Foggy snaps his fingers and says, “That’s a great idea.”

Cas is glad that she got up for more food. It put the kitchen island between herself and the three musketeers because that is one hell of an argument. The crazy part is that Matt and Foggy have training to develop rational but emotionally engaging arguments. For some reason, they’re not using those skills while Karen goes off about everything she’s accomplished without them holding her hand. She is carrying a lot of bitterness. 

Cas really hopes that Karen doesn’t try to drag Cas or Piper into this…

Then Karen says something that tells Cas that she may have arrived on the scene too late to entirely spare their interpersonal relationships from damage, “I am not yours to protect, Matt! I’m a big girl who can look after herself.”

It’s weird that Cas feels like she’s intruding in her own home…

Matt looks like he just took a slap to the face. Then he pauses, “Wait. The bathroom door…”

Ah. 

“Pipes, you good?” Cas calls down the hall.

The response she gets is, “I’m stealing your bed!” Followed by another slamming door.

That did however remind Nelson, Murdock, and Page that Cas is watching this entire showdown(again...that happened again), “Don’t mind me.” They clearly still have things to work through, “I would, however, like to hear what Karen has to say. She’s smart.”

Karen hugs herself and fidgets on her feet, “I just-I feel like none of you see Frank as a person who’s grieving. You look at him like he’s a deranged psycho killer or…or a problem to be taken care of. He…he needs help.”

“Karen, I’m not saying this to be mean,” Foggy says, “But Frank Castle is, absolutely, a psycho killer. We saw those crime scene photos. No well adjusted person does that to another human being.”

Cas sighs, “Because he doesn’t. Not in his mind,” she digs a knuckle into her temple. She needs to wake up so that she can tackle the day, “Those people aren’t people in his eyes. That’s why it’s so easy for him.” To Frank Castle, those men are beasts to be put down. 

He called the men overseas killed by her father’s weapons ‘animals’. Cas recognizes that it was a defense mechanism to maintain his sense of self while fighting in a war. That he reverted to similar tactics after his family was killed is hardly surprising. 

The silence is palpable.

“Then we need to stop him,” Matt finally says, “Whatever it takes, we stop him and…”

And…?

Because none of them have a clue. Frank Castle, as far as the world is concerned, broke out of a high security prison after only a few days. If they get him to surrender or they capture him then his life is up in the air. If the judicial system comes to the conclusion that he cannot be safely contained, then would they see about getting the death penalty? Just because New York doesn’t have it does not mean that there aren’t ways around that.

It’s an uncomfortable thought: potentially being the person to deliver a man to a death sentence. 

Cas shakes herself free of those unfortunate thoughts, “I need to get ready. You do whatever it is that you need to do.” But not before taking the muffins out of the oven.

Oh gods…she missed lasagna night. Tonight is late meetings night because tomorrow is date night so she won't get family time…damn.

~~~

The ECMO unit was awesome.

What those people are going through is terrible. Neither they nor their families deserve to experience what they’re experiencing.

However, it is so cool. Her mind is buzzing with the possibilities. There are concerns regarding sequelae if the patient does survive and is transitioned off the machine. There are concerns about the inevitable decline in function because while the machine is good, it’s not as good as an actual heart and lungs. There are concerns about complications like stroke, infection, limb ischemia, and irreversible organ damage. There are concerns about the long term use of blood thinners while on the machine because the body thinks it’s bleeding when the blood is pulled from the body and it tries to clot. It’s so difficult to intentionally do everything that the body does automatically. The medical professionals do what they can to help their patients but it’s so difficult.

She has ideas for everything.

She also has to review the clotting cascade and so many other things that she hasn’t thought about in a while but this will be a fun project.

Cas tries to fold all of that away when she hears light knocking on the metal ducts behind her. She’s well into Chinatown now and was waiting for Matt but damn if she didn’t get some work done on her phone so that she doesn’t forget anything. 

Some thoughts on Chinatown before they get moving. It is extremely colorful. Lots of lights and bold signs in languages that Cas cannot understand. There are not only Chinese people living in Chinatown but they do make up the majority. There are many different types of Chinese people and their cultures are a lot more distinct than regions of the United States. Probably because these cultures are over a thousand years old and America is not. 

Also, dim sum is amazing and if this goes well, Cas plans to come back for it. She passed a place on the way to her waiting spot and it smelled so delicious. 

Matt comes up beside her and leans over the railing she’s perched on, “I forget sometimes,” She pauses and looks up, “That you have another life working on your projects.”

Her face shifts with confusion, “What?” She has one life with many different types of projects.

“I just meant…nevermind,” He shakes his head, “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

Ummm…She looks around, “We have two square miles from Kenmore to Delancy to search. There’s not much functioning public surveillance here so there’s no cheating with that,” It tends to go missing in this part of the city, “Narrowing it down from there is up to you.”

“Thanks.”

She can’t do anything. She has nothing else to go off of. She knows that what she wants is here somewhere. He’s the one with the super senses, “Just do what you do,” Oh, “And hello by the way. Since you still can’t greet anyone.”

He ignores her.

Cas sits there on her phone just theorizing and asking herself questions that she needs to find answers to. It takes some time for Matt’s focus to lock onto a stimulus of interest. 

When he does, he vaults over the railing and dives for the next roof. Cas tucks her phone away and follows. She doesn’t bother asking questions. If Matt’s moving this fast then he needs his air. She, however, can benefit from this warm up. 

It’s a unique process that has Cas calling to mind her initial thoughts of Matt and Batman. He locks onto the sound of guns. She knows because he beat the ever living shit out of some men in an alleyway carrying a duffel bag full of automatic weaponry. They don’t answer any of his questions and a few pay for that with teeth. Then he scents a large amount of drugs on another group of people and tries to scare them into telling him where they got it from. Matt destroys the stuff and the group remains on the ground blubbering in fear. It goes on this way for three hours before Matt leads her to a dry cleaners.

Ultimately…it feels like a stereotype of some kind. However, this building has ‘maladapted to the modern era’ Greek monster vibes. Also, Matt is firmly of the belief that there are a lot of men with weapons in there and there are also drugs.

From the rooftop across the way, Cas sighs, “Do you need a breather or anything before we go in?” Matt didn’t want Cas to be seen before they got inside. He didn’t actually want her to be seen at all but if this is Gao(and it probably is) then it won’t matter.

She’ll be identified as a demigod regardless. 

Matt leads the way to a side door but Cas takes the three guards on the weirdly unlocked door.

“Does this place feel wrong like the other one did?”

Cas takes a deep breath before attempting to explain. At least she can whisper and know she’s being heard, “No…Gao wasn’t wrong until the end. She felt dangerous at first but not wrong. Nobu felt a bit gross and unnatural the whole time and then he felt worse.”

He huffs, “Helpful.”

Whatever.

She nudges him to lead the way.

In a similar vein to cult basement night, Cas and Matt ruin the athletic futures of a lot of armed men. He slips into shadows and draws attention and then Cas backs him up. None of these people even get a shot off.

Their advance through to the back of the drycleaners is uninhibited. Their entrance to the basement is a little startling. The top floor was functional with no adornment. Clean but not immaculate. It looks like a small business.

The basement is opulent with paintings, statues, and floors covered with expensive looking rugs. There are sconces for candles and tables burning incense that leaves a thick miasma of smells that battle for dominance. It’s giving her a headache that seems to get worse with every step down.

That’s when they find her seated comfortably in front of a canvas. There’s another woman seated in the room reading a book while her mistress paints. The scene is too domestic.

“Cassandra Stark,” That slow easy voice slithers up the stairs sending goosebumps across her skin, “And you have brought another. I imagine that this one is the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, in truth? Very tricky,” Madame Gao tuts.

Cas really wishes that it hadn’t been her, “Looks like you went free range with your staffing here. Very ethical.” She steps off the last step attempting to project confidence and ease. She has no idea if it’s working or not. 

“Perhaps,” Madame Gao allows, “Although I find it amusing that you talk of ethics while in the company of the devil.”

“Hmmm,” She nods, “I do appreciate that. He wanted to see you actually.”

Madame Gao finally deigns to grace them with her full regard. It’s just as predatory as it was last time, “Is that so?” She looks Matt up and down, “And what purpose could the Devil have to speak with me?”

Matt’s path traces the edge of the room and he doesn’t cross closer to Gao than Cas does. Maybe he did listen to her, “Maybe it’s the multiple charges pending against you: drug dealing, money laundering,” He leans casually against the wall, “And, oh yeah, slavery.”

“That’s the reason you come to me?” She chuckles, “This fight of yours, I wonder how long it will carry on and,” she pauses to eye Matt again, “What it will cost you.” 

“Enough,” Matt says. She’s impressed by his tone. It’s even and doesn’t give away much. Significant improvement compared to just last year, “Call off your men.”

Madame Gao turns back to her painting, “Now, why would I do that?”

“Because I’ll break their legs if you don’t.”

Cas doesn’t move. She won’t stop Matt from taking on whatever guards come in. It’s her preference because then Cas can stand between him and Gao.

Madame Gao takes a moment to think it over before quietly speaking in another language to the woman in the corner. She snaps her book shut and runs off to complete whatever task her mistress commanded of her.

She watches Matt for queues on how to react. He’ll know long before she does if the men really were sent away. He nods at her so Cas brings her attention back to the middle as a silence falls over the room. Matt doesn’t say anything so he must be waiting for some kind of trigger. She considers breaking the silence herself when Madame Gao beats her to it.

“I do hope you are not here for something as trivial as those accusations,” Madame Gao’s cold smile hasn’t so much as flinched on her face, “By now, I would have thought you had a greater understanding of the larger threat to this city.”

Oh… Opportunity.

The priority is supposed to be the Blacksmith.

She knows that.

They are here with a purpose. Stopping the Blacksmith and stopping Castle are important.

But right in front of Cas, is an opportunity to learn more about the threat encroaching on her space. 

Cas shifts her weight. She doesn’t like this, “You’re like him, aren’t you? That undead ninja. No one else calls us by our ancient titles anymore. Just you and him. Did you send those things to my family home?”

She knows that she shouldn’t have brought it up. They’re here for a set purpose but this is a chance that Cas cannot pass up. 

Madame Gao sits back and smiles indulgently at Cas before switching languages, “They say the warriors sent out last night were soundly defeated. There was no true harm.” Her pronunciation is perfect though her accent clashes with the ancient Greek that rolls across the room.

It nearly makes Cas stiffen, “What warriors?” She forces a grin instead, “My friends fought only with puppets.”

Madame Gao is delighted. She laughs, high and joyful. It sends chills down Cas’s spine.

…dangerous. Caution.

“Truely, laconic. You carry your power well, hemitheos,” Madame Gao says when she’s done laughing. 

She hates it a little. It makes Cas want to flex and say…ahhh. She’s being baited to give away how much she knows. Those cold eyes want to know how close Cas is to the danger circling her home. Japan, China, South Africa are confirmed. The Indian subcontinent is suspected but not yet confirmed. Gao might be right here but her team is still her best bet to understand what’s going on. 

Cas rolls back on her heels. Very tricky indeed. She turns away to peruse the room and starts needlessly inspecting and picking up objects, “You, Roxxon…, that thing in that basement…well, you should pack up and leave because whatever it is, it will stop.”

“Hmmm…,” Madame Gao shouldn’t sound this amused, “You are here to make threats. How disappointing.You think you see much but you understand very little. As I said last we spoke, we want nothing but cordial relations with the other powers in this city, Helper of Man.”

And Cas freezes in place.

How dare she. From where Cas is standing right now she could have her spear through the Madame's heart between one beat and the next.

“No threats,” Matt hasn’t moved from his spot beneath the window but something in his voice feels directed at Cas, “Tonight is about information.”

“Information,” She returns to her painting, “Perhaps you should ask your police.”

“I don’t want you,” Matt advances towards Madame Gao and Cas shifts her weight to intercept if necessary, “I want your competition. A heroin dealer with the street name Blacksmith.”

Madame Gao pauses in her work, “And you think I can help you?”

“I know he’s been cutting into your territories,” Matt states matter of fact. 

Madame Gao laughs again, “Heroin is illegal,” But she quickly sobers, “And as far as territories go, New York is only one of mine.” Cas’s focus sharpens.

“And yet,” Cas says, “You’re right here. Must be important.”

Madame Gao concedes to that with a small nod, “If you do hunt the Blacksmith, then our interests have momentarily aligned,” She stands and pours herself a drink utterly unthreatened by their presence. It has Cas wanting to instigate. Madame Gao notices and her smile doesn't twitch, “The heroin being imported by the Blacksmith is the purest I’ve seen. He’s also ruthless. His crew has systematically eliminated my chemists and street dealers.”

That sounds like exactly the person they’re looking for. Cas sends Matt a brief glance to get an idea of where his thoughts are. He has other plans, “This can end tonight but we need a place to start.”

“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and the new Cassandra,” Madame Gao smiles again. It’s icy, that insult, “My sources tell me his product come in by ship.” Is she calling Cas’s prior efforts ultimately meaningless?

Matt’s head tilts, “Which pier?”

And the damn woman laughs again, “If I knew that this conversation wouldn’t be necessary.”

“That’s not a lot to go on,” Matt’s being generous. It’s practically nothing.

Madame Gao shrugs, “You can be sure that his goods will be well guarded by professionals clearly more capable than my own.”

Also helpful.

Cas clucks her tongue before giving the room a final glance. She turns to leave(despite wanting to back carefully with her spear in her hand) with a nod and surprisingly it’s Matt that demonstrates manners, “Thanks, Madame Gao.”

That’s when she leaves them with one final zinger, “But I fear that the path you’ve chosen isn’t going to be an easy one.” 

Cas has nothing to say to that and continues up the stairs while Matt’s answering, “It never is.” Sounds more exhausted than she was expecting it to.

~~~

A pier.

A single pier in the entirety of New York City. They don’t even know for certain that it’s in Manhattan. It had only taken her a moment to eliminate dozens of possible locations that were either currently occupied by reputable people or fitted with less than secure surveillance systems.

Still, in a situation like this, Cas is the one flying blind so she follows Matt silently(to her) keeping out of his way when he crouches on a shipping container along the water. She can’t begin to guess what he’s listening for but hopefully it’ll give them something.

His head turns to the right, just so, and then he stands, “Gun shots.” That’s when he stands and faces her, “I need to do this myself.”

“What?” Cas asks, “What are you talking about?”

“Frank…He needs to be stopped and it needs to be me that does it,” He’s explaining but it’s not making any sense to Cas.

She shakes her head as she straightens, “That doesn’t make sense. Please, make it make sense because I’m hearing man-pride right now and I don’t want to be.”

“This isn’t a problem that requires Cassandra Stark.”

She closes her eyes because there’s something else going on. He’s attempting to hit her over the head with the broody loner routine but she already bulldozed over that. If this is because he's done dealing with her today then they need to have a priorities conversation. So, she tries again, “A ship full of heroin and incredibly violent drug dealers plus Frank Castle, who could’ve killed you, and you want to do it all by yourself?”

“This isn’t-” His hands flex at his sides but at least he’s expressing some more emotions now, “I can get through to him, Cassandra. I can do it. I just need the chance and I won’t be able to if you’re there. If you’re there then the field changes and this becomes more than…more than…”

Cas tries to think it through and she thinks that she’s starting to see the problem, “I guess we both know the men on the ship aren’t an issue,” She sighs, “That thing with you and Castle…you really think you can help him?” On an even playing field without a demigod like Cas there to force a man like Castle to capitulate. She could do it. Cas could flatten Castle if she wanted to.

And in that way, she would stop Castle from killing the Blacksmith if he’s on that ship.

But Matt doesn’t just want to stop Castle.

Matt the Catholic Boy wants to save Frank Castle.

So when Matt doesn’t say anything, she rephrases her question, “Whatever it is you have to prove, is it really worth the risk of doing this by yourself?” Because Cas is Matt’s friend and she wants to help him.

Helping doesn’t necessarily mean holding his hand while he beats up other men though.

This isn’t like creepy ninjas and basements full of emaciated children.

It’s just people.

“I need this, Cassandra.”

Cas sighs, “Do me a favor and shoot me a message when it’s done. I want to be able to tell Foggy and Karen when it’s clear.” She sits down on the shipping crate with her legs dangling over the side. There’s plenty for her to think about before she heads in for the night.

He doesn’t answer her before diving off into the darkness. 

Not that she really expected him to.

Forget Daredevil. Brooding Man.

Cas needs to over think that conversation with Madame Gao.

~~~

Foggy and Karen are not there when Cas gets back. What she does find is a notification from Piper that she dropped Foggy off with a friend and took Karen on an adventure. Technically, they respected Cas’s request because Piper can totally keep them safe.

Matt lets her know that the ship blew up with oodles of drugs on it and he’s certain that Castle is dead.

It’s…unfortunate but Castle made the choice when he pushed Matt off the boat to save his life.

…Then, in the morning, Friday asks for permission to grant Matt access to Cas’s home grown maps of New York’s sublevels that she and some kids made while bored one weekend. She’d figured it’d be useful after Fisk blew up Hell’s Kitchen. She did not think Matt would need them.

Anyway, Cas allows it because, why not?

Today, however, is a perfectly normal day for Cas.

That means that after getting her singular hour in the gym(which isn’t nearly as good as ghost ninjas with Clarisse. She should see about a tournament soon.), she’s due at Stark Tower where there are a number of problems. There are still creepy children in the med bay. She has a meeting with the finance department and then she has two scheduled hours working on nanotech programming. And as any programmer knows, it’s really just going to do everything but what was intended for it to do until someone devotes half of their life and the souls of a small nation to it. 

It’s probably why the Aegis matrix is taking so long. Although, she did have a breakthrough with the power draw. 

In addition to creepy children and actually doing her job, Cas is avoiding two people. One is a teenager who still needs to use the facilities here to work through his exercises. Even if Cas has banned him from any of her projects and private lessons, Peter still needs those. Two is Kara Palamas…which is impossible. So, the key is to avoid letting Kara Palamas get Cas alone. More possible, but still incredibly difficult.

She manages to make it all the way through to a consult in the prosthetic department when she loses. Kara slips into the elevator with Cas while the doors are closing and proceeds to pause the elevator.

Well…she had a good run.

Cas glances at Kara and takes in her seething stance. That is a very angry woman. 

Huh.

“Is this the part where I die?”

Another thirty seconds of silence pass where Cas does not move. Allegedly moving in front of an animal like a bear or a lion makes them more likely to attack. She’s not sure because usually if Cas is in front of an animal like that, it’s some kind of magical angry counterpart to a regular bear or lion.

And therefore far angrier. 

Still, Kara is seething.

“When I said that I wanted to be someone you can trust, I meant it,” Kara hisses, “So, I’m trying to understand why I was left in the dark while you ran off with a vigilante and brought back six possessed children only to run off again with that same vigilante and wind up fighting possessed ninjas.”

Cas nods because she does want to take Kara’s concerns seriously.

“I do trust you, Kara,” And that’s the truth, “It’s why I had you stay with the vibranium. If those warriors had gotten around the others, I trusted you to handle it.”

“But here in New York, you’d rather have the mask wearing civilian with delusions of grandeur at your back?”

She tries. Cas tries so hard. She even tries covering her mouth with her fist but she can’t keep the giggles down, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry. This is a reflex.”

Matt? A civilian? With delusions of grandeur? That man can fit so many self-esteem issues. Sure, he’s still got issues defining what he can and can't control…Well, he still has the occasional naive streak but Cas has grown to appreciate it as a character trait for him.

And he is not a civilian by any definition of the word. Not really. He’s not military like Rhodey or Castle but he’s not some nine to five pencil pusher. 

She gets herself back under control, “That vigilante you’re so concerned about is not a problem. Cross my heart,” And she does so, “Obviously, secret identity and all…well, it’s not really my thing to talk about. I’m sorry if you don’t like it but if someone tells me that there’s kidnapped children and they need help...I’m not going to say no.”

“And you couldn’t bring more help, why?”

Oh…, “He’s bad with guns.” She imagines the noise isn’t helpful during a fight.

Kara turns towards her and crosses her arms, “Bad with guns?”

Cas just nods. No one outside of Matt’s immediate circle, Leo, and Helen knows that he’s enhanced. She will not be the reason that he’s at risk.

She clenches her jaw, “Does he at least pull his own weight?”

The man leads in some categories, “Yes, he does. Now, can we restart the elevator since you know it’s not about a lack of trust in you? We’ve got things that I need you for, not the vigilante,” And after days of Matt’s stuff, she’d really like to think about something else for a while.

Kara’s jaw doesn’t relax but her arms do. Then she sighs sharply through her nose, “You know I’m invested, right? Everyone here is invested. Everyone here would drop whatever they were doing at one word from you, Mr. Stark, or Ms. Potts.”

And that hits like a bucket of ice water, “I do know that. It’s kind of terrifying so thank you for reminding me. Let’s save that sort of thing for whatever comes next.”

Because they might need it. One day, Cas may need that trust.

“Then Maria was right and you do know something.”

She shakes her head, “Nope. No, certainty. Only possibility.” Maybe it’ll stay there and Roxxon will be the last problem she has to deal with. Hope springs eternal, “Focus on the problem in our backyard. Get me that cult. Please. Maybe ask that detective what they want us to do with these kids and Gibson.”

Cas restarts the elevator because she meant it when she said she needed to work on some of her own projects for a while.

And that’s precisely what she does.

Currently, that means attempting to grow a mouse liver in vitro. It’s going…meh. 

Problems include ensuring that the cells know when to stop dividing. Somewhere in those nuclei is the design for the perfect mouse liver so that at a glance pretty much any mouse liver would look the same.

This lump functions better than no liver at all, however, it looks like an amorphous blob that crawled out the primordial ooze and regrets its inception. 

And to think, everyone tapped for this project agreed that livers should be the easiest whole organs to generate after they got all the specialized cell types down. Those same people are also telling Cas that the amount of progress she’s had in such a short amount of time is insane. 

She’s aware. However, this is proving to be more difficult than she thought it would be. She thought it’d be only a little more involved than the Cradle. Damn pride.

Anyway, she’s staring at this mockery trying to decide what modifications she needs for the next trial when her father swans in, “You,” He points at her from across the room, “Missed lasagna night,” He also gives her a proper look over for injuries. She’s wearing long sleeves though and her split knuckles are long since healed, “After getting shot at by a crazy drug dealer who was trying to pin the attack on an alleged mass murderer. Then you ran off.”

Nothing is visible. 

Regardless, “Yeah, should’ve gone to see you,” She looks away from the blob, “My bad.”

He raises exactly one eyebrow, “Huh,” Gives her blob a look of disgust, which is fair but he would’ve done that even if it was a perfect liver, “What was so important?”

Honestly, “I was salvaging my favorite legal team. And experiencing a bit of self discovery at the same time.” Baggage is not something that she can just let go of, apparently. It’s lighter or heavier depending on the day and over time trends towards lighter, “Then we had the ghost ninjas.”

She’s never going to completely let go of what happened but evidently she can use those experiences to help other people.

That’s a win. 

“The Hell’s Kitchen legal team?” Interesting that her dad ceded the cult thing to her without complaint but the attack at the DA’s office gets to him. Probably because these supernatural events are her specialty. It's nice to be trusted.

But still…why does he care about Nelson, Murdock, & Page?

“That’s the one.”

He nods and scratches at the side of his neck, “How’d you find those guys again?”

This is getting dangerous.

This has never come up in conversation before.

It’s not really something that she thought about before.

She probably should’ve. 

“Kind of just happened,” She turns back to her liver lump, “I was looking into Fisk and ‘Daredevil,’” She can use Matt’s title unironically but it’s still funny, “And I found them. It seemed perfect. They were new, not affiliated with any of those bloated firms, and most importantly, not Stark Industries.”

“Happenstance?”

Cas types out a few notes for the next run, "That's right.”

He crosses his arms and looks her over once again before snapping his finger and pointing at her, “Damn good poker face, kiddo. So,” He pauses for effect and then he smirks, “Is he really blind?”

Shit.

Cas kind of wants to stomp her foot, “I wanted a couple of days of my stuff. Roxxon is a real problem now and I’ve been mixed up in Hell’s Kitchen again.” The real problem such that Cas told Leo, Annabeth, and Percy to go no-holds barred if they're attacked. If this was just people then she’d be more cautious but there is some seriously demented bad juju involved here and it’s in New York too. That means her friends are free to do as they see fit. Gods, does Cas wish she was there picking fights with monsters.

“Yeah, I’ve been paying attention to that,” He follows along, “Seeing as last time you ended up crying on the floor over there because you couldn’t think of a humane way to take down a crime lord. And then you ended up hospitalizing him anyway.”

She shifts in place, “Kara came at me about this. You’re coming at me about this. It’s all contained now. No one needs to worry.”

“I,” He brings both his hands to his chest, the diva, “Am your parent person. That gives me certain privileges. We had this conversation last time, too. Did you forget? Should I be worried? Helen’s occupied with those crazy kids you gifted her with but I bet she’d make time for you.”

She shoots him a glare, “How do you know it’s Matt and not Foggy?”

“Assuming Foggy is who I think he is, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“He could be some kind of shape shifter.”

“Sure, kid.”

Cas sighs again, “What brought this up?”

“You know, I am so glad you asked,” He wraps an arm around her shoulder and leads towards the door, “We have better things to do than stare at your hellspawn. We’ve got maybe four hours before I’m supposed to be taking Pepper to that show she wants to see and I have thoughts on…”

Alright.

This is much better than staring at her stupid mouse liver. He hasn’t snatched her off the floor for anything in a while so this should be fun. 

And then she can figure out Roxxon.

~~~

Detective Brett Mahoney is waiting for Cas in the medical bay looking a touch green around the gills. She feels a little bad for him.

“Should we move to an office, Detective?” Cas asks when the man can’t pull his gaze away from the thrashing teenager on the other side of the glass. 

They still don’t know where these kids are from. 

Dental records have come up empty and they won’t share their names.

The kid’s bodies seem to be working better than they were before if they have that energy back and the levels of voodoo compounds are dropping at a steady logarithmic rate. Which is great and unfortunate because that means it’s dropping but only approaching zero…not hitting zero. It’ll be undetectable eventually but Cas doesn’t want there to be any left behind unless they can totally neutralize it.

Which is why Lou Ellen was called down from Boston to take a look. Will could use some help on this one and it’s stretching outside of Cas’s wheelhouse since they are in fact, creepy magic compounds present in the blood of the ghost ninjas. And those things! Well, it’s a good thing that Cas made quiet use of the Iron Legion to clean them up because they started to heal from the fatal wounds inflicted upon them.

Will organized a purification like what’s done to bodies prior to putting them on a pyre but after that…well, Cas didn’t exactly know what to do with them. Ninjas are traditionally Japanese so she considered making Buddhist or other arrangements for the funerals but then again there are no families. So, then Cas decided to respect their identities as fallen warriors and arranged for the bodies to be sent to Camp Half-Blood. None of the kids will be expected to attend obviously, but all of those ghost ninjas sent to attack Stark Tower used to be people, possibly fighters. A funeral pyre is the least Cas can do. 

As strange of a call to Chiron as that had been…but someone had to do something for those people. She just hopes to avoid doing something like that again.

The Detective shakes himself, “That night, when you took out Fisk, I thought I saw what the hell you people can do. This is insane…”

“We didn’t do this,” It’s more than a little hurtful that he would say something like that, “We’re here trying to help. I’m even protecting your witness for you as an added bonus.” Cas was petty and gave him a Stark Industries shirt to wear but she’s still sheltering Gibson. She could’ve refused and kept his son since it was his associations that made his son a target. But that would be counterproductive, because he’s her only insight into Roxxon and she needs him. That’s the other reason that the Detective is here. Time for Gibson to talk because Cas wants Roxxon.

“It’s not that…” The Detective holds himself a little defensively, “All I’m saying is, the world got a heck of a lot stranger after those aliens came through.”

She has issues with that sort of mentality, “There is nothing new under the sun. You just didn’t notice how strange the world is.”

He huffs, “You can say that again,” Then he finally turns to Cas, “My superiors said to thank you for helping but I think we both know that someone was left out.”

Only the man who actually located the kids, “If there is someone else who needs to be thanked, then I’ll be sure to tell them.”

The man should not be capable of looking at her like that when he’s known her for a handful of hours. Maximum. Then he passes a hand over his head and his shoulders drop, “Gibson is the only witness we have left.”

What. Cas doesn’t say anything but her facial expression sends the appropriate question for her.

“There was an attack at the precinct and evidence lock up last night. Real cult shit. Some of my guys are dead and some will be riding a desk until retirement. The suspect is dead,” Then he pauses and seems to gear up for an unfortunate reaction, “And that ‘evil’ coffin is gone.”

Cas contains her surprise valiantly because that wasn’t supposed to happen. That thing was supposed to be gone and far away. As long as it was away then it was fine, “Okay. Okay,” She nods and thinks this through. It was appropriate to have the police take over the crime scene. That was a fair decision. And the sarcophagus. Shit. Is that what Matt needed the maps for? Is he hunting the cult without her? When she specifically said that she would be going after them, did Matt run off alone anyway? She needs to get her head out of that one. It’s a wasted effort. Instead, she needs whatever photographs the police have on the sarcophagus so that she can get to work identifying its purpose and countering it. Then she needs to get to work locating the rest of the cult. Cas focuses back on Detective Mahoney, not that he would've noticed her attention leaving him for that split second, “I’m sorry for your losses. Can I-Is there anything I can do?” She needs to find that thing. Again.

He shakes his head though, “Not at this time, Dr. Stark.” He looks up at the kid again before his gaze is forced away, “You sure you can help them?”

Cas points at herself, “Me?” And shakes her head, “No, this isn’t a problem I can hit or science away. But I know people who can help.”

He checks his watch, “Grab Gibson. I want to do this in view of his son in case he needs a reminder of what these psychos are doing.”

Cas does, in fact, want to discuss matters with Gibson possibly more than the Detective does. Yes, his territory was robbed and cops are dead. Sure, he’s a cop, but she will never allow an outsider in her family’s home to give her an order, “You wanna try that again, Detective?”

The man looks to the ceiling like a deity will deliver him from his current experience. He’s probably attempting to project authority to distract from his losses and lack of control over the situation. It’s unfortunate for him that his badge doesn’t endear him to Cas. If anything it makes it all the more tempting to be difficult despite needing Gibson to talk. Cas allows Detective Mahoney his moment and he delivers. The slump of he shoulders would’ve sent a lesser man to the ground, “I’m sorry,” And he rubs his forehead so they’re both members of the ‘I’m tired’ club, “Starting to think that this isn’t the city I signed on to protect,” Then he straightens, “Would you…please, get Gibson over here.”

She’ll accept that attempt.

“Actually, Dr. Stark?” Kara comes up to Cas with what passes for a smile to the ignorant but definitely isn’t, “I’d like first crack at Gibson.”

Cas evaluates Kara Palamas and sees that burning in her eyes. The woman feels the need to prove herself. With the Detective right there, Cas isn’t in a position to explain how unnecessary that is. But…Cas doesn’t want to deal with Gibson. She just wants information. So, “I’ll defer to your expertise. Is that all right with you, Detective?”

“At this point? Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

“Cool,” Cas turns to leave because she could use some garage time, “Call me if anything changes.” 

Something does, in fact, change. But that’s not until later.

Chapter Text

~~~

“At the temple there is a poem called "Loss" carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read loss, only feel it.”

— Arthur Golden

~~~

Cas had made her way down to the garage because while the 1988 Lamborghini Countach is auction ready, there’s always something that could use a tune up. The thing is, she had considered reaching out to Matt about the maps and what Detective Mahoney shared with her but after Matt dismissed her with Castle…

Even though they’d joked around a bit and been genial, that man is angry at her. She knows that. She dragged his biggest secret out against his will. So, she decided to respect his ability to assess a threat and stuck to her regularly scheduled life. Then she’d set up some algorithms to find this cult her way because if they meet in the middle then the cult is screwed from two angles. The information that Gibson provided with Kara’s ‘gentle’ maneuvering is enough to wake a judge and get a warrant. Obviously, given the irregular nature of the information provided, Cassandra Stark is more than willing to work with the NYPD to ensure that safe and fair justice wins the day. Then she went to the garage.

It was supposed to be soothing to listen to Rise Against while elbows deep in engine grease and brake fluid. 

And it was.

But then a thing happened.

And it wasn’t anymore. 

“Your ex is being hunted by the ninja cult?”

But she won’t be able to raid Roxxon's multiple holdings until tomorrow…The logistics alone…

To be fair, Matt’s next sentence sounds like it hurts him to say, “They call themselves the Hand. I wouldn’t bring you into this if it wasn’t serious, Cassandra, but they have an army like Nobu.”

Right. She lets that one wash over her, “How big of a cult ninja army?”

“Dozens of them at least,” He sounds desperate, which is reasonable all things considered. Cas is staring off into space trying to figure out how this became reality when she really wanted to stay in tonight, “All of them packing katanas and bows.”

And to think, Cas sent Annabeth, Percy, and Leo out of the country. Hazel and Frank are home on the west coast…why doesn’t anything like this happen in LA? Mt. Othrys is right there. They should get some of this chaos. It shouldn’t come only for New York. That’s not fate, it’s bias.

Regardless, Cas runs the numbers of immediately available demigods for this. She does have Jason and Piper. Clarisse will thank Cas for the opportunity to procrastinate even if she regrets it later, “I don’t have Roxxon yet,” She whines. 

“Cassandra,” Matt snaps.

“I have you covered,” She reassures. This will be a temporary solution at best because if this attack doesn’t lead directly to Roxxon tonight then they’ll have hours to clear everything out after they lose fabulously to whoever Cas can drag out of bed. It is…late.

Taking them out will only make Peter and the demigods safer, even if it’s not the root of her enemy.

The Hand…cute.

She doesn’t bother messaging her father this time. He and Pepper are having date night and this is just another monster hunt.

Instead…for several dozen ninjas…the Hand has been operating with the intent to remain unnoticed. So, for several dozen ninjas - ninjas that will probably be like the ones from the other night - six demigods should suffice. Cas, Jason, Piper, Clarisse who will drag Malcolm out of bed with her, and…Nico. Just in case.

Six should suffice in a straight fight against several dozen tissue paper ninjas…

Nobu was different at the end there…if he'd stuck around round two it might've been a very different fight.

It's…the math isn't working.

That means she's using the wrong equations.

Was the attack on Stark Tower a feint? While she had her eyes on that, the police were attacked and Cas came away with the impression that her opponents were feeble.

Pawns…they sent pawns to fight knights(Gao laughed…).

All to give Cas a false sense of confidence. That has to be it. If Nobu had reengaged in that basement then Cas might’ve had a real fight on her hands. He was playing with her….playing at being human.

Fantastic.

And to think he had the audacity to lecture her on variables beyond strength that influence the outcome of a fight. 

No way was he talking about that specific encounter…

Six main liners then…and whatever demigods are still present in the building. Should be a few.

That covers all of the bases.

Cas also comes to the conclusion that leaving Matt alone for any length of time is stupid and she will be coordinating with Foggy and Karen in the future. 

All she needed was twenty four hours. Not even. Less than one day. And then she could’ve raided Roxxon with the NYPD and all of the evidence she wanted would’ve been right there in front of her. Instead, tomorrow, when the raid occurs, most of the evidence will probably be gone. Gods, help them if she can’t get her hands on the spider stuff and the demigod stuff.

There’s a fair amount of organizing along the way and she was able to get ten total demigods for this, including herself. Anything else would be too large and not good for defense of a target, the target being Matt’s ex. 

Right.

They’re all prepping while Cas goes to Matt’s first to get a better lay of the land. As of now, she doesn’t know where this ‘final standoff’ is going to be. So, in an effort to keep things quiet, Cas arrives at Matt’s building via rooftop run. It’s starting to bother her that she has a route memorized. There are perfectly good sidewalks in New York. She shouldn’t have a rooftop running trail from Stark Tower to Matt’s apartment. And yet…

Her arrival on the roof has a little welcome party. Matt and Elektra seem to be having a cozy little talk. Maybe, it’s just Matt with the bad timing. Maybe Karen was innocent the whole time. Still, “I hope I’m interrupting.” 

Elektra’s gaze flicks to Cas and she sends out a sharp meaningless smile before turning back to Matt.

Matt on the other hand, “No, we’re done here. The plan,” He turns to Cas. She’s surprised he has a plan. That’s not usually how he works when he’s in his Daredevil suit, “Is to capture Nobu. Get him arrested.”

What…arrest the creepy ninja?

She tilts her head in thought. It’s not like she has a precedent for something like this, “If that’s how you want to play this then we’ll give it our best shot. I’m not certain how he’ll be held since he’s debatably human…but sure. Your call?” And when it fails, Clarisse can have him.

Elektra finally addressed Cas, “Where is the rest of your team? I expected a little demigod squadron to come running when Matthew called.”

Wow…

Ummm, “Given ninjas. I decided that they will meet us at where this fight is supposed to be. Wherever that is. Didn’t want to leave a trail,” Now, this is just getting awkward, “Hi, Elektra. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Thank you,” There’s that snake smile, “And how are you?”

“Peachy,” Cas replies before turning back to Matt, “Can we go inside now? I feel exposed out here and I’d like more to go off of than a cult called ‘the Hand’ is after her.”

Cas wonders if there is anything that she can do currently in order to make Matt look more uncomfortable than he already does. Then she remembers what she just recently did to him and reminds herself to dial it back a bit. Just to be nice…

Matt’s polite enough to just wave her towards the door. Fantastic. She can ask questions and figure out what exactly is happening.

“Would ya look at that,” A gravely voice drifts up the stairs as she enters, “Matty, you called your little godling.” 

Cas holds in place on the landing before turning back to Matt. Hopefully, he can read the offense she’s putting off. He sounds so done when he says, “That’s ummm…that’s Stick.”

Right. It's been a while since someone called her a godling(her father uses it on occasion because it sounds funny)…it's been never since a blind person she's never met identified her as one without knowing her…When she gets off the stairs she looks over the absolute beanstalk of a raggedy man duct taped to a chair, “This is Stick the Dick who doesn’t know anything about Spartans?” It’s somewhat satisfying to hear both Matt and Elektra laugh as they come down the stairs behind her. No one seems to be explaining why the man is taped to a chair and Cas has not yet decided if she wants to know.

“Joke all you want, girl,” Stick says, “It won’t help when the Hand comes for the Black Sky.”

Right. Cas turns to her current companions, “Do those words make sense to you?” She thought the Black Sky was a weapon that Matt helped Stick destroy last year, “I was under the impression that Elektra was the ninja cult’s target. I’d like to know why. Please. Since I, and several others, will be fighting them.”

“You didn’t tell her?” Stick asks sarcastically. Very sarcastically. Over the top, sarcastically, “Were you expecting the demigods to do all the fighting for you without knowing? That’s cold, Matty.”

“Now wait a second,” Matt storms forward into Stick’s space, “I am going to explain the Hand’s beliefs.” He scoffs at the end there, “Unlike you, I can give a straight answer.”

…Right.

Stick scoffs, “Beliefs…those beliefs are going to get you all killed,” Then Stick turns his head to Cas with unfailing accuracy. His milky eyes lack all the feeling that Matt manages to express. It makes her uncomfortable, “That girl behind you is a monster, godling. She is the Black Sky and if the Hand gets a hold of her you can kiss this little slice of paradise you built goodbye.” First, Cas looks at Matt and sees his posture. He’s frustrated but in a way that looks familiar to Cas. That’s the stance of a man denying fate. Then she looks at Elektra. More specifically, Cas looks at the woman’s snake-concealing eyes.

“He tried to kill me,” She smiles, “I was going to return the favor but Matthew had other ideas.”

Huh…

Predatory eyes. Not like Gao and not like Nobu. But still something other. It must be what made Cas so uneasy when they met, “So, you’re some kind of superweapon?” 

“And if I was?” Elektra maintains that perfect smile that attempts to send shivers down Cas’s spine. Yeah, she’s dangerous. 

Cas smiles back, “I’d say join the club. I’ve been accused of the same thing.” There’s clearly something different about Elektra but Cas doesn’t think that Matt would make her literally defend some evil creature for him, “Your timing sucks though. I was going to remove Roxxon from New York tomorrow…and possibly the States if the investigation went well.”

The woman tsks at her, “So sorry,” So sincere, “I can’t imagine the inconvenience. Perhaps we can remove most of the problem tonight?”

“That’s the idea,” Which is when Cas turns back to Matt, “So what’s the actual plan?”

“The plan is-”

Then Stick cuts him off, “You plan on sending the demigods to fight this battle for you but it won’t end the war. The Hand will keep coming for the Black Sky.” So Cas thought this was a battle but now the word war is out in the air, “They’ve been waiting for this opportunity for thousands of years,” Well…shit, “And you’re gonna hand it right to them. Like a bunch of assholes.”

Her nose scrunches, “Do I need to be worried about this?” She’s worried about this, “Roxxon…the Hand targeted demigod children. I’m here because of that and because you told me that you need help. Is this a bigger fight than I’ve been led to believe?” While Matt is her friend, she will not needlessly risk the demigods that trust her based on false information. 

If she has to choose…there’s only one right answer and it can’t be Matt.

That makes Matt cross towards her, all apologetic and projecting nothing but sincerity. To be honest, Cas is going to have a problem not judging anyone who’s afraid of this man. They think he’s scary when he can look like this? He puts on his ‘trust me face’ and says, “It’s not. We just need Nobu to drive them out of the City, please. Please, we can’t do this without your help.”

Cas rocks back on her heels and looks him over, “We?” She asks while nodding at the duct taped man.

“Elektra and me, just us,” He needs to not look so sad, “Please.”

At least he’s asking for help, “We still need a clearer plan than ‘let’s grab the ninja in charge.’ I swear Matt, it’s the gala all over again,” She points in his face, “I’m not doing all the work this time.”

He grabs her hand and squeezes before she can turn away, “You won’t be. Thank you.”

Whatever, “Plan, please.”

“First, Elektra needs something a little more durable.”

Cas looks back at him for several seconds before comprehending his intent, “Gods, you’re lucky I’m around.”

~~~

At first, it seemed like Matt wanted Cas to supply something that would keep Elektra from being stabbed. That was not the case because while Cas has trusted Matt with various pieces of technology straight from her own table…supplying weapons and armor to his ex is not on the table. 

Nah, Matt went to Melvin.

It’s proving to be unique.

Cas doesn’t mind that Melvin wants to continue making armor for Matt. Not at all. The whole point of everything has been to guarantee demigods have the right to self-determination. So, that’s not the problem…

She doesn’t think that Matt knows Melvin is an ex-con…dating Betsy…his parole officer.

That’s where the situation is unique because Melvin does have a cognitive delay and he’s a child of Hephaestus. He has the impulsivity, instinct, and strength of a demigod. He’s also the oldest child of one of the twelve Olympians that Cas has ever met. He’s…strong with zero formal training. That plus cognitive delay comes out to juvie and that comes out to no prospects and that math turns into assault felonies. 

It’s amazing that he’s survived as long as he has.

Betsy is indescribably kind but her being sweet on Melvin Porter is…inappropriate. 

Cas isn’t here to pass judgement on that sort of thing because well…she’s broken a fair amount of laws too and the ethics of this particular issue escape her. Also, Nyssa is watching this one. Cas can tell that Nyssa’s been in this exact garage recently looking after her older brother. 

So, Cas just gets to sit back and enjoy the sights and smells of a well stocked workshop and watch as Melvin takes Elektra’s measurements, “How’ve you been, Melvin? Nyssa treating you right?” She is. Cas can tell because there’s an empty container labeled ‘Sancocho. Eat it.’ It just reeks of Nyssa behavior. 

The large man barks out a laugh while gracefully wielding his sewing tape, “Yeah,” Then he pauses like a thought just occurred to him, “Are you sure it’s okay for me to do this? I…I was saving this for Betsy.” Betsy who works with parolees other than Melvin.

She can understand his concern, “You can always make more, Melvin. And Betsy’s tough.”

Melvin smiles and nods.

“We’ll give it back when we’re done,” Matt adds.

“And without a scratch,” Elektra finishes.

Cas has been observing Elektra since Stick the Dick implied that she’s an irredeemable weapon that could cause the collapse of everything Cas holds dear. She’s definitely trouble. She’s dangerous. She also looks excited for all of this. 

While Cas knows she'll enjoy the fight, she'd be just fine if it didn't happen. She wonders how Elektra would do with that.

“Ah,” Melvin starts as he walks away, “Dr. Stark, I have something for him…would you look at it?”

Cas looks at the little box in Melvin’s office space, “It’s just Cas to you, Melvin,” But she opens the box anyway. Ah. A new thing for Matt to hit people with. She picks it up and twists it about her hand. Balanced. Well made. It’s even color coordinated, not that Matt would appreciate that part, “This is steel and titanium?” She doesn’t wait when she notes the moving parts and latches. It twists under her hands and she pulls it apart revealing the cable holding the two pieces together. There’s a good amount of tension but not so much that someone of Matt’s strength couldn’t fully utilize all of the possibilities. A turn unlatches the cable and lets the wielder use both parts separately. It just as easily comes back together.

Smooth.

“It’s a billy club,” Melvin sounds giddy as Cas flips it in the air and catches it, “Like what the cops use but ten times cooler. It’s my own design.” Simple. Effective. Efficient.

It suits. 

Cas turns to Melvin with a smile and tosses the billy club to Matt, “Definitely cooler than what the cops have.” Matt proves that despite all of that serious talk…he’s still a guy and immediately uses his new toy to break something across the room.

Hopefully, it wasn’t important.

“Where’s mine?” Elektra asks like she’s not about to be the recipient of a gift/loan from the private forge of a Child of Hephaestus.

Cas levels a glare at Elektra for being rude but Melvin takes her seriously, “It’s a prototype. I uh…I only made one.”

“Hey,” Matt places a hand on Melvin’s shoulder, “Hey, don’t mind her.”

Melvin proceeds to give Matt a rundown of possibilities. It is a highly versatile tool and Cas is sure to encourage Melvin’s presentation and correct reading of the person he built it for. She’s glad that she doesn’t have to grapple with the ethics of making something for Matt when he has Melvin. Yes, Cas makes things for her friends without concern that it will be misused but it just seems different somehow…something to twist around her brain later. 

Instead, they return back to Matt’s apartment where there is still an old man taped to a chair. That has to be the weirdest part of all of this. 

Her team keeps demanding updates but there aren’t any. Because of the current plan…The current plan is to sweep all of the various tunnels that run under Hell’s Kitchen including miles of abandoned subway tunnels that Cas found another sphinx in last year. It’s not there now but that took the better part of an afternoon. The kids she took spelunking with her had a fantastic time though. 

Anyway, Matt wants to systematically sweep miles of underground tunnels to find and capture one supermega ninja that has allegedly been alive for at least three lifetimes(unconfirmed).

Without any other way to localize said ninja, Cas hasn’t been able to come up with anything better. She wanted to wait for the ninjas to come to them. But no. That’s no good because according to Team Negativity, the Hand will start ransacking the city to find Elektra.

Cas then suggested putting Elektra out in the open like Andromeda before the Kraken. She was outvoted due to the risk of her being spirited away by ninjas. It’s at this point that Cas realizes Matt is grappling with his skepticism which stings a little given that she’s in the room right now. She's never passed judgement on his faith. 

There’s currently no way to know if the Hand are telling the truth. Elektra is definitely something and the Hand supposedly believes that she is this Black Sky weapon. That means until proven otherwise, Elektra is a ninja super ultra death weapon. That is not a death sentence in Cas’s book but it’s something that merits watching. 

Other mythoi are varied in their lore. She prefers to avoid other pantheons given how active hers is but whatever. Not tonight. A friend asked her for help fighting a ninja army and well, it’s not like she can ignore the cult ninja army with designs on demigods and potentially Peter(Although, no one knows about Peter yet. So that’s nice.). 

She’s actually reviewing her maps of the tunnels with Elektra when Matt’s phone starts ringing, “Foggy. Foggy. Foggy. Foggy.”

For once, it’s not her device that bears bad news.

He walks off with it, “This’ll just take a sec.”

Hmmm, “Let him know I’m here, would you?” Cas doesn’t know why her presence during Matt’s stuff makes Foggy less anxious but it does. Generally speaking, if Cas is here that means it’s very bad stuff. 

She goes back to her maps. There are locations that are more capable of housing ninja cults. There are also places that are more convenient for getting to multiple locations quickly. It’s a balance thing…but if Cas can narrow this down to three good locations then they can hit them all at once.

She’s stuck at five. 

“We have a problem,” Matt says with his phone dangling from his fingers. It seems like Cas was the only one with the manners to not eavesdrop on his conversation with Foggy, “Detective Brett Mahoney was attacked. Some ‘gangbangers’ wanted access to files on me.”

Going off context clues, Cas is going to assume the files were on his nighttime activities and not his day job. 

Still, “Is this the same detective from basement night?” The same one she saw a few hours ago…

“Yeah.”

Gangbangers…wonderful. 

So many fantastic stops to be made tonight, the next of which is the police station but not the front door. No, they go up the fire escape in the back and Matt creepily leaves the door unlatched while he lurks. Cas sits like a perfectly normal person on the railing with her ankles crossed.

Elektra, under the impression that this is a waste of time, elected not to come. Cas feels like she’s somewhere nearby anyway so that she can watch.

It is entirely possible that she’s surpassed her weekly allotment of ‘taking things seriously’ but she really wants this night to be over. The last few days have not been very good.

When the detective steps out the door with blood on his shirt and his arm in a sling, it’s an effort to remain still. Yes, Cas his issues with the police but she knows this person in front of her is a good cop.

He takes one look at both Cas and Matt before shaking his head, “So this is what it’s come to, huh? The freaks and vigilantes are the only ones I can trust.” That is unfortunate but Detective Mahoney has just been assaulted and had a lot of supernatural happenings thrown in front of him. In the interest of expedience, she takes that insult passively especially since she’s in his territory this time.

She lets Matt take the lead. It lets her think, “What happened?” He asks.

The detective looks between Cas and Matt before using every body language queue there is to express exactly how uncomfortable he is with them.

“Come on, detective,” Cas says, “The sooner you tell us, the sooner we can…” She points off in a random direction.

The man nods in a ‘why the hell not’ fashion before starting, “Not the first time some asshole roughs me up. The job…this shit ain’t easy. But then they said they got eyes on my mom. Said they were gonna kill her. Even put her on the phone,” Cas’s grip tightens on the railing. Okay, so the cult ninjas will in fact tear the city apart to get what they want.

“Who?” Matt asks with his serious devil voice(Intrusive thought: it sounds like laryngitis).

“No idea,” The detective says helplessly, “Worked for someone big, though. Had real power behind those fists and I’m not talking muscles. They wanted everything we had on you,” The detective got beaten and his family was threatened…for information on Matt.

“I don’t imagine you have much,” Matt says. 

That doesn’t seem accurate based on the detective’s face, “Well, it might surprise you to know that we do keep track of two things real well. Records of people you put away…and incident reports.”

Oh…, “Shit,” Cas hisses. Then she says, “Sorry about your mom. You can call Ms. Palamas if you want to get her out of town for a while. Second, Lucy, we gotta go,” She knocks his shoulder with her knuckles before tipping backwards over the railing. A quick toss of her spear has her up on the roof, “Friday, I think this just turned into a hostage situation. Let the team know and I’ll get them a location.”

Looks like the ninjas want to draw Matt and Elektra in. It would’ve been better for Cas to serve up Elektra on a silver platter. At least they could’ve picked their battlefield that way.

Of the many people that Daredevil has saved since his inception, how does Cas isolate the ones that would’ve been grabbed? And once she has that information, how does she locate them?

“Cassandra!” Matt yells after he makes it back to the roof, “Karen!”

Yeah, Cas is already calling her and it’s not going through. She shakes her head.

“Dammit!” He takes off running and Cas follows.

It’s not nearly as graceful as Matt’s normal means of travel. He’s getting desperate and yes, Cas is worried about Karen too but they don’t know anything yet.

She needs a clear head if she’s going to both locate the victims and ensure their safety.

Matt doesn’t wait for Cas and busts through Karen’s boarded up window. Piper wasn’t kidding about the swiss cheese thing. However, this place must have some sort of sentimental value to Karen because someone already started to spackle the walls and fill the holes.

Cas sees it before Matt. There are blade marks in the fresh plaster. Two strong horizontal strokes, one at a fifteen degree angle and another at maybe twenty. No blood splatter is a good sign, it means that they missed or they’re for intimidation purposes, “Damn,” Cas says. It’s hard to tell if anything is out of place because of the mess but Cas chokes her own anger back when Matt so carefully traces the wall Cas was just looking at. He slumps against it, “We’ll find her.”

He whirls around, “How did this even happen? I thought you were-”

“Hey!” Cas cuts that off before it can waste any time, “Blame me later.” For now, Cas sets Friday loose to find any unusual police reports for the evening. Surely, someone would’ve noticed a ninja dragging people off the streets or their homes. Sure, this is New York but everyone has limits. 

They end up on the roof where Matt is trying to listen for something while Cas is sorting through traffic cams and online footage. It’ll be like when she found Matt the first time. It’s not about getting them on camera, it’s about using the footage to sort out everywhere they aren’t. That’s when Elektra walks up to them.

Matt is having difficulty focusing, “The people taken weren’t targets. They’re bait. The Hand’s trying to lure me in.” After falling for similar tactics twice, it’s nice to see Matt learning, even under the circumstances. 

Cas reaches out for his shoulder without looking away from her search of the city, “We can do this, alright? We can.” This isn’t an exact scenario Cas has been in before. Last time, Matt already had the locations and she just needed to turn up and kick ass. That’s fine. It’s only one extra step.

Elektra sighs, “It’s me they’re after. Everything else is just in the way.”

“Those people are innocent,” Matt tenses further under her hand and she tightens her grip. 

If he can’t relax then he’s never going to find anything. He’s just going to get stuck in a guilty spiral, “Matt, you need to breathe. We’ll find them. It’s not all on you.” 

She sees the slightest of nods in the corner of her eye before he gets back to it but he doesn’t loosen up at all. Cas looks up at Elektra hoping that she can do or say something that will help the man out. When the world gets too chaotic, Cas tends to move faster to keep up. She can crash when it’s over but that doesn’t seem to work for Matt. When the world gets chaotic, that’s when he makes his biggest mistakes. 

“Find them?” Elektra asks, “We can’t just take the bait.”

“Sure can,” Cas answers immediately, “Bet you Nobu is there watching. This is the only option now,” They need to spring the trap. And since this conversation isn’t helping, Cas does what Piper does when it looks like Cas is headed towards overstimulation. She slides closer to provide an anchor. Something friend shaped that is there as a source of extra strength, “Oh and can't forget, hostages. People.” The presence of another person is so important. When the conscious mind is fighting against you and the subconscious is running wild without direction…well, sometimes all of them need someone else to get the breathing started.

Nightmares are usually Cas’s worst moments and if it happens while Piper is there…Piper is as familiar with Cas’s breathing exercises as Cas is.

So, she does them now in for four, hold for seven, and out for eight.

He slumps unexpectedly, “I can’t-the electricity in this building is too loud. The city’s pulsing like-”

Finally Elektra intervenes. Which is great because Matt won’t thank Cas if she stops her work to talk him down, “Matthew, it’s your city,” She crouches next to him, “Calm it down. Tune out everything that’s not essential,” More tension leaves him at last and his breathing returns to something more normal…she thinks, “Now, one at a time. Find her.”

Well, whatever that was…it worked and Cas settles back into her internet hunt. Not that it’s really going anywhere for her. 

Cas freezes in place when Friday abruptly takes over her projected map, “Demi-Boss, I have located the ninjas. Police investigating a man outside the permitted range of his house arrest tracking anklet were attacked by men with bows and arrows. They’re reporting officers down.”

Cas was up at that first sentence, “Put out the call.” Before she jumps for the next roof she turns to Matt who’s also up, “You want me to slow down or are you gonna track me?”

He shakes his head, “Just go, Cassandra!”

One plucky salute later and Cas is southbound. 

She wonders what it’s like for them. Cas has never seen Elektra fight but she doesn’t think Matt would let her come if she was incapable. But they’ve also never seen Cas move. Matt has benefitted from Cas’s speed but he’s never been alert enough to witness it all out so to speak. There's a cap she places on herself when fighting against what could be regular humans. Is there a part of her brain that feels like showing off? Yes, she’s a demigod and this is the thing that she does better than everyone else 100% of the time. 

It’s a sliver because her priorities are on the hostages, “Talk to me about the location.” She says while getting air between buildings.

“It’s another warehouse, Cassandra. How many historic blueprints do we need to view before we conclude that the basic layout is always the same?”

She’s not wrong but, “What about the neighbors?”

“Condemned.”

Hmmm….

She stops on the corner of the roof across the way. Her soon to be battlefield looks like the perfect place to play industrial paintball. There aren’t any more archers on the roof. Although, she looks down and sees the dead cops on the ground. Ideally, their backup will arrive soon. Yeah, “Notify the NYPD that this isn’t a human problem but there are human hostages. We’ll handle it.”

“Understood.”

Then she settles in for the wait. Her team should only be a few minutes behind her. 

Jason arrives first, “Cassie, it’s always fun when you call.”

“Ouch,” Cas says without looking away.

He steps up next to her, “What exactly are we dealing with?”

“Unknown number of enemies with an unconfirmed number of hostages,” Not ideal. She flicks her eyes over the roof again, “Three floors, central courtyard, water tower, three roof entrances…if they scatter we’re going to be all over the place running them down.”

That’s when Matt and Elektra come running up. Jason turns to them, “Whoa…”

Ha, “Jason, that’s Elektra and Mikey. I call him Lucy though. Don’t do that.”

“These are real names?” Jason asks.

Cas shrugs, “They’ll answer.”

That’s when eight people(Only four more were available… It was short notice.) fall out of the shadow cast by this building’s water tower. Nico staggers forwards and drops to his knees, “I hate taking large groups. Why did I take a large group?” Malcolm helps him to his feet and dusts him off.

Piper spots Cas, “Well, you got us here, Nico. Have a protein bar,” Then she gets in Cas’s space, “You found more ninjas?”

Cas sighs and opens her arms to present Matt and Elektra, “They found more ninjas. We have two objectives: retrieve the hostages and capture the ninja overlord known as Nobu. He’ll stick out because his presence makes you want to vomit. The ninjas want that woman,” She points at Elektra, “Alive.”

That’s when Clarisse approaches Matt and Elektra, “Wanna explain to me why we aren’t sidelining them?”

Clar makes them look tiny.

Still, those tensions are better directed at the enemy, “Clar. Priorities. These are the people who’ve been tracking us. I want answers too.”

She huffs, “We could’ve had answers tomorrow. These two jumped the gun.”

Piper shakes her head, “Doesn’t matter. There are hostages now. Priorities changed,” She nods at Cas, “The people we protect always come first.”

That they do.

“Well,” Elektra makes the mistake of opening her mouth and drawing the attention of the nine other demigods on the roof, “Isn’t that a nice philosophy. They fit right in with you.” She proceeds to smile at Matt and Cas closes her eyes because now everyone notices.

“Cassie?” Piper asks because everyone just saw Elektra and saw that she’s just a hair different. Damn. 

Cas looks out over the building, “They’re with us. Lucy, where are the hostages?” She’ll have to answer more questions later but for now that will suffice. Everyone here is smart enough to watch each other’s backs with an unknown around. 

Matt’s head tilts, “If you can get the hostages out then we can focus on Nobu.” He’s taking the arrival of eight demigods out of a shadow fabulously and she’s so glad for that. It makes this easier.

Cas nods, “It won’t be difficult. Just point me at them.”

“Now hold on,” Elektra steps forward and every demigod sans Cas shifts too. She’s had a collective few hours to get used to the snake-energy woman, “We need to confirm that Nobu is here before we move. I’m not here for them. I’m here to take down Nobu and I was promised help.”

Matt looks like he’s about to say something but Clar gets there first, “That’s fine,” She crosses her tree trunk arms, “We’re not here for you. We’re here for us and them.”

That tension mounts on the roof again so Cas intervenes. This is not the time, “Lucy,” Cas whispers, “Hostages. Please.” She glances over at Matt who jerks his head in a brief nod.

He refocuses on the building, “Follow me,” And then he jogs off more confidence in his stride than she’s seen in a minute.

Good.

They’ll need it.

He circles around to the next building. She can’t believe their luck(or this is an open invite). The Hand hasn’t left anyone out to watch for interlopers and the windows are old and cloudy. The light that slips out is a sickly yellow color indicative of antique filament bulbs. Then he crouches again, “There. Second floor. I can hear Karen.”

“What?” Piper hisses and Cas waves her down. She’ll take that beating later.

“Oh no,” He stands up, “Something’s set them off. They’re angry…”

That’s fine. “I’ll take this,” She says as she levels her spear at the window, “Once I’m over there, flood the first floor. Clear the hallway so the hostages can run out. Cops are expecting us so they can take the mortals when they get here. After that, push the ninjas to the roof and contain them there.”

She doesn’t wait for a response.

That’s the benefit of working with demigods.

The pane glass shatters from her spear and then crunches under her feet when she lands in the room. She immediately spots the source of concern that Matt heard. The ninjas are trying to saw the leg off one man…ah, ankle monitor. Their actions have sent Karen into near hysterics as she begs them to stop.

There are three men between Cas and that mess. Then there’s one more on the other side of the group of hostages. They’re too surprised to react.

Well, Cas isn’t surprised.

One kick from her sends one ninja into the rotting wall that caves in behind him. Her followup kick sends another to the floor with a crunch. Her spear cuts down two more and before she can get that last one, Matt’s billy club hits him in the skull.

Cas looks over in confusion, “I thought you were going in the front.”

He doesn’t answer her. Instead he starts pulling up hostages, “Out the door! Take a right!”

Fair enough, “Head down to the first floor!” Cas continues, “Hit the street and keep running!”

Given the amount of hostage situations that Cas has now been a part of, maybe she should arrange for training on handling this sort of thing. Not only for herself, but for any demigods who want to follow her into trouble…could come in handy so that she’s not out here winging it. 

Karen lags at the back of the group and Cas shakes her head at her while she taps her watch. No time for a check in. The woman needs to move. Matt takes the time to give her a proper check over before sending her off after the others. Once the doors close, Matt slumps.

Hmmm…, “You ready?” Because that was a nice little warm up but Cas has a feeling that they’re going to be here for a while.

Matt straightens before snatching his club off the floor, “Cassandra…” He’s gearing up for some serious words….

“Later,” she says because she asked a yes or no question. She's not looking for whatever serious thing he's choosing to bring up now, “This isn’t the time.” Not when even she can hear the sounds of fighting.

“Your friend is enjoying herself.”

Cas huffs, “Clarisse loves a good fight.”

He tilts his head at her, “So do you.”

She rolls her eyes, “Later.” Not the best time for a talk about morals.

And that’s when another ninja bursts through the door followed by all of his buddies in black wielding steel katanas against a demigod dressed in celestial bronze and carbon fiber triweave. Well, she did say drive them to the roof. Cas lunges but these ones are less made of paper. Or at least they have brains and they try to surround her. It’s not changing the outcome but it does make it take longer.

She just about has one when he takes a sai(like the damn ninja turtle) to the eye. Cas looks over and sees Elektra standing with Matt and their own fallen opponents. Elektra shrugs, “I got bored.”

Wow. And here Cas was thinking she got lucky and the ninjas’ target chose not to participate. She gives a half bow and gestures towards the door, “After you, chosen one.”

“Thank you, Cassandra,” She struts by and Cas cannot hold back the eye roll, “You’ve all been so helpful to us. Haven’t they, Matthew?”

Matt claps Cas on the shoulder as he walks past her. Realistically, Cas knows that she should be keeping Elektra in sight. So, she follows regardless of how much that woman scratches her nerves raw. Cas doesn’t even understand why. Yeah, there’s something inhuman about Elektra but she’s clearly not evil or Matt wouldn’t care so much. 

Those two are panting as they run up the stairs. They’re going to get tired…aren’t they?

They’ve been running all over the city all night and now they’re fighting and it’s getting late, “How much longer can you two last? Be honest.”

“We’re fine,” Matt sends down at her, half out of breath, “There are at least a dozen more coming up behind us.” They’re like myrmekes. 

Great.

They emerge on the roof top to a hoard of angry bees…that look like creepy ninjas. 

“Cassie!” She hears someone shout across the roof, “Chaire! You’re late!” 

That’s where she tries to push Matt and Elektra. The closer they are to the demigods the better. Elektra is their primary target but they really don’t seem to like Matt given the arrow Cas slashes from the air. It could’ve been for her and they had bad aim but it feels unlikely. 

They end up in a loose formation with a large quantity of ninjas lining the roof and a large quantity of ninjas already down on the ground…no longer moving.

Matt pulls Elektra in closer and starts talking to her so Cas moves forward to give them space. As long as they don’t stray too far from the group they can take a moment. Her group of ten can cover them. Piper sidles up to Cas, “They look cozy.”

Cas doesn’t glance over, “I’m sure they do.” These ninjas are waiting for something to happen. What?

Piper stares into the side of Cas’s head like she’s trying to figure something out but Cas has no idea what.

“Are we taking a bathroom break?” Clar stomps her foot and yells, “Let’s get on with it already!” Malcolm steadies her with a hand on her shoulder. Cas is starting to wonder if she needs to check in with Clar to see how school is going. She’s clearly under a lot of pressure.

Then it’s like the temperature of the roof changes, “Nico?” Cas asks.

“It wasn’t me,” He answers while staring curiously at one of the ninja corpses, “Definitely was not me.”

A powerful beat, like a drum was struck, sweeps across the rooftop followed by loud angry Japanese. Then another figure steps forward from the lines of ninjas, “ Hemitheoi! You came here tonight with honorable intentions but that behind you is the Black Sky! Leave and we will end our battle on this roof.”

Piper leans in, “That’s Nobu?”

“That’s Nobu,” Cas nods, “No thanks!” And waves at the ninja, “Appreciate the offer! Now, if you would agree to not hunt the person behind us that would be swell.” Keep the attention on the demigods and let Matt and Elektra slip through.

“Then you leave me no choice!”

Oh, that phrase again.

Whatever. 

Nico shifts his weight and tightens his grip on his sword. It should’ve been the first clue that something very wrong was about to happen. It’s hard to tell with all the unnaturalness of the ninjas polluting the air.

She probably would’ve seen this one coming had she pushed for undead ninjas instead of ghost ninjas.

The corpses on the ground contort seemingly pulling bones and sinew back into place.

“Our warriors continue to rise, hemitheoi !” She should’ve known that would come back to haunt her.

Nico looks paler than he did a moment ago which tells Cas that he really did not like that. “Can you put those back?” She asks because she kind of needs him to.

The look Nico gives her speaks for itself but, “If you’d wanted a cleansing, Cas, then you should’ve called Will. Those don’t belong in my father’s kingdom.”

But then, who would’ve transported the team across the city to the exact location that she needed?

Piper examines the corpses dragging themselves to their feet, “Do you think grotesque or ‘ew’ is a better descriptor for what I’m looking at right now?”

“Who cares?” Clarisse steps forward, “This is finally getting interesting!”

Jason shakes his head, “That cannot be the best description for this.”

Poor Malcolm. There are no words to describe the patience necessary to date a woman like Clarisse.

Clarisse takes out the first undead ninja that runs at them, “Can it, Grace,” Before looking over her shoulder at Cas, “Birdy, you should check your weird humans.”

Cas is still a little transfixed by the enemy in front of her, “You’re a weird human,” But this is a good time to do a check in, “Clar, try the head,” Then she turns back to Matt and Elektra who are having some sort of heart to heart that Cas feels a little guilty for interrupting.

“We need to start talking about getting you two out of here,” She's not worried yet but if this continues to escalate then having Matt and Elektra around might not be wise.

They're definitely having a moment and Cas does feel bad(despite the timing ) about that but there's no guarantee that they'll maintain dominance.

Elektra doesn't look away from Matt's face. If anything she leans in closer and smiles. It's the softest expression Cas has seen her make so far, “Tunisia is nice. I could take you to Tunisia.” …she’d figured that Elekra wasn’t as much of an ex as was implied.

“Doesn't matter. We run,” And that's the softest Matt has ever sounded, “And we'll keep running. You and me.”

Elektra’s laugh is out of place both with what Cas has seen of her so far and the current battle, “You and me.”

But she gets it. It's not the option she would've taken but she gets it.

Gods, Cas feels about as bad as she did when she broke up a moment between Annabeth and Percy, “At the next opportunity, you two need to-”

Cas was going to tell them to run.

She was going to tell them to leave at the first opportunity because Nobu is here and engaged.

They have the hostages secured. Police are probably on the scene. They can take these creatures. Clarisse is having a grand old time up here. However, it may take a while and the longer a target(she's trying not to view Elektra as a flag in a kid's game) is out in the open the greater the chances that the opposition gets it.

But Matt's head jerks to the side, “What is that?”

Then the screaming starts, immediately followed by a roar.

Then gunshots, another roar, and the sound of crumpled metal.

Cas has heard many roars in her life. She does not recognize this one. It's definitely not friendly.

“Jason!” Cas crosses the roof to engage with his opponents and free him up, “Get up there!”

He seamlessly disengages and takes to the air, “Di immortales…Cassie! They’re some kind of giants! Three of them.” He drops back to the roof and takes out his remaining ninja. Cas puts her spear through the head, “Massive. Humanoid. Big teeth. Horns. Giant club. No idea what it is. They're attacking the police in the steet.”

Shit.

The ninjas on the roof are annoying but manageable as long as they aren’t keeping their distance and raining down arrows…annoying. Critical skull damage seems to work. The trick is to knock them down and keep them down.

“Nico! You feel overwhelmed then you Romero this place!” No one is struggling currently but if that changes then Nico can fill the roof with skeletons, “Supes and Clar, we've got giants!” And then she jumps off the roof.

And lands on the hood of a crumpled cop car.

Jason did an excellent job describing this thing in a handful of words.

However…

The stench…

Rot. 

Yellowed tusks, not teeth, stick out from a pronounced overbite. The beady black eyes are set beneath heavy bushy brows. The skin, of which there is a lot because it’s easily fifteen feet, is grey-green and leathery. It's wearing a loin cloth…hard to tell with the belly on this thing. The piece de resistance is the metal club it's dragging behind it. Looks like iron, maybe it is, but there are chunks of its last victims caked on there. Cas can see a foot.

That's just the one closest to her. One is more red and the other is more blue.

The blue one staggers underneath the impact of the roaring Child of Ares that lands on it.

The red one falls back from the cops it’s currently terrorizing when Jason flies into its side at full speed.

The greenish one turns to look at where his friends are and Cas goes for a kill shot. She throws her spear for the mid sternum and on any other creature that makes sense…there would be a heart there and it would die or go back to whatever monsterland it came from. No…no, not this thing.

It turns, looks at her, and roars before running faster than it ought to be able to while raising that club.

So, the roof is going to have to sort itself out for a minute.

There are terrified and screaming people down here.

And Cas is fighting a giant that's unimpressed with her spear.

She has plenty of time to get out of the way but she waits to dodge anyway so that the giant makes maximum impact with the police cruiser. The force of that impact blows the glass out of the car windows and lets Cas know that she does not want to be that car.

Nope.

It turns towards her with another roar that is very disconcerting with her spear jutting out of its chest. She summons it back so that she doesn't have to look at that…also to have her weapon back but she almost regrets it. The blood that comes out of that ragged hole is oily and black.

It also smells and is all over her spear. 

It's…it's so ugly and smelly…she's going to call it Shrek.

Shrek swings at her again and Cas backs up. Not only is this important to her immediate survival, but it provides thinking time and leads Shrek away from the people.

A quick check of both Jason and Clarisse reveals that not only is Shrek resistant to stabbing but his siblings are resistant to electricity. The blood is gushing from that stab wound although it's not pulsatile. Maybe Shrek doesn't have a heart.

She's going to have to do this the old fashioned way.

Take out the legs like it's an AT-AT from Empire Strikes Back.

No cables though…

She'll take it out like Achilles.

It's an interesting choice to get within that strike range though.

Her first attempt is aborted when it swings for her again. The timing needs to be perfect if she's going to land this hit and she'll need to be fast to avoid its counter.

Before she can even start her second and third attempts, Shrek starts swinging erratically sending blood drops everywhere. That well used iron club has her backing up as she attempts to time the length of each swing.

Okay. 

At the first gap in it's swing, she gets in close.

Her first jab is at that distended belly. It'd be a shame if Shrek was smart enough to catch on to what she's up to. But she immediately regrets that.

It doesn't bother Shrek all that much but more of his blood gets on her. However, Cas manages to roll under that counter swing and take out its right ankle. The leg loses its ability to support Shrek's weight and he falls to the ground sending tremors through the street along with another great roar.

Cas doesn't hesitate to plant her spear deep in the back of its neck. More of that oily blood comes out and with a spasm that jerks her whole body around it goes still. The body starts to shudder until it collapses in on itself and a pool of that oily slick coats the street…and her legs.

Disgusting.

“Cassandra! There's a problem with the Boss,” What? “They're under attack currently on their way back from that play the Queen wanted to see.”

What?

“Put me through!” This isn't…a glance around shows Jason and Clar doing fairly well against their Shrek monsters, “Dad?”

“Kid. I don't know who you pissed off but ninjas were not part of the plan for tonight!”

No. No. No. No.

“What-” No, this isn't supposed to happen, “Where are you? I can be-”

“Can’t have you leaving your team high and dry to come and get me,” But she can't…, “Friday, should not have notified you. I can handle this. Pepper and I are fine. Focus on-”

The call cuts out…

What does she do now?

“Friday, stay with dad. I’m fine.”

“Understood.”

Ninjas attacked Pepper and her father…

Ninjas attacked her family…

…Nobu.

She'll make Nobu call them off.

Jason and Clarisse will figure out what to do against those things.

She goes back to the roof.

The balance is slowly shifting in their favor even if three of them were pulled to fight whatever those things were. 

Nobu is a proper ninja. 

She acknowledges this because he managed to maneuver the playing field in his favor despite the fact that he's slowly losing ground. The seven demigods are slowly crushing their enemies.

But.

He's fighting Matt and Elektra directly and that just pisses her off more. She could've handled zombie ninjas. She could've handled evil Shrek.

How dare he involve her family. 

How dare he have that level of audacity in her city.

All to give himself this opportunity.

This is no longer a marathon where she needs to outlast the enemy. It's a sprint where she needs to take him out before something happens to her family.

Which is why her foot hitting Nobo’s ribcage does so much damage. She was moving very fast when she did it. Even her ears pick up the crack of bone. It must be a symphony to Matt.

“Call them off!” She yells, pacing back and forth, with Matt and Elektra behind her and Nobu in front of her attempting to regain control of his breathing. He needs that. He needs air to give the order.

He does not use his air to call off the attack on her family. 

No, he laughs at her, “I did warn you, hemitheos. This did not need to happen. Nor does it need to continue. Give me the Black Sky and leave.”

She pauses in consideration, “You don't know a damned thing about me if you really think that's going to work.” Cas wanted to attack but three archers fire on her forcing her to defend against that. When Nobu tries to press the advantage, Elektra leaps for him. It puts her between Cas and Nobu which is the opposite of the desired orientation.

That would be easy to correct except Matt dives straight in to cover Elektra while Cas is stuck fending off arrows that should be at her but seem to be aimed at Matt as well. Elektra is playing straight into their hands for some reason. When Cas turns to yell that exact thing, she sees it in the flash of the other woman’s eyes. She’s hungry for this fight. This battle isn’t about what it's supposed to be about anymore, it’s about the fight itself. Whatever it is that makes Elektra different…it wants.

Shit. 

More of those damned archers take aim on Matt this time. They identified a target that she’ll cover. Her team is occupied with their own battles because more archers start trying to take aim at the street level. Distraction. It’s all a distraction. From a purely, control of the battlefield standpoint, they hold dominance still. Even with her self-control slipping because Nobu ordered an attack on her family…

It’s not about strength. It’s about achieving the purpose of the battle. For Cas, that’s supposed to mean capturing Nobu and for Nobu that means capturing Elektra. They’re both neck and neck in that race.

Godsdamned, ninjas.

She must be projecting her frustration fairly loudly because as she splinters the latest archer’s bow she hears Matt behind her, “Keep us covered, Cassandra! We can get him!” 

No. It’s not going to work. She needs….

She needs these fucking archers to stop spawning.

She needs her dad to call her. 

She needs to snap Nobu’s femur(More like really really wants to).

“You’re in the way!” She yells back. She only needs an opening but all of their flipping and twirling makes her cutting in nearly impossible. Especially with Nobu swinging that chain weapon around. Especially when she only gets half a moment to evaluate while she’s intercepting arrows and archers.

From what she can see, Matt and Elektra moving in sync is an even matchup with Nobu. When he hits them they go down but the other is always there to cover.

The people and Elektra are supposed to be the priority(but her dad and Pepper). 

Her opponents are not slowing down. Her people will eventually. Two more so than the others. And…those archers only need one small error to seriously harm someone. She needs to…

It happens while her back is turned.

The hoarse, “No!” Happens while she’s slamming another ninja down into the concrete.

She looks and sees Matt cradling Elektra while Nobu pushes himself off the ground, a look of deep seated disdain and loathing revealing the depth of his inhumanity. He clutches one of the sais that Elektra had been swinging around.

It’s her opening. A flash of her spear precedes Cas kicking the weapon away and she levels the point of her spear at his throat, “Enough,” She hisses. Is Elektra still alive? Cas isn’t sure. The sounds of fighting stopped, “It’s over. Call them off.”

Nobu doesn’t look away from the two behind her, “The Black Sky is lost. A waste,” Then he barks something in angry Japanese and the fighters that are still standing stop….and sheath their weapons in their own bodies before dropping. It startles Cas enough to provide Nobu with the opening to parry her spear and roll to his feet. 

Definitely stronger and faster now…

“What are you?” Cas hisses. Her team converges on her but she jerks her head towards Matt and Elektra(Is she still alive?), “ Σωματοφύλακες, cover them.” Somatophylakes, the honor guard.

Nobu backs up to the edge of the roof and Cas follows, “We have waited a long time and will wait as long as is necessary. For the rising is coming.”

The hostages are safe.

The area is secure and all of the ninjas are down.

Elektra is…

They won, didn’t they?

So, why is Cas more pissed off than she was before?

“Not you,” Cas shakes her head, “You won’t be waiting.”

And she lunges for the last monster on the roof. He can’t hide behind human skin anymore. Whatever he/it is - whatever Gao is - Nobu is no longer welcome to exist anywhere near here. 

He dodges back in a way that tells Cas that he’d been treating Matt and Elektra with kid gloves in an attempt to avoid damaging Elektra. That sort of game can only go on for so long. The end result is behind her.

To be honest, Cas considered letting Nobu sweep up another weapon. That part of her brain that’s gone unused since the gigantomachy wants the thrill of that fight. However, Cas isn’t here to look for a thrill, she’s here to win. 

So. 

He’ll fall knowing that he never stood a chance. 

All of his combat skill and knowledge means nothing with open space against a demigod who’s not pulling her punches.

She feints. And she feints again. And she pushes him to the edge. No longer willing to let him dodge around obstacles in an effort to minimize damage. No longer holding back her speed that lets her act and act again before Nobu can attempt to react.

Respect where it’s due: Nobu never gives any indication that he’s afraid.

Not even when she forces him over the railing and down the fifty or so feet into the alley below.

And he’s in no place to form an opinion when Cas follows behind and puts her spear through his cervical spine. Immediately, there’s a rush of cool energy that reminds her of the anemoi and that oppressive energy of Nobu and his ninjas dissipates.

It’s a relief. She can breathe so much easier. Even the grungy alley seems brighter.

The sound of slow clapping brings her back to the present, “Gotta admit, godling, I was worried you were too domesticated. Didn’t think you’d have it in you.”

Cas looks over her shoulder at that raggedy beanstalk man who should still be taped to a chair in Matt’s apartment. There’s a few things that Cas could say but really she only wants information right now, “What did I just kill?”

A sharp harumph, because that’s the only applicable description of the noise Stick makes, precedes his answer, “A lieutenant of the Hand. But this asshole wasn’t worth jackshit to them. You didn’t win anything tonight.”

It depends on how she defines winning. 

Still, “But what was he? Some kind of half forgotten eastern monster?”

“If only it were that simple. Those oni you fought were monsters,” He walks over and nudges what remains of Nobu with his foot, “This used to be a human being before he corrupted himself with some of the darkest mojo on the planet.”

He didn't feel human, “Explain,” Because she’s finally getting some answers.

“This isn’t your war, godling. Stay in your lane.”

“This is my home,” Her grip on her spear tightens, “They attacked my family. As long as your war is in my city, it’s mine too.”

She’s met with the full regard of those milky eyes of his and she refuses to blink or bend first. He laughs once, “You’re wearing it right now. That oil slick you played around in is what fuels their little foot soldiers. Keeps them fighting when all their bodies want to do is die. Eats the human right out of them. Nobu,” He kicks the body again, “Was part of a special few to consume something different. The real high octane shit.”

She shifts impatiently. The fighting is over and she needs…a lot actually. To see her family. To check in with Matt and Elektra. To check in with her team. To check in with the police and the hostages, “You wanna get on with it? If I wanted an epic, I’d go see my mentor.”

He nods, “Fine. This son of a bitch consumed the essence of a fallen god.” What? Cas steps away from the body like she might get some of that on her. He laughs again, “Not so sure now, are you? The Hand’s strength comes from the consumption of dead and forgotten gods. You have a few of those around here.”

The Faded. But the Faded return to Erebos and Chaos…and yet didn’t Medea summon Helios’s essence in the Maze?

Nobu felt so wrong because he consumed the Faded…And their toy soldiers consumed monster essence…

This is North America. Not only is Olympus here now, but before…before Western Civilization set up shop there were others. Different ideas that were nearly extinguished or totally destroyed via colonization, “Why now?”

“The Black Sky.”

Cas shakes her head, “That doesn’t make sense. That can’t be all of it. There have been civilizations here for centuries. Why come here now?”

He turns away and ambles down the alley, “Good question, godling. Not that it will help you.”

It’s tempting to follow so she can try and squeeze some more information out of the man. He’s as helpful as a prophecy, providing plenty of dread but no workable advice.

She’s needed back on the roof though.

When she arrives, a head count reveals some missing people. Piper, Jason, Nico, Matt, and Elektra are nowhere in sight. Malcolm waves her over, “Jason and Piper are on people duty with the cops. Nico got Daredevil and…Elektra out of here.”

His hesitation speaks volumes, “She’s dead, isn’t she?” He looks away, “Shit.” This fight was about keeping her away from the Hand in the context of her continuing to live afterwards. It wasn’t meant to end in death.

“We have everything under control here, Cassie,” He says, “Go see your parents.”

Right.

She can do that now.

She can see Matt later.

She’ll have to talk to the cops eventually because Roxxon still needs to happen tomorrow but right now, Cas needs to see her family.

~~~

The presence of the Iron Man suit in sentry mode doesn’t surprise her.

The ambulance does. 

As does her father’s car. The tires are blown out and there are slashing marks on the chassis. One of the doors is down the sidewalk crumpled into a scrap heap. This is her fault. Her family was targeted because she got involved in the fight against the Hand. 

“Cassie!” 

Her head snaps towards the source of her name and she sees Pepper. Dirty with a scrape on her forehead and a blanket wrapped tightly around her person. Cas runs over but resists the urge to hug. Hurt flashes through Pepper’s eyes but Cas is quick to reassure, “I am covered in all sorts of nasty. Trust me.” Pepper’s ankle also has an ice pack and there’s no telling what other bruises are under that blanket.

Cas isn’t in a position to gently hug anything at the moment.

“Kid!” Her father spotted her from where he was standing with a slight figure…in a red hoodie… “The father’s day watch worked like a charm.” Her eyes are drawn to the metal gauntlet still encasing his hand. That explains the door…Cas makes her way over and her father takes one look before gingerly patting her on the shoulder, “Everything workout? Other kiddos safe?”

“Yeah,” Cas’s gaze drifts back to Peter, “What?”

“Yeah, new kid on the block. Really stepped up against the suicidal ninjas,” Her father says and Peter shrinks further in on himself. She can’t see his face but she knows what expression he’s making. Last time she saw it, he had damaged U’s claw by accident, “He saved our lives.”

Cas swallows, “That true?”

Peter shuffles from foot to foot, “I uh…I don’t know about that but…something bad was happening and I had to do something.”

“What are you even doing here?” In Manhattan. Sure, it’s a weekend but…Queens isn’t exactly close by. 

“...please, don’t be mad.”

Mad? No. Scared? Yes. There’s nothing Cas can do that will make this kid stop. He entered her orbit and now he’s protecting her family from monster ninjas when her back is turned. That is an issue to be sorted out later but for now, “Of course, not,” She wraps Peter up in a hug and squeezes because he can take it.

He hesitates before hugging her back just as tightly, “This is…nice but ummm…what’s that smell?”

Cas huffs against the side of his head, “Monster guts, kid. If you really want in on this business one day then you’d better get used to it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Okay, he says.

“Thank you, Spider-Boy,” What else can she call him when her dad is right there? She backs up, “Go home. We’ll talk later and let that guardian of yours know that I’m taking care of our mutual problem tomorrow.”

He perks up, “Really? It’ll be over?”

It’d better be. She nods, “Go.”

He leaps vertically and sends out a line of that webbing of his before swinging away.

Honestly, it looks fast and indescribably fun.

Her father’s hand wraps around the back of her neck before pulling her in close, “I really am coated in monster guts. You’re in a tux.” She keeps her arms at her sides but it feels nice to have a second with her face hidden.

“If you think I care, then I really am terrible at this parent thing.”

She huffs a wet laugh and she realizes that he’s also helping to hide tears, “Shut up.” She can’t cry out here. There are too many people. Ambulances, police, passer-bys, and curious eyes.

“Was it worth it?”

She’s not sure, “Saved some people. Got a lot of information to sort through. A huge threat in my weight class. But there were losses.” Police officers died tonight and so did Elektra. Matt was going to run off with her…Cas had just gotten him to open up to Foggy and Karen…Now, he’s hit with this. Correlation does not equal causation but…

Her father pushes her away by her shoulders so that he can get a good look at her face. He wipes away some muck and probably some blood, “Then you still have some hero work to do. Go clean up. We’re fine.”

She shakes her head, “Dad…”

“I am the proud father of an unusually powerful young woman,” His lips quirk into a smile that almost passes for legitimate, “This isn’t your fault, kiddo. Go out there and save the world.”

She laughs for real this time. That’s the adrenalin, “You cannot say things like that! Pretentious!” But she let him turn her away, “I’ll be back around. I need to take care of some things but up until raid time tomorrow, it’s you and me, right?”

He winks and spreads his hands, “We’ll see if I can pencil you in.” He doesn't look injured and he's not moving like he's in pain. However all of that went down, either he reacted very well or he didn't bear the brunt of the attack.

She feels like she can leave him alone for a while.

They'll be okay.

They're okay.

~~~

Her poor armor. The blood flakes off of it onto her floor when she pulls it off. She’s going to mop like five times. It’s at least six scrub downs in the shower to even begin to feel clean but once she’s out and in clothes that don’t reek she’s texting Nico.

Me: Where’d you take him?

The Pale One: His church

He took her to his priest

Me: thanks Nico

I owe you one

The Pale One: No

We signed on

Sometimes it sucks

Sometimes, it really sucks.

She’s uncertain if she should look for Matt.

Unsure if she’d be welcome.

But…

The last time she experienced a loss remotely similar to this(someone he was willing to drop his whole life for and run away with) she didn’t do very well when she was alone. When Annabeth couldn’t be with her, it was Percy. If it couldn’t be either of them then it was Travis and Connor. If they weren’t available it was Clarisse.

All of them pulled her out of her own head while…

Every single one of them was in the same kind of pain and none of them let anyone be alone for longer than necessary.

She doesn’t want to leave Matt alone with this.

She’ll find him and if he tells her to fuck off then she will but she will also tell Foggy that something really bad happened tonight.

That sounds like correct behavior. 

This is most certainly not her strong suit but she doesn't have other options.

She snags her little pouch on the way out.

The lights aren’t on when she arrives which doesn’t actually tell her all that much. She doesn’t think that he uses them all the time, just for guests and such. Also, she doesn’t know anything about Catholic rites or what Matt in particular is doing in this situation. He might still be with his priest….

Still, Cas knocks and tries the rooftop door because the man is allergic to locks, “Matt?” She calls into the darkness as she lets herself in. It’s a good thing that he doesn’t have curtains and that the billboard is there to illuminate the space or she wouldn’t be able to see anything. Instead, she can see him standing there with his helmet dangling from limp fingers, “Can I come in?”

He doesn’t move as far as she can tell.

“I’m just going to take that as a yes until you tell me to leave,” She walks gingerly down the stairs and does her best to not make any moves that could be interpreted as aggressive. 

When she’s close enough to get a look at his face, she starts to worry. Matt isn’t always as physically expressive in his face as a person with ocular vision but he is more than capable expressing himself with body language. He’s very good at it actually and interpreting it.

Matt is blank. 

If she couldn’t see the subtle movement of his breathing then she’d wonder if he’d died standing up. He’s still wearing his armor and coated in blood and sweat. There’s a slash in his left shoulder that looks wet like it’s still oozing blood, “Matt?”

She doesn’t know if she should touch him or not. She’s seen demigods like this before but that’s a mixed bag. Some lash out and some can be directed around. But even super concussed, Matt didn’t act like this.

He blinks and his head tilts just the slightest bit but he remains silent.

Rather than reach for him, she slips his helmet from his hands and puts it on the table, “Other than that one cut I can see, do you have any injuries I should know about?”

Nothing. Not a flicker across his face.

This is a trauma response. She’s aware of that much.

Gods, she was supposed to help Matt keep Elektra safe.

She’s aware that this isn’t supposed to be about her own guilt but it’s painfully present right now.

Her own shoulders threaten to curl in but she doesn’t let them. Instead, “I’m so sorry, Matt. I really am so sorry.” And she goes for the hug because what else is she supposed to do? If this was Piper or Annabeth or any of the others she’d just hug them, be there, and do whatever unique to them thing that worked in the past but she doesn’t have a lot of history with Matt. She doesn’t know all the little things he needs when he’s lost like she does with the other people in her life.

She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do when this particular friend is experiencing agony and he doesn’t move when she so carefully tries to avoid hurting whatever injuries he’s ignoring right now, “I need some sort of sign that you’re not catatonic, Matt. Otherwise, I’m going to have to wake Foggy because I’m not taking this armor off for you but I don’t want to put tonight into words for him. Karen deserves some actual sleep, so she’s out. Pipes swept her away while I was checking on my dad and Pepper. I think Claire might be working. Ninjas and giant Shrek monsters caused some serious havoc…that needs fixing. There were only minimal injuries to the others, nothing they can’t sleep off but I’m not sure what happened to you specifically. I mean I can see the bruises on your face a little. They don’t seem that bad. And you’re standing, so you’re probably not dying. Also-”

Cas stops talking when Matt’s forehead drops to her shoulder, “Cassandra, stop talking.”

She got ahead of him on that one, “I’m sorry…”

“Just…stop.”

She nods but doesn’t move. She doesn’t respond to the wetness that’s probably tears or the subtle shaking and controlled breathing. When he brings his own arms up to return her hug she’s sure to match the force to the best of her ability. He doesn’t flinch so she doesn’t think she’s squeezing an injury.

Cas just stands there and lets Matt hide for a bit. She can do that. She can watch his back while he gets enough of that out until he can control it and go clean up. 

Eventually, he backs up but makes sure his face is away from her. Cas keeps herself angled opposite, “How about you…ummm…does that one need stitches?” She gestures vaguely at his shoulder.

“Probably,” He says, “Yeah. Still not sure I trust you to stitch me up.” Lovely, signs of life.

About that, “I need you to know that you did not factor into this. Kara Palamas, my scary assistant, has all of these baseline humans running around as my security detail,” She walks away to the kitchen, because unless he’s moved stuff around, the first aid kit is under the sink, “Ridiculous, I know but they’re really determined. So I learned some stuff, just some basics…Point is, Helen had me practicing on banana peels and orange skins for hours before she dubbed me competent,” She tosses the kit onto the table next to his helmet, “Or I could put duct tape over it and call Claire anyway.”

Some emotion flickers over what little of his face she can see in the dark. So, that’s something. He starts removing his gloves too, that is also progress, “Or I could do it myself.”

Right. She nods, “Is that a good idea?”

“No,” He says, “Are you going to argue with me about it?” His hands work diligently on the various clasps that hold his armor in place. There’s no sign of a deficit that she can see.

So, Cas shakes her head, “Not tonight.”

Matt pauses, “Don’t. Don’t do that. Don’t treat me like…” He lets out a sharp breath, “I’m fine.”

Because that’s how someone that’s fine reacts…

She doesn’t say that though. Instead, she sits in a chair a few feet away, “Okay.”

He tosses the soiled top half of his armor away and Cas can see the injury in question. It’s still bleeding and her limited understanding says that he could do with maybe five stitches, “What are you even doing here?”

Right, “I didn’t want you to feel alone.” That’s the worst part.

The back-lighting of the billboard hides most of him from view but she can see him stiffen. He drops to his couch and pulls the first aid kit closer, “Like I said, I’m fine. You don’t need to stick around.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

It feels like the air has been sucked out of the room for a moment and neither of them breathe. Cas has her perfect posture in the chair and Matt’s frozen again but this time with his hand in the first aid kit. Then the remaining fight leaves him, “No.”

She relaxes back into something more comfortable.

“Then I want to stay,” She says while her hand seeks out that little pouch in her pocket, “Until you tell me to leave.” She wiggles it open so that she can pull out the two coins that are inside. It might not be well received as a gift but it still feels right to offer, “How are you going to honor her?”

“What do you mean?”

She pulls her legs up to sit cross legged while twisting the drachme between her fingers, “I don't know anything about Elektra,” she pretends she doesn't see the wince, “But we cremate…sort of, and place coins for the Boatman. We get very loud after that. Sorry if this is an overstep but she was a warrior so I was going to offer mine.” She holds her hand out, “You can say no.”

He doesn't stop poking at his wound, “Yours?” He asks quietly.

She doesn't know how to put this delicately, “I've been carrying these around for a while. Just in case,” then she realizes how that might sound, “I have more but these have traveled.” Very far. They should have some extra umph behind them.

“There's going to be a small funeral early tomorrow morning. Elektra isn't…wasn't…Father Lanton is making an exception to bury her with his parishioners but she won't have a full service. She didn’t believe….”

Ah, Cas pulls her arm back in and nods, “Right.”

“I can't accept those for her,” There's a moment of silence, “It's not because… and you didn't trust her anyway.”

True, “I didn't know her but you did. She must've been something,” He doesn't have anything to say to that, “It’s not…” She goes back to twisting the coins between her fingers, “I didn't know her or what was different about her, so I had to be careful with my team, but she matters to you. That's…important.”

More silence.

Then.

“Thank you, Cassandra, but I can't take those,” That's fine. Matt doesn't have to give her drachme to Elektra. Instead she settles back against the chair and listens. Eventually, she pulls out her phone because she has messages…a lot of messages. The most important of which is a confirmation to the NYPD for the raid tomorrow. She's going to finish this Roxxon problem and while it's unlikely to remove the Hand from play, they'll at least lose some territory and cover.

Then she needs to speak with her team.

The ones she ran with tonight will be expected to answer some questions but that's a later thing.

Then. And then. And then. And then.

“Cassandra?”

“Hmmm?”

“I need your hand for a second.”

Huh?

She looks over and sees him attempting to both hold a piece of gauze in place and tape it at the same time. That could present a small challenge…, “Should I wash my hands first?” But likely one he’s overcome before. She hopes he’s not doing this to make her feel better. Then again, this is Matt.

“What?” He shakes his head and she swears there's a little spark of something there. That's nice to see, “Are you clean?”

“Yes, and I understand germ theory. It’s the getting sick part I'm on the fence about,” she slides over to the couch and holds the gauze.

Now she knows she's seeing curiosity. Distraction. She can do distraction for a bit, “Wait. That's true? I thought that part was made up.”

“Nope,” she sits back once everything is fixed in place, “I've been poisoned, envenomated, stabbed, burned, blown up, bitten, cursed, starved, and recently tased. Never been sick though.”

“Shot?”

“Kind of?” Paintball doesn't count. And that one time an Apollo kid put an arrow in her leg was a fluke…also on the Williamsburg bridge when Fisk tried to pull a runner but that didn’t get through her armor. No puncture. Doesn’t count to her.

“Ah,” He sounds like himself again, “Speaking from personal experience, it’s not that bad.” But he keeps his face straight. 

Is he…

She bites her lip because she’s not supposed to be laughing right now. The silence stretches… She breaks first with a snort, “No. Matt, why?” It completely breaks the atmosphere, “I had to sneak you into the back of a car in broad daylight. It was very bad.” The awkward…

“I said thank you.”

“No, you didn’t!”

“In that case, thank you,” His hand comes to rest on her shoulder and his head shifts a bit, “Thank you, Cassandra. For everything.”

The short lived good humor fades again, “Are you really fine?”

He hesitates, seemingly thinking about being honest or not. He must be used to lying about this sort of thing, “Before all of this started, I hadn’t seen Elektra in ten years. She disappeared one day after I…after something happened,” That is a long time, “She came back but then I found out that Stick sent her to manipulate me into letting go of the life I was building,” Cas doesn’t realize she’s tensing until he squeezes her shoulder, “When she…When Elektra came back…it felt like she was the only person who accepted that part of me that needs Daredevil. But that’s not true. Elektra was here and gone in a moment, so I’ll be fine.”

That's good to hear, kind of. She mirrors him with her own hand on his shoulder, “Don’t try to be fine too fast. No one will mind that you need time.” The way they're sitting lets her see his face better, "You need sleep,” She doesn't want to push him tonight, so, she obnoxiously wrinkles her nose, “You need a shower too.”

He falls back against the couch, “There hasn't exactly been time.”

“Not my problem, but if I'm telling you that you stink…” He actually tries to shove her and she allows it, “Thanks, the space helped a bit.” She pulls her knee up so she can rest her chin on it.

“Did you need to say that?”

“And I'm not even a bloodhound,” her grin is of the shit-eating variety, “If you can't tell then your nose must be messed up. Nose-blind and regular blind, you overachiever.”

“That's not-” He covers his face but he can't hide that laughing, “That’s not how it works.”

“Right,” Yeah, he'll be fine, “Like you can't sniff out drugs while surrounded by New York air. I should call you McGruff the Crime Dog.”

“Please, don't.” Should she say it? “Don't. I can hear you thinking.”

She should say it, “Dare to refuse drugs and alcohol, Matt.” She ignores his admittedly weak complaints because he's still laughing. Silently, but there's no hiding that kind of shaking, “Welcome to the world of friends with ‘special abilities’. We will make fun of you for them while you're getting blood on the furniture.”

“Not sure if you understand what a welcome is,” he says with his arm flung over his face. Is that a learned behavior or does he actually benefit from doing that even though he can't see?

“And you can’t say ‘hello’ so…” She can tell he's fighting to stay awake. She gets why but he can't do this all night…even though there's only a couple hours left, “You should really sleep. You'll need it.”

There's another silence and then, “You leaving?”

This guy…, “Are you asking or telling?”

That's when she gets her first sigh of the night, “Asking.”

Pushing through the awkward to properly communicate is great. It would've saved her so much effort as a kid, if only she hadn't shut down all those moments back then.

“Wasn't planning on it. At this rate, I'll sleep on your couch enough to claim ownership like America and Texas.” Or Florida.

“Pretty sure that's not how that works.”

“It's how history works, so what do you know?”

“I do have this thing called a law degree.”

Touche, but, “Ha, the lawyer thinks the law will protect him,” That's when he swings his legs up and he's still wearing his damned boots. She practically rolls over the back of the arm rest to get away. The man settles himself on the couch like he plans to stay there, “You realize you have ‘essence of zombie ninjas’ on your boots, right?” People sit there…

He makes this whole production of getting comfortable, “I thought you didn't get sick.”

Objectively, this is hilarious.

But, “Gross,” She takes the back up option and curls herself into a chair. It's a little tight but it beats a lot of places that she's napped before.

“That cannot be comfortable.”

“It's better than the zombie gunk on your feet.”

Chapter Text

~~~

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

— Seneca

~~~

Cas wakes up second.

She knows that she’s second because she wakes up the second Matt remembers what happened last night. His head is hung low as he leans forward over his knees, every inch of him a picture of defeat.

Cas thinks it over and decides that she both pushed and redirected him a lot last night. It would be best if she let him have his moment in peace. She stretches out of the chair and yawns(practically on command). A time check reveals she got two hours of sleep under her belt which is more than she expected. The unsettling noise from her stomach reminds her that she should’ve eaten prior to running here.

Hmmm…, “Can I go to the funeral?” She asks when Matt doesn’t acknowledge her movement.

There’s no sign that he heard her other than a flex of his fingers. He makes her wait a whole minute before he answers, “Why not?”

“Thanks,” She stands, “I know black is appropriate. Please, send me the time and address. I’ll see you later.” It’s possible that the speed at which she exited was a little awkward. It’s just that…while she doesn’t want to leave him alone, she knows that being alone is important sometimes. The distraction tactic is good temporarily. He still has to feel all of that…She’ll see him again soon. He’ll be alright. 

It always seems odd how the world changes after she’s fought a battle in it. Last night went on for several hours, which is far from her longest but it’s not her shortest either. But nothing has changed in the world. Nothing was directly impacted by the fighting last night, other than people involved. One of the hostages was killed before they arrived…he was a Vietnam vet and a POW who crawled out of Laos only to be killed by a monster in the home he fought to protect once upon a time…

She shakes her head to dislodge that thought. Rhodey can advise her on the best course of action she can take with regards to that.

There will probably be footage out eventually. She’s not looking forward to that. Cas once bought a hotdog from a street vendor without a license and got a twenty minute lecture from PR. This will be far more annoying to deal with…And of course…dead cops. 

Gods, she’s never had to reckon with baseline humans becoming collateral damage in a fight with mythology based monsters before. It’s not something she’s ever seen directly but police officers died last night. Historically, police are not a friend to her. Not only do they tend to dislike teenagers wandering the streets alone like Cas used to do…well…If all it takes for them to become an enemy is a piece of paper signed by people hundreds of miles away then they were never really friends or allies. Should the Accords go the wrong way, the police could be Cas’s enemy in a few months even if she worked her ass off to help them once or twice. 

Regardless, these cops in particular were members of the NYPD and Cas had a hand in revamping the police after they lost a large number of members following the fall of Wilson Fisk. She’ll be expected to do something but there are people who’s job is to make sure Cas gets things like that correct. It’s just with individuals that she’s on her own which is how her intentional mental diversions circle back to the fight last night and the end result. 

She already has a summary of every piece of information she knows and inferred available on the Argonaut server. The earful she’s going to get from Annabeth in between wedding planning is going to be impressive to say the least. Actually, that’s going to be bad from everyone but it’s not like last night was something she could ignore.

Piper is likely asleep somewhere. Hopefully, so is Karen.

The past several weeks cannot have been good for the woman. She’s been shot at more than most regular people. 

Cas sighs during the drive to the graveyard. She’d stood at the edge while the burial took place for Agent Farnum last year. This proves to be slightly more intimidating. Where he was buried only had those small tomb stones she associates with stereotypical modern graveyards. This place is different. She’d thought that because the cemetery is linked to the priest’s parish that it would be close. It’s not. This is little outside of the city proper and is called Sacred Saints Cemetery. That's not the problem. The problem is the statues. She doesn’t understand the logistics or the desire to have these looming and sad statues of angels everywhere. There are plenty of regular ones too…and the occasional bust of the deceased which is more in line with what the Romans did. Of course, the thought of being buried in a box below ground for eternity is absolutely terrifying. So, she hopes that Matt forgives her for being extremely uncomfortable while she wanders though the head stones with her hands stuffed in her coat pockets. The dusting of snow on the muddy ground certainly isn’t helping matters but maybe that’s the energy these sorts of things are meant to have…

She doesn’t garner much attention from the three people around the grave when she arrives. One is the priest. Another is Stick. And the last is Matt. She stands to his right while his priest begins speaking about peace and life after death. Given that this isn’t religious per say, the man speaks very well. He’s also very interesting to have presided over a funeral in a graveyard for a woman who only died a few hours ago from a stab wound. This is probably illegal and she wonders whose plot of land they’re using. Yes, a very interesting priest indeed.

It probably shouldn’t be all that surprising since it is Matt’s priest.

However, he doesn’t speak for very long. He signals a man with a shovel who methodically covers the lacquered wood of Elektra’s coffin. Once the dirt is placed the man scurries off without looking at them.

This is the part that Cas doesn’t understand about funerals outside of the demigod ones she’s been a part of. Eulogies are structured a certain way which was a hold over of Ancient Greece that she imagines Chiron kept alive over the years. So often, he’s written them and they learned from him more often than not. They open with the understanding that no words spoken over a handful of minutes can encapsulate the person they’re saying goodbye to. Then there is praise for the dead, their virtues, their community, and their legacy. There is a sort of call to carry on that legacy and consolation to the bereaved. They can get pretty lengthy…

This funeral is standing in silence for several minutes but she can endure it without complaint. They’re far enough into March now that the cold isn’t so bad.

It’s Matt’s sharp inhale that breaks the silence, “I wanted to say a few words,” He pauses and shakes his head, “I don’t have any.”  

The silence stretches again and then, “God rest her soul,” Stick blurts out, “There. That should be enough.”

Cas resists the desire to shuffle or say anything because she didn’t know Elektra but that doesn’t seem like enough. The woman was vibrant. She wouldn’t want to rest. 

“You know,” Matt says, “Once in college, I bought her roses. She hates roses,” He hesitates again before turning the slightest amount towards Stick, “You wanted her dead.” The silence afterwards reads as ‘well, there you have it.’ 

“Was it worth it?” Stick asks seemingly genuine.

So, she’s not surprised when Matt sounds cautious, “What?”

“Loving her.”

Oh…she no longer feels confident in her right to be standing here. This might not be information she has a right to hear. Cas attempts to turn and leave but Matt uses his unnecessary blindness stick to tap her ankle the instant she starts to pivot.

Okay…not leaving then.

“You taught me to cut all my ties to humanity,” Matt says, “To other people. I had only a few moments with her against all the noise and chaos and the violence. We were together only for moments. That was all,” He really seems stuck on that fleeting time together thing…, “Orchids,” That comes from nowhere but, “She likes orchids. And yeah, Stick, it was worth it.” She wishes that she'd been quicker last night.

For some reason, that makes Stick huff out a laugh, “Matt, you are the toughest son of a bitch that I have ever met.” Rather than comment, or risk making too loud of an action(Gods, this is easier with the friends she knows well. She forgot about the whole learning people’s boundaries thing. She’s out of practice.), Cas grips Matt’s arm. It’s meant as a show of support but it doesn’t look any different from when he lets Foggy or Karen ‘guide’ him down the street.

There’s another pause before Stick says, “Let’s go home,” And walks off towards the car waiting for them.

Matt starts to leave but Cas tightens her grip just a hair. He turns towards her in question. She thinks it over while letting out a slow breath, “Ἑωσφόρα,” Eosphora, “The Dawn-Star,” Well…changed to feminine, “It’s bright, attention grabbing, invokes the change to a new day, plus that planet is associated with the goddess of beauty. Feels like a better epithet than the one the Hand tried to saddle her with. What do you think?”

Eosphoros is also the Ancient Greek version of the Roman Lucifer, the god of the Morning Star but he can look it up if he’s curious. She hopes he can appreciate the symmetry.

He lets it marinate in his head before answering, “Yeah…sounds…that’s fine.”

“Good,” She lets go of his arm and backs up a step while sending a dubious glance at the crying angel three feet away, “All of our adventures are recorded for future reference. When I relate this whole thing to Chiron, I’ll call her Elektra Eosphora and that’s how she’ll be remembered.” Oh, right, “You’ll have to settle for Daredevil, for obvious reasons.”

“What? Like the Odyssey?” He starts making his way out and Cas follows very eager to get away.

“Uh-huh,” Rather than wait for him to go out the gate she hops the low fence and heads straight for her car. She has planned bonding hours with her old man to get to. Maybe they can rope Pepper in as well, “We eat that stuff up. I guarantee there will be little demigods years from now pretending to be her.”

“If you say so,” He pauses and she just knows he caught the thread of her discomfort, “What’s so scary about a graveyard to you?”

Many things, “Look,” She says from behind her open door, “I know angels are an important religious symbol to you but those statues are very unpleasant. I’d hate to have a permanent sad marker that makes everyone who visits me more sad. I want something that makes people say, ‘Oh gods, remember that time she…’ and then they laugh.” That and the buried in a hole thing…no, thank you.

He looks so damned confused, “And this is something you think about a lot?”

“Less than I used to,” She drums her fingers on the car door, “I have to go. Remember how my dad and Pepper were attacked by the Hand last night? They’re fine,” She reinforces before he can attempt to develop guilt, “But I really want to be around them right now. You can call me if you need to but please, talk to Foggy and Karen.”

“I’ll be fine, Cassandra,” He says stubbornly, the mule.

She concedes the point though, “I know but halving burdens and all that jazz. Bye.”

~~~

“Kid, put your back into it,” Her father says while casually leaning against wall with a #1 Iron Dad mug in his hand. He takes a sip, “I’ve seen you lift more than that.”

She shoots him a glare and he just smiles back, “I don’t understand why we aren’t using the winch,” She says while adjusting her grip on the chain connected to the cast iron V6 engine she’s currently hoisting out of their new 1970 Buick Skylark. Not her favorite of the cars they’ve worked on but that’s not important. 

“Manual labor is good for you,” He responds, “Besides, you’re the one who said we should do this one the old fashioned way.”

She plants her foot against the weighted block her father found for this exact purpose and heaves, “Not what I meant.” The issue isn’t the weight of the engine…it’s the weight of the engine compared to her.

“Quit complaining,” And then he slurps the damn coffee.

It doesn’t actually take that much work to get it out of the chassis and locked in place. This is a very abused old engine. She whistles, “We can totally salvage most of this,” She wonders how the scoring marks got under there though…this car has history.

“Yeah,” Her father agrees, “She has life in her. Not bad for a Buick. And to think you wanted the Chevy.”

“The Chevy was in significantly better shape.”

“The Chevy would’ve been done in a day. Maximum. Hardly worth the effort.”

Okay, fair. That would defeat the purpose. 

“Sorry to interrupt the ‘Yay! We’re alive! Bonding Time’ but Ms. Potts is requesting access to the garage.”

What? Okay.., “This is the Queen’s Castle. She doesn’t need to ask permission.”

Her father looks equally confused when Pepper walks in, “Pep?” And Cas feels worried. Some bruises bloomed on Pepper’s forehead in the last several hours. She’s not walking with any kind of a limp though so her ankle is okay.

The real problem is that Pepper looks everywhere around the garage but at them, “Tony, can talk to you?” Her arms are wrapped around her abdomen like she’s hugging herself.

He immediately puts his mug down and crosses to her. His hands start running up and down her arms as if to warm her, “What’s wrong?”

For the first time, her gaze flicks to Cas but jumps back immediately to her father, “Just you.”

Right.

“Kid?”

“No problem,” Cas grabs a towel and starts wiping her hands off. She’ll stay out in the hall while they have whatever talk they’re going to have. Something about this makes her uneasy. Yes, they’ve had ‘talks’ where Cas needed to make sure she was outside of hearing range but she’s never seen Pepper look like that before.

When they reach ten minutes Cas decides to stretch her legs a bit and then come back. Whatever they’re talking about must be important and she doesn’t want to hover for no reason if they’re going to be a while. 

So when she has time to circle out to the nearest source of carbs and caffeine in the building, she takes her time with her bagel and schmear before heading back. And well…someone was looking out for her, be it the Fates or some other deity, because she arrives in time to see Pepper storm out, tears in her eyes. She spots Cas, does an about face and speeds off towards the nearest elevator in the sharpest dismissal Cas has ever received from her.

Pepper and her father have had fights but it's never spilled into interactions with Cas before.

It has Cas walking a little fast to get to the garage where she sees her father sat in a chair and staring at the ring in his palm.

No.

“She didn't."

He doesn’t look up, “I am not in the habit of lying to you, Cassie.”

“I don’t understand. You two were fine. Weren’t you?” If anything they’ve been more solid since the Avengers split.

“You need to understand that this wasn’t your fault,” He looks up at her, “This was not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“What do you mean?” She steps forward cautiously, “What does that have to do with anything?”

He starts to play with the ring in his hand and his knee starts bouncing, “Pepper thought that after I stepped back from the Avengers things would be safer. But last night…”

Cas backs up again, “So it’s my fault.” She turns away and buries her hands in her hair.

“No, Cassie,” Her father gets up and turns her to look at him, “You were saving people. Being you. What they did….” He shakes his head, “Not the point. Pepper wanted us to distance ourselves from the other demigods. I told her you never would and she…” He sighs and steps back to run his own hand through his hair, “She said that you would be fine if we took some space.”

…

…what?

“It’s…it’s not great but you’re my kid and I haven’t even had six years to be your dad. Maybe you would be fine but I want you to be better than fine and if Pepper doesn’t understand that…” His hands start gesticulating wildly, “If she can’t understand how important you are to me then we shouldn’t be together,” He shrugs, “That simple.”

And that’s when she hugs him.

And he hugs her back.

“We’re going to be okay, Cassie.”

“I’m-”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry when you shouldn’t be,” He drops a kiss on the side of her head, “You still have to finish with Roxxon today.”

This…

It’s not a distraction per say. Its importance cannot be overstated. This is central social structure destabilization stuff, not a silly distraction.

But she does need to get it neatly folded away or this will distract her when she’s in the field. So when she feels ready(after several more seconds), she backs up, “I have to talk with her or this is going to sit where other stuff should be.”

“Okay…” He takes a deep breath, “Can’t say I recommend that one. I see where you’re coming from but…I told her to pack a bag. Guess it’s a good thing that her name isn’t on this building.”

Cas can’t quite stop the laugh from slipping out there. It sounds a little pathetic to her ears. Yeah, it’s not the Queen’s castle after all…

She’s grateful when Friday cuts the music in the elevator. She’s also grateful that Friday holds the doors a moment, “Cassandra, Ms. Potts is in the master bedroom. She seemed awfully upset while walking through the premises. Are you sure you want to do this now?” 

Cas nods, “Yeah, don’t want to but this could interfere with what we have to do later.” There will be some demigods on this raid but there will be plenty of police officers too. They will not adapt as well as the demigods should Cas’s mind wander.

She needs to confront this now.

Even if Pepper ran away from her. 

So Cas follows the familiar stairway up the penthouse suite and follows the halls she knows as well as her own home back towards their…to her father’s room which she’s seen but never spent any kind of significant time in before.

She would knock but that’s not going to change the emotions in this conversation. It’ll just give Pepper another chance to hide from her. Instead, Cas suppresses the impulse to stand in the doorway and barges right in. Inside is an image that just a couple of hours ago would have her running forward wondering what had happened.

She's crying…

Pepper has a mountain of vital clothing on the bed and an open suitcase on the floor next to it. One of the big ones, not a carry on. Pepper can pack enough for three weeks with that thing. Cas knows because she’s seen her do it.

“You’re not impulsive,” Is Cas’s opening.

Pepper only pauses her folding for a moment, “Now’s not a good time, Cassie. We can talk later.”

No, they can’t, “You’re not impulsive. So, exactly how long have you been turning this over in your head? Before or after you said yes?”

“Cassie,” Pepper straightens and looks her in the eye, finally, “Not now.”

“Yes, now,” Cas crosses her arms and plants her feet, “You’re not impulsive. This must’ve been on your mind for a while. It’s not a decision you make in a handful of hours.”

Pepper throws a blouse back onto the bed, “You’re right. It’s not. Is that what you want to hear?”

No, “I want to know what changed.”

“Nothing has changed, Cassie,” Pepper goes back to folding, “That’s the problem.”

Nothing has changed? Everything’s changed. They’re stronger than ever and Cas is making progress on so many things. Her father is home and not with the Avengers. The Avengers are all the way upstate and not their problem. She has another wave of graduations to attend in May and June. There’s a few demigods lacking baseline human families that need help moving to wherever they’re going next in life and there’s a volunteer list in one of the rec rooms. 

Sokovia is going better than she’d hoped despite the interference by Wakanda. 

The Accords are looming but in a few months those will be handled too. September. That’s less than a year away. Cas is less than a year away from having actual legal protections for something as simple as self-determination and civil liberties globally.

There have been several more prosthesis cases scheduled.

Yes, the Hand is a terrifying problem but they can handle it. 

Something about Cas’s confusion upsets Pepper and she throws more things back onto the bed, “I just,” She takes a breath to center herself, “I want everything to go back to normal. I want my life to be normal!” It doesn’t explain anything, nor does it clear up Cas’s confusion and hurt.

“What does that even mean?” By now Cas’s hands are held helplessly in the air because she doesn’t understand what Pepper wants. Cas has done her best to help Pepper maintain the things that matter to her. There’s a small collection of paintings here that she helped her curate. They do family nights where work doesn’t come up. Cas keeps the wildest things away and she made sure that her father and Pepper have access to the baseline human family members for that extra support. She hasn’t even had strawberries in years even though she loves the ones they grow at Camp Half-Blood because Pepper is severely allergic to them and Cas was afraid of transferring any by accident.

“Before when there was no Iron Man, or aliens, and magic and-” She abruptly cuts off and looks at Cas in horror.

Oh.

That’s not…

Oh…

It’s not….

Huh.

Cas takes just a second to gather herself and put it all in a box because she has her answer. She can open that and pick it apart later. Her face must be stone right now, “Go on and finish,” She sounds so calm too, “No what?” She’s anything but calm. Pepper swallows and shakes her head so Cas pushes, “No magic? And?” She pauses for the answer that she knows Pepper won’t say out loud, “No demigods? No me?”

“I didn’t-,” Pepper shakes her head, “I didn’t mean it like that, Cassie.”

“Of course not,” Cas steps back again, “No, of course you didn’t, Ms. Potts.”

“Cassie, please.”

“You told dad that unless he cut out all of the Iron Man, and aliens, and magic, and me you were out, right?”

“That’s not what it was.”

But Cas is on a roll, “Because you’d rather he be like he was before Afghanistan or maybe just before me. Because it’s the magic and all that crazy stuff that’s the problem.” She’d hoped that this was an impulse decision made out of fear and shock. That would’ve damaged everything but she’s certain that they could’ve worked through it. Out of character, sure, but stress gets to everyone sometimes.

“Stop it, Cassie!”

This is worse because from what she understands, Pepper’s issue is with her existing as a demigod and everything that entails. 

“But guess what?” Cas spreads her arms, “He said no to you because even if you were here before me, he’s my dad and he picked me. So that means I’m here to stay. Sorry, not sorry.”

Pepper was the first baseline human to know what Cas is and invite her to sit next to her within minutes of meeting her...

“That isn’t what I meant!”

“Then what did you mean?”

“Why can’t you be normal?”

“I’m me! I’ve always been me! I don’t know what you want but I’m not shrinking myself to make you feel better.”

Maybe she was but that served a purpose…maybe Cas shouldn't have done that…maybe…

They both stop. Pepper’s chest is heaving with the force of her breathing. She steps back from the bed and further away from Cas. Her eyes close and she rubs the palm of her hand into her forehead, “I’m sorry, Cassie, but I can’t do all of this anymore. I just…I can’t.”

Right. Cas nods and backs up to the door, “Goodbye, Ms. Potts.” She’s going to have to get used to that quickly. They’re still going to have to work together. It’s a good thing that Cas knows how to say the right words in the right tone when all she wants to do is scream. It’s probably the one useful skill she learned from dealing with the gods. 

Cas returns to the garage to see her father working on the car. His hands steadily evaluate the various parts to decide if all they need is some TLC or if they should just toss it. She wants to do the same for another thirty minutes. Then she needs to go gear up(Thank the gods, that she has a spare armor set. Demigods of the olden days could be stuck in crusty nasty unwashed armor…) and get to the check in point.

But instead, “We should leave,” She says. Her father stops and looks over his shoulder at her, “We should take like a week to tie up loose ends and then we should finally go to Athens. And while we’re at it, we should stop at all of the places along the way. Anywhere we want to go. Because, and hear me out, we have a fantastic team here and if they need us we can always work remotely.”

“Kid,” Her father tosses some twisted and cracked rod into the corner, “You are speaking my language. Go beat up the evil scientists and then we can break down the smart stuff that needs us and the stupid stuff that doesn’t. I’ve yet to take you to Kreuzberg in Berlin. That’s a worthy stop.”

Perfect.

“I want to see all of it. We have time. But I’ll need to be here for my birthday. Then we can go somewhere else after,” She has the vaguest notion of hosting a tournament that week as part of the Ancient Greek New Years traditions. That includes the tried and true pomegranate battle. 

“And I’m due at MIT in August.”

“And after that we’re in Vienna for the Accords.”

“We could go to Vienna early.”

“I’ve never been to Vienna.”

He snaps his fingers, “Did you know there’s a Buddhist temple in Vienna?”

Cas smiles, “I did not. Is it cool?”

“Eh,” He shrugs, “It’s beautiful and right on the Danube. It’s quiet.”

Her smile doesn’t even flicker, “Quiet can be good.”

Her father smiles back, “You’re right. Quiet can be good.”

~~~

The raid is disappointingly easy despite it being seemingly complicated with multiple sites including office buildings and more interesting laboratory spaces. She knew it would be. All of the Hand’s influence is gone. They abandoned ship.

There is nothing related to demigods in Roxxon’s New York City holdings.

However, the spiders, she got those. They are terrifying and well, she manages to get them flagged as a potential bioweapon and oversees their extermination personally. Annabeth would be proud.

These aren’t world contributing, mosquito slaying, spiders. These are of the same stock that bit Peter. No, they don’t get to exist in this world anymore. Since they are a bioweapon, they aren’t put into storage. No…all their little corpses are burned and the data? Well, that went poof(too bad, so sad) when they tried to download it. The forensics guys said it was some sort of fail safe…, but the encrypted communications with the Investor were very much present. Yeah, the NYPD is going to be having fun with that one and so will Cas. 

There’s nothing to restart the experiments from since the data on the study itself is gone but there is evidence that an experiment occurred, its purpose, and that money was exchanged. That’s enough to open a proper investigation. 

They find enough other crap for the police to indict Roxxon’s leadership though. It’s unlikely that the foreign ones will ever be extradited for trial but they sure as shit won’t be welcome back in New York or the States.

Cas is happy because the sooner these types are out of New York the better.

The police thank her for their help and some thank her for taking on Shrek to protect their own the night before.

It’s awkward given her current concerns regarding the potential for falling out with the police department due to the Accords but…she just shook some hands. It can’t hurt.

~~~

May hugs Cas with everything she has while mumbling thank you on repeat into Cas’s shoulder. Peter is sitting on the couch seemingly relaxed but definitely nervous. He’s still but he’s got that deer in headlights look about him.

When she lets go, Cas sits on the coffee table directly in front of Peter with her board room face on, “Do you really want this?” She holds up a hand when he immediately opens his mouth, “No, think about it first. I know that fight from the other night is already on Instagram, or whatever. Sokovia? You probably saw that. London? Here? That is my life. That is what you are claiming to want. So, you need to think about it if you’re planning to jump into fights as strong as you are. Once you start on it, it is hard to stop.”

She leans back with her clasped hands hanging between her knees. With how close she is, Cas can see the excitement fade from Peter’s eyes only to be replaced with determination. It’s a look that she recognizes.

He draws himself up and nods once, “Yeah, I want this and I know I can.”

She holds his gaze for several seconds before returning his nod and standing, “Right. You get to sell this to May and if she gives me the all clear then we can talk logistics. Because if you think I was training you before…? For the kind of encounters someone like you could find yourself in, you’ll need a lot of it.” Strength optimization and control so that he can go from catching a bus to taking down a baseline human without accidentally killing them within moments. Planning for the eventuality of fighting something bigger, stronger, or smarter….Triage. And everything in between. Peter can keep on his purse snatchers in Queens if May consents but for the bigger things…nuh-uh. Not until Cas says he’s ready. That’s a high bar to achieve.

She has standards. 

She’s grateful that he saved her father and Pepper. She is. That doesn’t change the fact that Peter is fifteen. 

She wonders how he'll handle his initial training being outsourced while she's away…it'll be fine. Harley can help. It’s the mental stuff that she wants to focus on personally and she doesn’t need to be physically present for that.

~~~

Cas has been in Hell’s Kitchen way too much. Between the crime stuff and the renovating stuff and all of the other stuff…it doesn’t even make up that much of Manhattan. It’ll vary based on who you’re talking to but the neighborhood is less than a square mile.

It fits a whole lot of character though.

If anyone is ever too far inside of their own world and their own problems all they need to do is walk down the streets of New York. It becomes obvious that there is no main character in this city. Today, Cas saw a man shouting up to the third floor at a woman leaning out the window with actual curlers in her hair. Another man stepped out of a shop while chatting with his buddy. He sounded like he’d been smoking for eighty plus years and he was talking about how this city is not like it was back in the 60s. Millions of people hustle down these streets everyday and other than that transient moment Cas sees, they will never be actively involved in each other’s lives. Sure, Cas has a lot of influence over all of these people. Be it technology, the things she says, or quite literally fighting for them.

However, she’s quite separate from them. It’s cool. With Chiron’s help, she’s been able to look at it as something absolutely fascinating rather than something that bothers her.

She’s separate. But so are they.

They’re alongside each other and completely separate. 

Together but not.

And she gets to call this place home.

At this moment in time, Cas actually has an appointment with Nelson & Murdock. She did bring sandwiches though because she’s nice like that and she can only walk past so many delis before the siren song of a Reuben hits. 

This will be the last time she’s around for a while though, so maybe it’s nice to mark the occasion.

The tone is set immediately when she puts her hand on the door knob.

“I hope the chicken parm is for me.”

It’s literally the first thing Cas hears as she’s opening the door.

She looks at Karen first and smiles before answering, “Hello, Matt. It’s so nice to see you,” Robotically. The man is still in his office but the door’s cracked. She takes in the folding tables absolutely covered in baked goods again. This is how their office is meant to look, “Have you considered that all of these are for me?” Foggy pokes his head out of his office, “I might share with Karen and Foggy.”

“Hey, Cassandra,” Foggy says with very exaggerated enthusiasm, “Please, let there be a classic Italian in there.”

“Duh,” Cas says as she breezes in, “Karen, I have a turkey with avocado or a chicken parm if you want it.”

“Chicken parm does sound good,” Karen says while she clears her desk a bit which gives Cas a place to put her goodies down, "Pellegrino too? You’re spoiling us.”

“I know but I booked you guys for a few hours today,” Cas takes her place at the desk. Foggy drags his chair out but they’re missing one, “Take your time, Matt. There might be a sandwich here for you. Not sure yet,” She pulls out her phone and her Reuben, “Maybe I’ll need a second one."

She gives them time to settle in and she answers a few emails as well. From the moment she’s on the plane out of here until she’s back stateside, Cas will not be answering anything when she’s not in a Stark Industries facility. Might as well do her best to stave off the backlog and a panic. 

While she’s waiting on them, she winds up balanced on the back two legs of her chair, occasionally rebalancing with her foot against the desk. The email she’s reading has a particularly long winded article attached to it which recommends fifteen millimolar HCl as opposed to ten for a certain metal processing reaction which seems like crap to her. Given the limited sample size and the potential for contamination in this study she’s rating it as weak overall and she agrees with the scientist who sent it to her.

This sort of thing can be solved on a white board. This kind of experiment was an absolute waste of money…And these types roll up to Stark Industries all the time like their pseudoscience and anecdotal evidence can save the world…Who published this article? Oh, self publish online. This is a joke…she should've picked up on that.

She needs this vacation.

Her balance is abruptly broken when someone - Matt - pulls on her shoulder. She falls backwards and her phone bounces across the floor. The man sits down and grabs the remaining sandwich that Karen was kind enough to let him have, “Malaka,” She rolls back, sweeps her phone off the floor, and pops the chair back up with her foot.