GENOCIDE- MARVEL

• EIGHT •

2018

Cassandra sat up, gasping for air. Natasha had a worried look on her face as she gently pushed Cassandra back onto the bed. She looked around the room, noticing the hospital bed she was laying in, and the IV running through her arm. There was a large window, displaying the yard outside the Compund. She saw the little grave where Pietro had been buried three years ago, the black, burnt, fallen trees from when Clint decided to light the woods outside the Compound on fire to get Wanda out in 2016.

"Cassandra, are you ok?" Natasha asked gently, squeezing her hand.
"What, yeah, yeah I'm fine. Is Wanda ok, how's she handling, um, everything?"

Natasha couldn't answer the question, but from how her shoulders dropped, and the look on her face, Cassandra knew the answer. She pulled her knees to her chest, closing her eyes as tears slipped down her face. Natasha rubbed her hand up and down her back, and held her hand even tighter, saying nothing.

Cassandra couldn't keep her promise and Wanda was dead because of it.

••••••••••••••••

Over the next two days, Cassandra noticed her stab wound healing quicker everyday. She knew that she healed quicker than most people, but she also didn't know how long she'd been asleep. Nobody seemed to want to tell her how long it'd been. She was sure that Natasha had told everyone that she wanted space, which was true most of the time. But right now she wanted a hug.

Earlier that day, Bruce said it was ok for her to move back into her old room. Nothing had been moved, other than all of her clothes being in piles on the floor after Secretary Ross probably searched them. That apparently also meant that the picture frames had been broken in half, and all of her photos had been scattered across the room. The next time she saw Ross, if he ever came back to life again, she'd have a lot to say to him.

Someone knocked on the door, interrupting her thoughts and making her jump.

"Cass?"
"Come in," she said, continuing to gather up all the photos. "Hey Steve," she said quietly, clearing her throat in an effort to not burst out crying.
"Did Ross go through your stuff too?"
"Does it look like he didn't? All of my stuff is either on the floor or broken. Those ублюдки."
"What'd you say?"
"Nothing you'd like to hear."

Cassandra flipped over a photo, tears filling her eyes when she looked at it. She turned away from Steve, wiping the tears out of her eyes. It was of Her, Steve, James, Peggy, Dugan, and the rest of the Howling Commandos. They were all smiling, all happy. Cassandra had her arms around Peggy, Dugan was pretending to kiss Gabe on the cheek, and James was on Steve's back with a huge smile on his face. It was one of the first times she remembered being truly happy.

"You remember this Steve?" She asked, handing him the picture.
"Yeah," he said, a small smile on his face.

Steve handed it back to Cassandra. She hugged it tightly to her chest, and set it on the floor. She stood up and sat on her bed, crossing her legs. Steve sat next to her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I miss them Steve," she said, her voice choking up.
"Me too Cass."
"I miss Peggy."
"Me too Cass," he said sadly.
"I miss my brother," she said quietly before her words dissolved into tears.
"Me too Cass," Steve said, wrapping her in a hug.

She sobbed into his chest, her entire body weakening and falling into him. She felt Steve start to cry, and she tried to hug him as tight as her tired body would let her. The two of them sat crying for what seemed like forever. Even after they'd both ran out of tears, which didn't seem possible for Cassandra, they didn't move. Cassandra stayed slumped against Steve with her eyes closed, and Steve kept his arms around her, with his head on top of her's, staring at the wall.

Cassandra sniffed, looking up at him. He looked at her, studying her for a moment. She tilted her head, looking up at him slowly, reaching her hand up to wipe some of the tears off his face before wiping off her own face.

"Thanks," Steve said quietly.

Cassandra nodded, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. It was late, and she was tired. Cassandra could barely keep her eyes open as she looked back at Steve, weakly smiling at him. He smiled back, and hugged her once more.

"Have you eaten yet today?" He asked over her shoulder.
"No," Cassandra responded into his chest.
"Come on then, let's get you something to eat."

He picked her up, setting her down gently on the ground. They quietly walked to the kitchen, even though Cassandra was sure that nobody was asleep. Steve stood in the middle of the kitchen with his hands on his hips, staring around the room.

"What do you want?" Steve asked, looking very confused about the whole ordeal.

Cassandra shrugged, jumping up to sit on the counter. She had a smirk on her face watching him awkwardly rummage around the cabinets looking for food. She knew he wasn't very good cooking, which made this even more fun to watch. She watched him stand in front of the open pantry, staring at it without moving.

"Steve?" She asked.
"Hm," he said, not looking back at her.
"Do you know how to cook?"

Steve looked at her, shocked that she would ever say that. She smiled and shrugged.

"Well yeah Cass, of course I do what kind of adult would I be if I didn't know how to cook?"
"Steve," giving him the look that Peggy would often give her.
"No."
"Do you want help?"
"Yeah," he said very quietly.

She hopped off the counter, and guided him towards the refrigerator. Cassandra opened it. Pulling out the first thing she saw, she showed it to Steve.

"This is oat milk. You aren't allowed to touch this, unless you want Nat to break all of the bones in your body."
"Why are you allowed to touch it?"
"Because she loves me more than she loves you. Next, these are cherry toma-" Steve cut her off.
"Cass I know what food is."
"I know, I'm just making sure. I saw your apartment in D.C and it did not seem like there was a lot going on there."
"You had a smashed microwave."
"But I had real food in my kitchen."

hello my loves!!
how'd you like the chapter, i'm pretty proud of it.
also if anyone could draw this picture (It was of Her, Steve, James, Peggy, Dugan, and the rest of the Howling Commandos. They were all smiling, all happy. Cassandra had her arms around Peggy, Dugan was pretending to kiss Gabe on the cheek, and James was on Steve's back with a huge smile on his face.)  for me i will love you forever.
ok ilysm have a fantastic rest of your day❤