Summus Proelium

A/N - There will be more Patreon Snippets to come, but first we'll have a couple regular chapters to keep the plot moving and see more Cassidy. Thanks all!

In that moment, seeing my teammates (the ones who weren't being held by Casura anyway) like that, and realizing they had overheard all that stuff that was happening, I did the only thing I could do. I freaked out.

"No!" I blurted, my knees threatening to give out from under me as I shook my head rapidly. The panic was overwhelming, the terror blinding me with tears as I stumbled backward. Where was I going to go? What was I going to do? I had no idea. It was too late, it was over. It was all over. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" The single word of denial kept coming, and I was pretty sure saying it was the only thing stopping me from throwing up. God, no, this couldn't be happening. After everything I did, after everything that happened, this wasn't real. Please, fuck, fuck, let me be dreaming, it was a nightmare, let me wake up, please!

"You can't be here, you can't be here, you can't know about it!" Once I finally managed to say something other than the word 'no,' the words came pouring out in a rush. Though I honestly wasn't sure anyone could even understand them. It was just a bunch of panicked, probably indecipherable babbling. I wasn't thinking about the actual words right then. The only thing in my mind, the only thing I could think about at all, was the fact that Casura was going to be angry.

I couldn't see. I couldn't speak anymore. I couldn't do or think anything at all. The realization, the certainty that I had spoken to Paige for the last time, that I would never see her, or Sierra, or even Irelyn or that Echo girl again filled my mind and completely drowned out everything else. I felt cold, not just my body, but my… my insides, my soul had ice over it. Which went well with the jagged spear that had been shoved right through me. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. It hurt to do anything. My shaking knees gave out before I could get hold of myself, before I could even think about trying to get hold of myself. The floor came up under me as I collapsed like that.

Except I never hit the floor. My knees gave out and I started to fall, but someone was just right there, appearing in a sudden blur of motion to catch my shoulders before I could fully collapse. It took me a second to see enough through the blinding tears, not to mention my own confusion and despair, to realize who was there. Rubi. It was Roald's sister, Rubi. Or Flurry when she was in costume, but she wasn't right then. She was just there as herself, coming out of nowhere to kneel in front of me as her hands caught my shoulders. "Guys!" she was snapping back at the others while catching me like that, "Come on, you can't just throw this bomb in their lap like that!"

Her eyes met mine, something about her expression cutting through my terror even as her voice immediately softened. "Cassidy, stop, it's okay. Cassidy, she doesn't know, I promise. Casura has no idea we're here with you now, or that we know anything. It didn't set off that alert power she has. We know about it, we know, we took care of it, I promise. The others are still alive. She doesn't know you're with us, or anything about what's going on. She doesn't know, Cassidy."

For a second, I just blinked at her. At first uncomprehendingly, then uncertainly. The terror was still right there, a hard lump in the pit of my stomach that had stretched icy fingers out to the rest of my insides. Including a frozen ball that sat in my throat and made it hard to speak. With a bit of effort, I managed a weak, "But… but… her power, sh-she said she could-- if she finds out I--"

"You didn't do anything," Rubi assured me, raising a hand to stop the others from cutting in as they all tried to blurt their own responses. "That's why it's safe. One reason, anyway. The power, the one she stole, is very specific in its use. It will only alert her if you are consciously aware of giving the exact information she doesn't want to be given away to someone who doesn't know already. Trust me, trust us, we went over it and over it. We talked to the people who knew the Touched who originally had that power. It doesn't trigger if someone finds out some other way and talks to you about it. We already know, and you didn't tell us anything, so she has no idea. This won't set off her power, I promise."

"You… you…" The terror was stubborn, but it was finally starting to relax its grip on me a bit. Still, I had been so horrified, so broken for those few moments, that it wasn't exactly easy to get over it just like that. My heart had to take a second or twenty to slow down, and it took several hard swallows before I managed to say anything else. Once my voice finally did manage to come back, the only thing I managed to say was a very weak, almost inaudible, "You're sure?"

"Cass, we're sure." That was Cherry, still poking her little duckling head out of my pocket as she gently reassured me. "We definitely wouldn't just pop up like this if there was any chance it could hurt the others. We're here to help! You know, cuz we're your friends, and you don't hafeta do this all on your own anymore." She wiggled, stretching a tiny wing out to pat my arm gently. "Nobody should hafeta fight Casura all by themself. That's what your friends are for, you know?"

"She's right," Peyton put in, coming forward to stand by Rubi. Qwerty was perched next to her on a platform made out of one of her marbles. "Cass, it's okay, it's safe to talk to us. We did our homework, we made sure Casura wouldn't find out. Not with that power, and not any other way."

Qwerty's head bobbed up and down so quickly the little guy almost fell. He made a motion like he wanted to jump over to me, but wasn't sure it was the right thing to do after the way I'd lost it just then. "Uh huh! I helped with the plan just to be super-extra sure she couldn't find out. We were really careful! We… we don't want anything to happen to them either."

The others tried to say something too, but Rubi stopped them again. Which was good, because I really couldn't hear anything else in that moment. I still felt like throwing up. Was that weird? It felt weird. And dumb. It was okay. Paige and the others weren't about to be killed just to teach me a lesson. They were-- uh, not safe. Not by a long shot. But I didn't lose them. I wasn't about to be sent a picture of their dead, mangled, broken bodies from Casura just to rub it in. She wasn't about to show up here in this room to kill the rest of my team.

Slowly, I sat down right there. I wasn't falling anymore, which was something. But my legs still couldn't keep me upright. I just slumped limply all the way down. My hand rose to weakly, blindly grasp at my helmet until I managed to take it off, dropping the thing to the side so it wouldn't feel like I was suffocating anymore. At least, not as bad. I was almost hyperventilating as I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. Even then, after all that, I didn't say anything, lowering my face, now sans helmet, against my legs. And then all I could do was sit like that in almost complete silence for what was probably a somewhat awkwardly long time.

Thankfully, the others all seemed to understand and stayed quiet. They waited with what was honestly remarkable patience under the circumstances while I just sat like that, with my face buried in my knees. My shoulders shook a few times as I breathed heavily in and out. I kept my eyes closed and repeated silent reassurances to myself. Finally, after several repetitions, I got myself somewhat under control. I could breathe better, and swallowing didn't make me feel like I was gargling broken glass. The ice fist that had been clutching my heart so tightly melted away.

The sheer force and overwhelming despair of my reaction wasn't simply from a single moment of horror when I thought Casura would know what was happening. It was far more than that. I had been living with the terror that she would do something to Paige, Sierra, and the others for the entire time that I'd known she was involved. Every second since the very first instant she had revealed herself, since she'd revealed that she'd taken them hostage, that anxiety and sick, ugly feeling of doom had been sitting inside me. Seeing these guys had just brought it all out at once, in a way that made me almost literally physically ill. I had to take a second to get it together, even after those reassurances.

Swallowing again, this time far more easily than before, I opened my eyes and looked up at Rubi. The others were watching anxiously, but she was the one whose gaze I met first. My hand rose to grab my mask, taking it off so I could look straight at her while quietly, almost silently whispering the softest possible, "Thanks." If she hadn't come in right then, if she hadn't said the right thing in that exact moment, the thing it took to stop my terror from spiraling, I… I don't know what would've happened. I would've been in bad shape, that much was obvious. I still had to fight back the sick feeling of utter despair that kept trying to reclaim its hold on me, even then.

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Pushing myself to my feet while letting out another slow breath, I looked at the others one by one, meeting each of their eyes. When I spoke again, my voice was somewhat stronger as I convinced myself this wasn't actually the end of my world like I had thought. "Please, I just need to--" I had to stop for a moment to collect my thoughts and pull it together. "I need to know what happened. What do you know, exactly? How-- I don't…" Even asking the next part was terrifying enough to make that sick feeling come back. "How sure are you that she doesn't know we're all here right now?" Putting that out there, asking the question out loud, made it feel like I was inviting them to be wrong, like I was actually making it possible just by putting voice to the fear.

"They know because of us." That was a new, but absolutely familiar voice that came from the doorway behind me. Before starting to turn, I already knew who I would see, even the one who hadn't spoken yet. It was Izzy who had said that, and Dani was with her, in costume.

And yes, I was right about that. But I was wrong about knowing everyone who would be standing there. There was a third figure, someone I definitely hadn't expected to see. Ryder was with them, also in costume. The three had just come in the same door I entered this place through, and were staring at me. As I saw them, all I could think was that this meant there were even more people who knew the truth, even more people who could be hurt or killed by Casura.

Izzy must have recognized the look on my face, and knew it meant I was starting to spiral again, because she stepped closer while speaking up. "We knew something was wrong after that match, and then, after we talked to you outside the arena, we knew you couldn't talk about it. We knew you were scared of something pretty bad, so we called your team. We called those guys." She nodded toward Peyton and the others. "I thought the Cuddles could eavesdrop through your bag, and at least find out what was going on so we could help." She hesitated, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry I told them to spy--"

A few quick steps took me there, and I was suddenly right in front of the girl. My arms went around her, hugging my sister tightly. In that moment, as I embraced Izzy, I felt… well, I didn't feel all the tension leave me. After all, Paige and the others were still in horrific danger. So no, it wasn't like the tension left. It was more like the weight of it lifted just a little, and became easier to hold. I had been carrying something enormous on my back, all by myself. And now, though I was still carrying it, Izzy and all the rest of these people, my friends, were supporting that weight. They were making sure it didn't crush me.

I felt Izzy return the hug quickly, making a soft noise of relief while her fingers dug into my back. It took the girl a few long seconds to find her voice again, but I wasn't exactly complaining about the delay. "They, um, heard the call with Casura, then what happened with Nqobile and all that."

Cherry piped up from my pocket, reminding me she was still there. "I was a Double-Oh Duck! License to-- um, sit quietly and listen. But I did a good job, right? You didn't know I was there!"

Shifting a little so I could keep one arm around my sister while looking down, I generally tugged the tiny plush duckling out of my pocket with the other hand and let her sit in my palm. "You're right, I had no idea. You were pretty sneaky. I--" A lump caught in my throat, and I had to swallow it down with a shudder before managing to continue. "Thank you, for… for being careful. I-- how-- what else happened? How do you know this won't trigger her alert power? How did you-- you said you talked to people who knew the Touched that originally had that power? But what if--"

"She's not monitoring them," Murphy put in with a shrug, drawing my attention that way. "It's not her style, Cass. She moves on after her games, after she gets what she wants. She gets bored."

Rubi spoke up. "I looked through all the files Ten Towers had about her, especially anything about her powers. They keep some pretty detailed records. Enough for me to find that alert power and look up the other members of that guy's team, the one it came from. I talked to them and made it seem like I was trying to score brownie points by preparing defenses for Ten Towers facilities across the world. I told them I wanted to know how that alert power she stole worked, in case it could warn her about any alarms or traps. I--" The older girl grimaced a bit. "I'll call them back and apologize after this is over. I didn't like lying like that, but it was for a good cause."

Roald piped up quickly. "They told Rubi the alert power has to be for something very specific. For you, she probably made it something like, 'Alert me if Paintball reveals my presence or my plan to anyone.' It has to be something you do. And it has to be intentional. It can't be as broad as 'Alert me if anyone finds out.' The power has to be, um, attached to someone specific. And it has to be someone she has verbal access to, someone who hears her voice. She couldn't, like, target some guy she never spoke to over in Missouri and have it warn her when he turns on the microwave or whatever."

Giving Izzy another squeeze and shivering a little despite myself, I turned and extended the hand that wasn't holding Cherry. As soon as I did, Qwerty jumped over to land on that arm, doing his best to embrace me while babbling all about how he wanted to help and was sorry I had to be scared for so long. He promised he totally would've beat up Casura for me if he could.

Gently brushing my fingers along his side and down one of his wings, I assured the little guy, "I'm glad you didn't try. I'm glad you stayed with the team and helped them when I couldn't. I--" My eyes closed briefly as I fought back the bile in my throat that kept trying to rise up whenever I thought about Casura and what she might be doing, or what she could have done already. It wasn't helpful. "You guys really worked together on all this, huh?" My voice cracked noticeably.

"More than you know," Dani murmured from nearby. She nudged Ryder when I looked that way.

"Oh," the boy coughed and offered a little shrug. "I helped make sure she wasn't tracking your phone or eavesdropping through it. I mean, I checked to see if she was. Don't worry, it's clear. I dunno if she's just arrogant enough to rely on her alert power and general intimidation level, or if she assumed you'd have a way to check for anything like that since you've got a Tech-Touched on your team. Either way, your phones are clear, and the Mites couldn't find anything else on you."

"The glow," I suddenly realized with a jolt. "That glow I saw behind me back there on that roof. That was you, your mites. You were putting them in my phones. You.. oh." This was a lot to take in, but one thing really had to be said. "Boy, I'm glad you're on my side." Again, my voice cracked. I couldn't help it. Looking around at all of them, I added, "I'm glad you're all on my side. I--" Oh god, how could I even put voice to what I was feeling then? "I'm glad you came to help." God, that sounded so lame and insufficient, it didn't even come close to saying what I really wanted to. But then, nothing I possibly could have said would have. I didn't have the words to describe my feelings.

Wren took a couple steps closer, the younger girl's voice shaking just a little as she confirmed. "Of course we came, Cassie. We-- you… you're my friend. You're our friend. And so are Paige and Sierra. We, um, we've gotta help them. We've gotta get them away from her. We've gotta save them."

It was only then, seeing and hearing Wren and recognizing the emotions in her, that I truly realized something. She was terrified too. She was afraid of what might have happened, what might still happen, to Paige, Sierra, Irelyn, and Echo. All these guys were. They had been dealing with this fear for almost as long as I had, if they'd overheard what happened at the hotel and all that. Wren and the others cared about Paige and Sierra. They knew them, they spent time at the shop. They spent time at Wren's shop, with her, and, and… oh God, that poor kid. No wonder she sounded like that. This didn't just affect me.

Before I really thought about that any further, I walked back that way, taking the other girl into a quick hug while Cherry and Qwerty both clambered up to my shoulders and back. "We will. We'll help them, all four of them. We'll get them away from her somehow. But, what was that elevator ride back there? Why did you want me to go on the elevator, and that whole car trip to get here? Was that just about, uh, making sure I wasn't being followed?"

It was Rubi who answered. "The elevator had a scanner on it to make sure you weren't being affected by any other tracking powers we didn't know about. I-- Eits over there could check for any technology monitoring you, but we had to make sure she wasn't keeping track of you with some other power besides the alert one. We installed it on top of the elevator and pointed it down through a vent in the ceiling. But yeah, the car ride was to make sure she didn't have some other peon following you or anything. We had to be careful before pulling you in like this."

God, what could I say to all that? How was I supposed to react to this? It was just… it was so much. I'd gone from being completely on my own with absolutely no support against someone as dangerous as Casura, to having the rest of my team, Dani and Ryder, even Rubi involved. All of them knew what was going on, and had managed to keep that fact secret from the evil bitch.

Before I managed to figure out how to react, it was Roald who tentatively spoke up. "Wait, four? You said we'll help all four of them. Paige, Sierra, Flea. That's three.

"Oh." I blinked twice. "I guess you guys don't know everything after all. We should talk about that." And then I said something that truly made me realize just how much this situation had changed.

"We should talk about everything. And come up with a plan… together."