The Price We Pay for Family - 24

 

Cont...

Cass always had liked computers when he was little. The logic in them, the reliability of them. Now they were his refuge, a world that he could shape into his own. That never forgot. 

It was also how he chatted with his new Uncle T'Challa, who turned out to be a KING of freaking WAKANDA. Yeah, that had been awkward and embarrassing. But it has opened him to a new world of the internet. 

It turned out that code and the internet's inner workings were right up Cass's alley. With T'Challa's (oblivious) help, he was able to start burrowing into other systems and computers. Nothing vicious, just picking around Mom and AJ's phones. 

But today, he was going to try and break into Uncle Sam's personal computer. Not his work one. Cass knew better than that. And Uncle Sam had taken it with him when he went back to work. So Cass was left with his personal computer. 

Plugging it into his own computer, he began working on the password. Once he was in, he was met with the family photo from last summer at the barbecue. They all looked so happy. Lighter. Like nothing could bring them down. 

Cass clicked away before the tears could come. He scanned all the files on his uncle's computer and put them in order of date created. Cass looked through them, mostly pictures, a few PDFs, and a few videos. And a locked file.

 Curious, Cass chipped away at the encryption around the file to open a single video file. Checking the date, Cass's blood froze, the day Bucky died. 

Cass looked around his empty room, suddenly suspicious of every shadow in his room. AJ was downstairs watching something on TV. Mom didn't know what he was doing, and she was out of the house. 

Cass disconnected his computer from Uncle Sam's and put all his new gear away. He went out to the top of the stairs. He could hear Lord of the Rings playing on the TV. That had been Bucky's favorite show. Cass's head squeezed painfully; his brother was mourning in his own way, "Hey AJ?"

 "Yeah?" AJ called over the din of the TV. 

"I'm gonna take a shower," Cass yelled, making a face as he lied. Thank goodness AJ couldn't see him. 

"Okay." AJ acknowledged. 

Cass scrambled back to his room and grabbed his phone, earphones, and Uncle Sam's computer. He grabbed his towels just in case AJ came looking. 

Closing the door behind him, Cass plugged in his earphones to the computer and turned the water on in the shower. He didn't crank it like he usually would. He wasn't planning to get in anyway. 

Grabbing his phone, he put on the first Playlist he came across and turned it up. With it and the shower, he was confident AJ wouldn't be able to hear a thing. 

Putting in the earphones, Cass pressed play on what might be the last time he saw his uncle. It was horrific. The blood. The beating. The drowning. Yet Cass couldn't stop watching. And watching. And watching. His uncle died. And died and died and died. Cass still felt numb. Like it was unreal. But this was the last anyone had ever seen of his uncle, and Cass couldn't just look away. How was he supposed to move on if he didn't know-

 "What are you doing?" AJ's voice made Cass jump out of his skin. AJ was glaring at him from the doorway, "Why do you have Uncle Sam's computer?" 

"How did you even know I wasn't in the shower?" Cass snapped, jumping up. 

"You never listen to musicals, doofus." AJ deadpanned, turning off the ice-cold water. 

Cass inwardly facepalmed. He'd picked the first Playlist available. It happened to be In the Heights. "So I'll ask you again. Why do you have Uncle Sam's computer?" AJ grabbed the computer from Cass. He looked down and froze. 

 Cass had paused on Bucky's face contorted in pain, and it had taken all the fight out of his brother, "Is that-?" 

"The day he died," Cass admitted. 

"How do you have this?" AJ whispered, putting the laptop down in the vanity.

 "I don't. Uncle Sam had it saved." Cass said, pulling his knees up to his chest, "It isn't pretty."

 "Can I see it?" 

Cass thought it odd that his older brother was even asking, seeing as he had the computer and Cass had technically hacked in, but there was some level of denial in AJ'a voice. Like if he watched it, everything became real. And if he didn't, if someone told him no, he could live in denial. But Cass couldn't do that; denial would be worse than the truth, "Yes." 

So AJ watched, and screamed and swore. And finally broke down crying. "He's dead. He's really dead." 

Cass slid off from where he was sitting and wrapped his arms around his brother, "I know." 

"He's really gone." AJ whispered, shoulders shaking, "They killed him." 

Cass felt hot tears trickle down from his eyes, "I know." 

AJ clung to him like he was the only thing left in the world, like if he didn't, he'd float away. Cass couldn't blame him. He was holding his brother just as hard and close. "Now what?" Cass asked. 

"I don't know." AJ sniffled, "I don't know."

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