The Price We Pay for Family - 36

 

Cont...

Cass was dead asleep when Mama woke him up. "Cassian Jeffery Wilson, get your feet on the floor now." Was what he woke up to. 

You better net he was on his feet and vertical before even being fully awake, "Ehat-?" 

"Get dressed. We're leaving in five minutes." Mama said in way of explanation. 

That woke Cass up quick. The last time Mama had said that had been three years ago when the Flag Smashers threatened them. Mama had sounded scared then. She did again tonight. But there was something else too. Cass just wasn't sure what. His muddled brain flagged it as something to deal with later. 

He skidded into the bathroom, almost colliding with AJ, "Aye!"

 "Hey, slow down!" AJ grabbed him before he tipped over and fell down the stairs. 

"Sorry," Cass mumbled, shoving into the bathroom and dousing his face in cold water; there, better. Ish. 

"You good?" AJ checked. 

"Yeah. I'm good. Any ideas?" Cass asked, grabbing his toothbrush from the counter.

 "Nope. Pack like it's summer." AJ advised vanishing to his own room. 

Cass threw on clothes and grabbed his backpack. Computer, phone, tablet, hard drive, all the cords, socks, shirts, shorts, hat, underwear, put on shoes, family pictures- 

"Boys! Ride's here!" Mama yelled from downstairs. 

Cass shoved in the book he was reading at the last minute and grabbed a jacket before bolting out of his room. It might be summer where they were going, but it was fall here.

 AJ slid past him once they were downstairs, buying him enough time to grab his art set. Cass takes a moment to grab his headphones and the one family photo they have of Papa. 

They're both standing on the pouch before Mams has to call again. 

"What's wrong?" AJ asks before Cass can. 

Mama looked at them with slight surprise, like she didn't see them there. Something's up cause Mama doesn't get surprised, at least not by them appearing. "I don't know yet." Mama says, nodding to the dark yard, "But we need to get going." 

There's a jet in their yard. Huh. That's new. 

There's a jet in their yard. Cass contains his internal freak out cause that's a Talon jet. Wakandan made. It's so cool. 

Fear hits him next. Wakanda is the safest place in the world. This just got very real. Uncle Sam.

 Uncle Sam was the only one who could pull strings to get them to Wakanda. That didn't make Cass feel better.

 Two Dora hurry them aboard, and they barely sit before the Talon is in the air. The fear and excitement are warring in Cass's gut, and all he can figure out to do is sit there and alternate between watching the sky pass them by and watching Mama wring her hands. 

Once they hit cruising speed, does one of the Dora come over and promptly hand mama a kimoyo bead bracelet. 

"Mom, what's going on?" AJ asks seriously. 

Mama opens her mouth. Then closes it. She's now wringing the beads in her hands. "No one is dead." She starts, "Your uncle Sam and his team are fine." 

Something loosens in Cass's chest. There was no pressing urgency. Everyone was safe. With the fear gone, curiosity hit Cass full force, "So why are we going to Wakanda like this?" 

Mama looks at him, and Cass suddenly doesn't feel like a kid anymore. Doesn't feel like he's her baby boy that she'd raised. No, he feels like an adult, like she's sizing him up to decide how much he can take. 

Her following words are very careful, "Your Uncle found something on a mission and took it to Wakanda. We're going to meet him. It's very important and potentially time sensitive." 

Mission. Important. Time-sensitive. Those weren't words they normally used. Cass rolled them around in his head, trying to figure out how they fit. He knew something was up with Mama and Uncle Sam. Could see the tension in Mama's shoulders when her phone went off and Uncle Sam's brow furrow when he thought they weren't looking before he left.

 "Are you going to tell us what he found?" Cass asked quietly. 

Mama's face screwed up when he asked, like she wasn't sure she should say anything at all or if she needed to censor it. She thought for a moment, face tight with concentration, "He's found, Uncle Bucky."

 Just like that, all the air had been sucked out of the room. Cass can suddenly hear his heart in his ears. That's not possible. He snuck a look at AJ, who looked just as shocked. That's not possible, right? We saw him die. He, he should be dead- 

"But you said he's dead," AJ said, voice shaking. 

Mama's face twisted in bitter sadness, "We were wrong." 

Silence descends after that. Cass's chest feels tight with all his chest. Uncle Bucky is alive. They'd thought he was dead. Uncle Sam had told him he was dead. They had mourned. They had moved on. 

Cass wasn't sure what to feel now. It was beyond his wildest dreams, yet he didn't feel like he thought he would. He didn't feel elated. He felt guilty. 

They had believed he was dead. They had moved on. They hadn't searched or hoped or wished. They'd accepted. What did that make them?

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