trans_9 | Mad Scientist In The Making

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Mad Scientist In The Making

Nate had gotten his armor back from Stacy. The initial elation had slowly given way to a very businesslike examination of the suit's use however, following a troubleshooting session in the City. It seemed that Stacy had locked down the suit's time travel capabilities. So that meant he wouldn't be going anywhere, and he wouldn't be pulling weapons out of the time stream either. A few of the deadlier weapons in the suit itself had been disabled. But he'd be able to get those back up and running.

The thing that he had most wanted to know however, was whether the Vision programming was present. Running through his checklists and looking through the programming ands source codes of the armor's minimal AI system, he was soon satisfied that his suit wouldn't be walking around on it's own anytime soon. Good. One less headache for him. Something he was thankful for, what with the way his head had been pounding recently. That being said he didn't want to be walking around in that suit at the moment. At least, not while it was looking like that.

So it was that he ended up in the Special Weapons area, various tools littering the table next to the larger one that he'd laid the suit out on. First things first, he'd need to get rid of that helmet. He didn't want his face hidden, not anymore at least. So he worked for an hour or so at pulling the components from the helmet and incorporating them into the suit. Of course, for the HUD he'd need to find an alternate method. Perhaps he could rig up a retinal projector keyed to his DNA? Well, time enough for that later.

The sound of clinking and fiddling could be heard for a long time. His eyes began to grow tired as he kept working. How many hours had it been? Didn't matter, he had his suit. He needed to finish. Now that fusion cell connected to that power cable. And that ion regulator into that outlet. Yes it was going fine. Picking up another fusion cell, he grabbed his screwdriver and began to unscrew the cap. Hopefully the gel hadn't congealed after disuse, or else it might--

BOOM

The cell exploded in a great spray of coolant gel and metal parts. One sliver of metal ran a cut along his cheek, and he was glad he'd had the foresight to put goggles on, as others pinged off the protective eyewear. Setting down his screwdriver, he pulled the goggles off, a bemused expression crossing his face as he lifted a hand to wipe the gel off it. His hair stuck out at odd angles from the release of static the exploding fusion cell had caused, and he sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

Maybe that was enough for one night.

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"It's part of our history lessons in school. One of my favourite eras." He gave her the time she needed to think. But really he wouldn't have joined the Initiative. Not knowing what they'd cost others. "I know, but I mean, the way Iron Man ran things. I know he's who I model myself after, but Captain America died because of him. And he was locking away innocents in a N-Zone prison camp, without trial or hope for appeal."

A pause. "And of course none of the guys trusted him! He lied to us and locked us in a room at Avengers Mansion so he could rat you guys out to your parents!"

"Cap did not die because of him he died because someone- not Tony- shot him. And he wasn't going to put them there forever. I'm not saying he didn't fuck things up and that I didn't expect a lot more from him but I didn't become Stature to fight other super heroes. I did it because I wanted to save lives." Cassie tried to keep herself from yelling but it was hard. This was definitely a bit of a sore spot.

He kept his voice level. Not cold or threatening like he'd done before. But simply calm, gentle almost. "I'm not blaming Iron Man fro everything. There was definitely fault on both sides. But if he hadn't chased the superheroes like that, Cap wouldn't have been in handcuffs that day. He wouldn't have been a sitting duck for that sniper."

He raised a hand to her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry. When you learn about these things in a classroom you think you know who was right and who was wrong. But I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through it. ...I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

"It's-" Cassie pressed a hand to her face, rubbing her forehead. "It's all right I just get- it was so frustrating to watch. None of it had to happen and I didn't want-" To die. To be sent to jail. To think that wherever he was that her father might be disappointed in her. "I'm not going to argue that Tony- Stark did a lot of dumb things. I know that first hand."

"I can only imagine. I'm sorry. I'm not in any position to comment. I mean, I wasn't there, I can't know what it was like. Can we talk about something else now?" He really didn't want to talk about the problems the superhero community had gone through while he'd been gone. He didn't want to talk about them at all to be honest.

"Right. Sorry. Uhm," Something else to talk about. She finished her sandwich.

Asking him about his home wouldn't be a good idea. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea before they found out that their universes had been destroyed. There had to be something else.

"Now that you have your memories back, you know how to fight, right? I know I said I'd show you a thing or two earlier."

"It's okay." He let her finish, looking up at the ceiling awkwardly for a long moment.

He wouldn't mind talking about it. He hadn't talked about it. Not with anyone. Not since the day he'd found out. He hoped that if he didn't think about the loss, he wouldn't feel it. Though it didn't always work out like that.

"Sort of. In my suit I've got basic strategies and maneuvers mapped out. They need to be tested though. Out of it, well, I could always use more training." He smiled at her.

"I can definitely help you with that. Knowing how it works in theory is a lot different from actually doing it. Once you've done it enough you can let your muscles take over and don't even have to think about it."

"Well As far as I know, muscle memory takes multiple repetitions in order to be effective to any extent. But I'd say we've got enough time to practice." Pushing his now almost normal hair out of his eyes, he tilted his head at her. "So...did you want to try that now?"

"Normally you're supposed to wait if you've just eaten but if we're just doing simple stuff, sure. I've never been one to follow all the rules anyway." She said, smiling lightly.

"We're Young Avengers. We've been breaking the rules since day one." He laughed quietly, standing up, he brushed off the crumbs from their makeshift snack and offered her a hand up. "First lesson, oh great and wise master?" He may or may not have been teasing there.

Cassie took his hand and stood. "First lesson, young grasshopper, will have to wait until after stretching. Don't want to strain any muscles."

"Stretching? But I'm loose already." That was such a lie. Really, what was he going to pull? It's not like they'd have time for warm ups before real fights anyway. ~_~

"I know it's annoying but do you want to face the Ohm or space pirates or zombies with a pulled muscle? So stretching." Think of it as an excuse to ogle Cassie as she juts out her breasts whilst stretching, Nate.

Is that grumbling? He was really grumbling. But he complied with the stretching, really, what else was he going to do? And he wasn't so uncivilized as to ogle her. But still, that view was...something else. Clearing his throat quietly, he continued the stretching.

"You know, with a super advanced ship like Stacy, you'd figure she'd have found a way to counter-act something like muscle strain."

"You'd think but she hasn't come up with a way to fix bullet wounds so..." Yeah, still sore about that one. "Muscle strains are lower on the to do list, I guess. Besides this will only take five minutes." Technically they were supposed to do at least ten but Cassie wasn't much a fan of stretching either.

"Well if it were me, I'd start with the small things first and work my way up, to be honest." That was how he approached most of his work after all. Nate wasn't a big fan of stretching, but he was now a fan of stretching with Cassie. Because... it was just more... stimulating that way. But then, most activities were more fun with a partner, weren't they?

Especially when your partner was really attractive.

"Which makes sense for most things but not when it comes to saving someone's life. I'd rather have muscle strain on the back burner. Now if it were something like healing cuts you were starting from then I wouldn't mind. That's a bit more applicable but I think that's part of the reason for the plantsuit, somehow helps control the bleeding."

That was always a big help of course.

"That's a good point." He raised his arms above his head, stretching his back and shoulders. He'd never really noticed just how tense he got until he did things like these. Of course, the migraines didn't really help with the tenseness.

Damn, those were some nice muscles.

"I think that's enough. We're not going to be sparring or anything." Cassie said, straightening up from stretching her calves.

Really he was thinking the exact same thing in relation to... other parts of her anatomy. But her muscles too of course.

"Hallelujah. You'd probably kick my ass six ways to Sunday if we did anyway." He grinned at her.

Cassie smirked. "Only if I used my powers." Well, probably even if she didn't. "But that's what we're here to fix. So, first thing to work on is posture." Cassie said, approaching Nate. "This might look and feel weird but just go with it." Cassie started explaining balance and how to stand, showing him as she went.

"Says you." He shook his head indulgently. She'd had much more training than he did after all. "Posture, right." He tried to imitate her as best he could, though really, who invented these things? Half the time he felt like he was going to fall over! "Am I supposed to feel so...wobbly?"

"Hold on, you need to stand more like this. Here." Cassie put her hand on Nate's shoulder and the other on his back, pushing him forward just a little. "Like that." She said, moving back.

"Hey hang on a sec I'm not-!" He was about to say not ready as he half turned around. However, the movement made his wobbly stance give way and he ended up falling against her, bringing them both to the floor with him on top, an elbow on either side of her head. Opening his eyes(he'd squeezeds them shut as they fell) his face went O_O when his gaze was met by hers mere inches away.

"U-uhm..."

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