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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"Not those, no. There are some you have to be careful with. Like the sternum, right here." Cassie said, tapping the center of her chest lightly. This one was always the easiest point for her to remember, especially because of her scar. "Where all the bones in your chest meet. You hit too hard there and it will really, really hurt."

Watching where her fingers touched, he looked down, tapping the spot lightly on his own body, nodding as she explained it. It seemed to make sense actually. "Yeah, I've read accounts where people have died from being hit too hard here."

"Alright, feel how hard you have to press before it hurts? Try it on me." Cass stepped a bit closer.

Yes, she was serious.

He nodded pushing harder until it started to hurt before moving his fingers away. When she told him to try it however, his eyes widened slightly. "Uh..are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Hey, as long as you don't jab me it'll be fine." Cassie said, giving Nate a (hopefully) reassuring smile. "Only one way to learn."

"Right uhm... I'm just gonna be really careful then." The problem with reaching for a spot you're not familiar with, while talking and looking at the person instead of where your hands are going? Is that they end up on parts of people's anatomy that they really shouldn't be on.

"I don't think-" And then he looked down, and his eyes flew wide open as he quickly pulled his hand away. "U-Uhm..Uhm..sorry..." ~~Not really.~~

...

......

.........

"Ah, right then." Cassie didn't turn that dark shade of red very often. "Don't uhm- worry. Let's just-" ~~Do that again.~~ "Forget that pressure point for now."

Really it didn't matter, because Nate was too busy ducking his head and matching her shade of red. "O-okay then. Uhm.. sorry..about that. I wasn't looking what I was doing."

If Nate were anyone else he would have gotten a slap in the face right about now.

"It's fine, really." So long as Jonas didn't find out. That wouldn't be pretty. "We'll just uhm- maybe we should skip pressure points for now."

Oh but Cassie, you were just about to get to the torso!

Really, it wasn't fair! It wasn't as if he'd done it on purpose. He would have never even tried if he'd known that was going to happen.

He raised a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing embarrassedly before nodding. "Okay then. Uhm...well, what else did you wanna teach me?" This wasn't going very well, was it?

Don't be telling Nate that!

"Well there's... there's uh," Why was her brain not working right? "Basic moves, we can start with defensive ones. You'll want to practice these a lot so they become second nature."

"Defensive moves. That sounds good. Good defense and all that, right?" He nodded as she spoke making sure to pay close attention, or at least seem to. Though his eyes were having a hard time staying on her face.

"Right." Cassie showed him several defensive moves and stances he could take in case someone came at him. "All right, now I'm going to try and hit you and you're going to block me." She balled her hand into a fist and threw a punch at his face.

"Uhm.. right. Okay." He took a half step back, redying his hands to block her strike. However, he hadn't exactly managed to pay full attention as she was showing him the moves. Which probably explained why her fist slipped right through his meager defense and impacted solidly just over his eye.

"OW!" He jumped back, raising a hand to his eye and pressing against it hard. "Ow ow ow..."

"Oh my God! Nate! Nate!" Cassie went over to him, pressing a hand against his arm as she tried to get a good look at the damage she'd inflicted. "I am so sorry I shouldn't have- let me see."

He gingerly took his hand away so she could see. He wasn't mad that had just hurt. He squited out of the eye she'd caught him over managing to crack a grin that looked more like a wince. "Man, you hit hard."

Cassie didn't see what could be amusing about this. "That was supposed to be a light punch." She traced her fingers around the borders of his rapidly swelling eye. "I guess I was wrong. I am so sorry. We should get you to Medbay- or at least some ice."

Well, the fact that he'd just been socked in the eye by a girl, for one. Though really, that wasn't all that funny. "It's okay." He waved it off, running a hand through his hair easily. "I'll be fine, just gotta...not touch it for awhile?" He chuckled.

"You say that now. You might change your mind when it bruises." She was too preoccupied to notice just how close she was to Nate's face. "Crap, I am so sorry. I really didn't mean to hit hard- I didn't mean to hit you at all."

He lifted a finger, pressing it gently to her lips in the universal 'shh' motion, shaking his head with a small smile. "It's fine. I'm fine. I've been hit worse than this before." Which, he had. "Accident's happen..."

And then he noticed just how close they were, his eyes locking with hers for a moment.

Cassie fell silent. The moment she felt him touch her lips she realized that she was only inches away from him.

"I know." She said softly. "You've been through much worse."

Step away, Cassie.

Step away.

Her hand moved to Nate's cheek. "You're stronger than I am."

He managed s slight shrug. "That's life I guess..."

When her hand slid to his cheek, his eyes shut for a moment before opening again. He leaned a little into her touch. "I wouldn't put it that way. I only did what I had to do to survive."

"You did a lot more than that." Why was she frozen in place? She really should move. Now. Yet she couldn't help but think about other things.

Which is possibly why she didn't realize she was leaning closer.

"Says you." He smiled at her. He could practically see the thoughts running through her mind. Why was he still here? It wasn't right for him to be. Was it? But wasn't this what he deserved? What he'd wanted for so long?

Closing his eyes a moment, he smiled inwardly, nodding to himself imperceptibly. One arm slid around her neck, fingers threading through her hair gently and pulling her close. There was a moment where he almost, almost kissed her. But at the last instant, he tilted his head up, pressing his lips gently to her forehead.

He couldn't do that to Jonas. But he could still say it. "You know I love you, right?"

Cassie whimpered when she was denied that kiss. And immediately she felt guilty. What was she doing? She was with Jonas. She'd just told Jonas she wasn't leaving him. What she was doing was wrong.

"I know." She answered, closing her eyes. "I know I- I don't know what's wrong with me."

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