Chapter Text
It started with scraped knees and scuffed hands. Muscle aches and bruises showed up as years went on. A lost tooth. The first bloody nose. Red and sore knuckles.
Cassandra and Tobias were both happy and a little frustrated that their little girl’s soulmate was a rough and tumble type. It at least meant the other child was active. They just wished they were a bit more… careful.
There was a small period of time when Caitlyn was around five years old that the soulmate seemed to have leveled out. It only lasted about three years until the scrapes and bruises slowly returned.
Caitlyn turned eleven and everything was taken in stride. Sore knuckles, minor frustrated outbursts, and, thankfully, occasional playful moods. It wasn’t perfect by far, but things leveled out a bit. More maturity entered the picture.
Cassandra and Tobias talked in the confines of their own room about Caitlyn’s occasional temper bursts. They knew there was a difference between Caitlyn’s usual frustration and some of the outbursts she would have. It wasn’t the worst sign. In fact, sharing emotions, no matter how little, was a good sign in the long run. However, having to deal with it without the other half was its own torture at times.
They knew their little girl would at the very least meet her soulmate. At best, if the emotional side of the bond grew more, Caitlyn would find love in that lucky person. At worst, well, they didn’t want to think about that.
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As Caitlyn grew up, she always found the whole soulmate thing a little odd, mostly inconvenient. Not everyone in the world got to meet theirs, but most hoped. Others would do their best to ignore the ridiculous bond and its flaws. Caitlyn knew there was someone else out there that shared her heartbeat. Aside from just that, they shared many sensations with the other. Some were pleasant, some inconvenient, some downright painful. They mostly shared wounds and other injuries.
Caitlyn grew up watching the whole deal in real-time. Her mother would occasionally sit to rub her aching feet when her father was busy at the hospital. Tobias would softly chuckle before he’d place a kiss to a paper cut on his finger and wrap a bandage around it.
In some cases, they could sense each other’s feelings to a certain degree. Caitlyn knew when her father was stressed with the way her mother would rub at her temples at dinner if he was at the hospital late. She knew her mother was in a less than pleasant mood when she would find her father rubbing his own arm in a comforting manner on his days off as he sat in the family room with the daily paper. Thankfully, it wasn’t always just pain pairs shared with each other. Even if it was usually more of a ghosted sensation when it came to it.
She hoped she was one of the lucky ones that got to meet their soulmate. She hoped they could make it work instead of forcing themselves to live separate lives still connected in the worst way with each other. She’d heard enough of those stories. Caitlyn wanted what she saw of her parents. Connected, in love, for better and worse.
Instead of only the minor inconveniences of childhood, Caitlyn once had a burn grace her palm. She also collected many scrapes over her body as childhood wore on. Her soulmate seemed incredibly reckless. Or brave. Or just did fun and cool things at such a young age.
Until one night.
Caitlyn just wanted, needed, to be held. Something was wrong. Her chest burned and her throat was tight. It almost felt like she needed to cry but the tears wouldn’t come. Aside from the abrasions she’s grown used to, there was a stronger feeling, one she didn’t know the name of, that settled in the pit of her stomach while her heart raced. It was different than the increased rate that came with children playing. It wasn’t right. Nothing was right.
“Father?”
“What are you doing up, my sweet?” He invited her to the loveseat and opened his arms. “Are you hurt again?”
Caitlyn shrugged. “Nothing too bad. Just…” she squeezed her own hand and hoped her soulmate could feel it somehow. “They’re… scared. Really, really scared.”
Cassandra walked into the study with a frustrated sigh. “The casualties at the bridge are heavy. This cannot continue. We decided to call it off.”
Caitlyn watched her mother give Tobias an apologetic smile. It was clear he was starting to get a headache himself. Caitlyn squeezed her own hand tightly again.
“We fear another advance.” Cassandra sat herself in an armchair and pulled her gloves off to put on the low table in front of the loveseat. “We cannot sustain more loss and injury. You may be needed at the hospital tonight.”
“I’ve been waiting for the call,” Tobias admitted.
They both turned their attention to Caitlyn when she let out a quiet sob. She was nearly crushing her own hand, desperate to show her soulmate that they weren’t alone. Tobias and Cassandra stole a glance at each other. If it was showing so clear on Caitlyn, they couldn’t imagine the distress their daughter’s other half was in.
Cassandra moved to the other side of her daughter and rubbed soothing circles over her back. Caitlyn was ever the stoic type in front of others. She rarely let herself cry in front of anyone. The heartbroken sobs made it plain as day just how serious it was. It wasn’t like Caitlyn.
Then her knuckles slowly went from irritated and red to split and bleeding. Tobias left to gather his medical supplies. Cassandra pulled Caitlyn into her side and gave a gentle squeeze. She didn’t know if Caitlyn’s other half could feel it, but the comfort was worth a shot.
“I want to help them,” Caitlyn said around her tears. She remembered that her father always kissed every paper cut Cassandra inadvertently gave him. She kissed her knuckles over and over while she cried. “I want them to feel better. Why are their knuckles like this?”
Cassandra sighed softly. “Your soulmate seems to be extremely distressed about something. Perhaps they started to hit things. I know you want to help them, sweetie.”
“How?” Caitlyn kissed her knuckles again without a care that her lips were smeared with blood. “How can I help them?”
“I don’t know.” Cassandra hated telling her daughter that. She hated when she didn’t have an answer. “Just…” she looked up at Tobias with worry when he returned. “Keep trying to let them know you’re there.”
Tobias knelt down in front of his daughter and took her hands. Even after the years of both her own and her soulmate’s clumsiness, he never particularly enjoyed putting her through the sting of antiseptic. Still, he cleaned her knuckles through an apology when she winced. Tobias carefully wrapped her hands before he stood and kissed the top of her head.
“You may stay up with us if you’d like,” Cassandra told her. “Even stay in our bed if you think it might help.”
Caitlyn nodded and wiped her eyes and cheeks with her forearm. She accepted the handkerchief from her mother to wipe her nose.
“I just want them to be okay,” she repeated and leaned into Cassandra’s side. Caitlyn hugged herself tight. “They’re hurt and scared and so… sad. More than sad I think. Like something is… missing, perhaps. I don’t know what it is.”
Cassandra looked at Tobias again, worry clear on her face. Grief? Do you think they were on the bridge or lost someone?
The questions were clear to him. He gave her a tight lipped smile and firmly, so Cassandra felt it too, squeezed his arm twice. It was a silent communication system they came up with when they were younger. Tears came to Cassandra’s eyes at the affirmative answer to her silent questions. She choked them back for Caitlyn’s sake while she continued to hug herself tightly.
Time passed too slow while they waited for Tobias to inevitably get pulled away to the hospital. Caitlyn finally fell asleep with her head on Cassandra’s lap. She hoped her daughter could sleep through the rest of the night.
“Do you really think they were there?”
Tobias sighed but nodded. “Either that or they lost someone because of it. You should check with Grayson on which of the fallen enforcers had children around the age of eleven.” Tobias tucked some of Caitlyn’s hair behind her ear before he gave his wife a quick kiss. “Perhaps her soulmate is among them. Maybe we could help.”
Cassandra nodded. She would give Grayson a couple weeks to finish any investigation she needed to do and inform the families of the tragedy. Caitlyn grimaced in her sleep and Cassandra ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair to ease her.
“We’ll find them for you, my dear,” she told her sleeping daughter.