[ She should have anticipated this. Cain's brand of stubbornness is familiar to her, if only because she's been known to dig her heels in at the best and worst of times too; but there's something painfully young about how he phrases his resistance, the way he won't look at her. Guilt, she realises a heartbeat later as he twists in her grip, and something far more petulant than she's witnessed in the time they've known each other. Something happened. Something he doesn't want to face. Something β ]
Cain!
[ He shoves her and she releases him before she takes them both tumbling off the ship, righting her balance by flinging her arms out. For God's sake, first Fitz (before he bolted off after Ophelia) and now Cain, when she's bloody trying to help drag them out of whatever horrific tangle they've knotted themselves into. They don't have time for this.
Sora, bless him, is trying to appeal to Cain but it's clear words aren't going to do much good if the empathy bond hasn't been given the chance to work, either. She's been in the ring with him before and the field before that, she knows how he can fight, can see he's gearing up for one now; panicked, backed into a corner, ready to lash out. They can't afford that. She straightens and cuts around the younger man with a silent apology β maybe to him, maybe to Cain, for what she's about to do. ]
Good thing we won't have to find out.
[ It's shortly said, just before she swings her elbow back and punches Cain clean in the jaw with a solid right hook. She doesn't use her ability as a kindness, but even so: Peggy Carter doesn't need a fist made out of titanium to knock a man flat on his back or close to it. Wake up. Cognitive recalibration. ]
no subject
Cain!
[ He shoves her and she releases him before she takes them both tumbling off the ship, righting her balance by flinging her arms out. For God's sake, first Fitz (before he bolted off after Ophelia) and now Cain, when she's bloody trying to help drag them out of whatever horrific tangle they've knotted themselves into. They don't have time for this.
Sora, bless him, is trying to appeal to Cain but it's clear words aren't going to do much good if the empathy bond hasn't been given the chance to work, either. She's been in the ring with him before and the field before that, she knows how he can fight, can see he's gearing up for one now; panicked, backed into a corner, ready to lash out. They can't afford that. She straightens and cuts around the younger man with a silent apology β maybe to him, maybe to Cain, for what she's about to do. ]
Good thing we won't have to find out.
[ It's shortly said, just before she swings her elbow back and punches Cain clean in the jaw with a solid right hook. She doesn't use her ability as a kindness, but even so: Peggy Carter doesn't need a fist made out of titanium to knock a man flat on his back or close to it. Wake up. Cognitive recalibration. ]