Chapter Text
"I'm watching you, Fireboy," Chase glared.
Kaz smirked.
"Alright, I'll leave you to it," Donald loosened his collar after finishing the tour. "I have to wax my... self."
His children gave him looks even more disgusted than the other three.
Once he exited, the five stood in two and three, bionic and hero.
"Do I wanna know?" Kaz asked.
"No," the siblings answered in sync.
Uncomfortable silence filled the giant space, fancier than Kaz and Skylar were used to. Even sizable for Oliver- son of two tycoon parents. Something about it felt sterile- untouched and lacking homeliness. Inviting.
Chase and Bree examined the trio.
They definitely looked different. In more ways than two becoming powered.
For one, Oliver was blond. His hair was longer, flopping over one eye. The new lightness only made him seem paler, coupled with the powder blue of his pullover. There was a certain discrepancy with the cerulean in his irises. It seemed darker. That and he'd grown taller, taller than anyone else in the room.
Skylar now had an inch or two on Chase and was much more muscular -an ungodly amount- far more than Chase or Bree. Her curls had lengthened, tossed up in a bun. The mustard blazer on her shoulders made her caramel skin warmer.
Kaz had also grown up a lot over the past year. He was the same height, but his shoulders had broadened. He wasn’t necessarily muscular, but a lot of baby fat had melted away, revealing his square jaw. Of course his eyes and grin were still insufferable, playful in the sense that it was clear he thrived on being a nuisance.
Something about how messy his dress was: stained t-shirt, marker doodle jeans, old boots and well-worn leather jacket- irked Chase specifically.
The heroes looked them over just as closely.
Neither's physique changed all that much, unsurprising as they were both consistently in the best shape a person could possibly attain- it was a wonder they weren’t pillars of muscle like the oldest sibling.
Chase's hair was longer, and his eyebags were darker. He had a few new scars and was dressed more professionally than the old pictures Davenport had shown them revealed- a cobalt sweater vest over a perfect white button-up, business casual broken up quite drastically by the green converse on his feet. It did make the other three feel underdressed. Then again, Bree’s big denim jacket and white shorts lessened that inclination. So Chase was just weird. Shocker. His eyes were still a strange mix of scary and warm, and his lip remained ever curled.
Bree had chopped off her messy locs quite a lot- auburn brown only reaching her shoulders. She also wore much less makeup than before, giving her a natural look. She seemed more disinterested than judgemental like her brother, chewing gum with her arms behind her head and looking at them with low-lidded uncaring eyes.
"So…" Skylar awkwardly cleared her throat. "Nice to see you guys again."
"Yeah, awesome," Chase sniped, wrinkling his nose at them. "Have you moved whatever you need in here?"
"Yeah," Oliver frowned.
Chase turned, fiddling with the fireplace/somehow an entire elevator panel.
"What stick is up his ass?" Oliver muttered to Kaz.
"Bionic hearing," Chase reminded, not bothering to turn.
"Ooh, what'd you say?" Bree seemed excited at either the gossip or insult he heard.
"You seem as stingy and uptight as ever," Kaz stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels.
"And you're as annoying as ever," Chase shot back.
Kaz snickered.
"Seriously, what is your problem-?"
"I mean, he's right," Kaz shrugged with a smile, cutting Oliver off.
"Gotta agree there," Skylar tousled his hair.
"Everyone follow me," Chase gestured to the hyperlift.
Bree popped her bubble and strolled behind him. The trio exchanged a look, following.
~*~
"I want to run diagnostics on your magic space rock powers," Chase said the last four words mockingly.
"Why?" Kaz asked, setting his chin on his shoulder to see over Chase’s slightly taller frame.
"I don't trust them."
"Why?"
"Because I'm smart."
"Why?"
Chase shot him a look. Kaz put his hands up and backed away, stifling a smirk.
"I like you," Bree informed over her folded arms where she stood beside him.
"You would be the first," he bowed.
“Anyone who pisses him off is automatically a fave.”
"Why don't you trust them?" Oliver asked.
"Magic space rock."
"So what?"
"You're random kids plucked from a pool with no training or preparation. I'm not dumb enough to be okay with that."
Oliver frowned.
Skylar put a hand on his arm. Cool it. He seemed incredibly irritable lately. Not that she could blame him.
"How about we like… I don't know, do a movie or something instead? Explore the city."
"I have it mapped already," Chase waved her off.
"I don't care what we do," Bree hopped up on the desk, swinging her bright yellow rubber boots. "I'm just glad to have another girl in the house."
Skylar shared a fist bump.
"I told you what we're doing," Chase paused typing to shoot them a glare.
"Why do you choose?" Kaz asked absently, picking at his nail polish.
"I'm the leader."
"Says who?" Skylar put her hands on her hips.
"My father-"
"What, you think him saying that makes it law?" Oliver rolled his eyes. "You can't be serious."
"He is," Bree fixed her lipstick in the watery reflection of her sunglasses.
"That doesn't mean anything-"
Kaz sneezed. Fire erupted from his mouth.
Everyone shrieked. Chase tossed them all away from the blaze with his bionics and yanked a fire extinguisher off the wall, putting it out.
Silence.
"Any other comments?" he asked in a way that wasn't asking.
Silence. The other four exchanged looks.
"Didn't think so."
~*~
"So what's that do?"
Chase brightened slightly from his coldness. He began explaining to Oliver who was bent by the desk what each chemical’s purpose was.
"Nerds!" Kaz called across the room. His feet were kicked up on another cyberdesk as he swiveled in a chair.
Bree and Skylar laughed at the other side.
"No, I get it," Skylar continued their conversation. "I haven't really been around other girls either. It'll be nice."
"I'm banking on it," Bree blew her hair from her face.
"How are your other brothers?"
"Far away. Thank god. What makeup do you use?"
“Makeup?” Skylar blinked.
“Holy shit, you’re that pretty?” Bree grabbed her shoulders.
“Yes?”
“Yeah, she’s hot,” Kaz added, eavesdropping because he was Kazimieras. He got weird looks from the siblings. “I’m not a creep. Gay, don’t shit yourselves. It’s literally universally acknowledged that she’s a smoke show.”
“As if I’d ever go for you,” Skylar teased, also very much gay.
“You wouldn’t even be an option, don’t flatter yourself,” Kaz stuck his tongue out. She returned it.
“Who would be the option here if there was a gun to your head?” Bree sped to him in a blink, ruffling his clothes. She pointed two fingers at the corner nerds.
“Oliver’s like my little brother, ew.”
“I’m older than you.”
“Baby boy. Child. Ew.”
Oliver rolled his eyes.
Bree gagged at the process of elimination. “That’s my actual little brother! Gross!”
Chase glanced at Kaz with a quirked brow. Kaz shrugged, half-smiling. “Sure, why not? I prefer that to getting my brains blown out.”
“Not much to blow out in the first place,” Chase muttered, back to his work. Oliver and Skylar snickered.
“Both would be equally awful,” Bree grimaced. Chase flipped his sister the bird.
“You’re right, I think I’d take the gun.”
“You and me both,” Chase agreed.
~*~
"That's creepy," Oliver muttered that night, drying his hair as he sat on Kaz’s bed. Probably the only time it’d ever be clean.
"Not creepy," Kaz shrugged, kicking his unpacked cardboard boxes aside and flopping on the plain bed. Oh, this was nice. Rich people. Hopefully he didn’t set anything on fire by accident, because this bed probably cost more than the apartments he was looking into before Davenport knocked on his door. "Looks more uncomfortable."
"But why do we have to share with-"
The capsule hissed open, bathing the lamp-lit room in light lavender. "I can hear you."
Both shut up.
~*~
"Morning," Chase greeted, sipping coffee.
"Hey?" Skylar blinked, on her way to work out. "Why are you up? It's five."
Chase was fully dressed for the day, a gray button-up rolled at the elbows and black pants. Brown converse this time. Still weird it appeared. He vaguely gestured to the four coffees in a drink holder from a place nearby, alongside a box of doughnuts.
Skylar blinked again. That was unexpected.
~*~
"Can we get to the important stuff now?" Oliver asked around his breakfast, brushing glaze chips from his polo.
"What stuff is more important than doughnuts?" Bree asked. She was also ready for the day, though later than the others. Kaz high-fived her in solidarity, fully unbothered by being in his pajamas. That budding friendship was a danger to society.
"Dismantling my- Mr. Terror's criminal empire. Because they still exist even after her capture. That's why we're here. We need your technology. This isn't going to be a years-long ordeal."
"That's cute," Bree snorted, sketching on the receipt. She wasn’t half-bad. And probably the only one who slept well, being in a familiar capsule. The others tossed and turned, trying to get used to the noises of the city. And Skylar’s snores. Chase was extra grumpy, because not even his soundproof capsule could block that from his sensitive ears.
Not to say he’d have slept regardless. But in his opinion, at least he wasn’t a public disturbance. A disturbance that could shatter through billion-dollar tech. Bree had squished into Chase’s capsule with him instead from desperation.
"What?"
"These things take time, Oli," Skylar shrugged.
"We don't have time!" Oliver slammed his palm down, chipping a piece from the counter.
Bree raised a brow, surprised this kid of all would have an outburst. Quite literally any of the others seemed more likely, including herself. Skylar and Kaz frowned, exchanging a glance. Chase glared, holding his nearest ear with his hand.
Oliver sat back down, staring at the marble.
"I'd say we start by infiltrating-"
"Dumb idea," Chase interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Skylar demanded. Kaz and Oliver both quietly gave an “ooooh”, because he was dead for that.
"Infiltration with no intel is unbelievably stupid," Chase seemed unphased by the daggers shooting from her eyes as he waved his hand to retrieve the broken bit from the floor. Incredible. “It makes you look like it too for suggesting that.”
"I didn't ask you, cocky fresengrach-"
"Jeez, calm down," Kaz interjected. He held up his doughnut, sprinkles dripping off. "Not in front of the babies."
"Seriously," Bree groaned, flopping onto the table. Kaz copied her for fun. "Can't this wait until we're all awake?"
The other three grumbled.