Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was looking to be the perfect day. Rex extricated himself from his mechanical armour suit, pulling a single vial out of a secret compartment before ordering his people to send the suit off for maintenance. No one else tried to speak to him, they knew better than to interrupt him when he strode with a certain determination through the lair. He had to temper his reaction, patting his pocket with the vial periodically to make sure it was still there. Every time he felt the fragile but solid weight in his pocket however, another burst of excitement appeared in his chest. This time, he was going to succeed. 

The final set of doors opened in front of him, and Rex walked up to a central control panel, listening as Dr Matter began to read off a list of parameters and readings. As she did, Rex pulled the vial out of his pocket, examining the contents closely. Four hairs, fully intact, almost blond in the light. He grinned, handing them to the doctor and turning to the control panel of the machine.

‘Shall I do a full reading sir?’ she asked.

Rex nodded, ‘We need to make sure the sample is viable. Pull a full genetic code before we begin the testing.’

Dr Matter moved to the machine, depositing the vial so that the hair sample could be sucked inside and read. Immediately the two got to work, bringing the machine to life as it began to read one of the hairs, breaking it down into its base genetic materials. A stream of data appeared on the screen, and Rex tried to not get too excited yet. There was still a way to go before the sample could be used fully. But based on the information being read from the hair, this was a promising development.

A short beep sounded from the machine, an alarm, and Dr Matter pulled up the information. She frowned, checking over the update a couple of times before calling out, ‘Sir? Are you sure this is the Chadster’s DNA?’

Rex schooled his expression into one that would make lesser minions run in fear and turned to the doctor. ‘Are you implying I took the hair from the wrong hero?’

The Dr barely flinched at Rex’s expression. ‘Respectfully sir, if you took it from his suit it could in theory belong to any number of people.’

‘Then it’s a good thing I took it from his scalp,’ Rex said.

The Dr took a slow, deep breath, before swiping the notification over to Rex’s screen, ‘There’s a partial match with another DNA profile in our system.’

Rex looked at the screen, reading through the update. ‘That can’t be right.’

‘See why I was suspicious now Sir?’

‘Yes, yes, alright,’ Rex said with a sigh. ‘Well this is absolutely the Chadster’s DNA, I don’t normally go around stealing people’s hair.’ The Dr hummed at that, making Rex scowl at her. ‘Finish building the genetic profile and then run the test again. If it carries on I’ll need to get another sample.’

‘And if the second sample is the same sir?’

Rex sighed, ‘Well we’re not telling anyone right away. Someone might get rather murderous with the implication.’ He looked up at the cloning machine, watching the lights along the main body light up while the tests continued to run. ‘No, if we get to that point I…’ he paused, cringing at the thought. ‘If we get to that point, I know who to call.’’ 

A few days (and a number of tests) later, and Rex was pacing in his lab. He had successfully stolen a second smaller sample from the Chadster, running it through the machine and building a separate profile with it. Only for them to have a 100% match with the original sample. And for the same result to come up. Without getting more DNA from the matching subject however, his testing had run into a dead end, and his nostrils flared in frustration at the thought. Which was only exacerbated when the call came through that his visitor had arrived. He called them up, steeling himself for the inevitable headache he was about to have, and set up the control panel to make sure all of his data was to hand. 

He didn’t look up when the doors opened, but he did at the sudden infuriating sound of a slurping straw. Ready to glare at the villain who was a mess of wild dark curls, dressed in an oversized hoodie and jeans stained in oil, watching Rex like she had all the time in the world. ‘Sup?’

Rex let out a slow breath, ‘Generator.’

‘Oh are we being all formal?’ Morgan grinned. ‘Guess I missed that memo.’

Rex raised an eyebrow, before turning back to his computer screens, ‘There may be a problem.’

‘Then why call me?’ Morgan quirked her mouth into a grin, ‘Can’t be the best look to call a D tier for help.’

‘I’m not, I’m calling Alex’s friend.’ Morgan’s face dropped, and Rex turned back to his computer screen, pulling up the visuals. ‘Do you remember when I made that clone of Alex?’

Morgan nodded, ‘Yeah, Xander’s great. We have Clan of Champions tournaments sometimes.’

‘Wonderful,’ Rex said drily. ‘Well, when I took Alex’s DNA to make…“Xander”, I kept a copy of their DNA profile. Standard procedure.’ Morgan’s eyes narrowed, and Rex sighed, ‘If you want to try and hack into my system and fuck with Alex’s file, good luck to you. You’ll never get in anyway.’

‘Oh bet!’

‘Not the point!’ Rex let out a sharp breath, trying to keep his composure.

‘This is why I beat you at poker,’ Morgan said. ‘You know you should really work to control that temper of yours-’

‘Alex has a brother!’ Rex snapped.

There was a beat of silence, before Morgan snorted. ‘No they don’t.’ 

Rex pulled up the visuals onto a large screen that Morgan could see. ‘Two DNA profiles. A partial match, indicative of a family relation.’ He zoomed in on the profiles, highlighting where the matches were. ‘Based on the level of the match, it looks like a close relation. Most likely siblings.’ Rex looked over at Morgan then, watching her scan over the data on the screen with a frown. ‘And once Alex finds out they may very well…do something dramatic. And deadly.’

‘Since when do you care about who Alex kills?’ Morgan asked. ‘How did you get this other person’s DNA anyway?’

Rex pressed a button, revealing the names on both profiles. Paying careful attention to how Morgan’s frown vanished as she slipped into her perfect poker face. ‘In a battle. I would take great offence to Alex killing my nemesis.’

Morgan shook her head, ‘This isn’t possible.’

Rex sighed, ‘I assure you it is.’

‘No,’ Morgan glared at Rex. ‘You messed up somewhere. There is no way Alex and the Chadster are siblings.’

Rex scowled. ‘I do not “mess up”. I ran this test multiple times with different samples each time. All came back with the exact same result.’

‘Then there’s something wrong in Alex’s DNA.’

Rex folded his arms, ‘Aside from the fact that their clone was completely powerless when he came out of his pod, he was a perfect clone. Perfect match. There’s nothing wrong with my records.’

Morgan took in a slow, steady breath, watching Rex carefully. ‘So I’m just supposed to believe this just like that? Why? What’s your endgame here?’

Rex rolled his eyes, ‘I’m trying to make sure Alex doesn’t kill my nemesis, that’s it. But I can’t pretend this doesn’t exist. If I’m right, and based on the evidence…’ he gestured up at the screens for emphasis, ‘then the Chadster’s parents have some explaining to do as to how their A tier hero ended up biologically related to the most powerful villain in the world.’ 

Morgan scoffed, rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away. To anyone else it would have looked like disbelief, nonchalance. But Rex had spent plenty of time at the poker table with Morgan to spot her tells. To spot her flinch, the glimpse of panic and fear slip through before she schooled herself, smoothing the emotional ripples. ‘Right, okay. Good luck with your next fairytale Rex,’ she called out.

Rex sighed, shaking his head. ‘There are plenty of labs that can do this testing Generator. If you can convince Alex and the Chadster to both do a DNA test. Maybe get Alex’s parents to join in as well for good measure. And what’s that hero sister of the Chadster’s called?’

Morgan chuckled as she got to the exit, ‘You think I’m going to waste my time, energy and money on useless DNA tests to follow your ridiculous conspiracy theory? Give me a break.’

And without another word she stepped through the magnificent doors to the lab, refusing to look back as they slammed shut behind her. Not hearing Rex as they smiled humourlessly and looked back at the screens. ‘Of course you are,’ he muttered. He turned to the control panel, pushing a button. ‘Sarah? I need you to do some digging for me. I need to find out how certain people are connected.’

‘Of course sir,’ Sarah said through the speaker. ‘Which names?’

‘Alex Stewart. The parents of Alex Stewart. Generator. And The Chadster.’ Rex mulled it over for a moment, ‘Yes, that should do for now. As soon as you can.’

‘Right away sir.’ 

Chapter Text

Morgan managed to get clear of Rex’s skyscraper and any potential methods he had to spy on the villain before she ditched her empty milkshake cup and reached for her phone. She wasn’t going to panic, she wasn’t going to panic. She refused to tremble as she pulled up her sister’s contact details, sending a short message:

“Hope Dave is doing well. Heard about the trouble at the Hog’s Breath.”

She didn’t wait to see if Diego had responded, sliding her phone back into her pocket and pulling her hoodie closer. There was no guarantee when Diego would see the message or be able to get to the pub in question, but even so Morgan hurried through the city, weaving through the crowds of people. Trying to keep her growing panic under control. Rex was wrong. He had to be wrong. There was no way this was actually true. 

The Hog’s Breath was a small red brick hole-in-the-wall kind of place, all bare brick and beams on the inside. If it wasn’t for the chef’s incredible hot pots, the place would have probably closed years ago. But as it was, there were always plenty of people vying for a pint of something or other from the bar, not caring about the stained wood or the low flickering lighting. At midafternoon, as it was, the lunch rush should have gone, and the dinner and evening clients were still at work. Which left the regulars and the bartenders as the only people in the pub. And one hero in civilian clothes who had managed to grab a booth by the back wall by the time Morgan had arrived. 

Morgan grabbed two drinks, barely paying attention to what she was ordering, before joining Diego at the booth. ‘Trust you to be punctual,’ Morgan said.

Diego shrugged, tucking a curl behind her ear, ‘I was on patrol nearby. Now, what’s the emergency?’

Morgan pushed one of the drinks closer to her and took a big gulp from her own first. ‘So I just heard something that, if it’s true, is…fucked up is an understatement.’

Diego frowned, ‘Well first off, how likely is it to be true?’

‘Source is from Rex. About the Chadster.’

‘Ah, the stalker’s on his bullshit again is he?’

‘Apparently he finally got a hold of Chad’s DNA.’ Which got a groan from Diego. And her downing a third of her drink in one gulp. ‘Thought you were on duty?’

Diego shook her head, ‘Think I’m going to need it for whatever you’re about to drop on me. I’m assuming Rex found something in Chad’s DNA. Is it some sort of health problem? Or are we talking weird? Like…is our baby brother an alien or something?’

Morgan swallowed. She really didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to give this ridiculous idea any actual voice, but something in her gut told her to carry on. Rip off the bandaid and just get it out. ‘He had a partial match with Alex’s DNA profile. Rex thinks they’re siblings.’

It had been a while since Morgan had seen Diego do a spit take. And in other circumstances would be laughing at the sight. But instead she leaned over, patting Diego on the back as she spluttered on her drink and wiped at her mouth.

Eventually Diego got her breath and voice back to respond. ‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘That’s what I said.’ Morgan glanced around the room, making sure everyone else was keeping to their own business.

Diego mopped up the spilt beer with a napkin, shaking her head with a chuckle as she did so, ‘I thought you were going to tell me something actually urgent.’

Morgan frowned, ‘I did.’

‘What, Rex found that Chad and Alex are related?’ Diego snorted. ‘It would have been more believable to claim that Chad’s an alien. Chad and Alex don’t even look alike.’

‘That’s not how DNA works,’ Morgan said. ‘And I don’t think we can just dismiss this for that alone. Rex is a lot of things, but I don’t think he’d lie about this.’

‘Why wouldn’t he?’

‘What would he have to gain?’ Morgan asked. ‘He didn’t call me for Chad, he doesn’t even know that I know Chad. He called me for Alex.’

‘He says he called you for Alex,’ Diego said. ‘He could be playing you.’

‘To what end?’

Diego shrugged, ‘Get Alex and Chad to fight?’

‘Then why tell me? Also he doesn’t want them to fight because Alex might kill his nemesis. Besides he wasn’t lying. I know his tells. He believes every word he said.’

Diego sighed, ‘Mo, this is…far too crazy to consider. What, our parents stole a baby from Alex’s family and raised it as their own? Even if we were considering this as a possibility, why go to all that effort?’

Morgan bit down her first reply, the cynical one that would have Diego yelling at her, and simply shrugged, ‘Maybe they thought Janice would have strong kids? Her and Mum were arch-nemeses remember?’

‘Yeah, Janice was a powerful villain in her time, but no one would have predicted she’d give birth to Alex,’ Diego said. ‘And even if she was going to have powerful children, the Sterlings have a name and reputation for a reason. They had us remember?’ Morgan gave Diego a look, and Diego winced. ‘Sorry, but Chad is four years younger than us. At the time they had him, we were going to be the twin hero something somethings, remember?’

Morgan rolled her eyes. ‘Right. Yeah you’re right. It's ridiculous.’ Diego sighed in relief and returned to her drink. ‘Unless…’ Diego groaned, tempted to slam her forehead into the table. ‘Look, I know it’s crazy, but Rex found something okay. And it’s hard for science to lie.’

Diego shook her head, watching Morgan with a pained expression, ‘You’re actually going to believe the villain who just stole Chad’s DNA for some weird ass evil plot?’

‘Not blindly,’ Morgan said. ‘But…maybe we should do the test ourselves. Get Chad and Alex to do DNA tests, maybe us too. Go to an actual reputable testing clinic. And see what comes back.’ Diego bit her lip, thinking hard for a moment, and Morgan leaned in, ‘Just to cover our bases. And we keep an eye on Rex in case he is plotting something.’

Diego sighed, head flopping into her hands, ‘I can’t believe you’re making me consider this.’ She looked through her fingers at her twin, ‘This is Chad we’re talking about. I remember when Mum and Dad brought him home from the hospital. His nursery, his crib, all of it.’

‘So do I,’ Morgan said. ‘Believe me, I don’t want to consider that this could actually be true. But it’s going to bug me to hell if we just ignore it.’

Diego closed her eyes, allowing a moment of despair, before nodding, ‘Fine okay. If it helps preserve your sanity. I’ll help you get the tests sorted.’ Morgan sighed with relief, and Diego jabbed a finger into her shoulder, ‘But you’re paying for them yourself. I’m not putting any money into this.’

Morgan nodded, giving Diego a brief grin. ‘Course, I’ll handle that. Thanks sis.’

The first challenge, which was harder than it should have been, was finding a genetics specialist that was willing to perform four dna tests checking for familial connections that wasn’t connected in at least some way to Rex Roofer. The man had a hand in most clinics and research centres, both local and international. Which, aside from the generally upsetting nature of that fact, made it very hard for Morgan to find somewhere that didn’t have that potential bias. 

But Rex hadn’t gotten onto the stocks and board of every clinic (yet) and Morgan eventually found one that was more than willing to assist. She tried to not flinch at the price of the four tests, vowing to score big on the next villain poker night, and got them booked. Which led to the second challenge - getting the samples. 

‘Chad should be easy enough,’ Diego said. ‘I’ll tell him it’s for some sort of new hero health screening.’

‘Good idea,’ Morgan said. ‘Are you alright to just post it on your own? Or shall we do them all together?’

The two of them were at Morgan’s apartment, reading through the instructions on the test kits. Diego had already got hers and Chad’s packed away in her bag, and the two were pouring over the information that had come with Morgans as she prepared to take her own test.

‘Depends how quickly you think you can get Alex’s done,’ Diego said.

Morgan thought for a second, ‘It’s either going to be incredibly difficult, or the easiest thing in the world. And I haven’t worked it out yet.’

‘Because of Xander?’

‘Because of Xander.’ Morgan spit into their test tube, corking it and wrapping it all up before sliding it into the envelope.

‘What did he do now?’ The siblings jumped and turned around at the new voice. Alex was striding into the kitchen, dressed in their normal villain attire now dotted with specks of blood, with dried droplets staining their blond hair.

When Diego paled at the sight Morgan frowned. ‘Alex what have we said about post fight cleanup?’

Alex looked over at Morgan in confusion, then looked down at their outfit. ‘Oh,’ they shrugged and snapped their fingers, vanishing all signs of the blood. ‘But yeah, what did my weakling clone do now?’

‘Something about another one of his students, relationship drama, I didn’t really pay attention,’ Morgan said.

Alex huffed, ‘Another one? How quickly is he burning through his class?’

‘He’s trying to get to your numbers I think,’ Morgan said. ‘Only his body count survives his encounters.’

Alex snorted, coming back to the table with a drink and only just noticing the boxes on the table, ‘What are these?’

Diego tried not to flinch, but Morgan grinned and pushed a box over, ‘Ancestry tests. I ordered one for you too.’

Alex squinted at the box, ‘Why would I need an ancestry test?’

‘Thought it would be fun,’ Morgan said. ‘And we can confirm once and for all if you’re actually part dragon.’

‘Ha ha,’ Alex rolled their eyes. ‘What do you do for it then?’

‘Spit in the vial, put in the serum, post it off, and they’ll come back with all sorts of information on where your ancestors were from.’

Alex frowned, ‘It’s a DNA test?’

‘Yeah, but I already screened the place, I did not want Rex getting hold of my DNA thank you very much.’ Morgan opened Alex’s pack, preparing the formula and test tube, ‘Want to spit?’

Alex looked down at the test tube, then back at Morgan, brow furrowed in suspicion. ‘Why?’

‘Why what?’

‘Why do you want me to do this test?’

‘Thought it would be cool.’

Alex shook their head, ‘Nope, try again.’

Morgan sighed. ‘Alright fine. I heard a rumour and I want to prove it wrong, but I need to test your DNA first.’

Alex nodded slowly at that, ‘Okay I’ll believe that one. Can I hear the rumour?’

‘No. It’s ridiculous. But I need evidence to disprove this, hence the spit.’

Alex looked at the test tube again, slowly growing a grin. ‘What’s it worth to you?’

Morgan sighed, closing her eyes as she thought hard for a second, ‘I’ll…cook dinner for a week.’

The vial was snatched out of her hand, and Morgan tried to not grin too brightly as Alex spat into the tube. ‘Homemade stuff. None of that cup noodle shit.’

‘Damn, I almost got you then,’ Morgan chuckled. ‘Deal.’ Alex nodded, satisfied, and handed the test tube back for Morgan to add the formula to. ‘If you have any preferences on meals let me know so I can get ingredients.’

‘No, I’ll get ingredients,’ Alex said. ‘You’ll get the wrong ones.’

Before Morgan could turn around to argue Alex was already gone. She snorted to herself as she stoppered Alex’s vial and put it in the envelope, ‘See? Easiest thing in the world.’

Diego chuckled and shook her head, ‘When did you get so domestic?’

‘Fuck off!’

Chapter Text

And with that Diego left with all four tests, two complete and two to go. By the next day Chad’s sample had been completed and all of them were off in the post. Which led to the third challenge. Waiting.

The lab predicted the testing would take at least three weeks. Three weeks that Morgan and Diego were determined to distract themselves with. Morgan for her part managed two separate raid-to-farmer’s market schemes. It could have been three if she hadn’t needed to hack into Rex’s system to delete Chad and Alex’s DNA profiles and warn Alex of potential assassination attempts. While in the system she also saw Rex’s underlings investigating all of them for any connections. By the time her and her favourite trojan virus got through his defences however, there wasn’t a lot of data left for his people to put any clues together with. 

The whole time Morgan and Diego kept in touch. Morgan about Rex’s antics, about any updates on the testing, and updates on when the results should be delivered. In turn, Diego informed Morgan about Chad and their parents. No their parents didn’t suspect a thing, yes Chad was his normal air headed self. That was until they were two weeks into the waiting period for the tests, and Diego called Morgan.

‘So Chad has just put Mum and Dad on alert.’

Morgan paled, ‘Alert how?’

‘He was asking when the test results would be due back. When Mum and Dad asked what test results he said something about the new hero health check.’ Morgan swore at that, but Diego carried on. ‘He thankfully didn’t say anything about what the test included. Yet. But considering no one else in the Association or the Chastisers got tested…’

‘They’re both going to be on alert,’ Morgan finished.

‘And if…if the stalker says anything,’ Diego whispered down the phone, ‘then as soon as people figure out what it's for there’s going to be hell to pay.’

Morgan sighed, ‘Shit. Right. We need to work this out, same place as last time?’

‘Can’t, I need to go on patrol in like ten minutes,’ Diego said. ‘I’ll let you know when I’m free and we’ll work out a plan.’

A knock on the door interrupted Morgan. ‘Yeah, alright. As soon as you can.’ The two hung up and Morgan headed to the apartment door, looking through the peephole and having to stifle a groan and who was on the other side. 

When the door opened the familiar hero cracked a nauseating grin. ‘Hello Morgan, it’s me! Chad! Your brother.’

‘I can see that,’ Morgan said deadpan.

‘Yes quite,’ Chad laughed, glancing up and down the corridor. ‘Can I uh…can I come in?’

‘Why?’

‘Because uh…’ Chad paused, smile faltering, ‘I would like to discuss some important matters with you.’

Morgan rolled her eyes and stepped aside for Chad to walk in, ‘If you even think the word sidekick I’m kicking you out.’

‘Noted,’ Chad tried to chuckle, watching as Morgan closed and locked the door again. ‘Why is Rex Roofer trying to kill you?’

Morgan blinked in confusion, looking at Chad, ‘What? How do you know about that?’

‘He’s my nemesis,’ Chad said. ‘I need to keep a track of what he’s doing. And who it involves. He’s been sending out assassination attempts for a week, but that normally only happens after his poker nights.’

Morgan opened her mouth, closing it again in bemusement, ‘You know about the poker nights? Right, tracking your nemesis. Even in his off time.’

‘It’s my job,’ Chad said. ‘I am a hero after all.’

Morgan nodded with a smirk. ‘You are indeed.’ Chad watched Morgan silent, raising his eyebrows as he waited, and Morgan remembered his first question. ‘Oh right, the killing thing, don’t worry about it. Alex is on shopping detail, Kotetsu’s checking my post for me, and I’ve got some fail safes if I have to head out.’

Chad closed his eyes for a second, ‘That…isn’t how it works Morgan. You’re my sister, I’m allowed to worry. Even if you are mind controlled to be a villain.’ Morgan scowled, but Chad ignored her. ‘And even if you are completely safe, you still did something to anger an A tier villain.’

‘An A tier bitch you mean.’

The last of Chad’s bravado dropped, giving Morgan a deadpan stare that he clearly learned from Diego. ‘What did you do?’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Put a virus in his private servers.’

Chad blinked in surprise. ‘What? Why?’

‘To prove I could?’ Morgan shrugged with a grin. Which Chad clearly didn’t buy. ‘Alright. There was a rumour in the underground that Rex had gotten a hold of your DNA.’ Chad frowned at this, but didn’t interrupt. ‘So I broke into his servers to see what was there. And yeah, there were a bunch of genetic records. So I wiped them. Yours and Alex’s. Put a virus in to fry everything for good measure too.’

Chad looked away, pondering for a moment. ‘You broke into my nemesis’ private server, deleted his files and put in a virus to protect me?’

‘And to fuck with him,’ Morgan said. ‘You can’t underestimate-’

She was cut off by Chad pulling her into a tight hug. Morgan flinched at the touch, before gingerly patting Chad on the shoulder. ‘Thank you,’ Chad whispered, squeezing Morgan gently, despite the strength in their robotic arms. 

Morgan huffed in amusement, going to return the hug properly, ‘I think you’re making me too altruistic in your head.’

‘Not possible,’ Chad said with a smile. That faltered as a realisation hit him. ‘Wait is that why Diego got me to do that health check the other week?’

Morgan tried to shrug, which was a little difficult when pinned down by robot arms. ‘Maybe? I gave her the heads up when I heard what was going on, and it took a while for me to make the virus and break into his stuff. So it might have been a couple of weeks ago.’

‘Huh,’ Chad said with a nod, ‘Why didn’t you guys tell Mum and Dad?’

‘Well, for my part, that would require me talking to Mum and Dad,’ Morgan said. ‘And I guess Diego didn’t want to scare or worry anyone?’

Chad smiled, hazel eyes shining with gratitude. ‘I really do have the best sisters looking out for me.’ Morgan kept her small grin pinned in place, refusing to let it falter even as her chest panged. Before either of them could say anything though there was a ping from Chad’s pocket, and he pulled out his phone. ‘Oh, I need to get on patrol soon.’

Morgan stepped aside, giving Chad a small smile, ‘Better get going then. Before Rex pouts you’ve missed his date.’

Chad cringed at the thought, following Morgan back to the door, ‘You know, going out on patrol is normally safer and more fun with company.’

‘If you mention the word sidekick right now I will tell Alex to steal your arms in the middle of your shift.’

Chad sighed, ‘One day, I’ll break that mind control and help you come back home.’

‘I’ll pass on that too,’ Morgan opened the door, watching as Chad stepped out into the corridor. ‘Enjoy your oh so fun patrol.’

Chad left with a wave, and Morgan kept her poker face up until the door was firmly closed and locked. Only then did she sigh, leaning against the door and almost sliding onto the floor. Pity party later , she told herself, pulling out her phone to update Diego on Chad’s visit. 

The next week was tense. With the test results so close Morgan and Diego were messaging each other daily. Diego had convinced Chad to not say anything about Rex or the DNA tests, spinning some sort of tale about a special register so that Rex couldn’t try to use his DNA for anything nefarious in the future. Chad accepted it without question, not even asking why their parents couldn’t be told. 

Morgan was keeping a track of Rex, or mainly his server, making sure it all stayed down and that there were no signs of him trying to put together those same investigation files on all of them. At some point Alex noticed that Morgan was somehow acting more erratic than normal and tried to get her to rest up. Insisting that Morgan needed some time to chill, play some games, they even offered to let Morgan watch her crappy action movies with the car chases. Which was when Morgan had to explain how Rex’s stalker habits were extending to the rest of the Sterlings, including Morgan, and she had to keep an eye on it. Alex’s expression immediately dropped, and with no explanation they quickly excused themselves for “business”. Morgan had just enough time to hack into Rex’s security cameras, scrambling for snacks when she found the room Alex had teleported to, before sitting back and watching the fireworks.

Chapter Text

Morgan could count on one hand the number of times she wanted to summon Diego to her and still have fingers left over. And that number grew smaller when she narrowed it down to the number of times she wanted to summon Diego after she went villain. Even in the cold dark moments when she missed her twin so much that it ached in her bones, to the point she wondered if that superstitious twin telepathy would tell Diego how much Morgan missed her, she never considered summoning her. For various reasons. Some selfless, some selfish, some cowardly. 

So it was a telling thing indeed when Morgan’s first desire on seeing the large manila envelope was to snap her fingers. 

It looked completely innocuous, there wasn’t even a logo on the envelope. Only the return address clued Morgan in to what the contents were. Weeks of waiting, and now she was holding the answers. And her fingers itched to snap, to bring her sister here from whatever patrol or business she had going on. But she had more control than that, so Morgan reached for her phone instead.

“Its here,” was the simple message. 

And a few seconds later Diego replied, “OMW.”

Morgan set about making coffee. Opening the other post. Attempting to tame some of the frizz out of her ridiculous mane of hair. Remembering that she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and so whipped up 2pm cereal. Alex was out causing mayhem, and at this point Morgan would normally turn on the news to watch. But she couldn’t bring herself to reach for the TV remote, couldn’t face watching Alex having their fun when only a few feet away from Morgan sat…probably nothing. Rex was probably wrong. In fact, Rex was most definitely wrong. It would be too ridiculous otherwise, and Morgan was determined to believe it as she shovelled down her breakfast and ignored the spike of dread in her gut. 

The knock on the door shook Morgan out of her stupor and she dumped her bowl, hurrying to the door. Too worked up to check through her peephole. So her worry turned into shock when she answered the door and Diego wasn't’ the one smiling at her.

‘Hello Morgan,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s me, Chad. Your brother.’

Morgan blinked, burying every emotion until her poker face was back, giving nothing away. ‘The hell are you doing here?’

Chad winced, and Morgan noticed the guilt creeping into Chad’s smile, the eyes darting to the corridor behind him. ‘I may have messed up.’ Morgan’s face fell and she reached out of Chad’s sight when he blinked and held up his hands, ‘I’m alone! I’m alone, I just…needed to get here first.’

‘First?’ Morgan scowled. ‘Who’s coming?’

Chad licked his lips, ‘I may have let slip about the health test? And what you heard about Roofer taking the Chadster’s DNA? And now…Mum and Dad have questions.’

If Morgan was panicking she refused to show it. She needed to focus. ‘Get in here,’ she grunted, and Chad thanked her with an apologetic smile. She slammed the door shut, putting all the deadbolts in place, before pulling out her phone.

‘What are you doing?’ Chad asked.

‘None of your business,’ Morgan said as she updated Diego. The itch was in her fingers again, but she wasn’t going to cave. Not yet. Morgan had dealt with their parents before, she could do it again. Worst case she could snap Alex in for backup, something that Alex would be more than happy to oblige with she knew. ‘What even happened?’ she asked Chad. 

Chad winced, ‘I may have uh…gone too far with taunting Rex.’ Morgan closed her eyes and groaned. ‘I didn’t realise they were watching or listening in on the fight! They normally don’t.’

Except Diego put them on edge Morgan thought to herself. Surprised they didn’t put a tracker on him or… Morgan frowned and went to her workbench, pulling out a handheld scanner. ‘Chad? Stay still,’ she said, holding the machine out and scanning him up and down. Two beeps, which were probably the arms, but Morgan needed to be sure. She walked over, waving the machine over every part of Chad. When it beeped twice on the arms and nowhere else Morgan sighed in relief.

‘Were you checking for a tracker?’ Chad asked. ‘Who would be tracking me?’

‘If I go through the whole list we’ll be here all day,’ Morgan said, putting the machine down. ‘So, you taunted Rex, what did you say?’

‘Only that he’d have to do better than that if he wanted to get anything from me for his nefarious plans,’ Chad said. ‘I didn’t mention you to him I swear. But when Mum asked what I meant by that I couldn’t think of an excuse quickly enough. And, you know what her and Dad can be like.’

Morgan closed her eyes and tried to take a calming breath. It was fine. She could deal with this. Keep it simple and brief. Tell them to mind their own business. Maybe get one of her traps prepped just in case.

There was a loud banging on the door, making the siblings both jump. At the sound of Diego’s voice the tension dropped, Morgan in relief and Chad in confusion. ‘Come in!’ Morgan shouted. 

Without a word Diego phased through the door, looking at both of them in worry, ‘What happened?’

‘Diego what are you doing here?’ Chad asked.

Morgan moved over to the table, grabbing the envelope as Diego said, ‘Morgan and I had plans. Why are Mum and Dad on their way here?’

‘Chad told them that Rex was trying to get his DNA,’ Morgan replied. ‘And somehow I got mentioned.’ Chad cringed in guilt, and Diego sighed. ‘Don’t know when they’re going to be here so…’ Morgan held out the envelope to Diego, ignoring Chad’s confusion, ‘Probably best that this isn’t here when they show up.’

Diego gave Morgan a deadpan stare, ‘You can’t be serious?’

‘And make them mad at both of you for being here?’ Morgan shook her head, ‘Only one of us needs to be a black sheep today, okay? You two both go, you look after this, and I’ll let you know when I’ve got these two off my back.’

‘What is that?’ Chad asked as Diego rolled her eyes and took the envelope.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Morgan said. ‘It’s private.’ Chad frowned, and Morgan sighed, ‘This isn’t something you need to-’

The tearing of paper echoed through the room and Morgan and Chad’s attention both snapped to Diego. Who finished ripping open the envelope and pulled out the stack of documents.

‘Diego!’ Morgan shouted.

‘We’ve waited weeks for these Morgan,’ Diego said. ‘It takes a few seconds to check, and then we’ll get it out of the way and focus on calming down Mum and Dad.’ She held out a stack with Morgan’s details as the header, and with a sigh Morgan snatched the papers.

‘What are those?’ Chad asked, leaning over Diego’s shoulder.

She held the papers to her chest, scowling at Chad, ‘Since when do you try to spy on people?’

‘Since when do you do private secret things with Morgan?’ Chad shot back. 

‘I don’t see how that’s your business,’ Diego said. ‘And after the last way you dealt with something I told you to keep secret, forgive me if I don’t suddenly tell you everything.’

Chad flinched, ‘That’s not…I didn’t know Mum and Dad were listening in.’ 

Diego’s scowl faltered, ‘They were spying on you?’

Chad nodded, ‘During my last fight with Roofer. I barely said anything to him, but then Mum and Dad started being all suspicious and…they got really intense. I didn’t even say most of it. They just kind of…guessed.’

‘Shit,’ Morgan whispered.

‘Exactly,’ Chad said. ‘You know what they can be…Morgan?’

Morgan didn’t look up, staring at the paper beginning to crumple in her grip. Diego’s eyes went wide and she turned to her own paper, scanning over the pages quickly, skipping through to the last page in the first stack. Before stopping, staring at the words, her bottom lip beginning to tremble. ‘No, no that can’t be right.’

‘What can’t?’ Chad asked. ‘You’re starting to freak me out, what's going on?’

Morgan sniffed, pushing down the tears for now. ‘Let me check the others.’

Diego barely glanced up. ‘Which one?’

‘Either.’

Chad continued to badger them to tell him what was going on, but the twins didn’t answer as Diego handed over the pile of papers headed as Alex Stewart. Morgan swallowed, scanning through the papers. Diego did the same, the two of them turning the pages at almost the exact same time, landing on the final conclusion together.

‘This can’t be real,’ Diego whispered.

‘What can’t?’ Chad pushed in, looking at both of them with alarm.

A sudden knock on the door made all three of them jump. A pair of muffled voices sounded on the other side, and Chad froze. 

‘I’ve got it,’ Morgan said, her voice low and hoarse, putting the crumpled papers on the table and slowly moving over the door, seeming to move slower with every erratic knock on the door. That only stilled when Morgan undid the deadbolt and various locks on the door, hand on a panel by the door before she opened it. Her unimpressed glare meeting the faces of her parents.

‘Morgan,’ her mother huffed. ‘You know how we hate to be kept waiting.’

‘Of course,’ Morgan said, lounging against the door frame. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘That is-’

Her dad interrupted, ‘Morgan? Stand straight. You should have more respect when you have guests, especially when it’s family.’

Morgan’s eyebrows raised and she laughed, a cold sound as the two heroes in front of her bristled. Out of sight Diego and Chad stared at the scene unfolding in shock. ‘Right, right. Respect. For your family.’ Morgan sneered and shifted, her hand pressing open the panel. ‘Frankly I don’t give a shit. And you can both go fuck yourselves.’

Morgan’s parents barely had a chance to react before Morgan pulled out a gun and fired, striking both of them in the chest. The bright red laser slammed them back into the wall, and Morgan watched as they both slumped to the floor. 

Chapter Text

When Diego screamed Chad snapped out of his shock and ran forward, barging past Morgan to check on their parents. Morgan didn’t respond, watching Chad try to wake them up, checking their breathing, putting his fingers on their wrists to check for a pulse. The ray gun hung limply in her hand as she pulled out her phone. A few well practised moves and she pressed the phone to her ear, waiting silently as it rang.

‘Morgan?’ Alex’s voice sounded over the phone. ‘I’m kind of busy right now-’

‘I just shot my parents,’ Morgan said, the slightest hint of emotion cracking her voice.

There was a whoosh of air, and her and Diego turned to see Alex step into the room, yellow eyes flashing. ‘Are you kidding? You finally kill them and I miss it?!’ Morgan rolled her eyes and held up the gun, and Alex deflated, ‘Oh. A stun ray barely counts as shooting them.’

‘Don’t start,’ Morgan growled, stepping aside so Alex could see them crumpled on the floor, Chad worrying over them.

Alex snorted, smirking at the sight, ‘Okay that does look pretty satisfying.’

Chad glared up at Alex, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I live here,’ Alex said, folding her arms as they watched Chad with amusement. ‘And Morgan called me.’

Chad scowled and stood up, ‘You need to leave this place villain! I won’t let you control my sidekick anymore!’

Morgan visibly flinched, causing Diego to watch her with worry, and Alex’s face to darken as they turned to face Chad properly. ‘One day, when I beat you into the curb, the truth will stop bouncing off that thick skull of yours.’

‘Not likely,’ Chad said, striding back into the apartment to try and square off against Alex, hazel eyes glaring at yellow. 

‘Nope,’ Morgan said, stepping in between them, ‘you are not fighting in my apartment. I can’t deal with that today.’

Alex smirked at Chad, ‘You heard your sister.’

Morgan tried to not cringe at that, and thankfully Chad didn’t notice, finally backing down and heading back to Diego with a scowl. Alex watched Morgan carefully, scanning over her face, trying to spot any clues behind her stony expression. ‘You okay?’

Morgan let out a long breath, shoulders slumping. She looked back to her parents, scowling at their unconscious forms. ‘Not really.’

‘I can help? We could…go break some shit after your siblings leave. Or we can go and get you drunk. Maybe a space adventure?’ Morgan tried to smile, but it didn’t meet her eyes, and she shook her head. ‘You’re going to call your therapist aren’t you?’

‘I probably should. Not now though.’

‘You have a therapist?’ Diego asked.

‘Of course I have a therapist.’

Diego looked surprised, but didn’t comment further. Turning back to Morgan Alex said, ‘I’m guessing you called me to deal with them? You probably dont want them here when they wake up.’

Morgan shook her head, and Alex watched without comment as Morgan began to unconsciously hold herself, rubbing her arms. ‘They can’t be here. And they can’t go somewhere that’s going to kill them. But I don’t care where they go after that.’

Alex nodded, thinking for a moment, ‘How does a Pacific oil rig sound?’ Morgan shrugged and Alex snapped their fingers, the two heroes vanishing instantly.

‘Which oil rig?’ Diego asked.

‘I don’t know the names,’ Alex said. ‘There’s probably people there though. Maybe. I think.’

Diego closed her eyes, trying to take a deep calming breath, smoothing up the papers she was still holding. Morgan went to close and lock the door again, putting the ray gun back in its hiding place as she did so. 

‘Do I get to know what happened?’ Alex asked. ‘Dying to know what they did to make you actually hit them this time.’

Morgan bit her lip. With every moment as her anger and shock fell, the torrent of other ugly emotions clawed at her chest, making her heart ache. But she fought it down, burying it until later. Until she had the time to deal with it. ‘Just the final straw I suppose,’ she rasped. She turned back, watching Diego smoothing over her pile of papers and wipe away at the tear stains on the pages. Morgan looked past her and froze, ‘Chad?’

Diego’s face fell and she turned behind her, to see Chad leaning on Morgan’s kitchen table. Staring at the papers in front of him. ‘Chad wait-’

‘What is this?’ Chad asked, looking over his shoulder at Diego. Staring intently, disbelieving at her. ‘This is some kind of trick isn’t it?’

Diego swallowed. Morgan looked back to Alex, who was watching with confusion and some amusement, before looking back at Chad and Diego. ‘Chad, I can explain…’

‘Explain what? This is a trick, it has to be,’ Chad picked up the papers, rifling through the first stack and beginning to read, ‘“There are no substantial genetic markers to indicate any biological relation between Morgan Sterling and Chad Sterling.” This has to be made up.’ Alex’s smirk fell, and they turned to Morgan, their concern growing at the sight of Morgan tearing up. ‘Tell me this isn’t real.’

Morgan slowly let out a steadying breath, ‘I was very careful when I picked the testing centre. I made sure it was fully independent. No heroes or villains have any stocks or shares or are involved in any of its boards or research.’ Chad was breathing faster, beginning to hyperventilate, and Diego stepped forward to touch his shoulder. ‘When Rex got a hold of your DNA he found something and…and yes I wiped his records but I also needed to check he was right.’

‘Right about what?’ Chad asked. ‘About this? Rex Roofer told you my DNA’s wonky and then you went and snuck around behind my back?’

‘We didn’t know if he was planning something or not,’ Diego said. ‘And there’s nothing wrong with your DNA, all your markers are healthy.’

Chad sniffed and looked down at the papers. ‘These are yours,’ he murmured, shuffling through them again. ‘There’s a file for me?’

The papers in Diego’s hands tightened, ‘Yes, but maybe you should wait until you’ve calmed down.’

‘Calmed down?’ Chad spun around to stare at her. ‘These people are lying about me and you want to hide even more of their lies?’

Morgan shook her head, ‘They’re not lying.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Chad pulled out a sheet of paper from the pile, ‘Why is Alex in your test data?’ Morgan didn’t need to look behind her to feel the wave of confusion and surprise from Alex. ‘You’re telling me they gave you their DNA and let you do a paternity test?’

‘You didn’t say it was for a paternity test,’ Alex whispered, making Morgan flinch. ‘Why would you need me for a paternity test for you three?’

Morgan refused to tremble, refused to let the tears building up in her eyes spill over. Which was more than could be said for Diego, who was trying to hold back the sobs and failing. 

Chad looked over at Alex in confusion, ‘Wait, you did?’

Alex nodded, frowning, not taking their eyes off Morgan. ‘Why was I in this little net?’

Morgan swallowed, ‘Your test results are on the table.’

Diego’s head snapped up, but before she could voice any protest Alex snapped their fingers and the partly crumpled papers appeared in their hands. ‘Morgan, what are you doing?’ Diego asked.

‘We can’t hide it.’

‘Hide what?’ Chad asked. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I’m not going to hide it Morgan but there is a way to have this conversation with more tact.’

‘No amount of tact in the world is going to make any of this easy to swallow,’ Morgan said. ‘Better to just rip off the bandaid.’

‘This isn’t ripping off the bandaid Morgan. This is breaking an arm! Or worse!’

‘What is?’ Chad grabbed at the papers in Diego’s hand but missed, ‘Is this still about me? Why am I the last person allowed to know?’

‘How old is Chad again?’

The siblings all turned to Alex. Who was staring at the words in front of them without blinking. 

‘Why does that matter?’ Diego asked, scowling at Alex as she stepped in front of Chad protectively.

Alex didn’t look up, eyes scanning over the conclusion paragraphs again and again. ‘Because it does.’

Chad swallowed, looking at Morgan, then back at Alex, ‘I’m on the no kill list remember?’

Alex snorted, a wet sound that broke into a weak chuckle. ‘Yeah. I remember.’

The soft sound from Alex seemed to freak Chad out even more, and left Morgan looking concerned. But he nodded and said, ‘Then…I’m not telling you my actual age. But…I'm four years younger than Morgan and Diego.’

The heroes flinched at the sudden flickering of the lights in the kitchen. Alex blinked, the flickering stopped, and they finally looked up to meet Morgan’s gaze. ‘And you vouch for this company?’

Morgan nodded, ‘I do my research Alex.’

They took in a slow deep breath, before letting it out again. Everyone else was silent as Alex stared off, thinking intently. They finally nodded, looking away so only Morgan could see the moisture welling up in their eyes, and headed into the living room.

‘What the hell?’ Diego whispered. ‘What was that?’

‘Morgan?’ Chad asked, starting to well up again. ‘What’s going on?’

Rip off the bandaid, Morgan thought, and turned to Chad. ‘Remember when I said Rex got your DNA so I hacked into his system to wipe it all?’ Chad nodded, clearly tense. ‘Well, he only had a handful of DNA profiles on his private server. And when yours got added his system showed a partial match with another profile he had.’ Diego closed her eyes, peeling away Chad’s file from the stack of papers. ‘Now, I didn’t believe it at first, but the evidence looked convincing so I needed to check it myself.’ Morgan gestured to Diego, ‘I got Diego to help me, and we sent off four DNA tests for paternity results.’

‘They’re lying,’ Chad said.

Morgan shook her head, ‘I’m sorry but they’re not. Diego and I raised you as our baby brother, and no one will ever be able to take that away. But biologically? You match with someone else.’

Chad shook his head, looking down at the pages he had been handed. His voice shook as he read the conclusion out loud. ‘“There are no substantial genetic markers to indicate any biological relation between Chad Sterling and Morgan Sterling. There are no substantial genetic markers to indicate any biological relation between Chad Sterling and Diego Dodgers.”’ At the final line his breath caught and his shoulders shuddered, but he carried on reading, ‘“There are sufficient genetic markers to indicate a biological relation between Chad Sterling and Alex Stewart. Based…based on the number and location of key markers the most likely relationship is that of siblings?”’ Chad looked up at Morgan, ‘I’m Alex’s brother? That…that can’t be right.’

Morgan looked away, ‘It matches what Rex found.’

Chad shook his head, ‘No. No that's…it’s wrong Morgan. First of all we look nothing alike, Alex is all tall and blonde and evil and I…we…I look like you!’

‘We can do the test again,’ Diego said. ‘We’ll find a better clinic and get them done again. You, me, Morgan, maybe get our parents involved?’

‘No,’ Morgan said. ‘There’s a reason they weren’t supposed to know about this.’ She shook her head, thinking carefully, ‘If you want to do it yourself then fine. We can find a different clinic. But if you want to get parents involved we’re going to Alex’s.’

‘The former supervillains that raised Alex to be the S tier villain?’ Diego looked at Morgan dumbstruck. ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘Very serious actually.’

‘Why them? Why not our parents?’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘I forget you’ve never met the Stewarts.’ She finally closed the gap, looking Chad in the eyes. ‘Okay, you might find this hard to believe, but Janice and Bernard, they are the absolute sweetest people in the world. They own a farm, and bake cakes and pies in their spare time, and…are the warmest people I’ve ever met. And they adore Alex, and I know with every fibre in my being they would have adored you.’ 

Chad’s mouth was agape, struggling to process, and Diego squeezed his shoulder a little tighter as she asked, ‘Then, if the tests are right, how could this have happened?’

‘I don’t know,’ Morgan said. ‘Because Janice and Bernard wouldn’t have abandoned any of their children, not under any circumstances. So…maybe you got separated. Maybe they thought you went missing, and mum and dad adopted you.’

‘That doesn’t explain how Chad looks like a Sterling and nothing like Alex,’ Diego said.

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘We live in a world with superpowers and magic, you think they wouldn’t get a spell put on Chad to make him look like the rest of the family?’

Chad shook his head, ‘They haven’t. I would know.’

‘You didn’t know about this! None of us did!’

‘Because it’s not true!’ Chad shouted, voice breaking as the tears threatened again. ‘Besides, why would they?’

Morgan laughed humourlessly, ‘We’re talking about the same people right? They’re obsessed with their image, we were supposed to look like the perfect uniform family remember? That would be hard if all of us dark haired, dark eyed heroes had a little cherub boy sitting in the middle of the family photos.’ 

Diego scowled, ‘That’s not fair Morgan. You’ve taken one test-’

‘Two tests!’

‘You’ve taken a test you ran and a test that a crazy villain claimed he ran and just told us they’re more important than what’s in front of our own eyes,’ Diego continued.

‘I’m saying,’ Morgan growled, ‘that if I’m right and they hid this then our parents aren’t going to be the ones to go to if we’re after the truth. They would bury it, 1000%. Janice and Bernard will actually help us find the truth.’

Diego shook her head, ‘I don’t even want to humour this. This is all ridiculous. And how can we trust Alex’s parents more than our own?’

‘Very easily,’ Morgan said. ‘I would trust our parents to throw me into a volcano if it meant they could be the best heroes there were. Alex’s parents would save me from said volcano and kick mum and dad’s arses for good measure.’

‘Morgan!’

‘What? Are you going to tell me I’m wrong? Those two don’t know the meaning of the word family! Everything they do is for their precious image and reputation, and you’re expecting me to trust them with the truth after they’ve lied to us for decades?’

‘You actually believe this don’t you?’ Chad rasped. The twin’s argument broke as they turned to Chad and saw the silent tears falling down his face. ‘You think I’m not your real brother.’

Morgan swallowed, her voice sticking in her throat, ‘That’s not what I said.’

Diego immediately wrapped Chad up in a hug, trying to gently soothe the worst of the tears. ‘You’re our brother okay? And nothing and no one is going to change that. Right Morgan?’

Morgan sniffed and nodded her head, ‘Course. It’s…you’re our brother Cheddar.’

Chad’s face crumpled at that. He buried his face into Diego’s shoulder as he began to shake from the sobs. She pulled him closer, rocking him gently on the spot. Morgan had to look away, turning her attention towards the kitchen. She tried to convince herself that it was just to give them space. That was all. 

Chapter Text

None of the siblings knew how long they had been huddled in the kitchen. Diego comforted Chad as he crumpled into her arms, with Morgan orbiting around them. Getting them both drinks, tidying up the papers, checking her programs for any Rex activity. But even then she didn't approach the living room. She told herself she was just giving Alex space to process. And she definitely wasn't unnerved by the silence from the rest of the apartment. 

Once Chad’s had cried himself out and his trembling had lessened enough for him to focus, he was fixated on the report. He sat at the table, Diego next to him, reading every single line and scrutinising the table of markers as if he could understand what the various lines and numbers meant. Diego had run out of comforting words, her hand rubbing circles between his shoulder blades to try and provide some comfort.

Eventually, the spell had to be broken. And it broke at the sound of Morgan’s phone buzzing in her pocket, making all three siblings jump. Morgan pulled out her phone in confusion, her frown falling away at the name on the caller ID. She stepped away from the table, half turned away from the others as she answered, 'Hi Mrs Stewart.'

'Morgan sweetheart, hi,' Janice's sweet voice came through. Morgan glanced back to see Diego and Chad both on edge. 'How is everything over there?'

'In the city? Crazy as usual,' Morgan said. ‘How’s the farm?’

Janice hummed, ‘Oh nothing much to report. Bernard’s working on some sort of doo-hicky in the workshop.’

‘Good, good,’ Morgan smiled. ‘Is everything okay? Did Alex forget a family birthday or something?’

‘Oh no,’ Janice said. ‘But…did Alex tell you that they were planning a visit today?’

Morgan’s blood froze at the words, and she swallowed silently, ‘No, they showed up?’

‘Yes, without a heads up, and I’m rather worried. We didn’t even realise they were here, but not five minutes ago Bernard found them in the basement buried in old memory boxes.’

‘Memory boxes?’ Morgan frowned in confusion. There was a creak of floorboards and Morgan turned around to see Chad and Diego standing closer, close enough to try and listen in on Janice’s side of the conversation. ‘What, like Bernard’s old scrapbooks?’

Janice chuckled, ‘Oh sweetheart, there’s more than old scrapbooks down there. Photos, old toys, Alex’s first shoes. Report cards. Which…they’ve never been that interested in going through since they moved out. So I was wondering if you knew what had happened to bring this on.’

Morgan met Chad’s eyes. Chad, who was torn between confusion and concern, and beginning to tear up again. ‘I’m not sure. Not without knowing what they were looking at.’

Janice sighed, ‘Alright, let me see which section of the basement they’re in. Am I alright to call you back in a minute?’

‘Course,’ Morgan nodded, ‘Let me know if you need me to make my way over.’ Janice thanked him, Morgan not putting down the phone until she heard the click of the call ending. 

‘So,’ Diego started, ‘What do we think Alex is planning right now?’

‘Whatever it is,’ Chad said, ‘it can’t be good. Perhaps I should go to ground for a while.’

‘Don’t be so overdramatic,’ Morgan rolled her eyes. ‘What “nefarious” plans do you think they can make with photos and trinkets from their own childhood?’ She huffed out a breath, thinking carefully, ‘It’s more likely they’ve gone to look for baby photos or something.’

Diego thought for a moment, ‘You think they’re looking for any evidence they had a baby brother?’

‘Maybe,’ Morgan shrugged. ‘That’s what I’d do if I found out I had a missing sibling. Look for evidence.’

Before anyone else could respond, Morgan's phone rang again, and Morgan answered, ‘Hi again Mrs Stewart.’

Janice sniffed, and Morgan immediately frowned in concern, ‘So I know what Alex is looking at,’ Janice said. 

‘Are you okay?’ Morgan asked. ‘What happened?’

‘Hm? Oh, I’m fine,’ she said. ‘It’s just…’ she trailed off, and Morgan could hear her faint sigh. ‘I’ve just realised none of us have told you about Charlie.’

Chad swallowed, making Morgan put a finger to her lips. Just in case. ‘It doesn’t ring a bell.’

Janice was silent for another moment. ‘Charlie was Alex’s younger brother. We lost him…years ago now. But…time can only heal so much I guess,’ she said, her voice starting to well up with emotion.

‘I’m sorry,’ Morgan said.

‘Thank you dear,’ Janice sniffed. ‘Alex was so torn up about it.’ Morgan glanced up to catch Chad and Diego’s disbelief at her words. ‘Well, we all were.’

Morgan bit her lip, ‘I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that was like.’

‘It was hard,’ Janice said. ‘It still is. Having to tell people I have an angel in heaven.’ Her breath shuddered again, causing static down the phone. ‘Losing him is actually the main reason we avoided Capital City for so long.’

Morgan frowned, ‘Why? If…you don’t mind telling me of course. I’m not trying to pry.’

‘Oh you’re such a sweetheart,’ Janice said. ‘It was…it was just hard going back to the place he died. Losing him almost got me back into villainy actually.’ Chad stiffened out of the corner of Morgan’s eye, but Janice carried on. ‘Trying to wrangle a six year old and a toddler in the middle of the City was not easy at the best of times. But the heroes and villains…they should be more careful where they stage their battles.’

Morgan paled, ‘You lost him in the middle of a battle?’

‘He got scared, got away from us and ran into a building. Bernard went after him.’ Janice sniffed, ‘I almost lost both of them when the building went up in flames.’ Chad’s eyes were wide, and Diego was shaking her head. Morgan however was barely paying attention to them, too busy listening intently to Janice. ‘I managed to get Bernard out, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t…I couldn’t find my baby.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ Morgan whispered. She could hear Janice sniffing and the soft sobs from the other end of the phone. ‘Do you want me to come down? I can bring some of Alex’s stuff, help out with Daisy, anything you need.’

‘Oh,’ Janice tutted, ‘that isn’t necessary. You don’t need to worry about us.’

‘I know,’ Morgan said. ‘But I want to help you if I can.’

‘You are so sweet,’ Janice said, and Morgan could hear the smile in her voice despite her trembling from the tears. ‘We always love to see you. But don’t feel obligated, okay?’

‘Of course,’ Morgan said. ‘I can let you know when I’m an hour away.’

‘Perfect! That gives me plenty of time to cook something up for you.’

Morgan smiled, ‘I can’t wait. See you soon.’ 

The two hung up, Morgan swallowing and putting her phone away. ‘I know we’re still in the middle of this, but-’

‘You didn’t tell her,’ Diego said.

Morgan shook her head, ‘No, that feels unfair to do over the phone. Besides, Chad hasn’t decided what he wants to do yet.’ Chad blinked in confusion at Morgan’s statement, and Morgan shrugged. ‘I’m not going to rush you into something.’

‘Thank you,’ Chad rasped.

‘There’s nothing to rush into,’ Diego said. ‘The tests are wrong.’

Morgan sighed, ‘Diego…’

‘Janice just said her toddler aged son ran into a building that went up in flames. Ran Morgan. That meant he had to be two or three at least. But I remember Chad coming home from the hospital. I remember his birthdays, I remember his first Christmas. All of it.’

Chad looked away, eyes glistening again. Morgan sighed, ‘So your memories from when we were four are more reliable than actual science?’

‘A test you got done in secret because a villain told you something about the Chadster.’ Diego shook her head, ‘Not the most reliable starting point for a theory Morgan. Especially when it’s from the psycho that stalks Chad.’

‘Technically he’s the Chadster’s stalker,’ Chad whispered. ‘He doesn’t really care about Chad.’

‘Not the point,’ Diego said. ‘The point is, are we sure we can really trust any of this?’

Morgan looked at Diego incredulously, ‘You helped me get the tests sorted.’

‘Yeah, because I thought they would tell you that what Rex said was bogus! And then you would drop it and we could go find out Rex’s actual plan!’

‘So because the tests say something you don’t like, you're going to ignore them?’ Morgan asked. ‘What the hell?’

‘I’m not going to just believe them,’ Diego said. ‘Rex could have messed with the results.’

‘This clinic is fully independent! I told you! I vetted everything!’

‘There’s no way to know without doing the test again,’ Chad said, his voice hoarse. ‘Or by checking the clinic again.’

Diego nodded, ‘Good idea, we can get our hero contacts to check the clinic over.’ Morgan rolled her eyes, but Diego carried on. ‘We need to investigate Rex properly as well.’

Morgan shook her head, ‘That’s not-’

‘Good idea,’ Chad said. ‘I should look into Rex though.’

‘You’re sure you’re okay with doing that?’

‘Of course,’ Chad said. ‘I’m a hero, that’s my job.’

Diego smiled, pulling Chad into a hug, ‘Proud of you Cheddar.’

Chad gave a watery smile and nodded, ‘Thank you sis.’ 

‘Right,’ Morgan closed her eyes and stepped away, ‘well while you do that, I’m going to go look for the actual answers.’

Chad looked up, ‘Wait, Morgan! Rex is still after you and Alex isn’t here to scare him off. I should make sure you’re safe until they get back.’

‘Absolutely not!’ Morgan laughed. ‘You are not going to start babysitting me.’

‘Morgan, you’re in danger,’ Chad said. ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’

Diego worried at her lip, watching the two of them. ‘Morgan, please. You’re our sister, let us protect you.’

Morgan sighed, hiding her face with her hands as the two heroes talked over her around bodyguarding and watches. Diego soon left with a list of things to look into and a final wave for Morgan. As soon as the door closed behind her Morgan glared at Chad, ‘You’re not stopping me from going to the Stewarts.’

Chad nodded, ‘I know.’ He looked up, and Morgan caught Chad’s heroic bravado falter to show a glimpse of fear. ‘But I’m still not leaving you alone.’

Morgan’s eyes narrowed as she scanned over Chad’s expression. ‘What are you thinking?’

Chad looked away from making eye contact with Morgan. ‘Do…do you remember when I would wake you up in the middle of the night and you would let me get into your bed?’

Morgan faltered, trying to work out where Chad’s question had come from. ‘Which time?’

‘When I first started doing it?’ Chad asked.

Morgan barely had to think about it. ‘Yeah. You lost your little rabbit and started having nightmares. Why?’

Chad swallowed, ‘Do you remember what they were about? The nightmares?’

Morgan frowned, trying to think. ‘I mean…not well. You weren’t even three yet, you weren’t that good at…talking.’ Morgan looked back at Chad, who swallowed under Morgan’s scrutiny. ‘I do remember you were scared of fire though. For a long time.’

Chad nodded, ‘Never made sense did it? Being scared of fire when Mum could summon it at will?’

‘Made sense to me,’ Morgan said. ‘I hated Mum’s sparring lessons. But you didn’t get those lessons until you were eight.’ Chad shrugged, looking away so Morgan couldn’t read his expression. ‘Are you actually considering this as a possibility?’

‘No,’ Chad said. Too quickly, and far too defensive. ‘But…maybe I could imagine what that Charlie kid went through. In his final moments. Must have been scary.’

Morgan nodded, thoughtful for a moment. ‘Okay. Well…I’m going to check in on Alex. And say hi to Janice and Bernard. And maybe get fed.’

‘Well,’ Chad said. ‘I refuse to leave you alone and vulnerable to Rex’s next attack. So I should stick with you to make sure you’re safe.’

Morgan watched Chad carefully, replaying the conversation between Chad and Diego in her head. For a moment, she wondered when Chad had gotten so bloody cunning. ‘I’ll send Janice a heads up that I’ll have a bodyguard. Give me a minute to pack.’ 

Chapter Text

After a quick flurry of packing and a quick trip to Chad’s apartment, the siblings were throwing the final bags into the car and getting ready to go.

‘How long is the drive?’ Chad asked.

‘A few hours,’ Morgan said. ‘Just got to make sure I have the right address.’

‘I thought you’d been to their house?’

‘I have. But last time Alex just teleported us,’ Morgan shrugged. She put their address into her sat nav and watched the route calculate. ‘Oh.’

Chad peeked a look over her shoulder, ‘A few hours?!’

‘Technically I’m not wrong,’ Morgan said, putting the satnav on the dashboard. ‘We can grab food on the way.’

‘Actual food,’ Chad warned. ‘You can’t just have coffee.’

‘Course not!’ Morgan pulled up her music on her phone as she glared at Chad. ‘If it's an all nighter while driving coffee won’t be strong enough. I’ll grab some energy drinks.’

‘No,’ Chad said, ‘We’ll find somewhere to sleep when it gets that late.’ 

Morgan rolled her eyes but for once she didn’t argue. Her gut told her she wouldn’t need to. Instead she busied herself with picking her favourite driving playlist, pulling out onto the road and heading straight out of the city and towards the nearest highway. 

Aside from the music, the trip was quiet for the first hour or so. Morgan was too busy singing along to the strange medley of rock music, her hands drumming on the wheel in time with the music. If Chad had anything on his mind he didn’t try to bring it up. Instead he watched the city melt into the highway, trees and fields racing past them. 

It was an hour later to the minute when Chad glanced over at Morgan, who was busying herself with shouting along to a song he recognised from when she would drive around in her first car. Glancing down at her phone, Chad slowly and carefully reached out for her phone. When she didn’t notice, Chad quickly inputted her passcode, grinning at guessing it right. In fact, Morgan didn’t even realise what Chad was doing until the song cut off mid chorus.

‘The hell?’ Morgan looked over as Chad pressed the screen and electronic lo-fi beats started coming through the speakers. ‘What are you doing?’

‘It’s my turn to pick music.’

Morgan scowled and tried to snatch her phone back, ‘Since when?’

‘That's how we’ve always picked music in the car. You get an hour, Diego gets an hour, I get an hour.’

‘Not in my car you don’t! How did you even get into my phone?’

‘With the password,’ Chad said with a grin. ‘You should really get into better cybersecurity practices.’

Morgan frowned, ‘I have fourteen different passwords for my phone alone. How the hell do you know them all?’

Chad shrugged, ‘You’re a creature of habit.’

‘Excuse you!’ Morgan finally managed to snatch her phone back.

‘Hey! It’s my turn!’

‘In this car driver picks the music and shotgun shuts their cakehole,’ Morgan grumbled, trying to find her driving playlist again.

Chad sighed, ‘Morgan please. There’s only so much distorted rock music I can deal with. Can we please put on something else?’

‘I’m not putting your stupid lo-fi music on.’

‘It’s not stupid! It’s relaxing!’

Morgan snorted, ‘It’s boring. And do you really want me getting bored while the two of us are in a car alone in the middle of a highway?’

Chad paused, thinking for a moment. ‘Good point. Then how about just the radio?’

‘Nah, if I’m going to listen to the same ten songs on repeat they’re going to be good ones.’ Morgan scrolled through her phone for a second, looking at the options. ‘How about gaming music?’

‘I said relaxing Morgan. Driving to some final boss music is asking for trouble.’

‘Fine. Then…electroswing.’ 

‘Electro what?’

Morgan’s jaw dropped, ‘You uncultured swine!’ She immediately put on an electroswing playlist and tucked the phone into its phone compartment, grinning at the sound of saxophones and trumpets. She immediately started bopping along to the music, making Chad shake his head and grab the phone. ‘You can’t be serious!’ Morgan shouted.

‘Singing’s one thing, but you dancing while driving is a hazard,’ Chad said. He went into Morgan’s playlists, raising an eyebrow at the number of playlists referencing heist planning, until he found something satisfactory.

The first bars of the music started and Morgan raised an eyebrow, ‘Taylor Swift? Really?’

Chad shrugged, ‘I like Taylor Swift.’

Morgan snorted, trying very hard to keep her eyes on the road. Driving down empty highways was her favourite type of driving, and now she was very grateful for the deserted road as she started to laugh, Chad’s confusion only making her laugh more. ‘Sorry! Sorry, I just didn’t realise you were a Swiftie.’

Chad shrugged, suddenly sheepish, ‘That’s not a bad thing. She’s a very talented singer.’

‘She is! She is,’ Morgan chuckled. ‘I just…can’t picture you at a Taylor Swift concert.’

Chad’s blush grew at that. ‘Why couldn’t I go to a Taylor Swift concert?’

‘I’m not saying you couldn’t.’

‘You just think I would look out of place?’

‘I mean…’ Morgan glanced over to make sure Chad wasn’t actually pouting. ‘Most Swifties aren’t superheroes in their day job.’

Chad huffed, ‘Well. You know what they say.’ He glanced over at Morgan. ‘The fakers gonna fake fake fake fake fake.’

Morgan’s smile dropped. ‘No.’

Chad began to smirk, ‘The haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate.’

‘I will kick you out of this car.’

‘And I’m just shake shake shake-’

‘Chad!’

‘Shake it off!’ Chad started laughing as Morgan declared she was revoking his Taylor Swift privileges. Until the playlist switched over to the song in question and Chad cheered, immediately singing along. Morgan tried to keep her scowl up, but something about Chad singing along with absolute joy was infectious enough to make the corner of her mouth curl up into a grin. Something that she vehemently denied when Chad had finished singing and spotted the expression on her face. The two argued, getting louder and laughing harder as the song swapped again, Morgan insisting that they swap the music to something else while Chad demanded they keep it on.

‘Okay!’ Chad shouted. ‘Compromise.’ Morgan stopped shouting, raising an eyebrow at Chad. ‘One more Taylor song. And then you can pick the next music. But!’ he raised his finger for emphasis, ‘you have to sing along.’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘You’d better make your one song count then.’ 

Chad grinned and pulled up the playlist, scrolling for a few seconds before picking a song, looking very proud of himself when the intro started. His grin only growing bigger when Morgan immediately recognised it and they glared at Chad. ‘No.’

‘You made a deal.’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Then I get to listen to my music the entire way there right?’

Morgan bit her lip, sighing as the song built up to the chorus. Making Chad beam as she began to sing along through gritted teeth, ‘And he’s long gone, when he’s next to me.’

‘And I realise,’ Chad began to sing along, still beaming, ‘the blame is on me.’

Morgan chuckled, still singing along as Chad got louder when the chorus hit. She shook her head, her attention jumping between the road and watching Chad sing along with nothing but joy. And something about it made Morgan’s half hearted singing just a little more enthusiastic. Just a little louder. Until by the final chorus the two of them were singing at the top of their lungs. More shouting than singing really. But they sang and laughed as the song ended and the playlist jumped to the next one.

A couple of hours and a trip to the services later, and the various attempts at karaoke had wound down to a gentle hum. Morgan had managed to get her gaming music on, with Chad trying to guess which game it was from and making Morgan despair with every guess. She was slurping at the last of her soda from their drive thru dinner, and Chad was debating which of the various sweet treats they should open first. Morgan insisted on a twinkie to start with, while Chad cracked open the strawberry laces. 

He looked out the window, watching the last of the sunset, before turning to Morgan, ‘How much longer do we have to go?’

Morgan tapped on the sat nav, ‘We’re about a third of the way there.’

Chad frowned, ‘We should really pull over soon. I don’t want you pulling an all-nighter.’

Morgan shrugged, ‘I’ll pull over when I get tired.’

‘Promise?’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘Yes I promise. When I get tired enough to sleep I will pull over and find somewhere for us to rest.’

Chad squinted in suspicion, then nodded, seemingly satisfied. The music drifted over the two of them, the only disturbance was the rustling of the sweet bag as Chad tried to wrangle out another strawberry lace.

Eventually Chad had to break the silence, ‘So uh…Alex’s parents. What do you think they’ll be like tomorrow?’

Morgan kept her face neutral, glancing over at Chad. He was looking out of the window, fiddling with the sweet wrapper with one hand. His other hand was absentmindedly playing with the hem of his jacket, the material rubbing between his thumb and forefinger. ‘If they’re anything like they usually are, Janice will insist on feeding us as soon as we walk through the door. Doesn’t matter if it's mealtime or not, she will be giving us food. Bernard will probably be tending to the animals or in the workshop at first. He might have the news on, he might have his old man radio station on, something like that.’

‘They have animals?’ Chad asked.

‘Oh yeah, they own a farm,’ Morgan said. ‘They have chickens, a couple of pigs, a few horses. Oh, and Daisy the pony. Cutest girl in the whole farm.’ Morgan glanced over at Chad, watching him stare out of the window. ‘They’ll probably offer a tour if you’re interested?’

‘Maybe,’ Chad muttered. ‘I don’t need one though. I’m only going to make sure you’re safe, remember?’

Morgan opened her mouth, before pausing. ‘Right. Yep. Of course.’

The car continued in silence for a while longer. The two of them were barely listening to the music anymore. Morgan could tell that Chad was thinking, and thinking hard. And that his thoughts would lead to questions. It was only a matter of time until they spilled over. If Diego was here she would have probed Chad by now to help coax said questions out. But that wasn’t really Morgan’s expertise. So she drove, and waited, for Chad to be ready. Or for him to just burst from the pressure. Same result in the end.

The sun had finally set when Chad managed to get out his next question. ‘Earlier when you…when you explained everything about this theory of yours. You said I’d always be your brother no matter what.’ Morgan tried not to flinch, but made a noise to confirm she had heard him. ‘Did you really mean that? This isn’t just an elaborate plan to dump me onto the Stewarts?’

Morgan sighed and shook her head, ‘No. No it isn’t. For starters you’re a grown adult, I can’t dump you on anyone.’ A ghost of a smile crossed Chad’s lips, so fast Morgan barely caught it. ‘But you are my brother. And even if I think you’re an asshole-

‘Hey!’

‘-even then, that’s not going to change,’ Morgan finished. She glanced over, trying to give Chad a small smile. ‘I meant what I said. Diego and I raised you to be our annoying little brother, and no one can take that, or you, away from us.’

‘Then why did you do all this?’ Chad asked. ‘Go after this information, go behind everyone’s backs?’

‘I went behind everyone’s backs because I didn’t want you or Alex to freak out over a rumour from Rex,’ Morgan said. ‘And I did it because I needed to know if we had been lied to. If after all the truth comes out you reject all of it and continue to be Chad Sterling the great hero then that’s up to you. But then you would have the information, you can make that choice. But if it’s true then someone took that choice away from us when we were too young to fight back and that’s fucked up.’

‘Us?’ Chad asked. Morgan’s hold on the steering wheel tightened slightly, and Chad thought for a moment, ‘Training to be my sidekick would probably sting if I wasn’t even your brother, huh?’ Morgan slipped into her old poker face, not giving anything away, not even when Chad’s head tilted back onto the head rest. ‘Before this, I was your little brother who got stronger than you and was raised to be the brilliant hero with you as the sidekick to protect me. But now…if this test is right, which it’s not by the way. But, if it is then you were raised to be a sidekick for a fake brother.’

‘You are my brother,’ Morgan said.

‘Not biologically,’ Chad replied. ‘According to the test. Which I don’t believe.’

Morgan licked her lips, trying to choose her words carefully, ‘I hated that I got forced to train as a sidekick. I hated the fact that our parents could see no better life for me than that. Being the sidekick for my little brother was salt in the wound.’ Morgan glanced over again. Chad wasn’t looking at Morgan, his eyes focused on the bag of sweets in his hand. ‘If the test is right, then you shouldn’t have been raised to be a hero at all.’

Chad snorted, ‘No I would have been raised to be a villain.’

‘No you wouldn’t,’ Morgan said. ‘Janice and Bernard didn’t raise Alex to be a villain.’ Chad looked at her in disbelief, and Morgan shrugged. ‘It’s true. They didn’t want to pick a side or a career path for Alex. They could have become anything. Janice actually had to fight off the FA’s interest in Alex joining the early recruits program when their powers came in until Alex decided what they wanted to do.’

‘You believe that?’

Morgan smiled and nodded, ‘When you meet them you’ll get why I believe that. But…they didn’t have a specific plan for Alex’s future. They just raised a kid, taught them their manners and how to run a farm. Helped them with homework. Taught them how to cook. Whatever Alex chose to do was entirely on them.’ Morgan had to pause to swallow down the emotions beginning to well up. ‘If the test is right, then you got taken away from that life. You should have had that chance to just…be a kid and learn how to ride a horse, or cook, or whatever else you wanted to learn. And if you chose to be a hero they would have supported you. But they would have supported you if you…chose to be a fisherman.’ Chad snorted at the suggestion, and Morgan smiled. ‘Or a football player, or an actor…’

‘Or a doctor?’

‘Now let's not get ahead of ourselves,’ Morgan grinned. ‘You’ve only got so many brain cells.’

‘Hey!’ Chad threw another twinkie at Morgan, making her laugh as she ripped open the packet to tuck in. ‘I could have been a doctor.’

‘Playing a doctor on Grey’s Anatomy wouldn’t count.’

Chad grinned, ‘I would be an amazing actor.’

Morgan smiled as well, ‘I’ll agree with that one. As long as you got rid of your hero voice.’

‘What hero voice?’ Chad said, slipping into his loud boisterous tone with a grin. ‘This is just how I talk Morgan!’

‘Nope! No, that voice is banned in my car!’ Morgan said, glaring until Chad burst into laughter. ‘You think I’m joking? I will stuff the rest of the twinkies down your throat to shut you up.’

Chad carried on laughing, settling back down in his seat. He went back to looking out the window as the conversation lulled, the silence only broken by the music still playing. ‘So, about the sidekick thing.’

Morgan took in a slow breath before replying, ‘I hated being trained as a sidekick. But if I got trained to be a sidekick for someone who wasn’t born into the life, for someone who didn’t need to be raised in that environment, it just makes all that bullshit even worse. We were raised to be heroes, that was clear from day 1. Which means I got trained to be the sidekick for a boy who was robbed of the childhood he was supposed to have. And I can never undo that.’

Chad finally turned to look at Morgan, watching the poker face crack to show the anger and hurt just below the surface. ‘If the tests are right.’

Morgan let out a slow breath. ‘If the tests are right.’

‘Which they’re not.’

Morgan sighed, ‘If you say so.’ 

‘And even if they are,’ Chad said, ‘it wouldn’t be your issue to undo. Like you said, we were raised in that life. We didn’t get a say, we were given a duty and had to fulfil it. So even if the tests are right…none of that would be on your head. And if Alex’s parents are as perfectly wonderful as you say they are, I don’t think they would blame you for any of that.’

Morgan swallowed, breathing carefully so that her lip wouldn’t start to quiver. ‘Thanks.’

Chad smiled, looking back out of the window to watch the silhouettes of the trees race past. And if he heard Morgan sniff or wipe at her eyes, he wasn’t about to point it out. Morgan always hated it when people saw her cry.

Chapter Text

By the time the journey had hit the halfway point Chad had clocked out, snoozing softly against the window. Morgan gave him a solid fifteen minutes to check he was definitely asleep before slowing down, feeling around in the backseat of the car for the second secret bag of supplies she sourced when Chad wasn’t looking. She popped open the can of energy drink and took a long swig, resting the drink in the cup holder before turning the music up slightly, careful not to wake Chad as she did so. As long as the music was loud enough to keep her attention and she paced the energy drinks however, she would not get tired enough to have to keep the promise she made to Chad. 

The rest of the car drive was quiet, with Morgan not letting her mind drift too far from the road and the plan in front of her. When they got to the other end and after Morgan had checked on Alex and Chad had made a decision about telling Janice and Bernard or not, then she could fall down the spiral of thoughts and emotions that was threatening to drown her. But until then she still needed to drive, still needed to be there for Chad and the Stewarts. And she couldn’t do that if she was distracted by her own annoying feelings. 

So she drove, and sipped at her energy drinks, and listened to her music. And worked out how to introduce Chad to Janice and Bernard, tried to guess what Janice would make for them for breakfast. She imagined introducing Chad to the various animals on the farm, and the inevitable butting of heads between Chad and Alex. All entirely normal things, that definitely didn’t raise Morgan’s blood pressure. 

At the point dawn was beginning to break Morgan checked the route on the satnav, cracking open another can when she saw how much farther there was to go. The sun was fully in the sky by the time Morgan was able to give Janice her one hour warning. And Chad slept through the whole thing, right until Morgan pulled up onto the drive of a very familiar farm house. 

Chad startled when Morgan gave him an unceremonious poke, bolting up in his seat and looking around with bleary eyes, ‘Sup?’

‘We’re here,’ Morgan said, stashing her trash in the back and turning off the car.

Chad yawned, giving a stretch that popped a number of spots in his back and shoulder before looking through the windscreen at the farm house in front of them. ‘What time is it?’

‘Breakfast time,’ Morgan grinned, climbing out of her car.

Chad frowned at that, following Morgan out of the car and to the trunk to grab their bags. ‘When did you pull over to sleep?’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Didn’t need to. Wasn’t tired.’

Chad glared, ‘Morgan!’

‘Morgan!’ Another voice interrupted them, and Morgan grinned at the sight of a middle aged woman waving at the front door. Her blonde and silver hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she was pulling a cardigan on over clothes already dusted in flour. ‘It’s lovely to see you dear!’

‘Hi Mrs Stewart,’ Morgan smiled, jogging up to the porch and letting Janice pull her into a tight hug. ‘I see baking’s started early.’

A chuckle came from inside the house as Bernard stepped into the foyer, ‘You brought a new person for Janice to feed. She’s been in hostess mode since your call yesterday.’

Chad’s eyes widened at those words, just in time to Janice to spot him. ‘Speaking of, this must be your brother turned bodyguard.’

Morgan smiled and made room for Chad to step up onto the porch. ‘At his insistence. Chad, this is Janice and Bernard. And this is my little brother Chad.’

‘Tall fella isn’t he?’ Bernard grinned. ‘Did he take all your growth spurts Morgan?’

Morgan snorted, ‘You can blame that on Diego actually. I’m the only normal person surrounded by freakishly tall giants.’

Chad bit back a snigger at that just as Janice chuckled, ‘If you say so dear. Now,’ she turned to Chad with a beam that blindsided Chad, ‘Morgan didn’t tell me what your favourite food was, so I’ve just done a bit of everything. You can help yourself to as much or as little as you want, and make sure you don’t stand on ceremony.’

Chad smiled, ‘Thank you, that’s really kind of you.’

‘Oh it’s a warning dear,’ Janice laughed. ‘If you try to be all polite and make sure everyone else goes first Bernard will eat the lot!’

‘Not if I have anything to say about it,’ Morgan grinned. Bernard laughed at that, pulling Morgan into a headlock and ruffling her hair, making Morgan shriek with laughter. Chad watched on, dumbstruck at the sight, as Janice guided him into the house. She ushered him to drop the bags and led him into the house as Morgan and Bernard continued to banter in the foyer.

‘Are they always like that?’ Chad asked.

Janice smiled, ‘Morgan and Bernard? Oh absolutely. They’re always talking about their latest workshop and project ideas. Peas in a pod, those two.’

Chad looked back, watching Morgan chatter at Bernard with her face alight with joy. Her shoulders relaxed as Bernard wrapped her into a one armed hug, and something panged in Chad’s chest.

‘Are you alright there, love?’ 

Chad flinched at Janice’s voice, slipping into his normal smile and pushing his shoulders back, ‘Of course. I just worry about my sister, that’s all.’

Janice’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘You don’t have to do that, you know?’ Chad raised his eyebrows in confusion, trying to not let his smile falter. ‘I know you don’t know us very well, but I promise, you and Morgan are both completely safe here.’

‘Of course,’ Chad nodded, still smiling. Refusing to let the mask crack.

Janice looked over at Morgan, then back at Chad. ‘It must have been hard to grow so distant after what you went through as kids.’

That made Chad flinch. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

Janice just gave him a look. ‘Alright love. I won’t push. Lets get some breakfast in you.’

When the door to the kitchen opened Chad was hit with a wave of warmth and smells that made his mouth water. Sweet baked muffins mixed with rich coffee and salty bacon, and Chad looked in surprise at the table already decked out with an assortment of food. Muffins and waffles and pancakes, hash browns. Carafes of juice, jugs of various syrups, and a large pot of coffee.

‘Now,’ Janice said, breaking Chad out of his reverie, ‘help yourself to drinks. And since the others aren’t in yet you get your eggs first.’

‘I’m sorry?’ Chad asked. Still lingering in the door awkwardly as he took in the very large and very beautiful kitchen.

‘Your eggs, how do you like them?’ Janice asked. ‘I can do boiled, poached, scrambled, omelette, sunny side up. Or if you don’t like eggs at all then you can just tuck in.’

‘Oh,’ Chad blinked in surprise, looking at the table again, ‘I…I don’t mind.’

Janice chuckled, ‘I’m not going to try and find out all your secrets by getting the eggs you like. Now, which ones do you fancy?’

‘Uh…’ Chad looked at the display on the table already. ‘I really don’t…whatever is easiest.’

‘They’re all easy,’ Janice chuckled.

Footsteps from the corridor made Chad turn to see Bernard and Morgan finally joining them. ‘Is Janice bullying you about eggs?’ Bernard asked with a smile.

‘I’m doing no such thing!’

Morgan smiled and shrugged at Chad, ‘You still like cheesy omelettes?’

‘I…’ Chad glanced between Morgan and Bernard, clearly torn about something, ‘am happy with however you will have your eggs.’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘I like them scrambled, Alex has them sunny side up, and Janice and Bernard have them either poached or fried.’

Chad nodded, ‘One of those is fine. Thank you, I appreciate all of this.’

Bernard gave Janice a look before she had a chance to huff, skirting around the kitchen table to appease her with a kiss on the cheek. Morgan moved past Chad, helping herself to a cup of coffee and gesturing for Chad to grab a drink as well. He poured himself a glass of juice, sipping at it gingerly and looking over all of the food again, trying to work out exactly how the four of them were going to get through it all.

‘Alright,’ Bernard said. ‘One of us should go wake up Alex.’

Make that five, Chad thought to himself with dread.

Morgan glanced up at Chad and put down her drink, ‘I can go get them up. Let you guys finish with breakfast.’

‘Are you sure sweetheart?’ Janice asked. ‘You just got here.’

‘Yeah but I came to check in on all of you so…’ Morgan shrugged with a smile and darted out of the room.

Janice sighed, giving Bernard a silent look that seemed to carry a full conversation in it, and Bernard only shrugged in response. ‘Right, well,’ Janice said while turning back to the cooker, ‘Chad dear, how was your trip down?’

Chad perched on the nearest kitchen chair as Bernard ushered for him to start taking his pick of food. ‘It was fine. Roads were quiet for the most part.’

‘That’s good,’ Janice said. ‘I’m guessing one of you took shifts during the night. You’re more than welcome to use the guest room later if you need a nap.’

Chad flashed a smile, trying not to look guilty at the thought of letting Morgan do the entire drive on her own with no breaks. ‘Thank you. That’s very kind. So uh…’ Chad paused, looking around for a topic of conversation, ‘Morgan says you keep animals?’

‘Course we do,’ Bernard said with a grin as he settled onto his own chair. ‘We’ve got all sorts out on the back. How do you feel about horses?’

‘Oh…’ Chad frowned as he thought about it, ‘Diego used to love them when we were kids. I’ve never actually seen one up close though.’

Bernard’s eyebrows raised in surprise, ‘Well that settles it then! Farm tour after breakfast!’ And with that Bernard was off telling all sorts of stories about the animals, the various attempts at growing crops, the drama with the former neighbours, anything and everything he could think about. Chad was gripped, listening intently as Bernard effortlessly slid from one story to the next. He barely noticed when Janice came around to slide a cheesy omelette onto his plate, until the first bite made him hum in surprise. Bernard continued with his story though, only allowing Chad to whisper a quick but grateful thank you to Janice. 

Chad had managed to make his way through most of the omelette and two of the pancakes when Janice sighed in worry, looking at the kitchen door, ‘I wonder what’s taking them so long?’

Chad paused mid bite, chewing slowly as he looked between Alex’s parents, carefully gauging their reactions. Bernard sipped at his coffee, frowning as well, ‘Alex was in a bad way last night. I hoped a good rest would perk them back up, but I guess not.’

‘Did uh…’ Chad swallowed his bite of food, pushing past the sudden lump of anxiety in his throat, ‘did Alex ever say what happened? Morgan didn’t really talk about it but she was worried on the way down.’

Janice smiled sadly at that, ‘She was? Of course she was, Morgan is so sweet.’ She grabbed a glass of juice and sipped at it while pondering. ‘I’m not sure how much Morgan has told you about our family?’

‘Only good things,’ Chad said with a smile. ‘To be honest we don’t talk all that much. What with um…career choices.’

Janice and Bernard both nodded in understanding. ‘Well,’ Bernard said, ‘we have our fair share of tragedy. Alex was very young when it happened, and I don’t think any of us really handled it well. For a good while afterwards at least.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Chad said.

‘Thank you dear,’ Janice gave him a small smile. She thought for a moment, her gaze fixed on a blueberry muffin. ‘Maybe it’s worse for Alex because we don’t talk about it,’ she said to Bernard.

Bernard shrugged in response, ‘They need to be around for us to talk though.’

‘I hear villainy is a demanding career,’ Chad muttered. The two villains in the room chuckled at that.

‘It’s more fun than hero work at least.’ The three of them turned at the sound of the new voice, watching Morgan come around the kitchen door. ‘Pays better too.’

Chad rolled his eyes as Morgan stepped in, thanking Janice for the food and grabbing a fresh cup of coffee. ‘The saying is “crime doesn’t pay”.’

‘Agree to disagree,’ Morgan said with a grin before spearing a waffle. ‘Alex is in the shower by the way.’

‘Ah,’ Bernard said. ‘Better make sure there’s enough water in the tank then.’ He stood up, doing a quick stretch before turning his attention to Chad. ‘Are you still interested in that tour?’

‘Oh, yeah. Yes that sounds fun,’ Chad said, smiling as Bernard left the room. 

‘Don’t rush him Bernard!’ Janice said. She turned to Chad with a soft smile, ‘You take your time with breakfast, alright dear?’

Chad nodded, ‘Thank you Mrs Stewart.’

Janice scoffed, ‘Oh please. Anyone who gets invited to my table gets to call me Janice and him Bernard.’

Chad blushed at that, shoving some more food into his mouth before he was forced to answer another question. Morgan looked between the two of them, giving Chad a little smile. Chad tried to sneak a glare at Morgan in return, which only made Morgan silently shake with laughter. The rest of their silent conversation was cut short by Bernard returning with his rain boots, telling Chad to come and join him out the back when he was ready. Despite Janice’s protests Chad shovelled the last of the food on his plate into his mouth, throwing out a final muffled thank you before darting after Bernard. 

Morgan snorted at the sight, taking her time tucking into some bacon as Janice prepared a plate for Alex. ‘That didn’t take long for him to get the tour.’

Janice smiled, ‘What can I say? Bernard worked his magic.’ With Alex’s food on one side Janice finally grabbed breakfast herself, scanning over Morgan as she sat down. ‘He reminds me a lot of what you were like the first time you visited. All nerves and small space. Which is impressive considering how big his hero persona is.’

Morgan blinked at that, ‘He told you his hero persona?’

Janice smiled, ‘When you’ve been in the business as long as I have and have seen both sides of the hero villain fight, you learn to notice a few things. And connecting Chad with the Chadster is not exactly the biggest leap.’

Morgan snorted, ‘You should tell his nemesis that then.’

‘Oh that Roofer fellow is an idiot,’ Janice said. ‘A genius in many respects granted, but common sense is not one of them.’ Morgan chuckled at that, and Janice looked to the back door. ‘I do have one question though. What happened to Chad’s arms?’

‘Oh, uh…Alex did.’

Janice’s eyes widened slightly, ‘Oh my. Maybe we should keep them in separate rooms for a while then.’

Morgan smirked, ‘Might be for the best.’

Chapter Text

The shower was at its hottest setting, filling the room with solid steam thick enough to choke on. The scalding water was hammering onto Alex’s back as they braced against the wall. Head down, they watched the water spin into the drain. The whirlpool drained away any trace of sleep and salt that had been on their face. Breathe in, and breathe out , Alex thought. Don’t break Mum’s wall again.

Alex barely reacted at the knock on the bathroom door. ‘Alex?’ Bernard called out.

‘Yeah,’ Alex croaked.

‘I’m assuming Morgan told you about our guest. Not sure how you feel about this one so I’m taking him outside. You’d better not avoid breakfast today alright? Or your mum will have a fit.’

Alex let out a breath. ‘Got it,’ he shouted back.

‘Alrighty then,’ Bernard said. ‘Let us know if you need anything.’

Alex squeezed their eyes shut, ‘Yep! Will do.’ They held it in until Bernard’s obvious steps had faded away down the stairs. They could have kept on listening if they wanted to. Or tune into the conversation in the kitchen to see what Morgan and their Mum was gossiping about. But the only thing they honestly wanted to hear was the shower. The hammering of the water against tile was like static, blurring into the background. Better than silence. Better than worried voices. Or angry ones. Better than their swirling thoughts playing over the same scenes over and over again. 

When they found out that Morgan was coming over they were fully expecting her to be weird when she arrived. Perhaps she would be jittery, or harsh and cold. Or two steps away from a breakdown herself. But when she walked into their bedroom she was wearing an expression Alex hadn’t seen on her before. She was quiet in the dark bedroom, creeping over to the bed in that way she did at 5am when she was supposed to be in bed six hours earlier. Perching carefully on the edge of the bed, she managed to meet Alex’s eyes. Which was their first mistake. Alex had thought they had cried all their tears out the day before, but their eyes were prickling again. Morgan didn’t raise any attention to it though, except to put a hand on Alex’s arm.

She finally broke the silence with a whisper. ‘Janice told me about Charlie.’

Alex’s whimper was enough for Morgan to lean down and wrap Alex up in a hug. They clung to Morgan, sobbing into her shoulder. She didn’t try to hush them or quiet them down. She just laid down next to Alex and tucked them under her chin, brushing her fingers through their hair as they cried. ‘Do you want to talk about him?’ she asked.

They didn’t. But the words tumbled out anyway. They told Morgan about meeting Charlie for the first time when he came back from the hospital, about how he used to chase the chickens around. How he laughed at thunderstorms and hated broccoli. The day of the accident came next, about how scary the hero and villain fight was. How Charlie had screamed and bolted, and their Dad had gone after him while their mother was desperately trying to bring up some defences for the four of them. And all Alex could pay attention to was that Charlie had dropped Hops in his panic.

‘Hops?’ Morgan asked. It was the first thing she had said since Alex had started rambling.

Alex sniffed and nodded, ‘It was this little rabbit stuffy. Charlie loved her, never went anywhere without her. But, she was just lying on the floor and Mum was freaking out, and all I could think was if Charlie lost this damn rabbit then he’d be heartbroken.’

Morgan rested her cheek against Alex’s heart, ‘So you rescued her?’

Alex shrugged, ‘Not that it did much good. I couldn’t protect Charlie, the one that actually mattered.’

‘You were six,’ Morgan said. ‘You did what you could.’

Alex laughed coldly at that, but didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond. Apparently their words had dried up.

‘So I should warn you,’ Morgan said, ‘I didn’t come on my own…’

‘I know Chad’s here,’ Alex grumbled. ‘Mum told me last night. You hadn’t told her about the test.’

‘Neither have you apparently.’

Alex sighed, looking closely at the stitching on the collar of Morgan’s shirt. ‘I don’t know what to do. Charlie…he’s been dead for years now. For most of my life. And I thought I’d give anything to have him back, but now...’

Morgan smiled sadly, ‘Confession time? I thought I’d give anything to get rid of Chad.’

‘And now?’

Morgan didn’t answer, holding onto Alex tighter. Alex slumped against her shoulder, the two of them losing themselves in the embrace. Letting the world shrink down to this one dark bedroom, with just the two of them in it.

Until Morgan moved. ‘I need coffee. And you probably need a shower.’

Alex grumbled, sitting up while glaring at Morgan. She flashed a brilliant smile at Alex in response and got up from the bed. ‘What are we going to do?’ Alex asked. ‘About this?’

Morgan faltered, turning back to Alex halfway. ‘I…was going to follow Chad’s lead on this one I think. For now at least.’

Alex let out a huff at that, ‘You expect me to hide this from my parents?’

Morgan raised her eyebrows, ‘Pretty sure I don’t have a say in what you do. Or how you do it. I can’t stop you from telling them if you want to. Besides,’ Morgan shrugged, ‘I reserve the right to change my mind later and tell them everything.’

Alex’s shoulders slumped, watching Morgan straighten her clothes and heading for the door. ‘Are you okay?’ Alex asked.

Morgan froze with her handle on the door. She swallowed, breathing carefully in the silent room. ‘Ask me again later,’ she whispered, and slipped through the door.

Alex was sure she was downstairs now, entertaining Mum with her latest heist plans over bacon and coffee. Dad would probably be doing his rounds around the farm by now. And Chad…

Alex sighed, scrubbing at their face before they gave any stray tears a chance to fall. They let the scalding water fall on their face, running their hands through their hair. They tried to focus on what they wanted to look like for the day. That was an easier thing to think about. What body, what hairstyle, what outfit. Eventually they had enough together to admit they needed to get out of the shower. They dried off in the steamy room, ruffling their blonde hair in their towel while feeling it grow past their shoulders. Their figure was slender with a hint of curves. And by the time they left the bathroom their perfect outfit was already on their bed. 

No one batted an eye at Alex thundering down the stairs. When she slunk into the kitchen however Morgan and Janice both did a double take. Morgan had to swallow a snort as she looked between Alex and Janice.

Janice frowned, scanning the outfit up and down, 'Absolutely not.'

Alex looked down at the ripped joggers, still stained with blood from various fights, and an oversized t-shirt that looked like it had been hacked at with a pair of rusty scissors and proclaimed, "Breaking news. I don't care". 'What? I don't see the problem.'

Janice gave Alex an unimpressed look, 'Alex we have a guest.'

'No,we have a hero in the house. And if we're not careful it might turn into an infestation.'

'Alex,' Janice snapped, levelling a glare at them. 'You are not wearing bloody and ripped clothes at my table.'

Alex rolled their eyes, snapping their fingers. The scruffy clothes melted away into a blood red corset shirt matched with perfectly form fitting black pants. 'There. Clean and whole.'

Morgan snorted into her coffee, trying to hide from Janice's glare. 'Is this really necessary?'

Alex shrugged, 'Depends. Is the idiot still around?'

'If you mean Chad,' Janice said in a disapproving tone, 'then your father is giving him a tour of the farm.'

Alex nodded and sat down at the table. 'Then the outfit is very necessary. Pass the juice?’

Morgan handed over the carafe of juice without a word, holding back her laughter. Janice sighed, ‘You know how I feel about you trying to make guests feel unwelcome.’

Alex gave their mother a cold smile, ‘I do indeed. And you know how I feel about heroes butting into my private stuff.’

‘He’s on the no kill list,’ Morgan muttered.

‘The no kill list-’

‘You will not be hurting any of my guests under my roof,’ Janice said, glaring at Alex with glowing scarlet eyes. Morgan flinched at the sight, pulling away from the table and preparing to get out of dodge. Especially when Alex’s cat like eyes met their mothers without hesitation. ‘Am I understood?’

Alex’s lip curled into a mockery of a smile, and they nodded, ‘None of your guests. Will be hurt by me. While under your roof.’

‘That includes the entire farm.’

Alex’s smile dropped and they huffed, ‘Fine.’

Janice smiled, the red light in her eyes fading to their usual light blue. ‘Thank you dear. Now, eat up.’

Chapter Text

‘You are a strong lad aren’t you?’

Chad looked up with a smile at Bernard. Apparently part of the tour of the farm was interactive, Bernard doing his mid-morning chores while also showing Chad the various animals. And, well, it was only polite for Chad to help out where he could. Right now the two of them had filled buckets with seed and pellets for the chicken coop, and Chad had grabbed the two heaviest ones without thinking.

‘I do try to keep fit,’ Chad said. ‘Although robot arms do help with that.’

Bernard nodded in approval, ‘Only so much. Your shoulders and back are working with those as well. It’s impressive.’ He picked up the final bucket and an empty basket. ‘I also need to check if the girls have left any eggs.’

Bernard led Chad to the large coop, pointing out various spots on the farm as they went. Chad took it all in with a soft smile. This he could do. He could be strong, learn about the animals, help out with the chores. Bernard’s stories were also providing a perfect distraction. 

‘Oh,’ Bernard said, interrupting himself, ‘Those buckets are for the larger run. If you leave those by the mesh there we’ll sort those in a second.’

Chad dropped the heaviest buckets before Bernard levered open the door to the main coop. Chad flinched at the sudden flurry of hay, sawdust, and clucking feathers. Bernard paid the chaos no mind, cooing over each of the birds as he carefully stepped through the coop, which was more like a small shed in size. The chickens flooded around their feet, heads bobbing at the two of them. Chad tried to gingerly fend them away with a foot while Bernard busied himself with hooking the basket onto a hook and emptying the first bucket into a long thin tray. The chickens hurried over, immediately pecking at the food and giving Chad a moment to breathe. 

Bernard then opened the panel to let the chickens out into the larger mesh run and checked at the various nests. A few of them were still occupied, and Bernard clucked. ‘Have you girls all made each other broody?’

‘Does that mean they’ve laid eggs?’

Bernard nodded, ‘Yeah and they want to sit on them, but there’s no rooster right now so there’s nothing to incubate. Time to get plucked at.’

Chad looked at his hands, and back at Bernard with a smile, ‘Anyway I can help?’

Bernard was about to refuse before he realised what Chad was indicating at, and grinned at the young hero. ‘Well if that ain’t useful. Okay, if you slide your hand in like this…’

Between the two of them Chad was able to lift up each of the hens so Bernard could grab all of the eggs while avoiding the worst of the angry beaks, placing them in the basket with delicate movements. Once they had been collected from the chickens and empty nests the two men left the coop to move around to the run. Bernard then directed Chad in filling the various feeding trays with the seeds and pellets while checking over the eggs. 

‘Okay,’ Bernard nodded, ‘The coop doesn’t need a clean for another couple of days. Horses or pigs next?’

Chad shrugged, ‘I’m happy to follow your lead.’

They spent a fair bit of time out on the farm, Bernard swapping between stories and instructing Chad on the various tasks for each of the animals. The two pigs, who Bernard affectionately called Petunia and Marigold, snuffled around Chad the entire time they were in the pig pen, even when Bernard had filled up their trough. The horses were something else entirely however. As soon as Bernard opened the stable there was excitable braying and the patter of horseshoes on hay. Chad started to pour buckets of feed where he was directed as Bernard went to open the stable doors, and Chad stared at the two sleek horses watching him. Bernard slid bridles onto them before leading them out of the stables. The thing that made Chad startle however was the small foal trotting out of one of the stables after the group. 

‘You have a foal?’ Chad asked.

Bernard smiled and nodded, ‘Yep, he’s a little rascal aren’t you? So, here we have Butterscotch,’ he said, gesturing to the tall sleek chestnut horse on his left who had immediately started eating grass, ‘Meringue,’ he gestured to the wider cream horse and watched with surprise and amusement as she trying to tug away from Bernard and investigate Chad, ‘and the little one is called Oreo.’ 

Chad looked at the foal’s dappled grey and nodded, ‘That makes far too much sense.’ He put a hand out to Oreo for her to sniff, before realising she might not like his metal hand. ‘I heard about a pony as well?’

Bernard nodded, ‘Daisy’s in her own stall. Are you alright holding onto these two?’ Before Chad could refuse Bernard handed him the reins. Butterscotch didn’t notice, but Meringue immediately took the chance to come and sniff closer to Chad. ‘If you guide them over to that good patch of grass over there, I’ll let Daisy out and get the hay changed.’

Chad nodded, giving Bernard a big beam until he was out of sight. His face dropped and he turned to Meringue, ‘Please be nice to me. I’ve had a long couple of days.’

Meringue snorted in response and Chad tried to coax the two of them over to the thicker grass. Meringue followed easily enough, and Oreo trotted along after them, but Butterscotch proved to be the stubborn one. Chad was desperate not to tug too hard, he didn’t want to hurt the horse after all, but it just…refused to move. Until Meringue stomped their hoofs and Butterscotch pulled up, backing away and trying to drag Chad with them. Chad tried to hush both horses, pulling them over to the grass with a lot of nervous words trying to soothe and coax the horses into behaving. By the time he had gotten them to the longer grass and the three of them started to tuck in another set of hooves trotted up and Chad turned to see a small brown and white pony coming to meet them.

‘You must be Daisy,’ Chad said with a smile. Daisy snuffled over, checking over Chad before joining the others in acquiring breakfast. ‘Aren’t you a clever girl?’ He looked up, seeing Bernard over at the stable with forkfuls of hay, and he was ready to ask Bernard if he wanted to swap. But that would mean leaving the horses alone, and Bernard would probably be upset if he did that. Instead Chad held the reins, watching the four animals munch at the grass. 

With the horses occupied, the sun in the sky and a gentle breeze blowing past, Chad couldn’t help but look around at the scene around him. It was so quiet here, a world away from the life he had grown up in. And so peaceful, it felt like he was in a dream.

Meringue headbutted Chad out of his thoughts, snorting near his face. He chuckled at that, shuffling with the two sets of reins to free a hand to try and pet their muzzle. Their big brown eyes stared at Chad, seeming to contemplate something before going to nuzzle against his cheek. Chad startled, trying to keep quiet to not spook any of the horses, and Meringue rubbed their velvet cheek against Chad’s face. He giggled, trying to duck away and return to patting her nose.

‘Is Meringue treating you nice?’ Bernard said from behind them, lumbering over with another basket, this one full of apples.

Chad turned with a grin, ‘They are, do they normally headbutt people?’

Bernard chuckled at that, ‘She’s seen her fair share of war wounds. Last time she did that to me was when I’d busted my arm and I couldn’t pet her properly.’ Chad froze at that, looking at his hand again. Suddenly a basket was being thrust into his face, and Bernard said, ‘They love a sweet treat in the morning with breakfast. If you want to do the honours.’

Chad thanked Bernard and gave Meringue the first apple, watching with wonder as she gently plucked the fruit out of his hand and started munching. Something bumped at his thigh and he looked down to see the foal Oreo staring up at the basket, hoofs padding and tail flicking in excitement. 

Soon enough all the horses were munching on breakfast apples, and there were a couple left in the basket for Bernard and Chad to have for a break. Bernard led Chad over to a wooden bench, the two of them sitting and admiring the farm for a moment.

‘What do you think then?’ Bernard asked.

Chad looked out over the horses, a small smile on his face. ‘It’s really peaceful.’

Bernard snorted, ‘You wouldn’t be saying that if you were here for Oreo being adopted by the stable. Butterscotch was not impressed.’

Chad laughed along, watching the horses again. Before he realised something was missing. ‘Hey, where are their bridles?’

Bernard grinned and unhooked them from his arm, holding out the loops of leather for Chad to see before resting them on the bench. ‘Figured if I just let them out like I’d normally do you’d insist on helping with cleaning the stables.’ He glanced over at Chad’s unsure expression. ‘Don’t get me wrong lad, I’m always happy for the help. Having an extra pair of hands really does make it all go faster. But you’re not here to help me tend to my horses and pigs.’

Chad tried to not flinch at that, looking back over to the horses. ‘No. No, I came to make sure Morgan was safe. Didn’t want any villains getting to her on the road.’

‘And why would they do that?’

Chad licked his lips, trying to work out how much to say. His free hand was playing with the hem of his jacket, he really needed to get out of that habit. ‘She hacked into Rex’s private server and left a virus that wrecked all his systems.’

Bernard barked with laughter, sending the foal and Butterscotch whinnying at the sound. Daisy and Meringue however didn’t bat an eye at the sudden noise. Bernard didn’t seem to realise however, laughing hard enough to have to wipe away a tear, ‘Bloody hell! That’s our girl!’

Chad faltered at that, ‘Your girl?’

Bernard’s smile fell slightly, ‘Oh not like that, Morgan’s got blood family and I’ll never try to disrespect that. Its just…between her and Alex? She’s my favourite.’

‘Why?’

‘What do you mean why?’ Bernard laughed. ‘I get that you and your sister might not see eye to eye, what with your…career choices as you called them. But what Morgan does, she does bloody well. And if I was her father I’d be bloody proud of her. And then I realised hey, Alex is totally smitten with her, at some point we’ll probably hear wedding bells, and then I’d be her father in law! And since that’s a given, I can get in early on being proud of her.’

Chad blinked, trying to process everything that he had just said. ‘You…think Alex and Morgan are going to get married?’

Bernard nodded, ‘Should have happened already if you asked me. Probably would have if it hadn't been for Alex being a moron with that hero girl they married.’ Chad’s jaw tightened, and he opened his mouth to say his piece, when Bernard spoke again. ‘The point, my original point, is that she’s got blood family and I’ll never step on your toes with that. But I care for Morgan like she’s my own, and I probably always will. And while her accomplishments are on the wrong side of the law for you and your lot, for me they are accomplishments. Big ones. And she needs someone to celebrate those with her.’

‘Really?’

‘Sure, everyone does. You have your family to celebrate when you save the world, Morgan gets to celebrate her heists with us.’

Chad stilled at that, ‘Why would we celebrate that? It’s our job.’

Bernard frowned, ‘Because what you do is incredibly brave and dangerous. And you succeed. That deserves recognition.’

Chad snorted, shaking his head, ‘No it doesn’t. It’s just…what we do.’

Bernard’s frown darkened as he turned to Chad, ‘Are you telling me your parents don’t celebrate when you’ve saved the world? Or…stopped that nemesis of yours from blowing up the moon or whatever he does?’

‘No that would be ridiculous!’ Chad laughed. ‘What would we say? Oh yes, we chased away the aliens again, good work! Job well done on getting the Eiffel Tower put back! That’s what I’m supposed to do.’

‘But you succeeded. You should feel proud of that.’

Chad shook his head, ‘No, no because there’s always something to improve on.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like…’ Chad thought for a moment, trying to think of a recent example. ‘Last week, when a certain someone stole one of the pyramids. The pyramid was successfully stolen by the villain. And got damaged in the ensuing fight. And I nearly dropped it when I was trying to bring it back to Egypt.’

‘But you didn’t!’ Bernard was shocked at Chad’s attitude. ‘You and your team went up against my kid, none of you died, and you reclaimed the pyramid they stole. That’s an incredible feat.’

Chad shook his head, ‘Alex’s watch went off with some kind of alarm. That was the only reason why they left, otherwise at least half of us would have died then.’

‘Who cares?’ Bernard slid closer on the bench. ‘None of those people in Egypt will care about that. They will care that you protected them, that you got that pyramid back. That you were there to stop it from being so catastrophically worse.’

Chad raised his eyebrows in disbelief, ‘So I should celebrate a failure because the civilian population doesn't know any better?’

‘It wasn’t a failure!’

‘If it's not perfect it’s not worth recognition.’

Bernard scowled and put his hand on Chad’s shoulder, ‘I don’t know who the hell put that into your head, but you listen to me right now young man. Perfection, first of all, is absolute bullshit. If you always strive for perfection over everything else, you’re going to forget how to live.’ Chad scoffed at that, but Bernard carried on. ‘And second, what you do is no small feat. You went up against my kid. You survived. And you stopped what they were doing. The next day you, what, took down whatshisface’s latest mech suit monstrosity? The month before that when we were being invaded by aliens, you kept the people of earth safe. You’ve rescued us from apocalyptic threats again and again and again.’

‘That’s my job.’

‘And you’re good at it,’ Bernard pushed. ‘You should feel proud of that.’ Chad tried to not roll his eyes, he wasn’t that rude, but his disbelief was evident. So Bernard shook his shoulder, making Chad look at him. ‘Look at me. Alright? You do a brilliant job. And I’m so proud of you.’

Chad swallowed, trying to breath around the sudden vice around his chest. He couldn’t help but stare into Bernard’s eyes. Steel grey, but filled with more warmth than Chad could bear to look at. His voice caught as he tried to speak, ‘I thought you were proud of Morgan?’

Bernard gave him a soft smile, ‘I can be proud of more than one kid.’

Chad had to look away at that, trying to blink away the tears. His heart ached in his chest as Bernard leaned closer, finding the place under his fingers where metal shifted into flesh to squeeze Chad’s shoulder affectionately. Chad sniffed, wiping at his eyes. ‘Thanks,’ he whispered.

Bernard chuckled, ‘For what?’

‘Being so nice.’

Bernard pulled Chad closer to wrap his arm around Chad’s shoulders. ‘Anyone who wouldn’t be proud of you and what you do is a fool. Got it?’

Chad tried to nod, closing his eyes so he could pretend the tears weren’t beginning to run down his cheeks. He let Bernard pull him into a one armed hug, trying to ignore the yearning ache growing in his chest. Trying to convince himself that Morgan was still wrong, that these people weren’t his parents. And that he desperately didn’t want Morgan to be right in the end.

Chapter Text

The two men eventually got up from the bench, packing away the buckets and supplies before heading back into the house. Bernard insisted on Chad having the first shower, leading him up the stairs and to the bathroom, encouraging him to help himself to the airing cupboard and the shampoo, and offering to get Chad’s clothes in the washing hamper. Chad thanked him, eyes still shining after the tears, and he grabbed his bag for some clean clothes.

When Bernard threw Chad’s clothes in the utility room, he stuck his head round the kitchen door and saw Janice had already cleaned away any remnants of breakfast and was bouncing between a homemade cheesecake and marinating some beef strips for lunch. ‘Morning love,’ he smiled at Janice.

She threw a smile and a wink over her shoulder and got back to the mixing bowl in front of her, ‘How’s Chad?’ Bernard looked around the rest of the kitchen, and Janice said, ‘Alex is showing Morgan Charlie’s memory boxes.’

Bernard sighed sadly at that, ‘Bless her. She is good to them.’ He moved through the kitchen, grabbing a jug from the fridge filled with homemade lemonade. ‘You can tell Chad and Morgan were raised in the same house.’

Janice growled at that, ‘Don't tell me-’

‘“If it’s not perfect it’s not worth recognition.” Were his exact words. About his job.’

Janice’s jaw dropped. ‘He’s the Sterling golden boy! How can they let him think that?’

Bernard shrugged, ‘The mind boggles. Makes you wonder how the third one thinks.’

‘Well hopefully her husband’s actually sensible and can get her on the right track,’ Janice said. ‘And Morgan has her little rag tag family now. And us. But who does Chad have?’

Bernard thought for a moment, ‘What’s his nemesis called again?’

Janice rolled her eyes, ‘The poor boy needs some help. Maybe then he won’t feel the need to wear that ridiculous enchantment.’

Bernard looked up in amusement at that. Trust his wife to spot when a spell walks into the door. ‘What enchantment?’

‘Some sort of visual enhancement charm. It’s on a pendant he’s wearing,’ Janice said. ‘From the looks of the spell it's quite old as well.’

‘Huh, I didn’t notice a necklace on him,’ Bernard shrugged. ‘Then again I wasn’t looking.’

‘Yes, well,’ Janice said. ‘He needs someone to give him a little bit of pride and confidence. Actual pride. Not that fake bravado he puts on for the cameras. Then maybe he’ll feel comfortable enough to not have to use magic to give himself perfect curls or whatever that pendant’s doing.’

‘Supernatural heroic sparkle in the eye?’

Janice pursed her lips at that, trying not to laugh. ‘That’s not funny.’

‘Maybe that’s where he’s getting the height from!’

Janice covered her mouth to smother a snort, ‘Bernard!’

He grinned, scooting over to lean over Janice’s shoulder. ‘Or it’s hiding the worst crime a hero could commit. Having acne.’ He planted a kiss on her cheek and dashed away before Janice could slap him on the arm and get cracker crumbs everywhere. 

Bernard left quickly, and Janice listened to him heading up the stairs, the familiar creak in a certain floorboard telling her he headed for their bedroom. She stepped out of the kitchen and peeked her head around the door to the living room. Morgan and Alex were in hushed whispers leaning over a photo album, Alex curled around Morgan and held her like one might a teddy bear. Morgan was holding the photo album, turning each page slowly and carefully. On the nearby coffee table sat a faded rat plushie, and Janice smiled at that. Morgan must have brought Gibbles with her from their apartment. She left them to it, trying to not listen in on their conversation. Not that she didn’t want to know what they were saying. But there was cooking to be done, she didn’t have time to start weeping again. 

She had enough time to lay the base of the cheesecake before the shower turned off upstairs, and she was ladling the filling into the cake tin by the time Chad hopped down the stairs. His wet curls were already beginning to bounce when he moved, and he smiled at Janice as he looked into the kitchen. ‘That’s a wonderful shower.’

‘Thank you dear,’ Janice smiled. ‘Fancy a drink? We have juice and lemonade in the fridge. Or if you fancy coffee I can get a fresh pot put on.’

‘Lemonade would be great, thank you,’ he said, heading over to the fridge. Janice pointed out where the glasses were and soon Chad was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at a glass of lemonade and watching with fascination as Janice finished putting together the cheesecake.

‘What do you think of the farm then?’ Janice asked.

‘Oh, it’s wonderful. Meringue is very friendly.’

Janice looked surprised at that, ‘Really? She’s been rather cagey recently.’ She finished with her decorating and slid the cheesecake into the fridge to set. ‘When we got Oreo, Butterscotch kept trying to fight him. Meringue’s the boss of the stable though, so she set them both right. But since then she’s been very protective over the baby. She wouldn’t let Bernard near her stall for a good week or two at first unless she’d escorted Oreo out into the paddock. She obviously settled since, but we’ve had guests around a few times and she’s been giving all of them a wide berth.’

Chad’s eyes widened in surprise, ‘Really? She was the first one to come up to me. Even bothered me for pets at one point.’

‘She let you pet her?’ Janice laughed in disbelief. ‘Are you sure you’re not a horse whisperer or something? 

Chad snorted, ‘I doubt it. I’ve never met a horse before today, and I don’t have any animal affinity powers. That and Butterscotch was far too stubborn for me to claim that title.’

Janice hummed, ‘Maybe Meringue decided to adopt you as well.’ Chad chuckled, although Janice spotted the brief moment of panic before he smothered it. ‘Her and Daisy make a good team.’

‘Team?’

Janice nodded, ‘They’re both very good mediators. Good at looking after people. Meringue was the first horse we ever bought.’ Chad smiled, watching with interest, so Janice continued. ‘Alex had barely learned how to crawl, but we were going around this huge market, and there was a mare with all these foals for sale, and Alex just fell in love with Meringue.’ Janice smiled, getting lost in the memory for a moment. ‘So we got a stable, which we hadn’t planned for. But Bernard didn’t know how to say no to Alex.’

Chad huffed in amusement, ‘And the rest is history?’

‘Pretty much,’ Janice smiled. ‘We got Butterscotch when Alex was…eleven I think. They were making noise about wanting to try horse racing and Meringue was much too old for any of that nonsense.’

Chad raised his eyebrows, ‘I can’t imagine Alex horse racing.’

‘They’re very good on a horse,’ Janice said. ‘Too tall though. Once their growth spurt hit, that was the end of trying that professionally. But Butterscotch was part of the family by then.’

‘And Oreo?’ Chad asked.

Janice paused at that, ‘Horses normally live to 25 to 30 years. And Meringue is healthy now, but that stable has had two horses and Daisy in it for so long it felt wrong to lose that. But we didn’t know how they were going to take to a foal, so we figured if we get Oreo now then there’s time for them all to settle before…before the worst happens. You know?’

Chad glanced away, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s the risk we take when we have animals,’ Janice smiled. ‘And it’s so worth it. She’s seen everything that one. Been with us through all the good and bad.’

Chad nodded, thinking intently about something. Janice checked on the marinating food for lunch, watching Chad out of the corner of her eye. His poker face wasn’t as good as Morgan’s, and she was able to spot someone hiding that they were scared. 

‘Anyway,’ Janice smiled. ‘I’m sure Bernard’s talked your ear off enough about the farm. Do you have any pets?’

Chad looked up and shook his head, ‘There’s a dog I’m looking at adopting, but she’s an old lass so I need to go through all these screening checks first. Make sure I can keep up with her health regimen, give her a safe home, all that stuff.’

‘Oh that’s so sweet!’ Janice cooed. ‘Do you have a picture?’

‘Uh,’ Chad excused himself to grab his phone from his bag, scrolling through the screen. ‘There she is. She’s called Pebbly.’ Janice immediately began to coo over the picture of the retriever, fussing over how pretty she is. Chad beamed with pride, looking at the picture himself before pocketing the phone. ‘I’m surprised you don’t have a dog to be honest.’

‘Bernard’s never been one for traditional pets,’ Janice chuckled, sitting down at the kitchen table. ‘He would have gotten a reptile shed if I let him.’

‘Anything poisonous?’

Janice shrugged, ‘Hard to say. I know he’s been interested in pythons in the past, but I don’t know about the venomous ones. What about you? Ever had any exotic pets?’

‘Oh no,’ Chad said. ‘Pebbly will be my first pet if the adoption goes through.’ Janice’s jaw dropped in shock and Chad quickly tried to backpedal. ‘Oh it’s not like that. None of us really wanted pets as kids, we were too busy.’

Janice scowled at that, ‘I’ve never met a child who doesn’t want a pet. You never even had goldfish?’

‘We honestly didn’t want them,’ Chad said. ‘I mean…it would have been irresponsible.’

Janice’s heart sank at that. She shouldn’t badger Chad about his childhood on his first visit here. But she couldn’t help but judge Caroline and Richard for this behaviour. The more she heard from Morgan (and now Chad) the more her heart ached for their poor children. 

‘Well,’ she said, biting her tongue on her more choice thoughts, ‘I’m glad you have a chance to fix that now. Rescuing an animal is a wonderful thing.’

Chad began to relax when it looked like Janice was going to drop the subject. ‘Thank you.’ He had another sip of his drink, then looked around. ‘I should probably go and check in on Morgan.’

‘Oh she’s in the living room. With Alex,’ Janice said.

Chad noticeably stiffened at the mention of Alex, and flashed a strained smile, ‘I’ll just pop my head through then.’

‘Of course,’ Janice said. ‘Come back in when you’re ready. Or when lunch is cooked, whichever comes first.’

‘Thank you very much Mrs Stewart.’ She raised an eyebrow at that and Chad cleared his throat. ‘Uh…thank you Janice.’

‘Better,’ she smiled and waved Chad off, watching him duck away sheepishly. When he left her smile dropped into a frown, and she went to the back door, grabbing her shoes on the way. It would be interesting to hear what Meringue thought of Chad.

Chapter Text

'Have you called your therapist yet?'

Morgan turned to look at Alex. Now their mother wasn't in the same room and they were fiddling with their small rat plush Morgan had just retrieved, their vague animosity had dipped into something more hollow, like all their emotions had been wrung out of them. She shook her head, 'Not had the chance yet. I'll call her when we're back home.' Alex frowned and was about to argue when Morgan whipped around to take in the rest of the living room. 'Besides I'm more interested in these!'

Alex scowled and looked over at the various boxes stacked up in the room. 'What about them?'

'These are the memory boxes right?' Morgan asked, waiting for Alex to nod. 'Why did they get all of them out?'

'They didn't,' Alex said. 'They only got out Charlie's ' Morgan's eyes widened, making Alex chuckle quietly. 'Oh yeah, they kept everything.'

'Everything everything?' Morgan asked.

'What else is the word "everything" supposed to mean?' Alex asked. 'And no, they weren't this thorough with me.'

'I mean,' Morgan wandered over to the first dusty box with curiosity, 'I'd be offended on your behalf, but I think that amount of stuff would rival your hoard.'

'Collection,' Alex said. 'And where do you think I got that habit from?'

'Fair enough,' Morgan looked around again. 'So, do your parents still want them out? Or do they want to go back downstairs?'

Alex paused, looking around at the stacks of boxes. 'I mean…do you…want to look?'

Morgan was looking away, but Alex still saw her shoulders stiffen, her grip tighten on her pockets. The silence in the room grew heavy, heavy enough to concern Alex. They approached Morgan, wanting to break the silence, but they couldn't think of the right words. Eventually they touched her shoulder, making her flinch. She stepped away from Alex and cleared her throat. 'I don't mind. If you want to then sure.'

Alex bit their lip, trying to focus on the box Morgan had found. It was hard for them to ignore her wiping at her eyes but they somehow managed it. ‘Um…this one is mainly photos.’

‘There’s a whole box for photos?’ Morgan asked with a hoarse voice.

‘Photos and all the legal documents. Like his birth certificate and vaccines records.’ Morgan had the box open with lightning speed, to the point Alex had to brace the rest of the stack to make sure they didn’t topple. ‘Should I have led with the birth certificate?’

Morgan glared at Alex, but didn’t bother to deny it. She lifted the box off the stack, settling down on the ground as she opened it up and looked inside at the contents. ‘That’s a lot of albums.’

‘You’ve seen how many pictures Dad likes to take,’ Alex said, setting Gibbles on the coffee table as they sat next to Morgan.

‘I know but I didn’t think he kept every photo he took.’

Alex shrugged, ‘I think in those days you did.’ They reached over and pulled out one of the larger albums, flicking through the photos while Morgan went for a thinner folder. The first page showed an old and faded birth certificate. Reading the sheet, Morgan frowned. ‘Charlie’s birthday was May 12th.’

Alex nodded, ‘Yeah, why?’

‘Chad’s is January 5th,’ Morgan said. ‘Why change the birthday?’ She frowned and flipped to the next page, reading through various old medical records. ‘The only part that matches is the year.’

Alex shrugged, ‘Why steal someone else’s kid and pretend he’s yours? The whole thing is fucked up, you’re going to get hung up on the date?’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘Okay, you’re not wrong, but…’ she sighed, coming to the final page in the file, ‘I’m missing something.’ She read over the death certificate, bile rising in her throat with every passing moment. ‘October 17th.’

Alex flinched, not looking up from the photo album. ‘Yeah. It was our first time in Central City. We were…’ they paused, looking away for a moment, ‘...I don’t even remember why we went there. Mum and Dad must have thought it was important but…I couldn’t tell you what we were doing.’

Morgan dropped the folder and crawled over to Alex, putting a hand on their shoulder. ‘Alex?’ They sniffed, wiping at their nose. Morgan swallowed as she tried to think of something to say. ‘Would uh…going through the pictures help?’

They looked back at the photo album on their lap. ‘It…I don’t know. It’s nice. But it hurts.’

‘Okay,’ Morgan said, shifting around to get a look at the page. It was a scrapbook of different photos. One was an obviously excited child Alex sat in their best dress with bright blond hair and clear blue eyes that reminded Morgan of Janice. In their arms was a small pink faced baby, no more than a few months old, dressed in dungarees and grinning around his fist. ‘Who knew you’d be such a cute kid?’

Alex snorted, giving Morgan a watery smile. ‘Of course I was a cute kid. Look at me. I’m adorable.’

Morgan chuckled at that, shuffling in closer to get a look at the different pictures. Shots of Alex with either or both of their parents. Shots of baby Charlie balanced on parent’s laps, in high chairs, and a few shots of Bernard holding him out in the farm where he was squealing in delight at a much younger Meringue. ‘She seemed to like him.’

Alex smiled sadly, ‘Oh yeah. Mum said that Meringue was smarter than any other pet. She’d know who was family, who was a threat, and she always knew when someone was in trouble.’

Morgan snorted, ‘You horse is psychic?’

‘It’s entirely possible, have you met her?’

Morgan went to turn the page and Alex stiffened next to her. She didn’t need to ask why though. Front and centre of the next page was a picture covered in balloons and streamers, with a giggling one year old wearing a party hat and pointing at the camera. ‘Do you want to stop looking?’

Alex shook their head, but swallowed at the pictures. Morgan knelt up to be closer to comfort them, not even jumping in surprise when Alex pulled her onto their lap. ‘Sorry,’ Alex muttered, but not pulling away as they buried their face in Morgan’s shoulder.

‘It’s okay,’ Morgan said. ‘Just, let me move the photos, the book’s digging into my leg.’

They soon had shifted, the book was now on Morgan’s lap while Morgan was pinned to Alex. In any other circumstances she would have been bemused at how Alex was peeking at the album over her shoulder while the rest of their face was hidden. Despite how much it clearly hurt them, Alex didn’t want to skip over Charlie’s birthday pictures, pointing out to Morgan important details on each photo. Like another relative, or a particular toy that Charlie loved. Or even something about Alex in the pictures they showed up for. And it went on for pages. Morgan didn’t know she could be surprised at how many photos Bernard had taken anymore, and yet here she was.

Alex smiled at the page turning and pointed at the last one of the birthday photos. ‘And that’s Hops.’

Morgan frowned, looking closely at the little stuffed animal. It was a soft grey with tartan ears and paws, and wearing a large silk bow, and already Charlie had his little baby vice grip around its neck. She knew that Chad had a favourite teddy, that it was a little rabbit, and that he had lost it when he was still a toddler. Mostly because that was when he had started coming to Morgan’s room, so that little tidbit had stuck in her head. But looking at the picture of the bear, Morgan realised she couldn’t remember what Chad’s teddy had ever looked like.

Before she could ask about it though a creak of wood in the corridor outside startled the both of them. Morgan looked up to the door, trying not to roll her eyes when Alex’s eyes tightened around her.

‘Sorry,’ Chad said. ‘I was just-’

‘Spying?’ Alex asked, venom dripping from their words.

Chad bristled at that. ‘I was just checking in on Morgan.’ Alex scoffed at that, and Chad’s glare hardened. ‘Hopefully I won’t need to “spy” on either of you.’

‘Chad,’ Morgan said in a tired voice. ‘Play nice.’

Chad scowled, ‘You don’t need to tell me that. What about them?’

Alex glared, ‘What about me?’

‘Alex?’ Morgan gasped. ‘Grip. Super strength.’

They immediately loosened their hold on Morgan’s waist, and a moment later Morgan was dropping to the floor. Chad startled and moved over to help, but Morgan was already climbing to her feet and dusting herself off, looking around the room for the S tier. But they had vanished. ‘Dammit Alex,’ she rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, sending them a quick message to check in.

‘Are you okay?’ Chad asked.

Aside from a bruised tailbone, I’m fine,’ Morgan winced as she bent down to pick up the folder. ‘How was the tour?’

‘Oh,’ Chad paused, looking back to the door to the living room for a second, ‘fine. Great. Bernard got me to help with feeding the animals and stuff.’

‘Did you meet the horses?’

Chad nodded, ‘Yeah, the tall white one, Meringue I think, she was very friendly.’ He frowned as he realised Morgan was putting the books away, ‘What are those?’

‘Oh, uh…’ Morgan glanced up at Chad. ‘Well these are all the memory boxes for…for Charlie. This is one of the photo albums. And these are his health and legal documents.’

Chad paled, looking around at the boxes again, ‘All of these are for Charlie?’ Morgan nodded. ‘That can’t be right.’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Apparently they kept everything.’ She propped the box of photos back on the stack and gestured to the others. ‘Want to have a look?’

Chad startled at the question, ‘What? Uh…no…we shouldn’t be snooping anyway.’

‘It’s not snooping, Alex said I could.’

‘Yeah, that you could. I don’t think any of them would appreciate a stranger looking through their private treasured possessions,’ Chad hissed. ‘Besides, Alex probably didn’t mean that you could look through any of this stuff while they weren’t here.’

Before Morgan could argue a door clattered shut in the kitchen. Footsteps sounded and Janice appeared in the doorway, pulling off her farm boots and smiling at the siblings. ‘Ah, are you both doing alright?’ They nodded and she looked around the living room, frowning slightly, ‘Where did Alex go?’

‘Chad spooked them,’ Morgan grinned.

Janice raised an amused eyebrow and looked at Chad, who was trying very hard to not look guilty. ‘Oh you did? Quite impressive.’ She looked at the stack of boxes Morgan was standing next to, her amused expression flickering for a moment. ‘Ah. Those are rather all over the place aren’t they?’

Morgan looked around at the stacks of boxes, ‘We can tidy them up a bit if you want? Take them downstairs, move them to make some space.’

She smiled sadly, blinking rapidly as her eyes began to glisten, ‘You are so sweet. I uh…maybe if we just leave some space in the room? It's such an effort to cart them up and down the stairs.’

Morgan nodded, turning to Chad. ‘Time to put those metal muscles to use then.’

Chad scowled, ‘Not funny.’ Even so he stepped forward, watching Morgan plan how to stack the boxes in the corner of the room to free up the rest of the space, debating whether it was worth moving the furniture or not. 

Neither of them noticed Janice slink behind them to the bookcase, or grab the largest cookbook on the shelf. She hurried back into the kitchen, resting the book on the table and studying it carefully. She touched the cover, a spark of magic dancing across her fingers as she did so, and she watched as the light pastel cover melted away to reveal thick dark leather etched in old runes. 

Chapter Text

In most circumstances Janice could accept that she would not be privy to everything that happened in the world anymore. Her days of seeking that kind of knowledge were long behind her, as was acting on the corruption she had found along the way. It still irked her when she could feel the secrets press against her, but she did not need to seek out the truth. Most of the time. 

She had allowed Alex to hold their turmoil close to their chest, even as they were buried in Charlie’s old things, drowning in memories in a way she hadn’t seen them do since they first got their powers. A younger Janice would have seen that and become obsessed with knowing the cause of such pain. But she refrained, allowing the secret to sit undisturbed until Alex was able to unearth it themselves. It was healthier that way. 

Morgan was always drenched in secrets when she saw her, but a new hard one was buried in her heart as she approached Janice for a welcome hug that morning. She was going to ignore it, she really was, until she saw a similar looking secret locked inside Chad. The same knowledge, but doused in different emotions. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t help but probe at the young man in front of her. The heroic persona he wore was a heavy mask she could tell that much. And without that mask there he couldn’t keep his feelings as close to his chest as his sister could, and there was so much she was tempted to pull out of him. And then there was the matter of the pendant. 

Oh she wanted to see what Chad was hiding behind that enchantment. But that was something that would be too obvious. Opening her third eye was not subtle, and the already fragile energy in the room would shatter. So she held back, trying to give them all space. She didn’t need to know every secret. And if they wanted to tell her, then they would in her own time. 

So she stepped back, let Bernard take Chad on his tour, let Alex go to mourn while Morgan comforted them, and she prepared. It would take effort to make Chad feel at home here, and she knew that she didn’t need to. But something in her wanted to, wanted to show Chad what a home could look like when it was filled with love and care. If she did that, then she would try to be satisfied not knowing his secrets. That would be a good enough compromise she told herself. 

Right up until Chad mentioned Meringue. And there was a thread, a whisper of something out of the fog. A clue. For all the good it was. Meringue was a brilliant animal, in tune with so many things. But she was not the most eloquent creature. When Janice tried to find out what her mare knew all Meringue could impress on her was…memories. First Oreo, then Alex, then Alex as a child. Images of Oreo in the stable, or Alex at home. She tried to keep Meringue on track, and finally got an answer she could use. Familiar. He’s familiar.

Now Janice was sitting at the kitchen table, the grimoire creaking as she opened the leather bound book, thick vellum pages crinkling under her fingers. She shook the slight tremble out of her hands and tucked some flyaway hairs behind her ears, eyes already glowing the colour of rubies and fire. The pages came to life at her touch, illegible runes moving across the dancing pages to weave the spells she needed.

There wasn’t a lot to start with though. The clues were too small and too spread out, and as she started to search for more connections she was buffeted at every turn. Something was warding her away. Janice scowled at that, and summoned the knowledge she knew already, orbs of light with trailing ruby threads designed to connect them together. When Janice went to connect them however, she found the cause of the wards. Her tidbits of knowledge were being separated by a thick fog, a fog that was too thick to penetrate. Oh, that was irksome. This wasn’t just personal secrets. Someone had tried to hide the truth from all divination. And they were very thorough.

Janice gritted her teeth, the grimoire fluttering in response to her frustration. No matter the spells she drew out of the book, the wards against the fog help firm. A direct attack wouldn’t do, she had to find a weakness, a way to slip through the wards. Starting from the beginning, she took all the clues from that morning and sorted through them, watching as each relevant clue had the ruby thread connect into the secret at the centre of the fog. Morgan and Chad had a secret, buried, one that made Morgan fall back into old habits of ignoring her own mental and emotional health and one that Chad wanted to deny was true. Meringue knew Chad, somehow. She pondered on the rest of Meringue’s conversation, and watched in surprise as the images of Alex and Oreo, wrapped in orbs of light, slipped past the wards and into the fog, glowing as they did so.

The lightbulb hit, and Janice sighed to herself, ‘I’m an idiot sometimes.’ She pulled the images of Alex and Oreo close, inspecting them carefully. If the truth couldn’t obviously be known, then it could be understood through an analogy. Now she just needed to work out what this analogy was for. What did they have in common? Janice’s eyes glowed in concentration as she focused on those thoughts. Alex and Oreo. Both residents of the farm. Both brash characters, in different ways. Both opinionated. Both were children-

Janice started, and the fog shifted. She took Alex, their turmoil and grief and the secret that had caused it, and brought it towards the fog. And the wards sang, the thread connected to the centre of the fog, and flew up to hover with the rest of the clues. 

Janice pulled the grimoire closer, flicking through the pages until she found one near the back. On the yellowing paper there was a dark inked tree, with its branches blowing in the breeze. One of the branches was missing, the remnants of ash from where it lay. She whispered a few words, waving her hand over the branch, and watched the ashes glow. The wards wrapped around the fog recoiled, and the fog itself twisted and darkened. Janice looked at the circling clues, frowning. ‘What does Charlie have to do with this?’

A footstep creaked in the hall and Janice slammed the book shut, the image of the fog and clues vanishing in time with her dimming eyes. She looked up with a smile as Bernard appeared, grey eyes smiling as he brushed his wet hair away from his face. ‘What are you doing, love?’

‘Scouting,’ she said sweetly. Bernard knew her too well for her to deny everything, but the least she could do was bend the truth. At least until she knew the full situation.

Bernard’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘What are you scouting? Or should I ask who instead?’

Damn, he was good at reading her. Janice rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Nothing dangerous.’

‘Then why do you need to look?’

She had to be really careful with this next bit. She was so close to finding something, something big enough to make her magic itch under her skin. She just needed a little bit more time, time before Bernard did what he does best (what she has asked him to do on multiple occasions) and reign in her worst habits. ‘Bernard love,’ she started, and he raised an amused eyebrow. ‘It is very hard to find you charming like this, you know?’

‘What are you doing, love?’ he asked again.

Janice glanced at the door to the living room, and back to Bernard. ‘You know as well as I do that those three in a closed space are going to be too volatile to survive the rest of the day. And if I’m going to defuse the situation I need to know what I’m defusing.’

‘You’re defusing our child,’ Bernard said, ‘their partner and her hero brother. Who have individual and collective histories that have left some…animosity? I think is the best word?’

‘I’m not an idiot Bernard,’ Janice said.

‘I never said you were,’ Bernard sighed. He leaned in so their foreheads were touching, and closed his eyes. ‘Do you want to meddle? Or do you want them to have a chance to heal?’

‘I’m not meddling,’ Janice said. ‘I’m just…arming myself.’

Bernard sighed, ‘With Morgan’s secrets?’

Janice paused at that. He was right. Of course he was. Who knew how Morgan would react if she found out that Janice had used magic to pry. Her shoulders drooped, eyes closed, and she nodded. ‘Alright. Fine.’

Bernard blinked in surprise, before smiling and wrapping Janice in a hug. ‘Thank you love,’ he whispered. She hummed in response, tilting her head slightly so that Bernard could kiss her. ‘Where are the kids by the way?’

‘Morgan and Chad are tidying up the boxes to make some space in the living room,’ Janice said. ‘Alex…went to get some space I think.’

He nodded and gave Janice another kiss, before moving past her to check on the Sterling siblings. Janice bit her lip, turning back to the grimoire on the table. She was going to put it away. She was going to stop prying. She wasn’t going to hurt Morgan. 

She reached out for the grimoire and paused. The book was open. She frowned and pulled it closer, looking at the spell on the page. ‘True sight,’ she murmured, reading over the page. It stood no chance against the fog around the main secret. But if her grimoire thought it was useful, it was worth a try. Maybe that would be enough to settle her need to know.

She whispered the incantation, eyes flaring with light before settling down again. Bernard didn’t need to know about this. With that she closed the book, watching the cover morph back into the visage of the cookbook, and she carried it back into the living room.

The other three were chatting in the middle of the living room. Somehow in the process of tidying away the boxes Morgan and Chad had begun to reorganise the whole room, and Bernard was currently trying very hard not to laugh at the strange game of furniture Tetris going on. Morgan was insisting that she had it all under control however as she handed Chad another box. Janice glanced at Chad, and for a moment his visage rippled, before the illusion cast by his pendant peeled back. And the fog peeled back with it.

Chapter Text

The sudden slam made all three people spin around in surprise. Bernard reacted first, rushing to Janice’s side in worry. Chad clambered out from behind the sofa he had gotten trapped behind, switching his attention between the Stewarts and Morgan. Morgan was the only one watching Janice as she stared at Chad in shock. Even when Bernard tried to grab her attention and fuss over her with a hundred questions, she couldn’t take her eyes off Chad.

‘You’re alive,’ she whispered. Morgan flinched, and Chad’s eyes widened in panic. Janice covered her mouth with shaking hands, torn between a sob and laughter, her shoulders beginning to tremble. ‘You’re alive.’

‘Who is?’ Bernard asked. He looked between her and Chad. ‘Who are you seeing love?’

Her shock was melting away, to be replaced with a euphoric joy. She laughed again, stepping over her book and towards Chad. He tried to back away, but froze as her trembling hands caught his face oh so gently. ‘Mrs Stewart?’ he asked with a trembling voice. ‘I…I don’t…’

‘It’s okay,’ she said, hushing him, stroking her thumbs over his cheeks. ‘You don’t have to say anything. Just…’ Tears were beginning to stream down her face, catching on the creases from her quivering chin and twisted smile. Before Chad could react she pulled him into a tight hug, burying her fists into his shirt. ‘You’re alive. And you’re home.’

Chad was stunned. For a moment all he could register was Janice’s embrace, tight enough to knock the air out of his lungs. The smell of flour and sugar was on her clothes, tickling his nose, and the overwhelming love and joy cut through the ache in his chest. And he blinked. Morgan and Bernard were both watching the scene. Bernard was in shock, reeling from his wife’s sudden outburst. But Morgan, Morgan had a thousand emotions playing across her face. Shock. Sorrow. Anger. Grief. Chad swallowed, touching his hands to Janice’s back, ‘I think you’re confused. I’m…I’m not sure who you think I am but-’

Janice pulled back and gave him a look, one filled with affection and amusement, ‘Oh I know exactly who you are. And I think you do too. It’s to do with that secret you’ve been carrying all day. Morgan too.’ Chad frowned and glanced at Morgan, who looked just as confused as he felt. ‘I always like to check what is going on with my guests. And, I wasn’t going to pry, I promise you that. But Meringue really doesn’t like strangers.’

‘Your horse?’

‘She caught on faster than I did,’ Janice chuckled. ‘Honestly that girl is so smart.’

‘Janice?’ Bernard stepped closer, touching Janice’s shoulder gently, ‘You’re tangenting.’

‘Right, right,’ she muttered, brushing Bernard off. ‘The point is, Meringue doesn’t like strangers, but she adored you, and I couldn’t work out why. None of my divination was giving me any answers, so the only clue I had left was your pendant and-’

‘What pendant?’

‘This one,’ she said. She pulled on a thin cord just under Chad’s shirt and revealed a thin metal disc bearing a sigil. Chad looked down at it, his frown deepening.

Morgan blinked, immediately recognising it, ‘Since when do you wear grandad’s necklace?’

Chad looked at Morgan with wide eyes. ‘I…that’s…’

‘How did you even get it? Dad was crazy overprotective of all his stuff when he died.’

Chad blinked, trying to get his brain to restart, ‘I…uh…’

Janice frowned and watched Chad’s expression for a moment, ‘Did you not remember that you were wearing it?’ Chad swallowed, glancing at Morgan with a panicked look. Janice sighed and nodded, ‘I suppose that makes sense. If you don’t know it's there, you don’t think to take it off, the enchantment stays intact. Perhaps there’s some kind of cloaking effect on it.’

‘Excuse me?’ Chad asked, but Janice was picking up the disc again from where it rested around his neck, ‘What are you-’

Before he could finish Janice’s eyes flared, magic crackling around her fingers as she twisted her hands, suspending the necklace in an orb of energy. From the orb lines of scrolling text and runes ran off in all directions.

Morgan stepped to be next to Chad, watching the magic play out in front of them. ‘The necklace is enchanted?’

Janice nodded, ‘Yes, and I know this spellwork. Looks like Sonja’s signature.’

‘You know Aunt Sonja?’ Morgan asked.

Janice clucked her tongue as she examined the necklace, ‘If your Aunt Sonja is also known as Sonja Whittaker then yes. All the magic users above a certain magic sphere tend to keep a track of each other. And this is definitely her work.’

‘What’s it doing?’ Bernard asked. ‘There’s more than one spell there.’

Janice gave Bernard a smile, ‘So astute. Yes, so there’s the visual enhancement charm I was telling you about. In any other circumstances I would call this clever, she’s taken a highly advanced illusion charm and hidden it inside another more basic visual alteration spell.’ Morgan paled at that, but Janice carried on. ‘There are a series of wards, including one about perception. That must be doing the cloaking. No one would notice you wearing it, including you. And…’ she scowled, picking some runes out of the air, ‘a compulsion effect.’

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ Morgan muttered.

‘No, dear,’ Janice said. ‘The wearer can’t take the pendant off. I’m sorry darling,’ she turned to Chad, ‘no wonder you’re so confused.’ 

‘He’s not the only one,’ Bernard said. ‘Janice love, what’s going on? The short version please.’

Janice turned to Bernard, beaming again, ‘Bernard, he’s Charlie. He’s our boy.’

‘No.’ Morgan looked up at Chad, who was shaking his head, ‘There…are plenty of explanations for this I’m sure. But…but that doesn’t mean…’

Janice touched Chad’s cheek, the soft touch silencing him. She smiled, tears gathering in her eyes again. ‘Sweetheart-’

‘I’m,’ Chad clenched his eyes shut, clenching his jaw, ‘not your sweetheart. Or your darling, or anything else. So please stop.’

‘Chad.’

‘No, Morgan,’ Chad shook his head, stepping back. ‘No I’m not entertaining this.’

‘Seriously?’ Morgan scowled. ‘Then why did you come here?’

‘I…’ he bit his lip, looking around at the boxes. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know, I was freaking out and Mrs Stewart had just called and all I could think of was those stupid dreams about that stupid fire and…’ Bernard’s already shocked expression paled at the mention of the fire as Chad scrubbed his hands over his face. ‘There are other explanations for all these questions.’

‘Sweet…Chad,’ Janice said, stepping closer. ‘I promise you, I wouldn’t lie about this. And I wouldn’t say this if I was entirely sure. But…I know you’re my son. I know what my son looks like.’

‘How?’ Chad asked. ‘He died 20 years ago. And he was a baby. You can’t say that.’

Janice sighed, ‘You’re the spitting image of Bernard. When he was your age.’ Chad flinched, shaking his head again. ‘You are. You have his eyes, his freckles-’

‘No. No I don’t,’ Chad whimpered. ‘I don’t know what you’re seeing but that’s not me.’

‘It is, I can see it right now,’ she tapped her temple, her eyes alighting with another spell. ‘True Sight spell. Sees past all illusions. And luckily I’m a stronger witch than Sonja is so none of her tricks can get past me.’

Chad winced, ‘Please. Please stop. I’m not Charlie. I don’t know what magic is going on but I…I know who I am. I’m Chad Sterling, I’m not your son.’

Bernard tried to take a breath, settling a calming hand on Janice’s shoulder. ‘Alright. Alright, everyone, let’s take a break from this. Settle our nerves. And then we can clear this all up later.’

‘There’s nothing to clear up,’ Chad said, tears springing into his eyes.

‘There is,’ Janice said, ‘you are my son. And I can prove it.’ And without warning she reached out towards the necklace.

‘No!’ Chad shouted, a wind picking up around him and blasting the three of them backwards. Janice skidded until Bernard caught her, and Morgan toppled back into the couch. Chad immediately pulled back, panting, his panic growing, clutching at the necklace.

‘Chad,’ Morgan started, but Chad didn’t let her finish. He ran out of the room, feet pounding on the stairs before a door slammed shut above them. She cringed, looking at the Stewarts. ‘Are you okay? I’m so sorry, about all of this I-’

Bernard put a hand up and gave Morgan a sad smile. ‘Morgan, I know for a fact that none of this is your fault. You have nothing to apologise for.’ She swallowed, but silently nodded. Bernard picked Janice up, helping dust her down and looking upwards to the floor above. ‘Why don’t you go check on your brother?’

Morgan’s eyes stung with unshed tears, unwanted emotions bubbling in her throat. But she swallowed them down and nodded before hurrying out of the living room.

Chapter Text

The bathroom door slammed open and Chad stumbled inside. Metal hands clanked against porcelain as he braced against the sink, panting for air. He was staring at his reflection, scrutinising every inch of his face. Dark curly hair bouncing perfectly, hazel eyes wide and staring, square jaw tensing tightly. The shadow of stubble was beginning to peek through, stark against his normally tan skin that was now pale and ashy. This was his face, it was him. This couldn’t be a lie, it couldn’t be. They couldn’t…they wouldn’t turn his actual face into a lie. Even in Rex’s greatest conspiracy theories or Morgan’s greatest bouts of vitriol at their parents, nothing had ever come close to this. It couldn’t be true, it couldn’t it couldn’t it-

‘Chad?’ Morgan’s voice appeared behind him. ‘Chad you’ve got to breathe for me.’

He tried to say that he was trying. That he was doing his best but his lungs were refusing to cooperate, that the air was too thick for him to swallow. Instead all he could do was gasp and whimper, his whole body shaking with the effort. Or the adrenaline. A hand was on his shoulder and he was being turned away from the mirror. Morgan’s face he knew, Morgan’s face was real, Morgan was his sister, she was his sister and that was real and it couldn’t be a lie because they looked alike and this was his face-

‘Okay,’ Morgan muttered, ‘we’re sitting you down.’ She guided Chad to the tiled floor, giving him the space to breathe, one hand on his knee as he fought for breath. ‘I need you to breathe with me, okay? Okay I’m going to count, breathe in for…’

He tried to listen, he did. Morgan was talking and he was trying so hard to listen and so hard to breathe, but his head was filling with cotton and she was sounding so far away. Everything was falling away, until he couldn’t focus on anything but the vice around his chest. Something tugged at his hair sharply and he choked on another breath, vaguely hearing fumbling around him as the pain in his scalp vanished. 

He jumped when something cold was pressed against his neck, and he tried to back away sharply.

‘...mit Chad stop moving and let me help!’ Morgan’s voice drifted in and Chad zeroed in on her. She was closer, half sitting on him. He blinked and realised she was sitting on one of his arms. The other was pinned by one hand, her free hand pressing something cold and wet to his neck. ‘Are you listening now? Good, now breathe with me, I’m going to count.’

She began to count as she told him to breathe through his nose, told him to hold, and then breathe out through his mouth. And again. And again. Until eventually the vice around his chest started to vanish and the shake in his body lessened.

Morgan shifted the cold thing against Chad’s neck, looking around the room, ‘Okay, you breathing better?’ Chad gulped and nodded. Technically he was. The air still felt precarious in his lungs however. ‘Okay, we’re going to try something. Tell me five things you can see.’

‘What?’

‘Five. Things. You can see,’ Morgan said. ‘I got your breathing better, right? So trust me on this, name five things you can see.’

Chad furrowed his brow and looked around. ‘Sink,’ he said. ‘Toilet. Medicine cabinet. Picture on the wall. Towel rail.’

‘Okay good,’ Morgan nodded, ‘that’s good. Now its…hang on. Yeah four things you can feel.’

Chad took a slow breath. ‘Jeans. Tile. Whatever you’ve got pressed to my neck.’ Morgan smirked and pulled it back to show Chad a wet flannel, before she put it back on his neck. ‘And…you’re pulling on my shoulder.’

‘Oh,’ Morgan shifted slightly, and the tension in his shoulder eased. ‘Sorry, it's hard to fight robot arms.’ Chad frowned at that, but Morgan carried on, ‘Next is three things you can hear.’

‘Hear?’ Chad looked away, trying to focus. ‘You. The fan. The tap dripping.’

‘Great,’ Morgan said. ‘Two things you…what’s the next one? Smell! Two things you can smell.’

Chad sniffed, ‘Deodorant and mint shampoo.’

‘Okay, and one thing you can taste.’

Chad licked at his lips, catching the hot tears on his tongue. ‘Salt.’

Morgan nodded, ‘Okay, breathing better? Thinking better?’ Chad let out a steadier breath and nodded. ‘Cool, if I get off your arms now are you going to start pulling out your hair again?’

‘What?’ Chad’s eyes went wide. Morgan lifted off Chad’s arms and he brought his hands up to run through his hair. Before he did though he could already see hairs caught in the joints of his metal fingers. He cringed, slowly picking off the hairs, twirling the strands in his fingers. 

‘You didn’t do too much damage,’ Morgan said, running a hand through Chad’s curls, barely making him wince. ‘But I know how tight that grip can get.’

Chad didn’t answer, he was too busy staring at the hair he was holding, ‘This isn’t mine.’

Morgan frowned, ‘Chad I saw you-’ Chad held it up and Morgan froze, staring at the straight dark blond strand in Chad’s fingers. ‘Oh.’

‘I…I would have noticed this. If this was true. I would have-’

Morgan dumped the flannel in the bath they were leaning against and pulled Chad into a hug. Chad took in a shuddering breath, feeling his face twist, and Morgan squeezed him tighter, ‘Please don’t have another panic attack. I’d rather you cried.’

Chad shook his head, ‘Heroes don’t have panic attacks.’

‘Yeah, well, you’re off duty.’

Chad tried to chuckle, lip trembling as he dropped the last of the hairs. ‘This can’t be happening. It has to be a trick. Please tell me this is a trick.’

Morgan closed her eyes, ‘I’m sorry Cheddar.’

He began to choke on the first sobs, curling into himself. Morgan wrapped her arms around his shoulders, cradling him close. He couldn’t help it, when he felt her tears drip onto his face Chad clung to her, dissolving into tears.  

Chad didn’t suspect that anyone else had made their way into the bathroom, not even when Morgan shifted so her cheek was pulled away from where she had been resting on his head.

‘Hey,’ she whispered, her voice quiet and hoarse.

‘Hey,’ came the reply that made Chad look up in alarm. Black pants, blood red corset shirt, glowing yellow eyes and light blonde hair. Alex glanced over at Chad and gave a cold smirk. ‘Enjoying your little breakdown?’

Chad scowled, ‘Fuck off.’

‘This is my house, remember?’

Morgan squeezed Chad’s shoulder, ‘Alex? Either shut up, do something helpful, or fuck off.’

They shrugged, pulling out a box of tissues from seemingly nowhere and offering them to Morgan. ‘So, you made Mum cry. Better hope when I find out why it doesn’t piss me off.’

‘Alex enough!’ Morgan snapped. ‘No threats, no insults or any bullshit. Okay?’

Alex closed their eyes, and for a moment Chad saw them wrestle with a flurry of emotions. Before Alex let out a breath and opened their catlike eyes, focusing only on Morgan when they nodded, ‘As you wish. So, what happened?’

Morgan sighed, ‘Your mum found out about Chad. She did some weird magic.’

Alex chuckled, ‘Yeah that sounds like her.’ They knelt down, pushing the box of tissues closer so Morgan and Chad could help themselves. ‘How did she take the news?’

Chad closed his eyes and hid his face in Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan dithered above him, ‘Well? She was…happy. Got a bit…much I think. For Chad.’ He mumbled something unintelligible into Morgan’s shoulder but she managed to pick it up, ‘Kind of pulled the rug out from both of us.’ Alex raised an eyebrow at that as Morgan gently stroked a hand through Chad’s hair. ‘Turns out someone enchanted Chad.’

‘How so?’

‘It’s not true,’ Chad scowled. ‘It’s not, it…it can’t be true.’

Morgan bit back her first retort, and turned to Alex. ‘Janice thinks that someone enchanted Chad with an illusion to make him look like…this.’ Alex looked at Chad, from the curly hair to the puffy eyes, and back. ‘And, Janice thinks, Chad can’t take the enchantment off.’

‘You mean the necklace?’ Alex asked. Chad blinked in surprise at that and Alex shrugged. ‘You don’t get raised by a witch obsessed with digging out secrets without picking up a few tricks.’

‘You knew?’

‘Knew you had an enhancement charm,’ Alex said. ‘A lot of A tiers on both sides have them, especially for their galas. I didn’t think much of it.’

‘Did you ever look past it?’ Morgan asked.

Alex snorted, ‘Why would I? That would require me to care about Chad’s fragile little ego.’ They ignored Chad’s scowl and looked at Morgan, ‘If I had looked and found anything I would have told you already.’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘That’s fair I guess.’ She looked down at the little disc, stroking a hand through Chad’s hair. He looked up at his sister, eyes still shining from the tears, and she closed her eyes with a sigh. ‘There’s only one way to prove that it’s not true.’

Chad shook his head, ‘No. No you can’t.’

Morgan continued to run her hands through his hair, scratching gently at his scalp, ‘I won’t do anything you don’t want me to, okay? I promise.’ Chad swallowed, looking away and at a particularly bright towel on the rack. Morgan never stopped petting his hair, until Chad closed his eyes. ‘I’m your sister Chad, I’m here to help. However you need me to help, okay?’

‘Promise?’

‘Which part needs a promise?’ Morgan asked. ‘I promise I’m your sister, and that won’t change. I promise I’ll help you however you need. Need someone to rant at? Need someone to build a drone to piss off mum and dad? Need someone to help you find the truth? I’ll do it.’

Chad swallowed. It was quiet. He almost forgot about Alex being there while Morgan was stroking his head. It was so soothing, he could imagine for a moment that this was just a dream. All a crazy bad dream, and it was about to come to an end. One way or another.

‘What…if it hurts? Going after the truth?’

Morgan sighed, ‘It already has. How much more would it hurt to find out the rest?’

‘A lot,’ Chad whispered. ‘It…if it's true, which it’s not. But if it is…I can’t go back. I can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist.’

‘Sure you could,’ Alex said. ‘A big dumb idiot like you? You could pretend anything’s real.’ Chad opened his eyes to glare at Alex, earning an infuriating smirk from the villain.

‘Then you don’t go back,’ Morgan said. ‘You move forward. You make your own space, you find your own path. You find out who Chad Sterling is when other people aren’t defining him. And you won’t be alone when you do it.’ Chad looked up at Morgan, eyes threatening more tears, and Morgan leaned down so their foreheads were touching, her eyes closed as her voice began to tremble. ‘You’re my brother Cheddar. And nothing changes that. I promise.’

Chad felt Morgan’s hand brush his neck. The lightest touch, he almost didn’t notice it. So that was her plan. He swallowed, trembling in fear, ‘Stay. Please.’ He felt Morgan’s brow furrow against his and he let out a sigh. ‘Please don’t leave me alone again.’

Morgan’s eyes shot open in surprise, ‘But I…’ She faltered when she saw the fresh tears streaking down his face. He could feel the terror building again, and every fibre in his being was begging her. She had to avert her gaze, taking a slow and steady breath. ‘I can’t be a sidekick. Or a hero. I…I won’t do that. I wouldn’t even if…if Barnaby asked me. But in every other way, I’ll be here for you. I promise. I…I won’t leave you alone.’

Chad was shaking, clinging to Morgan’s shirt tight enough to pop some of the seams. When Morgan held him, it felt like she was holding him together before he shattered. And nothing in her was willing to let go.

Eventually he managed to find enough of his voice to give Morgan a small nod. ‘I want the truth.’

‘Now?’

Chad nodded, ‘As good a time as any.’

Morgan gave a watery smile, ‘You got it bro.’

Her hand fell away from his neck, and he squeezed his eyes shut. There was a slight clink of metal against tiles, and Alex gasped. ‘Shit.’

Chapter Text

When Morgan’s hand fell to the bathroom tiles, the necklace caught in her fingers, she wanted to look away. She wanted to close her eyes the same as Chad, wait for someone else to tell them the prognosis. Maybe Alex would scoff at them both for being dramatic and tell them it was a dud. Wishful thinking, but right up until the illusion fell away she could kid that it was a possibility. Right up until she saw the truth with her own eyes she would pretend that Janice was tricked somehow. 

But she didn’t close her eyes. She watched as a ripple spread from where the necklace had been resting. Tan skin turned fair, travelling up his face to reveal a dusting of freckles, and dark curls fell into a dark blond mop against her fingers. 

‘Shit,’ Alex gasped, but Morgan wasn’t paying attention. She swallowed, trying to keep her breathing steady, and brushed her thumb against the freckles on his cheek.

That made Chad open his eyes, and he looked up at her. Silver grey eyes shining with fresh tears. ‘Well?’ he croaked.

Morgan took a breath. What the hell did she say? Janice was right? Bernard would love him? There was nothing, nothing to make this easy. No words were coming, and Chad was watching her, pleading for a comfort that she couldn’t give.

‘You’ve got freckles,’ she whispered. 

Chad’s forehead creased, and he shook his head, ‘Don’t lie.’

Morgan sniffed, hand dropping to the cleft that was now in his chin. ‘They look good on you,’ she tried to chuckle, but something caught in her throat as her first tears began to spill over. ‘You’ve got a whole…Prince Charming vibe going on.’

‘Morgan?’ Chad’s voice wobbled.

‘Seriously, you thought you would have been a good actor before, Hollywood would snap you right up with these looks.’ What was she saying? What was she doing? She didn’t know but the words were tumbling out now with no thought or reason behind them. ‘You still get to be the hot one of the family, which is frankly rude-’

Chad pulled Morgan closer into a tighter hug that she gladly returned. That’s right, she needed to comfort her brother. Because she knew it was going to be ugly when he looked in the mirror. So she stroked at his strange hair, trying not to notice how the skin on his neck stood stark against her arm now. Now she could close her eyes to try to keep the worst of the tears back. But that was never going to work. She couldn’t tell if she was the one shaking with sobs or Chad was, but she could feel the tears burn her cheeks as Chad’s robot arms clung to her shirt. Her chest rattled with every gasp of air that managed to make it into her lungs, past the knot in her throat threatening to choke her.

‘Can I still be your brother?’ Chad whispered.

Morgan finally knew what everyone meant when they talked about heartbreak. Because the only reason why she didn’t shatter was because she was holding onto Chad so tight, tight enough to make his spine pop like bubblewrap. ‘You don’t get a choice. You’re stuck with me Cheddar.’

Chad sobbed at that, burying his face into her shoulder. ‘Don’t let go.’

‘I won't,’ Morgan shook her head, ‘I won’t, I won’t.’

‘It’s real?’

Morgan screwed up her face, a few of the seams in Chad’s shirt popping under her grip. Oh her parents were going to pay for this. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

Neither of the siblings noticed when Alex finally moved. When they were finally able to tear their eyes away from their Dad’s young doppelganger, setting their jaw and letting out a very slow calm breath. They could keep calm. They weren’t going to break Mum’s wall again. They weren’t going to break Chad’s new face. Charlie’s face. Alex shook their head, that was a rabbit hole they didn’t want to touch right now. Instead they lifted their hand and the necklace lifted off the tile and floated over to them. They twisted it in mid air, inspecting it carefully. Six different spells by their count. One fancy illusion, a bunch of wards, and a compulsion effect. That must have been what Morgan meant , Alex realised, and looked over at the siblings again. There were no words, not for the siblings’ grief, and not for Alex’s anger. But there wasn’t a lot they could do about the latter.

They slipped out of the bathroom silently, closing the door behind him with a quiet thud. They swallowed, pausing for a moment to check on if either of them seemed to notice that Alex had left. But the two didn’t comment, and Alex walked away. Downstairs Janice and Bernard were sitting on the still out of place couch. Janice was dabbing at her face with a tissue, while Bernard had an arm around her shoulders and was staring into the middle distance. For a moment they hadn’t noticed Alex, for a moment Alex could back away, change their mind, disappear off to their lair, or to the nearest star system they could safely blow up. Their hand tightened around the chain of the pendant, and with a sigh they stepped into the room. 

Bernard looked up first, ‘Hey kiddo. How are the other two doing?’

Alex held up the necklace as an answer, ‘Morgan found the loophole for the compulsion. The wearer couldn’t take it off, but it doesn’t say anything about someone else trying.’

Janice looked up, her keen eyes zeroing in on the necklace, ‘Thank you love,’ she sniffed. ‘Better get the magic cleansed off that before they get it back.’

Alex licked their lips, flicking up the necklace so it landed in their hand, ‘Actually…about that. Morgan was wondering if there was a way to only remove one of the enchantments.’

Janice frowned, ‘Which one?’

‘The compulsion.’

Janice sat up in confusion, ‘I’m sorry, she wants Chad to keep the illusion?’

‘I mean, they both do,’ Alex shrugged. ‘And Morgan asked, so…trying to do that whole respecting people’s wishes thing.’

Bernard cracked a small smile at that, ‘Good for you.’

Janice however scoffed, ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea. I can get rid of the whole thing, give them both a fresh start without any lies or secrets left.’

Bernard squeezed Janice closer, ‘Janice love? That’s not our decision to make.’

‘But-’

Bernard shifted to face Janice directly, catching her eyes, ‘I know. I know you want Charlie back. I do too, more than anything. But that illusion? It was Chad’s face for twenty years. We can’t expect him to just accept a new face overnight.’

‘But it’s his real face.’

‘And maybe one day he’ll accept that,’ Bernard said. ‘Maybe one day he’ll ask you to wipe every spell off that pendant. But that needs to be his choice.’ Janice broke eye contact with Bernard, looking away to the floor. Alex could see her shoulders deflate, and when Bernard put his hand to her cheek, Alex knew his reason had won out.

‘Do you want Chad to trust us?’

‘Of course I do.’

‘Then we need to earn it. Caroline and Richard have hurt that boy, but if we act rashly now, he will think we’re just as bad.’

Janice closed her eyes, cringing at the thought. ‘You should have been a politician,’ she whispered.

Bernard chuckled, ‘Never had the stomach for public speaking.’ He leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Janice’s cheek, and her mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile.

She nodded and turned to Alex, ‘Alright. Let me see what I can do.’ She held out her hand and suddenly Alex was by her side, dropping the necklace into her hand. Her eyes shone with that brilliant red light, her free hand hovering over the necklace to reveal the spells again. With a precise hand she took the scrolling runes casting the compulsion, peeling them away from the rest of the spells, before crushing the spell in her hand. Alex’s eyes shone in tandem, watching the magic fritz and scatter away, leaving five intact and unharmed spells left. 

Janice sighed, her eyes fading to their normal blue, and she held the necklace out. ‘Someone should take it back to them before I change my mind.’ 

Chapter Text

No one went up to Morgan and Chad straight away. Once Bernard had taken the necklace off her Janice declared that she was going to get on with lunch, hurrying off into the kitchen. Alex and Bernard took their time putting the living room back into its normal arrangement, the boxes still piled all over the place. Just in case Chad was curious later, Bernard told himself. Alex hadn’t even suggested using powers, using their strength to carry the sofas to the right spots, and letting Bernard direct them when the angles were off.

Only once that was done and Alex declared they were going to see the horses did Bernard think about heading upstairs to the bathroom. None of them had heard any movement upstairs, and he hated to intrude. But the necklace was burning a hole in his pocket, and soon his feet were leading him up the stairs. He took his time, and wasn’t quiet about it. Better to not surprise them right now he figured.

There was no sound coming from inside the bathroom when Bernard lightly rapped on the door. ‘Morgan? Chad? Am I alright to come in?’

There was a clearing of a throat, before Morgan’s hoarse voice answered, ‘Sure.’

He opened the door, peeking his head in first. His face fell when he saw the siblings sat over by the bath, still tightly embracing each other. Chad’s face was hidden, all Bernard could see from this angle was a shock of dark blond hair. He was more focused on Morgan, looking at him with puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks, still sniffling as she laid her head on Chad’s shoulder.

‘Oh sweetheart,’ he whispered. He slipped inside, closing the door behind him, approaching them slowly. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’ Morgan closed her eyes as more tears fell, squeezing Chad a little tighter. Bernard reached out, gently ruffling Morgan’s hair, her frizzy curls bouncing against his fingers. ‘If there’s anything we can do, don’t even hesitate to ask. Either of you.’

‘Thanks,’ Morgan croaked.

Bernard tried to give Morgan a small smile. ‘Should probably start with some water. I can go grab some for you.’ Morgan nodded, and Bernard grabbed the toilet roll off the holder to hand to them. Morgan took it, sitting up slightly to give some to Chad. 

Bernard was determined to keep his composure with Chad. When he sat back Bernard’s heart broke at the blotchy face, trying to ignore how on the nose Janice had been about the likeness. Until Chad looked up at him, and Bernard saw his own eyes. All the air was punched out of his lungs, and he shuddered. The room fell away, and he was looking down at a crib in the hospital, watching the small wrinkly baby thrash in his direction. He was dressing a baby, rolling out of bed to get to the crib before Janice woke, introducing a six month old to Meringue, chasing a toddler around the house as the little boy squealed in delight.

‘Bernard?’

He blinked, back in the room with a start, and wiped at his eyes. ‘Sorry, that…wow.’

Chad’s face was creased, ‘Is it that bad?’

Bernard’s heart dropped and he shook his head, ‘No no, not bad. Different. More like…anyway,’ he fished around in his pocket, pulling out the necklace, ‘Janice got all this fixed up. No compulsion, but all the other spells are in there.’

He didn’t fail to spot the mirrored looks of confusion on the sibling’s faces. ‘Janice did what?’ Chad asked.

‘Oh yeah,’ Bernard smiled, trying not to chuckle, trying to keep his voice calm. ‘Alex came down, said that Morgan had asked for the compulsion to be taken off but the rest of the spells were left intact. Which…you know, you have one face for twenty years, you get rather attached to it.’

Chad picked the necklace out of Bernard’s palm with trembling fingers, looking to Morgan for reassurance. ‘And Janice definitely only removed the one?’ Morgan asked. 

‘If she did anything else I will be having words,’ Bernard said, his tone darkening for only a second. But it was enough for Chad to risk putting the necklace back on, fumbling with the clasp for a second before getting it to work. As soon as the necklace rested around his neck the magic kicked in, a wave of magic washing over Chad. His skin grew tan, his hair darkened and curled, and the steel grey eyes shifted to hazel.

‘Did it work?’ Chad asked. Both Bernard and Morgan nodded, and Chad slumped in relief.

‘Want to test if you can take it off?’ Morgan asked.

Chad thought for a second, and nodded before fiddling with the clasp behind his neck. As soon as the chain fell away the magic wavered, and for a second Bernard got to see Charlie again. Before Chad quickly put the necklace back on. ‘That’s a relief,’ Chad sighed, scrubbing at his face with his metal hands before trying to smile at Morgan and Bernard. ‘I should go thank Janice. And…apologise.’

‘Take your time,’ Bernard said. ‘I can’t imagine how you must be feeling here kiddo. We’ll go at your pace here, okay?’ Chad nodded, his gaze dropping to the tiles. ‘I can bring some water up for you guys.’

Morgan shook her head, ‘Probably shouldn’t. We don’t want to hide up here all day.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ Chad muttered, rubbing at his eyes.

‘Again,’ Bernard said, turning to Morgan this time. ‘Take your time. Both of you. I’ll grab you some drinks.’ Bernard went to stand up, frowning as Morgan followed him. ‘Mo-’

She stepped forward, threading her arms around Bernard’s waist in a tight hug. He only needed a split second to process before he wrapped Morgan up in a tight embrace, rocking her slightly on the spot. ‘Sorry,’ Morgan whispered. ‘I just…’

‘Nothing to apologise for,’ Bernard smiled. ‘You know I love hugs.’ He squeezed her shoulders tighter for emphasis, rocking them slightly on the spot before Morgan finally moved to pull away. ‘Better?’

Morgan nodded with a smile, and turned to Chad. ‘Bernard gives the best hugs.’

Chad flinched, before trying to glare at Morgan, ‘Morgan you can’t just volunteer someone else for-’

‘Oh no she’s right,’ Bernard grinned, ‘and I’m very proud of the fact. Want to try one?’ There was a flash of something in Chad’s wide eyes before it shrinked into uncertainty, and he shrugged. ‘You can have multiple hugs in fact. Plenty of love to go around.’

Chad shifted on the spot, glancing up at Bernard unsure. God, Bernard wanted to soothe that worry and pain out of the boy ( his boy, his boy was hurting and he needed to fix it ) but all he could do was hold his arms out and give a reassuring smile. Chad only dithered for another moment before he stepped into Bernard’s arms, holding Bernard gingerly with his own robot limbs. Bernard pulled him close into a tight hug, biting his own lip as he fought back the torrent of emotions in his chest. ‘That’s it kiddo,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve got you.’

He vaguely noted that Chad was a good couple of inches taller than him before Chad’s shoulders began to tremble, and Bernard squeezed him tighter. ‘I’m sorry,’ Chad said, already choking up again.

Bernard shook his head, holding on to the young hero ( his boy, his poor boy ) tightly so he couldn’t even think of letting go. ‘There’s nothing to apologise for. You’ve done nothing wrong. You can let it out, I’ve got you okay? No bottling up emotions, you hear?’

Chad shook his head, ‘Heroes don’t-’

Bernard interrupted quickly, ‘I can already tell whatever you’re going to say is bogus. In fact, borrowing from your sister’s vocabulary, I imagine it’s bullshit.’ Morgan snorted and nodded in his peripheral vision, and Bernard pulled back enough to meet Chad’s eyes. ‘You are a person. That’s more important than being a hero, or a Sterling, or anything else you think is important. You’re a person first. And you’re allowed to feel. You’re allowed to cry. And you’re allowed to cry on me, I’ve had much worse. I own a farm after all.’ Chad choked a chuckle out at that, the tears flowing more freely now. ‘Crying’s going to help. It’s going to let those overwhelming emotions out so they feel more manageable. And it sucks to cry alone. So I won’t let that happen. Okay?’

Chad nodded, sniffing slightly, and he let Bernard pull him back into his embrace. Chad buried his face into Bernard’s shoulder, letting Bernard rocking him slightly. Bernard showed no signs of letting go, not until the tension melted out of Chad’s shoulders and his breathing finally evened out. 

When Bernard headed down the stairs both of the siblings followed, close enough to each other to bump shoulders on the stairs, but neither had it in them to complain about it. Even when Morgan rubbed at her arm from a particularly prominent jab from Chad’s elbow. As Bernard headed into the kitchen Morgan and Chad peeked their heads through to the living room.

Janice looked up from the box she was sorting through, throwing a small smile at the two red eyed faces, ‘Oh, look at you dears.’ She stepped away, immediately looking worried at the sight of both of them. Morgan tried to give Janice a shaky smile, while Chad looked like a deer in headlights all over again. ‘So lunch was going to be an affair like this morning, but I think after…everything,’ she looked around at the boxes before smiling at Morgan and Chad, ‘I thought it might be better to have it more relaxed. So we’ve got steak, peppers and onions, mushrooms, wedges, some salad, all sorts of sauces, and we’ve got a loaf of bread I made yesterday so you can make your own sandwiches.’

‘That sounds delicious,’ Morgan smiled, ‘Thank you Mrs Stewart.’

Janice rolled her eyes at Morgan, ‘How many times do I have to tell you dear? It’s Janice to anyone invited to my table.’

‘Mrs…Janice?’ Chad spoke up, and stepped forward. ‘I…need to apologise for earlier. I lashed out and it was completely out of line, and-’

Janice shook her head and moved towards Chad, taking his hands in hers to silence his ramble, looking to meet him in the eyes. ‘Don’t. Please don’t apologise. I…wasn’t fair to you. And I’m sorry.’ Chad’s eyebrows raised in surprise as Janice continued. ‘I pried into your secrets, and I know that ends messy, but I let my old habits get the better of me. And then I got so swept up in having…in seeing that you are alive, that I didn’t consider what you must be going through.’

Chad shrugged at that, ‘That still wasn’t an excuse for me to use my powers on you. Or the things I said.’

‘I understand though,’ Janice said. ‘I pushed you. And I am sorry for that, because I never want to be the reason why you’re hurt.’ Chad had to look away at that, and Janice blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill over. ‘This…might sound strange, but can we start again? I…I want a do over of that whole debacle. If that’s possible.’

Chad chuckled, before nodding. ‘Sure.’

‘Wonderful! Thank you dear. I mean…Chad.’ Janice cleared her throat, straightening her cardigan before looking up at Chad. ‘I understand that you’re going through a lot right now. And I know you don’t know me, but I want to be here for you however I can. In whatever capacity that looks like.’

Chad bit his lip, nodding awkwardly, ‘Thank you. I um…am really grateful.’

Janice smiled, ‘Thank you for giving me another chance.’

‘And please ignore what I said earlier?’ Chad said. ‘I feel really bad about that.’

Janice’s smile widened and she nodded, ‘Of course dear. Now,’ she looked over at the boxes. ‘Obviously, your speed, your pace, but these are all Charlie’s boxes. So you are more than welcome to look through them. And if there’s anything you want to take with you when you head back to the big city, that’s absolutely fine. Just let us know.’

Chad’s eyes widened at that, looking over at the boxes. ‘I…thank you.’

‘No need to thank me dear,’ Janice said. ‘I do suggest going through one of these two first however,’ she said, pointing to the box she was sorting through and it's neighbour. ‘That one has photos, in case you’re interested in those, and this has a lot of your old toys and trinkets. In fact,’ she rummaged through the box again, pulling out something grey and fluffy, ‘this might sound a little daft, but-’

‘Hops?’

Janice looked up in surprise at Chad. He was staring at the small rabbit plushie in her hands, eyes wide in shock. ‘You remember Hops?’

Chad nodded, blinking quickly as he swallowed against a dry mouth, ‘I…I thought I lost him.’

Janice smiled, holding the small toy out to Chad, ‘You dropped him that day in the city. Alex picked him up, they said that you’d be heartbroken if you accidentally left him behind.’ Chad’s hand was half stretched out for Hops when he looked at Janice in confusion, making her chuckle. ‘You’ve only seen Alex the villain. Alex the older sibling absolutely adored you.’

Chad tried to smother the obvious doubt from showing on his face. ‘That…doesn’t seem like it's going to be making a return anytime soon.’

Janice shrugged, ‘Never say never.’

‘No I can, Alex really doesn’t like me.’

Janice chuckled, handing Hops over to Chad. He swallowed, handling the old teddy gingerly, turning Hops over in his hands. ‘Careful, he might be a little dusty,’ Janice said. She stepped back for a moment, watching as Chad examined his old bunny, chuckling as his thumb brushed over a rather worn and faded ear. ‘Oh yes, you used to do the cutest thing, when you were upset or tired you would rub Hop’s ear and cuddle him so tight to your chest.’ Chad blinked at Janice, the gears whirring in his head as she smiled up at him. ‘Okay, I’d better get lunch on if we want to be eating anytime soon. Do either of you need anything?’

Morgan shook her head, looking over at the stunned look on Chad’s face. ‘Oh, Bernard was fussing over us needing something to drink?’

‘Oh of course,’ Janice said. ‘I’ll see where he's got to.’

She turned towards the door when Chad spoke up, ‘Thank you.’ She turned back to him, her heart melting at his shining eyes and furrowed brow. Hops was tucked under his chin, the soft fur brushing his neck, and he was already fiddling with the worn and battered ear. ‘I mean…um…thank you.’

Janice’s shoulders fell, and she could feel her eyes watering again, ‘Oh my dear, can I hug you?’ Chad nodded, dropping his arms in time for Janice to wrap her arms around his chest, squeezing him tighter when he returned the hug. She sniffed, pulling away reluctantly, before looking up at him with a smile. She cupped his face, brushing away a stray tear with his thumb. ‘My boy,’ she whispered. ‘My sweet boy.’ Chad’s lip wobbled, and for a moment he leaned into Janice’s hand. He opened his mouth, looking over Janice’s face as he tried to fit all the overwhelming emotions into words. ‘It’s okay,’ Janice said. ‘You don’t need to say anything. Take your time. Whatever you need to make this place feel like home, let me know okay?’

Chad blinked, ‘Home?’

Janice smiled and nodded, ‘Of course dear. Same as Morgan. You always have a home here, okay?’

‘But…’ Chad sniffed, trying to blink away more tears, ‘you don’t know me.’

‘You’re my baby,’ Janice said. ‘And, if you’re happy sharing, I absolutely want to know everything about you. About your schools, and your favourite teachers, the books and music you like, everything.’

‘Um…’ Chad frowned for a moment, ‘I was really good at maths?’

‘Really?’ Janice beamed, and Chad nodded. ‘Oh that’s fantastic. Bernard needs all sorts of numbers and calculations for his doodad projects-’

‘Actually,’ Chad faltered, beginning to blush in embarrassment, ‘my uh…favourite part was statistics?’

Janice blinked, her eyes going wide with delight, ‘Oh! Oh that’s smart stuff! I could never wrap my head around percentages, and averages, and all that stuff. That was for people much smarter than me.’ 

Chad smiled sheepishly, ‘I mean, I’m probably not good at it now. I haven’t touched it since high school.’

‘Oh well, we can’t have that,’ Janice said. ‘If you want to get back into it I’m sure we can help you find a class.’

Chad’s eyebrows raised in surprise, ‘You’d do that for me?’

‘Of course we would,’ Janice chuckled, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. ‘You’re family. That’s what family does. And don’t start saying that whole “but we don’t know you” business again, I can see it on your face.’ She chuckled as Chad faltered over something to say, before shutting his mouth again. ‘We will always offer you a family. And we will always offer you a home. Understand?’ Chad managed a shaky nod, clearly stunned and struggling to process her declaration. Janice smiled, cupping his face again so he would meet her gaze. And so he was close enough to hear her whisper.

‘Welcome home, sweetheart.’ 

Chapter Text

In the kitchen Bernard had gotten as far as filling two fresh glasses with filtered water before he looked through the kitchen window to check on the farm outside. Meringue was idling near the stable, keeping a keen eye on the curious foal as he began to wander over to the chicken coop. Daisy was ignoring the both of them, munching on grass nearby. And a certain chestnut horse and blond haired villain were nowhere to be seen. 

Bernard left the glasses on the table for Morgan and Chad to grab, slipping on his trusty boots before heading out the back door. He didn’t panic, but there was a rush to this gait as he ushered Oreo back to the stable and patted Meringue’s flank before looking out over the wider fields. The skip in his heart settled at the sight of Alex mid leap over a hedgerow on Butterscotch’s back. Bernard smiled, watching the two of them fly over the fields with wild abandon. That was a sight he had missed.

Meringue nudged at Bernard’s shoulder as he watched Alex and Butterscotch. ‘I know girl, but it’s going to take some time for them to process. For all of us I think.’ She snorted, and Bernard smirked as he petted her velvet muzzle. ‘I hear we need to thank you for solving the mystery. You are a clever girl aren’t you?’ Meringue pawed her hoof on the ground, and Bernard chuckled. ‘Well there’s no need to brag, is there?’

Meringue drifted off to nudge Oreo back into the shadow of the stable while Bernard continued to watch Alex and Butterscotch. The two of them had slowed into a more steady canter, and from the way they were circling Bernard expected them to trot back to the stable before long. 

While he watched the back door creaked open behind him, and Janice appeared in the doorway. ‘Lunch is ready!’ she called out.

‘Thanks love!’ he shouted back, watching the door close before turning back to Alex. Apparently they had heard the shout too, the two of them were already turned back to the stable. Bernard stood up straight and went to check that there was fresh water and food available for Butterscotch before they got back. 

Butterscotch was steaming when they got back to the stable, and Bernard frowned at Alex. ‘Where’s your helmet?’

Alex rolled their eyes, shifting in the saddle to stroke Butterscotch’s side. ‘I haven’t needed a helmet for years Dad.’

‘I disagree,’ Bernard said. ‘I don’t care if you have unlimited power. Safety first.’

Alex climbed down off Butterscotch, and Bernard noted that they hadn’t changed anything about their outfit before riding out. Still in the corset, in the tight pants. The only appropriate part of their outfit was their sleek black riding boots. They led Butterscotch over to the water trough, working on the buckles for the bridle and saddle while Butterscotch got a drink. ‘What’s for lunch?’

‘It was going to be pan fried steak I think,’ Bernard said, ‘but now your Mum’s got a vegetable skillet cooking and some fresh bread. Think we’re building our own sandwiches.’

Alex nodded, focusing on stripping off Butterscotch’s riding gear. ‘And…the others?’

‘In the living room,’ Bernard said. ‘Either buried in the boxes or pointedly ignoring them.’

Bernard couldn’t see Alex’s expression, but the stiffness in their shoulders and the hard line in their jaw from gritting their teeth was enough to make Bernard concerned. They didn’t respond, except to hoist the saddle on their shoulder and turn to put it away in the stable. Oreo came trotting up to try and investigate Alex, before Meringue intercepted and ushered the foal away.

Once the gear was away Bernard finally spoke, ‘Are we talking, thinking or ignoring?’

They sighed, squeezing the leather straps of the reins for a moment before letting go. ‘Does it matter?’

‘Absolutely,’ Bernard said. ‘I’m not the one that lied about Morgan asking for the necklace to be changed.’

Alex looked up then, trying to glare at Bernard. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Morgan wasn’t in a state to ask for anything was she?’ Bernard asked, watching carefully as Alex squeezed their eyes shut. ‘Kiddo…’

‘Ignoring,’ Alex spat out. ‘We’re ignoring it.’

Bernard held his breath, swallowing down the comfort he was about to offer, before nodding. ‘How much of it?’

Alex folded their arms. They thought for a moment, golden eyes flicking from the floor to the horses outside the stable. ‘Right now, Morgan is hurt. So…I’m going to focus on that. Everything else is a rabbit hole that ends bloody.’

Bernard raised his eyebrows in surprise, ‘Thought you’d be on that in a heartbeat.’

Alex shook their head, ‘Not this time. This…they aren’t mine to kill yet. Not unless Morgan wants me to. And she’s going to want answers out of them first.’ They sighed. ‘I might go and blow up a moon or something after lunch.’

‘As long as it isn’t ours,’ Bernard said. ‘Uncle Frank is meant to go on that cruise next month. Can’t do that if you’ve broken the oceans.’

Alex chuckled and gave a mock salute. ‘Aye aye.’ 

When they got back in the kitchen the table had been set up with a bread board complete with a near full loaf of bread and a knife, and a series of dishes with lightly fried steak strips, various vegetables, and wedges. The two of them washed up before helping themselves to the food, Alex already biting into their sandwich before they moved into the living room. 

On the long sofa Chad was leaning into Morgan’s shoulder as they both munched on their lunch and Janice went on about some local gossip in the town. Chad was enamoured, listening to Janice’s tale with an unrealistic amount of genuine enthusiasm in Alex’s opinion. Morgan however was spacing out, chewing slowly at her sandwich. Everything about her was lethargic, even her small smile when Alex came over to sit on the arm of the sofa next to her.

‘Alex,’ Janice said. ‘There are perfectly good armchairs you know?’

‘I’m good here,’ they said, beaming at her while taking a giant bite of their sandwich. Janice rolled her eyes, turning back to Chad to pick up her story. Alex’s smile dropped just as quickly and they pulled Morgan closer. Chad faltered at the loss of his sister’s weight and turned to complain, but Morgan was already leaning on Alex’s chest, eyes closed for a moment.

‘Morgan?’ Alex asked. ‘When did you last sleep?’

Morgan shrugged, while Alex noticed the slight flinch from the hero in the middle of the couch. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Alex held back a growl of frustration, putting down their plate to turn their attention to Morgan better. ‘You know what happens when you say that? I’m going to worry about it.’

Morgan blinked up to try and scowl at Alex, but with the sheer exhaustion there was no weight behind it. ‘I’m not tired.’

‘That’s my fault,’ Chad said, and Alex looked up in surprise. ‘I told Morgan to pull over when she got tired last night, but then I ended up falling asleep first. I should have tried to find us a spot to sleep for the night.’

Alex opened their mouth to chew Chad out, when Janice butted in, ‘Oh don’t worry dear. Morgan tends to be rather stubborn when it comes to sleep. Not many people can get her to agree to go to bed.’

Alex scowled at their mum, and pulled Morgan closer. She tried to shrug Alex off, fighting back a yawn. ‘Guys I mean it, I’m not tired. I’m fine.’

‘Uh huh, sure,’ Alex grumbled.

Morgan pointed a finger in Alex’s face without looking, almost taking out their eye in the process, ‘I mean it. Don’t start meddling with your powers, I don’t need it.’

Bernard chuckled from his armchair, and Alex allowed themselves a small grin, ‘Alright, fine. No powers.’ They shifted so Morgan could lean better on their chest, and brought a hand up to gently stroke her hair.

Morgan jolted, giving Alex the chance to grab her plate of abandoned food and float it over to the coffee table. ‘Alex, I mean it-’

‘If you’re not tired you have nothing to worry about,’ Alex said. ‘Right?’

Chad looked over with concern and confusion, dithering whether to say something or not. Morgan didn’t notice, only grumbling at Alex as she sunk onto their body more, ‘You’re the worst.’

‘I know, I’m so mean aren’t I? Making sure my partner and partner in crime gets sleep and looks after herself, what awful crimes!’ Alex grinned at Bernard as he snorted from his seat, and leaned down to try to catch Morgan’s unintelligible mumbling. ‘What was that? I didn’t catch what you said. Was it, “Alex I’m actually really tired and need to go to bed”? Of course Morgan, happy to oblige.’

Morgan barely grumbled in protest when Alex leaned down and picked her up off the couch, cradling her close in a bridal carry. Chad however shot up in alarm, ‘What did you do?’

‘Relax hero,’ Alex sneered, ‘When Morgan’s tired stroking her hair knocks her out in like, ten seconds. No powers involved.’

‘Since when?’

‘Since always,’ Alex said. ‘Barnaby taught me that trick.’ Chad’s shoulders sagged, but he followed after Alex as they headed towards the hallway. ‘Nope, absolutely not,’ Alex said.

Chad frowned, ‘But Morgan-’

‘Hey Chad,’ Bernard cut in, ‘while Morgan gets some rest we can give you a tour of the rest of the house. I didn’t get a chance to show you the workshop earlier.’

Alex didn’t give Chad a chance to respond, turning back to the door and heading up the stairs to their room.

Inside the room was fairly bright from the sun shining through the window. With a thought Alex closed the blinds, another thought pulled the covers back from the bed. Only then did they loosen their hold on Morgan, laying her down gently on the bed. They pulled the duvet up by hand, taking the time to tuck her in as she shifted into a comfortable position on the bed.

They could do this, Alex thought to themselves. They could focus on Morgan, making sure that she wasn’t alone. They could catch her when this bullshit got too much. They could ignore the growing knot of pain growing in their own chest. Morgan was more important right now, they told themselves as they laid down next to her, stroking her hair gently again. Morgan asleep, enjoying some much needed rest. Chad downstairs, being the centre of attention again. The thought made Alex snarl, but they pushed it down. It was fine, they could ignore it. 

And they did. They ignored the voices downstairs, the footsteps of people moving through the kitchen and to their dad’s workshop. They ignored the clink of dishes being washed in the sink and muffled voices within the house. Instead they focused on Morgan, on her frizzy hair Alex had finally convinced her to use conditioner on to make it soft. On the slight puffiness still lingering in her cheeks. On her calloused scarred hand resting by her head. On her brow, still slightly furrowed despite her being deeply asleep. 

They had a split second warning of light footsteps in the hallways before there was a brief knocking on the door to their room, and the door creaked open.

‘How’s she doing?’ Janice whispered, poking her head through.

Alex didn’t turn around to look at the door, shifting to shield Morgan from the light as they shrugged. ‘She’s asleep.’

The door closed, but even without the creak of floorboards Alex knew their mum was creeping over to the bed. ‘Bless her,’ Janice whispered, perching on the bed. ‘I didn’t realise she had been driving all night, or I would have shooed her off to bed sooner.’

‘Yeah, well she’s asleep now and I don’t want to wake her.’

Janice chuckled, ‘Honey she can sleep through a hurricane without stirring, I think we’ll be fine with a few whispers.’ Alex rolled their eyes and shrugged, focusing on Morgan while Janice continued to whisper. ‘So, I appreciate you don’t like heroes in the house. And this would be easier to arrange if Morgan was awake. But there is every chance Chad will need to stay here overnight. The spare room is already set up, but I’m just…reminding you-’

‘Got it,’ Alex muttered. ‘Thanks.’

Janice sighed, ‘Are you going to be sharp with Chad the whole time?’

‘Please,’ Alex said. ‘Compared to how we normally interact, I'm being positively delightful. If he’s been moaning about me-’

‘He hasn’t,’ Janice said. ‘I’m sure he’s used to it since you both care about Morgan…’

Alex snorted, cutting over Janice. ‘Care about Morgan? Before all this kicked off Chad was an asshole. He was demanding she would go back to being his sidekick you know? And when she refused he insisted that I was mind controlling her.’

Janice slowly nodded as a realisation hit her. ‘Does that have anything to do with Chad’s robotic prosthetics?’

‘I could have done a lot worse,’ Alex grumbled. ‘I would have done worse if Morgan hadn’t made me put him on the no kill list.’ Janice nodded, keeping a neutral expression as Alex hunched around Morgan. ‘But he doesn’t care about Morgan. He wants his sidekick back. So he can get his perfect hero image even more perfect, who gives a fuck what Morgan wants right?’

‘And now?’ Janice asked.

‘Now? Now Chad’s life is falling apart and Morgan needs to be there to look after him. Fuck what she wants, she needs to put all that to one side to be his supportive big sister, after he’s already taken so much from her. It’s bullshit.’

‘What has he taken honey?’

‘He’s the Sterling Golden Boy,’ Alex spat. ‘He’s the shining example, the centre of attention, he gets everything he wants. And Morgan got nothing but scraps, so she told them all where to stick it and now he’s…’

‘Going to steal us?’ Janice said. Alex faltered, their shoulders slumping. Janice reached out and squeezed their shoulder gently. ‘Chad isn’t going to replace anyone. I promise. He’s not replacing you, and he’s definitely not replacing Morgan.’ Alex finally looked up at their mum. Even in the dark room they could see her perfectly. Her eyes were glimmering with unshed tears, her lips pursed to try and stop her bottom lip from trembling.

‘You were ignoring her. When I came in. You were…telling Chad about the crochet club’s mystery night in town and Morgan was just sitting there and-’

‘Alex,’ Janice said, shuffling closer to cup their cheek. ‘I knew Morgan was dead on her feet. I figured I would arrange a calm lunch, get some food in them and then with Chad more relaxed and comfortable I could persuade Morgan to have a nap. You just beat me to it.’

‘Yeah, because Chad-’

‘Chad is scared,’ Janice said. ‘And that’s partly my fault for spooking him. But he’s scared, and Morgan is familiar. Morgan is safe. But I know that Morgan needs to be looked after too, and I’m not intending on neglecting her for a second.’

Alex looked away from Janice, turning back to Morgan. Watching her sleep soundly on. ‘So that’s that?’

‘Yes,’ Janice said. ‘As far as I’m concerned, I have three children now. And I wouldn’t trade any of you for anything.’

‘You’ve had Chad for two hours,’ Alex frowned. ‘You don’t know anything about him.’

‘I know enough to know I want my son back,’ Janice said. ‘But that has nothing to do with how I feel about Morgan. Morgan is my family, and nothing and no one can change that.’

‘And what happens when Chad becomes your favourite kid?’

Janice huffed, ‘We don’t have a favourite child.’

‘Yes you do,’ Alex said. ‘And I’m not going to let Morgan lose the title.’

Janice smiled slightly at that, ‘Alright. Morgan’s our favourite. And that’s not going to change. She’s getting the farm after all.’

‘Wills can change.’

‘That won’t,’ Janice said. ‘I promise you.’

‘Even if…even if Chad decides he wants to be Charlie again?’

Janice paused, looking away for a moment to think it over. ‘Even then. One day this is going to be Morgan’s home for good. And we won’t take that away from her, not even for Charlie.’ She looked back at Alex, stroking a hand through their hair with a smile. ‘Although if you’re that worried, you know what would help? A certain question with a certain ring…?’

Alex blushed, ‘Mum stop.’

‘Maybe in a church? Think we could swing a cathedral?’

‘Mum please-’

‘You know, I think Morgan would look so smart in a suit, and either you could wear matching ones or you could have that giant princess gown you were obsessed with when you were eight-’

‘Mum you’re killing me here,’ Alex whined, ‘please. In fact I think I need a nap now. Maybe one for a hundred years so you can’t get me in a church.’

Janice chuckled, standing up and pressing a cheek to Alex’s hair. ‘Love you honey.’

Alex couldn’t help but slump under the kiss, a small smile curling on their lips. ‘Love you too Mum.’

Janice smiled and looked down at the two of them, before crossing the room and slipping out the door with a soft click.

‘Was she telling the truth?’ Alex jumped at Morgan’s quiet voice.

‘Morgan! You’re supposed to be asleep.’

‘I was. Somehow you’re more disruptive than a hurricane,’ Morgan sniggered with a raised eyebrow.

Alex winced, ‘Sorry. I should have left you to it.’

Morgan shook her head, working her arm out of the duvet to pull Alex closer into a hug. ‘It’s okay. So was she telling the truth?’

‘About what?’ Alex asked. ‘Because I have no idea what dress she’s talking about-’

‘Not that,’ Morgan chuckled, looking up at Alex amused. ‘The rest of it. About…well…’ she trailed off, thinking how to word the question. ‘Now I’m thinking about it, I sound so childish right now.’

Alex snorted. ‘For what it’s worth, Mum isn’t one for lying. Hiding information? Sure. Like hers and dad’s villainous careers. But then again, if I had asked her beforehand she probably would have told me the truth. But she doesn’t lie. So you can trust in what she says.’

Morgan mulled it over, nodding slowly as she did. ‘Okay, cool. Thank you.’

‘For what?’

‘For being in my corner,’ Morgan said. ‘It’s nice, someone having my back.’

Alex leaned closer, wrapping Morgan up in a tighter hug, ‘What are partners in crime for?’ They felt Morgan beam as she snuggled into their shoulder, and Alex couldn’t help but relax a little of the knot inside their chest. ‘Now go to sleep.’

Morgan tried to stifle a yawn, ‘I’m not tired.’

‘Go to sleep or I will boop you.’

‘You wouldn’t dare.’ 

Chapter Text

In the end Alex didn’t need to use any powers to coax Morgan back to sleep. Their fingers combed through her hair while she was cradled close to their chest until she was snoring softly. Alex could have left then, gone back downstairs to check on their parents. Or look at some more pictures while Chad was being distracted by Bernard. Or they could have gone off to find a good moon to blow up.

But the minutes fell away, with Morgan asleep against their chest, the bubble of peace they had was left undisturbed, and Alex couldn’t bring themselves to leave. Instead they lay on their bed, carding their fingers through Morgan’s hair, wondering how they could get this moment to not end. So they didn’t have to let Morgan go. And they didn’t have to think about kidnapped siblings or enchantments. Or heroes. 

When it looked like Morgan was out for the count for the rest of the day Alex waved their hand to banish their outfit, the corset and tight pants swapped for the fluffiest oversized hoodie they owned and soft baggy joggers. There was no chance they were going to get out of this bed for the rest of the day. Not even for their Mum’s cheesecake. 

At some point Alex must have fallen asleep themselves. It was the only way that time would drift away from them so quickly, the hours passing in between blinks. They vaguely remember the bedroom door opening again, carrying with it the delicious warm smell of something roasted, but they couldn’t find it in them to move. When the door clicked closed Alex tightened their grip around Morgan’s waist and closed their eyes again. Sleep was easier. Looking after Morgan was easier. 

When Alex blinked again and knew they were awake, wide awake in fact, it was the middle of the night. They frowned, trying to work out what had brought them around so suddenly, when they heard it. A creak downstairs. Alex sat up, casting their senses out into the rest of the house. Morgan was asleep next to them, and down the hall were two resting heart rates in their parent’s room. A third one was downstairs, along with the quiet creak of a page turning in a heavy book. Alex zeroed in on the spare bedroom. It was empty, the bed half warm and cooling more by the second. They bit back a growl, climbing silently out of bed before teleporting downstairs. What was Chad planning?

Chad didn’t notice when Alex appeared in the doorway to the living room. He was curled up on the floor leaning against the sofa, lit by a soft lamp behind him with a large photo album on his lap. Hops was braced between the album and Chad’s waist, his fingers playing with Hops’ worn ear. Alex looked away from the bunny, focusing on the album Chad was looking through. They could have left. Could have stayed silent. There was no reason for them to interrupt, to pull themselves into this weird moment that Chad was having in the middle of the night. They didn’t need to entertain this. 

‘What are you doing?’

Chad jumped at the sound of Alex’s voice, looking up in surprise. ‘Oh. Alex. I thought everyone was asleep.’

‘That doesn’t answer my question,’ Alex said. ‘Do I need to repeat myself?’

‘No. No, uh…’ Chad looked down at the album, licking his lips as he searched for the words. ‘I couldn’t sleep. And…it’s quiet. And…I guess I got curious.’

Alex rolled their eyes, ‘You’ve had all day to look at the boxes. Why at 1am?’

‘Like I said,’ Chad tried to glare at Alex, although there was no heat in the expression, ‘I couldn’t sleep.’ Alex raised an eyebrow, staring Chad down until he looked away. ‘What about you? Why are you up?’

Alex summoned a glass into a hand Chad couldn’t see before holding it up to demonstrate. ‘I’m thirsty.’

Chad glanced at the glass. ‘Alright. Are you going to stop me? Because Janice said I could look at the boxes, and-’

‘Do whatever you want,’ Alex said. ‘I don’t care.’

‘Then why ask?’

‘I don’t like heroes sneaking around my house,’ Alex sneered, throwing another glare at Chad. 

Before Chad could rebut Alex headed into the kitchen, beelining for the fridge and the filtered water. They were fine. Chad was being a nosy ass, but they were fine. They didn’t need to worry about it, Chad would sit there in the dark and look at strange pictures from a lifetime ago. Alex sighed, squeezing their eyes shut and pinching their nose. There was no reason for them to be sentimental. This was Chad, stupid idiot asshole Chad. Who constantly harassed Morgan into becoming a sidekick again, or harassed Alex into releasing their supposed mind control. But when Alex closed their eyes all they could see was silver grey eyes and dark blond hair.

‘Dammit,’ Alex hissed, pushing back the tears. They had cried enough. They weren’t about to cry for fucking Chad. Not even a Chad who looked like Charlie, who looked so scared and heartbroken and lost. It wasn’t their problem. It wasn’t.

‘What do you get out of that?’

Chad looked up at Alex, watching carefully as they sipped at their glass of water. ‘Um…what?’

‘What do you get out of that?’ Alex asked again. ‘Looking at the photos when everyone else is asleep. It’s not like you have any context for those pictures.’

Chad blinked, looking down at the photos. ‘I…I thought it might help.’

‘Help with what? Those people are all strangers to you.’

‘I know that,’ Chad snapped. Alex raised an eyebrow in amusement, watching Chad immediately deflate. ‘I…sorry. I just…’

‘Don’t think I’ve heard you snap before,’ Alex snorted, moving to sit in the nearest armchair. ‘Thought you were too perfect for all that?’

Chad rolled his eyes, ‘Not funny.’

‘I beg to differ,’ Alex smirked. ‘But seriously, why now? Mum would love to tell you about all those photos. All the people in them. She’d probably start building family trees or something.’

Chad bit his lip and nodded, ‘That…sounds about right. Based on what I’ve seen so far. But…’ he sighed, looking down at the album. ‘It’s a lot. And, I’m not trying to sound ungrateful because I’m not. At all. Janice and Bernard, they’ve been nothing but welcoming and lovely and…’ he trailed off, glancing up at the rest of the boxes in the room. ‘They really love Charlie.’

‘They do,’ Alex said. ‘You just made all their dreams come true.’

‘Not all of them,’ Chad said. ‘If I did that I’d…I don’t know, be able to go back in time and give baby me back or something.’

‘Time travel ends badly,’ Alex said. ‘Breaking the space time continuum tends to cause…glitches.’

Chad blinked, processing for a second, ‘Why do I feel like you’re speaking from experience?’ Alex shrugged and sipped at their water. ‘Wait, that can’t be right, you’ve never killed a time warper.’

Oh shit. ‘I was raised by a witch, remember?’

‘Oh,’ Chad said. ‘Janice has used time magic?’

‘No, but it's in her grimoire,’ Alex said.

‘Why would you try to time travel?’ Chad asked. Alex didn’t look at Chad, if they did the dark glare they were trying to put out into the room would definitely shatter, and maybe the windows with it. But it seemed to get their point across, and Alex could feel the realisation and surprise across the room. ‘Oh. I…sorry I didn’t think-’

Alex tapped their glass, watching it turn into the colour of honey. Only whiskey, but it might take the edge off. ‘Why didn’t you look at the pictures with Mum and Dad?’

Chad froze, holding his breath as Alex examined their new drink, ‘I…panicked.’ Alex sipped at the whiskey, finally glancing at Chad with a raised eyebrow. He was looking at the photos, tucking Hops under his chin to feel the soft fur. ‘There’s a whole life here. And it's not that I don’t want to know. But it’s been…what time is it?’

‘After 1,’ Alex said. ‘It’s been a good 14 hours since I found you in the bathroom.’

‘Right,’ Chad said. ‘That’s not a lot of time to process.’

‘Aww, is the poor hero getting overwhelmed because he’s found out what loving parents actually look like?’

‘My parents love me,’ Chad said. ‘They just show it in different ways.’

‘Sure,’ Alex snorted, ‘Let’s go with that. And definitely not that they don’t even know what love means, never mind how to express it.’

Chad shot up to his feet, a gust of wind coming off him, and Alex snorted. ‘The S tier monster’s really going to tell me what love is like?’

Alex didn’t move except to look up at Chad with a cool expression. ‘Love is the only reason why you’re still alive. Hero.’ Chad flinched, and Alex’s mouth curled into a smirk. ‘Morgan loves you, for some weird reason. And I love Morgan. And because of that you get to live.’

Chad was silent at that, squeezing the bunny still in his hand. He looked away from Alex, his sudden anger deflating as quickly as it came, and he sank onto the sofa. ‘I need to thank her for that, I think,’ he whispered.

Alex nodded, ‘Yeah you do.’

Chad thought for a moment, before chuckling, ‘I’ve just realised. If my parents’ plan for us had been followed through and Morgan had become my sidekick, there’s every chance you would have killed me by now.’

Alex’s attention turned back to the boxes, scanning over the dusty cardboard. They had a deep gulp of the whiskey. ‘Quite possibly.’

‘Imagine if they had tried to bring me back,’ Chad said. ‘If…if they found the pendant and took it off to put me through the Lazarus machine.’ Alex quirked an eyebrow at that, but didn’t interrupt as Chad carried on, staring into the middle distance with quickly glistening eyes. ‘Would…would they have still brought me back? Would Mum have covered it up? Or would they have scrapped the plans and left me dead?’ His hand went to the small disc hanging around his neck, fiddling with it, as he gnawed on his lip.

‘Good thing Morgan went villain then,’ Alex said. Chad chuckled wetly, sniffing as he tried to steady his breathing. ‘I’m not going to hug you.’

‘I wasn’t asking you to,’ Chad said. He glanced down at the pendant, watching it clack against his metal fingers, thinking for a moment. ‘Why did you get Janice to change the pendant?’

Alex took another gulp of the whiskey. ‘Morgan would have asked. I just got there first.’

‘That’s it?’ Chad asked. ‘You got your Mum to change the magic and give me the enchantment back on my own terms, for Morgan?’ Alex nodded, and Chad narrowed his eyes. ‘Nothing else to it?’

‘Like what?’

Chad shrugged, ‘You don’t want to have to fight me if I’m stuck with the other face?’

Alex definitely did not flinch at that. They were actually quite proud of how they kept their composure as they drained the last of the glass and vanished it away. ‘Almost. I’ll fight you no matter what face you’re using. Especially when you’re in your hero cowl. It’s got nothing to do with me fighting you.’ They met Chad’s eyes, hazel and intense staring at them. Alex sat forward, leaning on their legs. ‘The truth is, it’s easier to hate you when you’re not wearing my brother’s face.’

Chad blinked, but held Alex’s gaze. Even so, his heart rate getting faster did make Alex smile. ‘Right,’ he said, voice slightly raspy. ‘Good to know.’

‘But also for Morgan,’ Alex said. ‘It did upset her after all.’ They sat back, getting ready to stand up. ‘Speaking of, I’d better make sure she’s got a drink in case she wakes up in the middle of the night.’ They summoned a fresh glass into their hand, watching Chad sit there silent. ‘Sweet dreams Chad.’ They walked out of the living room, smirking when they heard Chad let out the breath he had been holding. That was definitely more satisfying than blowing up a moon. 

Chapter Text

When morning came, it came with a clear sky and a gentle breeze. It came with a sun that was inching its way out of the horizon, casting bright rays that broke the glow of twilight. And it came with a quiet farmhouse slowly coming to life. The roosters crowed, waking up the other animals with their morning alarm. Inside however, the people were a little harder to wake. Morgan grumbled and pulled the duvet over her head, half hiding Alex at the same time. Alex snuggled closer to Morgan, eager to shut the world away for a little while longer. Bernard was waking up slowly, stretching and popping his shoulders and back with a yawn and a blink of bleary eyes. 

And Janice was already awake, already freshened up, and getting ready to make breakfast. The coffee pot was already on, and she was sipping at a glass of juice while examining the contents of her fridge, working out what to make. There were still plenty of muffins, the cheesecake, leftovers from dinner to snack on later. Fresh eggs, most of her milk, bacon and sausages and fruit. Unsure of where to start she started pulling out the ingredients for pancakes. They were quick, but the batter would also sit for a little while. 

She was halfway through whisking when the telltale footsteps of Bernard came down the stairs, and she looked up in time to see him swing around the door and pull her into a sweet kiss. ‘Morning love,’ he whispered.

‘And a good morning to you too,’ Janice smiled. ‘You woke up in a good mood.’

Bernard smirked, letting his wife go to get back to mixing. ‘I’m always in a good mood.’

‘A better mood then,’ Janice said. ‘I wonder why that would be?’ Bernard shrugged, and Janice grinned as he headed out the door towards the living room. ‘How long do you think we can convince all the kids to stay?’

‘They do have lives to get back to at some point,’ Bernard said over his shoulder. ‘Think a week would be pushing it?’

Janice giggled, putting down the mixing bowl to inspect what she could prep next. Did she have enough potatoes to make hash browns again? 

She wasn’t expecting Bernard so close when he spoke, ‘Janice love, have you been in the living room yet?’

She jumped, spinning around to look at him confused, ‘No? Why?’

Bernard was trying to hold back a sentimental smile, and nodded towards the living room. Janice frowned, but followed him without a word across the hallway and to the ajar door. 

Chad was curled up on the sofa, still deeply asleep. Hops was pressed between his cheek and the plush couch cushion, with a single lamp on above his head. Under one arm was a still open photo album, the other arm was dangling off the couch and grazing the floor. Janice had to hold back an emotional squeak at the sight, seeking out Bernard’s hand for comfort. He squeezed her hand right back, pulling her closer to lean on his shoulder as they watched him for a moment.

Without a word they stepped into the room silently, taking their time to not make a noise and disturb Chad. Bernard gently eased the album out from under Chad’s arm while Janice grabbed a blanket and laid it over his shoulders. He barely shifted as Janice slowly tucked him in, only moving to nuzzle more into the cushions. Bernard switched off the lamp, leaving the room dark aside for the gentle glow of sunlight through the curtains. For a moment everything was quiet, Janice and Bernard watching Chad sleep. When Janice’s hand twitched towards his hair.

Bernard put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and leaned in to whisper, ‘Better not push it love.’

Janice closed her eyes, pressing her lips together, before she nodded and let Bernard lead her out of the room. Neither of them spoke until the living room door was closed and they were back in the kitchen. ‘Bless him,’ Janice whispered.

Bernard sighed, ‘I know. Wonder when he came down?’

‘Maybe after breakfast, we can show him some of the other family photos. We can pull out some pictures of his aunts and uncles, and his cousins? And then-’

‘Janice? Love,’ Bernard took her hands, pressing them to his lips. ‘We promised we’d go at his pace.’

‘I know,’ Janice said, ‘but-’ she faltered, looking up at Bernard’s knowing expression. ‘You already have an argument don’t you?’

‘You’re making assumptions,’ Bernard chuckled. ‘But now you mention it,’ he paused, grinning at Janice rolling her eyes, ‘it’s been one day. And it's going to hit the kids a lot more.’

‘I know.’

‘And if we rush any of them-’

‘I know Bernard,’ Janice said. ‘Meddling to a minimum. Wait for them to ask.’ Bernard cupped her cheek, watching Janice deflate and lean on his shoulder, ‘I could help though.’

‘I know you could,’ Bernard said. ‘So could I.’

Janice closed her eyes, letting Bernard wrap his arms around her. ‘Would it be meddling to try and find out why Caroline and Richard stole him?’

Bernard took a deep breath, thinking carefully. ‘Knowing what our girl’s like? She might try and beat you to it. Now,’ he looked around at the kitchen, ‘do you want me to pick up breakfast?’

‘Absolutely not!’ Janice giggled, shoving Bernard away. ‘You keep your mitts off my whisk.’

‘This whisk?’ Bernard asked, leaning past her to the mixing bowl. 

Janice gasped and  snatched the bowl away, ‘Don’t you dare!’

Bernard laughed, dodging Janice’s attempts to push him out of the kitchen. They both stilled at a creak from the living room, and Bernard winced, ‘So much for letting him sleep.’

Janice hummed. She looked at the door, fiddling with the whisk braced in the bowl. ‘Perhaps….no. No, I'm going to get a start on breakfast properly. Do you want to check on him?’

Bernard nodded, heading out as Janice turned to the stove. He poked his head through the living room door, giving what he hoped was a comforting smile, ‘Hey kiddo, how are you doing?’

Chad looked up with a blearly look on his face, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. The other one was tangled in the blanket pooling around his waist, and he gave a little yawn, ‘Morning. Um…okay. Where did the blanket come from?’

‘Janice,’ Bernard said. ‘Hey, we’re both rather early risers, what with the farm and stuff. You can get a little more shut eye. The others probably won’t be awake for a good hour or so.’

Chad shook his head, despite another yawn creeping out. ‘That’s okay, thank you. Sorry for…I know you got me all set up in your spare room.’

Bernard stepped into the room properly, glancing at the still open boxes, ‘Don’t worry about it. We figured you got curious.’

Chad looked at the open box, filled with albums, and looked a little sheepish. ‘Yeah. Not the best time for it I guess.’

‘Your timeframe, remember?’ Bernard said. ‘Your pace. Not ours.’ Chad nodded, giving a grateful smile. ‘Janice is getting another breakfast spread ready, if there’s anything specific you like I can let her know.’

‘Oh no,’ Chad smiled, ‘that’s not necessary. Most mornings for me are muesli and fruit so…this is much fancier than I’m used to.’

‘Oh? What kind of fruit?’ Bernard asked. ‘I’ll see if we have any in.’

‘Most fruits,’ Chad shrugged. ‘Apples, berries, bananas, grapefruit…’ he paused as he caused Bernard shiver. ‘You don’t like grapefruit?’

‘Can’t stand the stuff,’ Bernad said with a shudder.

‘That’s a shame, I love it.’

Bernard’s expression dropped, which left Chad startled until Bernard turned back to the door. ‘Janice! You gave Chad your terrible taste in food!’

Chad snorted as he heard Janice shout back, ‘How so?’

‘He likes grapefruit!’

There was a clang in the kitchen, and suddenly a bright eyed and excited Janice was in the doorway, ‘Wait really?’ Chad nodded, and Janice grinned. ‘Wait, what about olives?’

‘Only the green ones.’

Janice’s grin grew wider, ‘Sweetcorn?’ Chad pulled a face at that, and Janice giggled. ‘How about turnips?’

Chad blinked, ‘Love turnips, who doesn’t like turnips?’

‘Okay,’ Bernard said, ‘it’s not that I don’t like turnips. It’s just that other vegetables are superior.’

‘Like what?’ Chad asked.

‘Literally any of them. Carrots, potatoes, broccoli, sprouts…’

‘I’m sorry, you lost me at sprouts,’ Chad said.

Janie laughed in triumph, looking smug at Bernard, ‘That’s my son right there.’ Bernard rolled his eyes, following Janice back through to the kitchen as she laughed, both of them missing the stunned look on Chad’s face. He let out a breath slowly, blinking quickly to fight back the urge to cry, and finally stood up. Folding up the blanket and resting it on the couch, he carefully placed Hops on the coffee table before heading for the bathroom.

It didn’t take an hour for Alex and Morgan to wake up, but it did take enough time for Chad Janice and Bernard to talk alone in the kitchen while Janice was cooking. They carried on their conversations from the previous evening, which mostly involved the parents finding out as much as they could about Chad. They avoided the bulk of details about his hero work, only venturing into the publicly reported heroic adventures if anything. But they were both a lot more interested in pretty much everything else about Chad’s life. His friends (mostly Dave, Diego, and the lovely people in the library he volunteered at) his hobbies (a lot of his downtime was spent at the gym and volunteering, although he did admit to a love of Clan of Champions) and his favourite, well, everything (he didn’t have a lot of time to read, he loved action movies, and Taylor Swift, much to the Stewarts’ amusement). The conversations about his childhood were also avoided aside from discussions about school, his favourite teachers and classes, any extracurricular activities, and the “typical teenager” stories. 

‘You must have had a crush,’ Bernard laughed.

‘No I really didn’t!’ Chad giggled, ‘I didn’t really have time for that.’

‘Didn’t have time, it was high school! That’s the time when you get the most ridiculous crushes, when you think that your first love is going to last forever and you sneak out of the house to meet your sweetheart on a park, or you both get in a car and when you’re driving out of town you think, “We could go anywhere. We could do anything!” You must have had that!’

Chad laughed and shook his head, ‘Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you.’

Bernard scoffed and looked at Janice, ‘Are you listening to this?’ Janice looked over her shoulder with an amused smile, making Chad concerned and Bernard grin, ‘Janice love, do you believe what he’s saying right now?’

‘I thought you didn’t want me to meddle?’ Janice said with a grin.

‘What are you meddling in?’ Chad turned around and smiled at Morgan as she stepped into the kitchen.

‘Morgan!’ Bernard sighed. ‘Help me out here, Chad reckons he never had a crush at high school.’

Morgan snorted, ‘Oh please, he was worse than Diego.’

‘Was not!’ Chad shouted. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’

‘Anna. Lily. Kevin. Bailey. Dimitri. Ron. Mac-’

Chad stumbled to his feet and clapped both hands on Morgan’s mouth, glaring at her mischievous expression. ‘Okay, first of all, most of those didn’t count.’

‘Did too,’ Morgan said behind Chad’s hands.

‘Did not. And, how did you even know about Ron and Mac? You had left by then?’

Morgan shrugged and pulled Chad’s hands away from her mouth. ‘I’m a big sister, I know everything. Now, what’s for breakfast?’ 

‘Everything, again,’ Bernard said while smirking at Janice. ‘Although, can I ask you both something? A little more serious?’

Morgan grabbed herself a cup of coffee and shrugged, ‘Sure.’

‘You two knew? About Chad?’ The siblings faltered, looking between each other as Bernard continued. ‘I’m just wondering how that came about is all.’

‘Um…’ Chad looked at Morgan, ‘I’ve got the thing in my bag, I can go grab it?’

Morgan nodded and Chad headed upstairs. Once he left Morgan sat down and explained the whole thing from the beginning. From Rex getting Chad’s DNA and it matching with Alex, to when Morgan’s own test results came through the door. Bernard and Janice listened in silence, as Morgan went on to describe Alex’s reaction to finding out, to Chad and Diego both being there for Janice’s phone calls, and Chad’s decision to come to the farm with Morgan.

‘Do you think he believed it then? Deep down?’ Bernard asked. ‘Even when he denied it?’ Morgan shrugged, and before she could reply Chad appeared again, the now battered test results in his hand. 

‘I’m sure you don’t need them now,’ Chad said. ‘But…for the cherry on top I guess.’

Janice stepped away from the stove and leaned over Bernard’s shoulder as the two of them looked through the test results. ‘That’s a rather callous way of putting the results isn’t it?’ Janice said. ‘It sounds so clinical.’

‘They are a clinic dear,’ Bernard said.

‘Yes, but they’re testing people’s DNA. They’re telling you who your biological family is. You’d think they would remember that.’ 

‘Honestly?’ Chad said. ‘I don’t think saying it in nicer words would have made it easier to process. In this case at least.’ Janice’s face fell, and Chad faltered. ‘Not that it’s bad news. It was just a lot. At the time.’

‘To find out Alex is your sibling?’ Bernard said. ‘After you’ve fought them as a villain for so long?’ Chad looked away, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt with an unsure look on his face. ‘That must have been really hard to hear, kiddo.’

Chad’s shoulders sagged in relief and he managed a small smile at the two of them. ‘Thanks.’ Bernard nodded, handing back the papers with a short sniff. Janice straightened up, turning back to the stove to carry on with cooking, and Chad folded the report to put it away.

Morgan looked between the three of them, sipping at her coffee until the awkward silence got too much. ‘So if I get out my laptop will you yell at me?’

‘What do you need your laptop for?’ Janice asked. ‘You haven’t had breakfast yet.’

‘I went for a full 24 hours without checking what’s going on in Roofer’s server,’ Morgan said. ‘And that guy might be an idiot but he’s almost as stubborn as I am.’

Chad frowned, ‘You said you killed the server?’

‘I did. He recovered it to an earlier version, lost a load of data, and is trying to put it back. Including his “research” on us,’ Morgan said. ‘And if I wipe it he’ll know there’s something being hidden so will go after the information harder.’

‘That sounds familiar,’ Bernard said with a smile.

Morgan pulled a face, and turned back to Chad. ‘My current strategy is to feed in fake information to throw him off the scent. Rewrite some articles, or corrupt data here and there. But I need to check he’s not seen past it.’

Janice sighed, ‘The laptop goes away when breakfast goes on the table.’

Morgan smiled, ‘Thanks Mo-Janice.’

Chad blinked, but before he could react Morgan was out of the kitchen. Bernard chuckled, and Chad turned back to Janice in confusion, ‘Morgan calls you Mom?’

‘Only when I spoil her,’ Janice said with a smile. 

Chapter Text

By the time breakfast was ready to go on the table Morgan had gotten back into Rex’s server and had planned a number of attacks to hopefully throw him off the scent for good, as she put it. Chad was fascinated, but she couldn't let him peek over her shoulder, just in case he was planning to use the information to thwart his nemesis.

'You're saying you don't want me to beat him?'

'I'm saying I'm not helping you do it,' Morgan grinned. 'That sounds too much like hero work to me.'

'Alright kids,' Janice said pointedly, beginning to put out plates and trays of freshly cooked food. She tapped the table next to the laptop and Morgan put it away silently, stabbing at the first pancake before Chad could even pick his fork up. Bernard shouted for Alex, settling down to help himself to bacon and hashbrowns as Janice got to work on the eggs. 

Alex appeared in the doorway silently, making Chad jump, although everyone else rolled with it. The comfortable hoodie from the previous night had been replaced with a crimson pant suit, with the top tracing a bold but delicate lace up to their neck that made Morgan roll her eyes. They gave their parents a smile, even coming round to kiss Janice on the cheek before sitting next to Morgan, on the opposite side of the table to Chad. 

'Going somewhere fancy?' Bernard asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Not sure yet,' Alex said with a smile. 'Might go for a ride on Butterscotch. Might go kill some heroes. We'll see what the day brings.'

Chad was trying very hard to keep his composure, offering Janice a very brief smile as she spooned some scrambled eggs onto his and Morgan's plates. 'Sure you're not going to a gala in that look?' Janice asked. Alex shrugged with a smirk and grabbed some juice.

Once Janice was tucking into her own breakfast as well, all five of them sat around the large table, Bernard cleared his throat. ‘So…I’ve had a thought. You are all obviously welcome here for as long as you want of course, we love having family around.’ Chad had to suppress a flinch at that, but Bernard carried on. ‘But I know this was impromptu, so do you guys have any idea of what you’re planning next?’

Alex shrugged, ‘The usual I guess?’

‘Oh joy,’ Chad muttered, looking pointedly away from Alex’s glare. ‘Guess that answers for me as well.’

‘I’m surprised you didn’t get any calls yesterday.’ Janice asked.

‘Oh I registered myself incognito,’ Chad said. ‘I need to have something to report back after that though, so if someone ,’ he looked at Morgan pointedly, ‘could give me something useful to use against Roofer I’d appreciate it.’

Morgan looked at Chad with a deadpan expression, bringing her coffee to her lips. ‘Sucks to be you then.’ Chad scowled, making Morgan grin. ‘Surely protecting your sister from like, six assassination attempts in 48 hours would be good enough?’

‘Six?’ Chad asked. ‘Where did you get six from?’

Morgan pulled out her phone, much to Janice’s protests, ‘There were…two poison attempts, an attempt at a road collision, some deadly faulty wiring in the boiler room at the apartment, a letterbomb and…oh apparently he’s hired a sniper.’ She snorted and looked up at Chad. ‘So there, you stopped those I guess.’

Alex growled, ‘You said a sniper?’

Morgan pressed a button, and something pinged in Alex’s pocket. ‘Better?’ Alex smiled darkly in response, an expression that made Chad get goosebumps, and Morgan tucked her phone away. ‘I guess you stopped five of them then Chad.’

Chad opened his mouth, before squeezing his eyes shut. ‘I…don’t know where to begin with that. Did you just give Alex a hit?’

‘No,’ Alex scoffed, ‘that would imply she was paying me. This is just me doing a favour.’

Chad bit back his initial loud protest, not noticing when the temperature around him dipped a couple of degrees lower. ‘Morgan, you’re going to let Alex kill someone?’

‘Again,’ Alex said, ‘it’s an assassin. What’s the problem?’

‘Let her talk!’ Chad snapped.

Alex raised an eyebrow in amusement, ‘Snapping twice in 12 hours. Lucky me.’

Morgan nudged Alex’s arm, giving them a look before turning to Chad. ‘Alex has a point. It’s a sniper, I can only do so much to stop them. It’s not like a letterbomb that can be sniffed out and defused or poisonous food you can avoid. I can’t do much against a bullet. Alex can.’ 

‘Yes. Kill them. And you’re okay with that?’

Alex glared at Chad, ‘You’re going to try and stop me killing an assassin? Who was hired to kill your sister? God your moral compass is fucked up.’

Chad scowled, making Bernard shiver as the temperature dropped even more. ‘Surprisingly enough, not everyone resorts immediately to violence to solve their problems.’

‘No,’ Alex sneered, ‘they just ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. Or lie to themselves because it's easier than having to admit the truth to themselves. Or-ow!’ they jumped as Morgan stabbed their arm with a fork. ‘What was that for?’

‘It’s breakfast and I’m only on my third cup of coffee,’ Morgan said, putting down her ruined fork. ‘It’s too early for arguing and bitching.’

Alex pouted, grabbing the fork and straightening it out before giving it back to Morgan. ‘I’m not wrong though.’

‘Don’t care. Not enough coffee.’

‘Chad dear?’ Janice piped up, ‘You’re starting to get frost on the syrup.’

Chad blinked in confusion, before looking at the table in horror, ‘Oh god, I’m so sorry.’ he focused, and the warmth returned to the room almost instantly. ‘I normally have a much better control over that.’

‘Oh don’t worry,’ Janice said with a smile. ‘You’ve been through a lot and it’s to be expected. I’m actually impressed there haven’t been more flare ups.’

A slight frown crossed Chad’s brow, before he cleared his throat and straightened himself in his chair, his whole air shifting with the movement, ‘Even so, it won’t happen again.’

Morgan glared at Chad, ‘Don’t you start with that. I’ve got my fork back, I will stab you too.’

Alex snapped their fingers, heating up the food on the table again, ‘Aim for the neck.’ Janice scowled, her eyes flashing red, and Alex threw their hands up in surrender. ‘What?’

‘No more stabbing each other,’ Bernard said. ‘That shouldn’t even be a rule for the breakfast table.’

‘Sorry Bernard,’ Morgan said, which made Alex shut up with a snap of their jaw and a scowl. ‘Back to the original point. Chad do you want credit for the other five hit attempts?’ Chad sighed and nodded, watching as Morgan tapped at her phone. A few seconds later his own phone pinged in his pocket, and he pulled it out to check the details.

‘Morgan, you didn’t say the road collision was on the highway.’

‘Yeah, why do you think we took that detour?’

‘When did we take a detour?!’

Alex snorted, ignoring Janice glaring at them. ‘Are you guys going to be able to get back safely?’ she asked Morgan and Chad.

Morgan nodded, ‘We’ll be fine. Barnaby’s been keeping an eye on the apartment for me, and I’ll check the roads before we head back.’

‘Why?’ Alex asked. ‘I’m here. I’ll just teleport us back whenever.’

Chad blinked in surprise, and Morgan frowned, ‘Who counts as “we”?’

‘Us,’ Alex said, pointing to them and Morgan.

‘And what about Chad?’

Alex glanced over at him and shrugged, ‘He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can work it out.’

‘Alex!’ Janice said in shock.

‘What?’ Alex put their hands up in defence. ‘How is it my responsibility to get him back to Central City now?’

Chad shook his head, ‘It’s fine, I can sort something out.’

Morgan sighed, ‘Chad, I’m not leaving you in the middle of the countryside while I get a super powered lift back home. We can drive back.’ Alex scowled, stabbing their bacon hard enough to crack the plate, which they immediately snapped to fix. Morgan rolled her eyes at their pouting. ‘Unless someone can think of another way of getting us all home?’

Alex glared at Morgan, then at Chad. ‘Do you want me to teleport you home hero?’

‘No thank you.’

Alex grinned, ‘Good answer.’

‘Then I can.’ Everyone turned to Janice in surprise, and she sipped at her juice while watching them all in amusement. ‘It will be by magic, but I can teleport you guys anywhere you need. You just need to ask.’

‘Oh,’ Chad blinked in surprise. ‘Um….thank you.’

Janice smiled at him, ‘Of course sweetheart.’ Alex rolled their eyes, scowling as they grabbed a hashbrown and started munching on it while Janice carried on talking, ‘Do you have any idea of when you would like to head back? Like Bernard said, you can stay here for as long as you want.’

‘I…uh…’ Chad thought about it for a second, ‘I should probably check up on the FA after breakfast. Then I can go from there.’

‘Make sure you stay off the grid,’ Morgan said.

‘Of course I’m going to stay off the grid,’ Chad rolled his eyes.

Breakfast wrapped up quickly, and Bernard asked for help with letting the animals out again. When it was clear that Alex and Morgan weren’t going to offer Chad volunteered. Once the two of them were outside Alex started helping Janice clean up after breakfast while Morgan buried her nose in her laptop again. 

‘Morgan?’ Janice asked. ‘I don’t want to presume, but does Chad have an outlet for his powers? That isn’t hero work?’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Not unless the FA got him to try something. Mum and Dad were big on the perfect control kind of thing.’

Janice snorted derisively, ‘Caroline can talk. The slightest insult used to set her off.’

Morgan looked up at Janice, eyes sparkling in mischief. ‘Really?’

Janice hummed, ‘Oh yes. Her patience was non-existent, she would blow up over the smallest things. Literally sometimes.’ She chuckled, ‘Although that could have just been my villainous charm.’

Morgan grinned alongside her, and Alex leaned over Morgan’s shoulder, ‘Any tips? Just in case I run into Inferno.’

‘Oh absolutely not!’ Janice said in a shocked voice. ‘Back then I would just be so petty and mean. I could be quite vicious.’

‘That sounds perfect,’ Morgan said with a devilish grin. One that Janice and Alex matched. 

Chapter Text

The next couple of hours were the most peaceful the farm had seen since Alex had appeared in the basement two days earlier. Chad and Bernard took their time feeding all of the animals, while Bernard told Chad more about the various stories and escapades from over the years. It was an easy thing to do, Bernard directing Chad around the farm and the various duties. And it gave Chad something calming to focus on. 

But eventually they had run out of chores, and Bernard was shooing Chad upstairs for the first turn with the shower. He was efficient, freeing it up as quickly as possible for Bernard and ducking into the spare room to get dressed. The bed was as he had left it in the middle of the night, and on autopilot Chad started to make the bed, tidy away his clothes, while trying desperately hard to not let his thoughts get away from him again. 

Once he had tidied away everything possible, he sat on the freshly made bed and pulled out his phone with a sigh. Morgan’s message was sitting there, along with messages from Diego checking in, an update about adopting Pebbly, and some news alerts. There was bound to be a torrent of messages from the FA when he went back online. Which was fine. It was his job after all. And he loved his job, was always happy to step in and protect people, or stop the latest deadly threat. There was really no better feeling. In normal circumstances anyway.

He tapped the button to call Diego and put the phone to his ear, letting out a slow steadying breath. This was fine. He could do this. It was a simple enough call.

The phone answered with a click and Diego’s sunny voice, ‘Hey Chad! How are you and Morgan doing?’

He smiled, ‘Hey Diego. We’re good. How are you and Dave?’

‘Same old really,’ Diego said. ‘So which plan did you end up going with in the end?’

Chad tried to keep the tiredness out of his voice, ‘Well Morgan insisted on checking in on Alex and the Stewarts. So um…I’ve been bodyguarding.’

Diego was silent for a moment, ‘At the Stewarts?’ Chad hummed in confirmation. ‘You’re at Alex’s parent’s house?’ He confirmed again. ‘What’s that like?’

‘Well…’ Chad thought for a moment, ‘...Alex is nothing like their parents.’ Diego laughed, and Chad grinned. ‘It’s true. They have a farm, which is quite nice actually. And Janice, that’s Alex’s mum, is just wanting to feed me all the time.’

Diego laughed again, ‘You sure you’re working there?’

‘Alex is still here,’ Chad said. ‘And Rex managed a few more attacks while Morgan’s been away from the look of things. So yes, yes I’ve been working.’ He licked his lips, trying to work out how much to say on the phone, ‘Anything I should be aware of while I’m off the radar?’

‘Inferno and Professor Psion are officially registered as out of contact,’ Diego said. ‘There’s a search party out for them at the moment. When you’re back on the radar you’re going to get questioned, some people picked up that you were the last hero that they spoke to.’

Chad swallowed a groan, taking a deep breath to calm himself instead. ‘Good to know.’

‘None of them have questioned me yet,’ Diego said. ‘But we’re going to need to think of something. When they’re back they’re only going to be worse with Morgan.’

Chad thought of Morgan, and Alex, both sitting downstairs. ‘If they come after Morgan Alex will kill them.’

‘Morgan has us all on the no kill list,’ Diego said.

‘And Alex always likes to remind me that it’s not a guarantee,’ Chad frowned. ‘It’s only a promise to try.’

Diego paused, silence falling between them for a moment, ‘Do they believe it then? The test results?’

Chad cringed. He swallowed down the dread crawling up his throat and shook his head, ‘Does that matter?’

‘Yeah,’ Diego said. ‘If they tell their parents-’

‘Diego,’ Chad whined. ‘Please. Can we focus on keeping our family alive? And safe?’

There was silence on the other end, and then Diego shifted. ‘You’re right. Okay. Easiest way is to keep Morgan out of our parents’ reach.’

Chad thought for a moment, then sighed. ‘I might have to leave Morgan here.’

‘At the farm?’ Diego asked. Chad agreed, and Diego thought. ‘That place is pretty off the grid right?’

‘Yeah,’ Chad said. ‘And I’ve got the last recorded attacks by Roofer. I might be able to use those to target one of his key locations.’

‘So then Roofer takes a hit, Alex stops any future assassination attempts, and by the time Mum and Dad get back, Morgan’s off everyone’s radars?’ Diego thinks, a smile creeping into her voice. ‘That just might work. Do you have a way back though?’

‘I’ll ask Morgan if I can borrow her car,’ Chad said. ‘Seems the easiest way. And then Alex can get them back later.’

‘How long do you think we can keep Morgan there?’

Chad shrugged, ‘I mean…she likes it here. Maybe a while. Maybe you can convince her to give a warning when she’s heading back to the City so we know when to run interference.’

‘That’s a good idea,’ Diego said. ‘Not you?’

Chad licked his lips, ‘I’m the annoying little brother that followed her here remember? She trusts you more. But if she can tell both of us that would be better.’

‘You’re not annoying,’ Diego said.

‘Not the point,’ Chad said. ‘I’ll let you know if Morgan goes along with this. If she does and I can drive back I’ll give you an eta for getting back to the City.’ 

‘Okay, that sounds like a plan,’ Diego said. ‘I’ll keep you updated if anything changes.’

‘Thanks,’ Chad stood up, ‘talk to you later. Love you sis.’

‘Love you too Cheddar.’

Chad took his time going down the stairs, trying to work out how to frame his and Diego’s idea. While also not imagining the worst from Janice and Bernard. But he couldn’t dawdle forever, and he finally poked his head around to the living room. Alex was reclining on the sofa, glaring up at him over their phone. Janice was sitting in an armchair with a large album on her lap and a pile of pictures and notes, and Bernard was going through a stack of albums pulling photos out next to her. Morgan was on the floor, typing away at her laptop on the coffee table, and was the only one who didn’t look up at him straight away.

‘Is everything alright dear?’ Janice asked. 

‘Yeah, uh,’ Chad tried for a smile, ‘I called Diego.’ He turned to Morgan, purposely not focusing on Alex. ‘Mum and Dad are still missing.’

Alex snorted as Janice and Bernard looked up in confusion. ‘Missing?’ Bernard asked.

‘The oil rig must have been unmanned,’ Alex grinned and returned to their phone. ‘Sucks for them I guess.’

Chad closed his eyes, gritting his teeth in an attempt to keep his composure. ‘Anyway. The FA are officially doing search parties. I’m going to get questioned when I get back because I’m one of the last heroes to have seen them before they disappeared.’ He took a breath and looked at Morgan. She hadn’t looked up this entire time, focusing on her computer screen while her fingers flew over the keyboard. ‘Diego and I are worried that when they come back they’re going to come looking for you Morgan.’

She stayed silent, still typing on the screen. Janice frowned, ‘Why would they come looking for Morgan?’

‘She shot them,’ Alex grinned.

‘She what?!’

Morgan finished typing and closed her laptop screen, ‘They deserved it.’ She looked up at Chad, ‘I’m guessing you and Diego have a plan already.’

Chad took in a breath, ‘What if…I took your car back to the City, and you stayed here for a little longer?’

Alex scoffed, ‘You really think-’

‘When do you want to leave?’ Morgan asked. 

Alex spluttered, and Chad’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Well…I’m going to try and use these hits from Roofer to knock him down a peg, but if I leave it too long the trail will go cold.’ Morgan raised her eyebrows, gesturing for Chad to continue. ‘I’ll probably try and head back today.’

Janice deflated, and Bernard put an arm around her shoulders. ‘So soon?’ she asked.

Morgan pulled a set of keys out of her pocket, fiddling for her car keys. ‘You can take the car, but you won’t get back today,’ Morgan said. ‘If you left before lunch and hit no diversions you’d get to Capital City in the early hours. And that’s if you drive without breaks.’ Morgan stood up, stretching to crack her back, ‘You are right though. The second Mum and Dad are back they’ll come for my head. And frankly, if I see them right now the next gun I point at them might have bullets instead of stunners. But also, I have questions and these,’ she pointed at the memory boxes behind her, ‘might have answers. So, as long as Janice and Bernard are happy to have me then I’m happy to stay off the radar here and start hunting for answers.’

‘Of course,’ Janice said, ‘we’re happy to have you stay here for as long as you want. All three of you,’ she looked at Chad at the final statement, even as Chad shuffled awkwardly and couldn’t look her way. 

Chad chewed his lip, looking between Morgan, the memory boxes behind her, and Alex. Who was still very much glaring from the couch. ‘I need to go after Roofer. And if Mum and Dad get back and I’m not there they’re going to get antsy.’

Janice sighed, ‘Alright, but does it need to be right now?’

Chad finally turned to them, looking down at the open album on her lap. ‘The sooner the better. Sorry, I know it's not a lot of warning.’

Janice opened her mouth to protest, but Bernard laid a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a gentle squeeze. She took a breath, blinking back the tears, and nodded. ‘Can I suggest an alternative?’

Chad nodded, and Janice held up the album. Bernard took it, standing back as Janice snapped her fingers. Her cookbook flew across the room, morphing into the grimoire in mid air before opening and settling in her hands. ‘I can get you back faster than driving. If you want, you can stay for lunch, take your time packing, and maybe go through the boxes to see if there’s anything you want to take with you. Then later, this afternoon, or even after dinner, I can set up a teleportation spell to send you wherever you want to go.’ Alex scowled at Janice, but she was only focused on Chad.

He took a breath, thinking it over. ‘That’s…a lot of boxes.’

Bernard put a hand on Chad’s shoulder. ‘Only if you want to. We’re already making you a little something as a little Stewart crash course anyway.’

Chad nodded, glancing down at the album. ‘I…thank you. For the offer. Yeah, if I can get back today that would be better.’ 

‘So you don’t need the car?’ Morgan asked. Chad shook his head and Morgan shrugged. ‘Alright. Was hoping you’d park it up for me.’

‘I mean,’ Chad said, ‘if that’s helpful then I can always…’

‘Nah, you have a plan now,’ Morgan shook her head. ‘Alex?’ They looked up at Morgan, the hint of a scowl still on their face. ‘Want to help me frame a mysterious disappearance?’

Alex’s scowl dropped away, and they grinned. ‘I suppose I can spare five minutes. How dramatic are we talking?’

‘Nothing that’s going to stain for good,’ Morgan said. ‘I don’t want to move back into an apartment that looks like a massacre took place.’

Chad looked at Morgan in concern, but Alex laughed as they stood up. ‘Morgan, please, remember who you’re talking to.’

‘Can I please warn Diego?’ Chad asked. ‘Before you fake your apparent death?’

Morgan sighed in an overly dramatic way as Alex stepped up to her, ‘If you must! We’ll be back for lunch.’

‘You’d better be!’ Janice called after them as they vanished into thin air.

Chapter Text

Lunch was cooked, served, and cooling by the time the villains teleported back into the house. Both of them were laughing (Alex’s sounded more like a cackle) with an easy energy that came from letting out pent up frustrations and seeing a job well done. Janice tutted while looking pointedly at the clock on the wall, while Bernard ruffled Morgan’s hair as she swooped in for sandwiches. And Chad pointedly didn’t ask what the two of them had done. It was probably better for his mental health to not pry into this one.

Lunch was in the living room again as Janice and Bernard jumped between building a new album for Chad, complete with a variety of photos, faces and notes, and going through the boxes to see if there was anything else he would like to take with him. Alex vanished from the conversation as soon as this started, while Morgan was “helping” by looking through the various photos and albums. 

Eventually she pulled out a thick book, one that was once a sunny yellow before age and dust got to it, decorated with cute cartoon animals. ‘What’s this?’ she asked.

Bernard looked over and gave a sad smile, ‘Oh, that’s Charlie’s baby book.’

‘What’s a baby book?’ Morgan and Chad asked in unison.

Janice’s jaw dropped open, ‘What’s a…you can’t be serious?’ The siblings shrugged, and Janice cringed. ‘Your parents never kept baby books for you?’

‘I don’t remember seeing any,’ Morgan said, flicking through the first few pages. ‘What’s it for?’

‘It’s like a journal, to record a baby’s first milestones,’ Janice said. Chad lowered the album he was looking through, looking at the book with a frown. ‘Things like your favourite toys, the first time you stood up, your first words.’

Morgan flicked through the book, eyes scanning over the glossy pages. Chad cleared his throat, ‘What…were my first words?’

Morgan opened her mouth, as Janice said, ‘There were a couple around the same time. The first one you grasped I think was “hi”, and then “bye.” You liked greeting the animals in the morning, and then you would say goodnight to them all as we “tucked them in.”’ Janice smiled wistfully at the memory, ‘It was very cute.’

Morgan blinked, looking between Janice and the baby book. She flicked through a couple of pages, and smirked. ‘I think someone vandalised your book.’

‘What?’ Janice looked over Morgan’s shoulder, shock turning into a scowl. ‘Alex!’

They appeared by the doorway, still dressed in their blood red outfit, and trying to scowl at he room. ‘What?’

‘Why does Charlie’s baby book say his first word was Alex?’

Alex shrugged, ‘Probably was.’

‘Correction,’ Morgan said. ‘The book said it was “hi”, and then that’s been crossed out and replaced with “Alex.”’

They shrugged, ‘Someone must have written it down wrong.’

Janice picked up the book and showed the page to the room. ‘The “L” is backwards.’

Alex’s face dropped, and everyone else in the room snorted. Alex glared at Chad, but he was too busy laughing to care. ‘Whatever,’ Alex growled and vanished again.

Morgan took the book back, flicking through a few other pages, before turning back to the front page while the others in the room calmed down. ‘Do you want this one then Chad?’

Chad’s laughter faded, and he cleared his throat, ‘I-er…could have a look first?’ Morgan snapped the book shut and handed it over, turning back to the box with the albums to rifle through. Chad opened the book, being much more careful with the pages than Morgan had been. There were pages upon pages of writing, some in a beautiful looping font while others were in a much scruffier hand. Janice smiled, watching Chad for a moment before returning to her own box. 

‘Are you sure that’s all you want to take?’

Chad looked at his duffel bag, packed with his now cleaned and dried clothes, along with the crumpled DNA report, the newly filled photo album, and Hops resting on the top. He tried to give a warm smile and turned to Janice, ‘That is so much already. Really, thank you.’

She looked at Chad concerned, her grimoire in her hands. ‘Are you sure? You were so interested in your baby book earlier.’

Chad shook his head with a smile, ‘Those are still yours. Really, I’m grateful for everything already.’

She sighed, opening her grimoire. ‘Alright. You have our numbers right if you change your mind right?’

‘Or for any reason,’ Bernard said with an easier smile. ‘Any reason for you to want to talk? Just give us a call.’

Chad nodded, ‘I will. Thank you.’

Morgan put down the file she was halfway through looking at and walked over to Chad. ‘Have fun hunting down villains,’ she said with a smirk.

Chad rolled his eyes, ‘I don’t…never mind.’ Morgan snorted, and Chad gave a half-hearted chuckle before his face dropped. ‘Morgan? Can I ask for something?’

‘You can ask,’ Morgan said, folding her arms with a smirk. ‘I promise nothing though.’

He took a breath, and let it out slowly. ‘Please don’t leave me out of the loop this time? Or hide anything else about this. Whatever you find, I want to know.’

Morgan’s smile faltered, and she looked away for a moment. ‘It wasn’t going to be forever. Just…I didn’t want you and Alex at each other’s throats if it turned out to be bullshit.’

Chad sighed. ‘I get it. But please. Not again.’

Morgan bit her lip, and nodded. Chad pulled her into a tight hug, which Morgan returned just as tightly. ‘Stay safe Cheddar,’ she whispered, before pulling away and turning back to the folder she had been pawing over.

Chad let out a shaky breath, blinking away the tears before they could fall, and beamed at Janice and Bernard. ‘Ready when you are.’

Janice nodded and looked at her book, but Bernard stepped forward. ‘Sorry, just one more thing.’ Before Chad could ask what Bernard enveloped Chad in a bear hug, squeezing him tightly enough to make Chad’s spine pop. Chad squeezed his eyes shut, returning the hug while trying to keep a lid on the worst of his emotions. 

Another hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up in time to see Janice step into the hug. She was crying again, reaching up to stroke his cheek, lip trembling as her thumb caught the first of his fresh tears. Bernard pulled up, tears staining his own face, and sniffed as he looked at Chad. ‘Sorry. I know I promised I’d go at your pace, but…’ he chuckled, eyes scanning over Chad like he was trying to memorise every part of him. ‘It still feels unreal.’

Chad huffed in amusement and nodded, ‘Just a bit.’

Bernard squeezed his shoulder, and nodded. ‘No matter what happens, no matter what anyone else says or does, we’ve got your back. Got it?’ Chad nodded, letting Janice wipe away another tear. ‘We love you son.’ Chad opened his mouth, chin quivering, but Bernard shook his head, ‘No, you don’t have to say anything. You don’t know us, and we understand that. But a parent’s love? That doesn’t die. We’ve loved you your whole life, even when we couldn’t tell you.’

‘You love Charlie,’ Chad whispered.

‘And now you’re Chad,’ Bernard said. ‘The name doesn’t matter to us. Or the face, or the job. You’re still our son, and we will never stop loving you. Okay?’

Chad sniffed, managing a small nod, and Janice patted Bernard on the shoulder. ‘Alright,’ she croaked. ‘If we carry on like this I might not let you leave.’ She summoned her grimoire in front of her, eyes flaring red as the book flipped to the correct page. Chad zipped up the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder, wiping away at the last of his tears and trying not to flinch at the ruby red runes etching out under his feet. Janice began to mutter, focusing on the spell in front of her, and Chad turned back to look at Morgan. She was perched on the coffee table, folder in her lap, watching the spell take hold. ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,’ Chad said.

Morgan grinned, ‘And miss out on all the fun shit? No chance.’

The room filled with a brilliant flash of light that Morgan and Bernard had to look away from, as the wind rushed in around them. It vanished as quickly as it came, the runes disappearing with it, and Morgan looked up to see Chad had vanished. 

Her phone pinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see a new message. ‘Apparently you got Chad into his living room,’ she said, clearly impressed. ‘Nice aim.’

‘Thank you dear,’ Janice sighed, catching her breath as the grimoire fell back into her arms and morphed back into a cookbook. ‘Good to know he got home safe. We should check on him in a bit, make sure the teleport didn’t give him any motion sickness.’

‘It’s that possible?’ Morgan asked with a frown. ‘I’ve never heard of that.’

‘It’s not,’ Bernard chuckled, wiping at his own face. ‘She’s just fussing.’

‘It never hurts to be careful!’ 

Morgan let the two of them affectionately bicker, looking down at the file in her hands. The first one she had seen the previous day. Birth certificate. Vaccine records. Hospital records from a bout of chicken pox and a fall from Meringue. And then the death certificate.

‘Janice? Bernard?’ Morgan looked up from the folder to see them in the room. ‘I meant to ask you about something earlier, but it was hard when Chad was here, I don’t know how much he wants to hear right now and-’

‘It’s okay kiddo,’ Bernard said. ‘You can ask us anything, you know that.’

Morgan licked her lips, praying her voice would stay steady. ‘Can I ask you about Charlie?’

Janice nodded, ‘Of course darling. What do you want to know?’

Morgan took a deep breath, looking away to work out her next words. ‘Everything.’

Chad kept himself busy. The first step was unpacking. The clothes, now clean, went back in their draws in his room. The album and Hops were next out of his duffel, and Chad felt his stomach turn. 

‘Sorry buddy,’ he whispered to Hops as he moved over to the bed, ‘But I promise this is safer for now. Just for a little while.’ He lifted up the bedside table, checking underneath the draws and finding a gap that was the perfect size to hide the album. Setting it back down over the book, he then opened one of the draws and laid Hops along the back, hidden under a blanket of folded socks. Once they were both hidden Chad stepped back, examining his work. A little tweak of the angle to make sure the table was lined up perfectly, and it was perfect.

With that done the rest of his afternoon was coming back online on the FA network. First was the debrief of the intel he had “gathered” on Roofer, using Morgan’s information on the assassination attempts to try and take down a particular cell Roofer had investment in. In the end no one else could get to him on any other matters until late evening, when he was interviewed on the disappearance of his parents. 

And Chad told in some detail the last conversation he’d had with them that morning, about them listening in on his altercation with Roofer and Chad’s later admission of his non-heroic sibling interfering with Rex’s attempts to get his DNA for some form of nefarious scheme. Which was when the story began to change into one where he went off the radar with his sister, focusing on protecting her from Roofer’s continuing attempts on her life, and gathering the information for his next attack. He hadn’t realised his parents were missing until Diego had told him that morning during check in. 

The heroes were satisfied with his story, promising assistance with Roofer and anything else the Chadster would need, and went on their way. When he signed off for the day it was night time. Caroline and Richard were still missing. A disturbing scene had been uncovered at Morgan’s apartment involving more blood and broken furniture than Chad wanted to think about. And Diego was still talking, somehow having energy left to chatter in his ear until he got back to his apartment. She promised to be over in the morning, with some breakfast and an unspoken plan to pry into Chad’s few days with the Stewarts. But finally, he was alone. And exhausted.

He had just about enough in him to shower before bed, running through the angles he could use to hurt Roofer’s empire with this new information, while trying to predict where his retaliation might come from and when. It was bound to come soon. When it came to his nemesis, Rex wasn’t known for standing idle. The plans and threats circled in his head until the bathroom was full of steam and his thoughts were all tangled together.

The steam was so thick that when Chad stepped out of the shower he couldn’t wipe down the mirror without it immediately fogging up again. It still lingered by the time he had finished the rest of his nightly routine, so it wasn’t until he was back in his bedroom that he could get a clear reflection. He was halfway through getting dressed into pyjamas when his eyes locked on the necklace, and he froze. Pulling on the rest of his shirt, Chad stepped closer to the mirror, examining the necklace in his reflection. He reached up to touch it, hearing the metal clink against his fingers. His gaze moved from the disc to his face, watching his wary hazel eyes scan over dark curls and tanned skin, with a hint of stubble coming through.

In his mind he saw Morgan’s face twist into anger and heartbreak. He saw Bernard’s shock, tears coming unbidden. He heard Janice’s sobs of joy. “You’re the spitting image of Bernard.” “You’ve got a whole Prince Charming vibe going on.” He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if that would silence the memories. When he opened them again he still looked like himself, his hand wrapped around the pendant.

‘This is a bad idea,’ he muttered to himself as he reached up to find the clasp. His fingers fumbled, shaking too badly to get a hold, and he tried to let out a steadying breath. ‘Come on now.’ He looked at his reflection again, meeting his eyes, watching his expression harden in determination. ‘You’re Chad St…Sterling. You’re the bravest hero there is. You’re not about to be scared of a silly little enchantment.’ He let out another shaky breath, repeating the mantra again and again, until his trembling fingers managed to get the clasp undone, and the necklace fell away. 

He refused to blink, refused to look away as the magic melted away. If he had, he would have had no chance to believe what he was seeing. His bravado vanished as quickly as the spell did as he took in the face in the reflection. His hand, still metal and cold and solid, moved to brush the messy mop of blond hair out of his eyes, and a detached voice in the back of his mind pointed out it was uneven. Probably from it being styled for curls. There was a dimple in his chin, a more square jaw, a thinner nose. And silver grey eyes. The same eyes that not a few hours ago he had watched tear up with love and joy. But now they were terrified.

Chad’s breath hitched, and he stepped away from the mirror, shaking his head. ‘This can’t be real,’ he whispered. The necklace fell out of his grip, his hands coming up to his face. Every movement he made only made it worse as he watched his reflection move perfectly in time. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Not until frost covered the mirror so much he couldn’t see his reflection. The temperature in the apartment dropped in time with Chad falling to his knees, choking back sobs as rain began to fall outside. He didn’t notice or care when a flash of lightning struck the top of the apartment building and cut out the power. The tears were pouring now, blinding him, until he finally closed his eyes and curled up on the floor. Begging for this to be a lie somehow. Because that couldn’t possibly actually be his face.

Chapter Text

The night was filled with a restless sleep, bombarded with eyes switching from brown to grey to yellow. The dreamscape flitted from his childhood home with smoke climbing up the walls, to the Stewart farmhouse growing damp and grey from saltwater, until everything was swallowed by an ice cold fire that crackled like lightning. The timber of the building Chad was standing in was cracking in time with a rapid drum, that was growing louder and louder.

He jolted awake with the drumming still in his ears. He was still lying on his bedroom floor, muscles aching from the uncomfortable and cold position, when the drumming started again. Oh, someone was knocking. He grumbled, clambering to his feet and attempting to stretch as he shuffled out of the room to the front door of the apartment. He sighed in relief at the sight of Diego through the peephole. He didn’t need to look perfectly put together for now at least. 

He opened the door with a sleepy smile, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, ‘Morning. You’re early.’

Diego looked up at Chad, her eyebrow quirking slightly in confusion, before painting on a civil smile. ‘Oh, morning? Sorry I…’

Chad tried to cover up a yawn and gestured, ‘I need coffee, want some?’

Diego stepped into the apartment, looking a little sheepish, ‘I actually brought some.’ She held up a paper bag with something delicious inside and a tray of paper coffee cups. ‘Sorry, I only have enough for two though. Chad didn’t say anything about a guest.’

Chad frowned, trying to process Diego’s words as she made her way to the kitchen and started pulling out freshly made bagels. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know if he mentioned me?’ Diego said. ‘I’m Diego, his big sister. Where abouts he hiding?’

Chad only got more confused, ‘Did I miss a joke somewhere?’

Diego looked up at him, now frowning herself. ‘Oh, have we met before? Sorry, I’m not the best with faces. What’s your name?’

Chad blinked, opening his mouth, but the questions died on his tongue before he could even start. His hand flew to his neck, listening for a clink of metal on metal, waiting for the impression of the small coin to press against his chest. ‘Shit.’

‘You okay?’ Diego asked.

Chad looked at her again. Diego was watching him with concern, but the concern she would show to a civilian while working. There was no recognition on her face. 

His blood ran cold, and he tried to excuse himself while heading towards his room. Diego however proved to be more stubborn, following behind him as he threw the bedroom door open.

‘What’s wrong?’ Diego asked. She glanced around the room and frowned, ‘Where’s Chad?’

He didn’t answer, eyes scouring the floor for a glint. There was no luck though until Diego walked into the room and towards his untouched bed. She brushed a hand across the sheets, frowning at the layer of condensation clinging like dew. Chad meanwhile scrambled for a glint of colour buried in the carpet, sighing in relief when his hand scraped on a familiar chain.

He stood up in time for Diego to march up to him, eyes flashing dangerously. ‘I said. Where is my brother?’ Chad put up his hands, trying to look placating, soothing words on the tip of his tongue, when Diego saw the necklace he was holding. 

He had barely enough time to block her hand lashing out, pulling the necklace away so she couldn’t grab it, and leaving himself open for a blow to his stomach. She pushed, making him back up towards the wall. He slid into a defensive pose, gathering the necklace into his fist while blocking one, two, three attacks. Before she dragged him off balance.

Chad rolled with it, training kicking in to follow the momentum without crashing, and before she knew it he was on his feet and summoning a blast of wind to put some distance between them. ‘Diego?’

‘Who are you?’ she growled. ‘Where is my brother? How did you get that necklace?’

Shit! He sighed, ‘It’s a family heirloom.’

‘Liar,’ she hissed. ‘I know that necklace. And my father is not the type of person to part with heirlooms.’

She charged forward and Chad summoned another wave of wind. ‘Dee, please, this isn’t what-’

She didn’t let him finish, phasing through the elemental attack and solidifying close enough to swing at him. He ducked, spinning away and trying to hold one hand open as a peace offering, the other still hiding the necklace. ‘Dee, please, I’m begging you, just stop for a second and listen.’

She pulled up, glaring at him, ‘Who are you? Where is Chad?’

He swallowed, ‘Promise you’ll stop fighting me.’

Her look only darkened, ‘No chance. Not if you’ve done something to my brother.’

Chad cringed, ‘I am your brother. I’m Chad.’

She scoffed, ‘Nice try.’

‘No really!’ he shouted, backing up before she could charge him again. ‘Think about it. I’m standing in your brother’s apartment, wearing his clothes, with a pair of metal arms and weather powers.’

‘You’ve been pushing me,’ Diego said, giving him an unimpressed look. ‘That’s telekinesis. Try again.’

Chad blinked rapidly, trying to steady his breathing, and the temperature in the room dropped. Diego paused, her scowl falling away as Chad let out a slow and steady breath, and as he did so gestured in front of him, gathering a small cloud. His hand twitched, and a flurry of snow began to fall from the cloud. ‘There,’ he said. ‘Telekinesis can’t make a snow flurry.’

Diego pulled up, her guard still up, as she watched Chad cautiously. ‘Got any other proof?’

Chad thought for a moment, ‘How about things only we would know?’ Diego nodded, looking at him expectantly, and Chad madly pulled on his old memories for moments that would convince Diego. ‘Okay, well. When I broke my leg Mum and Dad tried to keep me on this super strict diet to help me heal quicker, and you would sneak ice cream and soda into my room to make me feel better.’

‘How did you break your leg?’ Diego asked.

‘Training. I was eight, and I tried to summon a gust to carry us over an  obstacle. You phased through the floor, Morgan bounced like she was made of rubber, and I landed funny.’

Diego’s stern glare faltered, but she still kept up the harshness. ‘Anything else?’

Chad nodded, ‘The day your powers came in you spent half of the day stuck in the floor because you couldn’t figure out how to climb out, so I kept you company. We played Scrabble.’

‘Who won?’

The corner of Chad’s smile twitched into a brief smile, ‘You say you did, but you cheated.’

Diego rolled her eyes, ‘How could I even cheat at Scrabble?’

‘Don’t know, but you did.’

Diego chuckled, before shaking her head and focusing back on her suspicion. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’

‘You kicked my arse when you found out I gave Dave the shovel talk,’ Chad said. He didn’t say anything else, watching Diego process the information. Her eyes roved over his metal arms, the slightly ratty sleeping clothes she was bound to recognise, the gears turning in her head. Eventually she settled on his face again, and Chad tried not to wince as she analysed every inch of his unfamiliar face for something recognisable.

‘Okay,’ Diego said, ‘let’s say, hypothetically, that I believe you. Why do you look like that?’

Chad licked his lips, trying desperately to fight through the iron vice that was squeezing his chest. ‘If I tell you, you have to promise not to hit me.’

‘Why?’ Diego scowled.

‘Because you probably will otherwise,’ Chad said.

Diego scowled, and it shouldn’t have made Chad’s heart feel a little lighter. But that was an expression he recognised, one that she used when someone she cared for had screwed up in some way. ‘Okay fine,’ she said. ‘I won’t hit you. I promise.’

Chad took a slow deep breath, swallowing down the worst of his nerves. ‘Morgan was right,’ he said. She raised an eyebrow, and Chad had to look away. ‘About the DNA results. She was right. I…Chad, was born a Stewart.’

Diego blinked, and in just a moment Chad watched the disbelief wash through. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Chad’s a Sterling. The test results were wrong.’

‘I mean,’ Chad said, ‘I was raised a Sterling. I’m Chad. I’m a hero. And you and Morgan are my sisters. But, this is my actual face.’ Diego opened her mouth to argue when Chad opened his clenched fist, showing the silver necklace. ‘Grandad’s necklace has an enchantment on it. It changes my appearance to make me look like Chad.’

‘Now that’s ridiculous,’ Diego said. ‘I’m not humouring this. I grew up with that boy, watched him from when he was a baby. It’s not like he was blond hair blue eyed one minute, and then we slapped grandad’s necklace on him, gave him the signature curly hair and called it a day. That’s not how it works.’

Chad didn’t respond. He just lifted the necklace out of his hand, fiddling with the clasp to attach it around his neck. As soon as it was fastened and fell against his chest the magic took hold, and Diego gasped. He spared himself the shortest look in the mirror, to confirm that his dark eyes and curly hair were back in place, before stepping closer to Diego. Her eyes were wide, staring at Chad with growing shock and horror.

She shook her head, whispering, ‘This isn’t real. It’s not happening.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Chad said. ‘This is the last way I wanted to tell you.’

‘No,’ Diego said, voice sharper. ‘No, you’re lying.’

Chad winced, ‘About which part?’ She blinked, eyes beginning to glisten as her mouth snapped shut. ‘Call Morgan if you want.’

‘Why would I do that?’ Diego asked. ‘She’s elbow deep digging out a conspiracy that doesn’t exist.’

‘Because,’ Chad said, ‘she…she can confirm everything I’ve just said. And probably more after that.’

Diego squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her hands over her face, shaking her head as she did so. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t humour this.’

Chad sighed, ‘Dee, I know-’

She stepped forward, and without warning Chad was toppling head over heels, slamming into the bedroom floor with Diego pinning him in place. ‘Let’s try this again,’ she said with a grunt and a scowl. ‘Where is my brother?’

‘What?’ Chad said. ‘I’m not an imposter.’

‘I literally saw your real face,’ Diego said. ‘And you can gripe on about enchantments all you want, but I know a little about magic myself. You can’t just invent a face. So you had to borrow it from somewhere else. If I saw you on the street? You could play it as coincidence. But you studied my brother and my family too well for this to be anything but malicious. So where is my brother?’

‘Dee,’ Chad gasped. ‘Please.’

‘Is this Roofer’s doing?’ Diego snarled.

‘No!’ Chad shouted. ‘Rex doesn’t even know that Chad and the Chadster are the same person. Morgan’s been scrambling his servers too much for him to investigate it.’

‘Then someone going after Mum and Dad,’ Diego muttered. ‘Trying to infiltrate the business.’

‘Then they’d have a bad time with it because Mum and Dad don’t let me anywhere near their day jobs!’ Chad shouted. ‘If someone stalked me enough to know about our childhood memories and about the DNA testing then they would know that Caroline and Richard Sterling cut Chad out of any business inheritance in an effort to “let him find his own entrepreneurial spirit.”’ Chad tried to shift the worst of Diego’s weight off his chest so he could breathe easier. ‘Dee, please. I’m not pretending to be your brother.’

She opened her mouth when an alarm went off in the apartment. Both heads shot up, recognising the siren. Without thinking Chad blasted Diego off him with another gust of wind, rolling away to get to his hero terminal in the wall.

‘What is it?’ Diego asked.

Chad pulled up the alert. ‘Explosions in downtown. Purple haze, publics in panic.’

Diego nodded, ‘Alright. You stay here, I need to-’

‘Fat chance!’ Chad moved past Diego, already going for his hero suit.

‘Absolutely not,’ Diego said. ‘I still don’t know who you are or what your plan is here.’

Chad scowled, pulling out his cowl and rounding on his sister. ‘Believe what you want. But you’re not going to keep me here while people are in trouble. I’m a hero. That’s my job. And I’m going to go and do it.’ 

Chapter Text

'For the last time, you need to go to sleep.'

Morgan scowled, rubbing at her eyes before looking back at the computer screen. 'I already told you I'm not tired.'

Alex gritted their teeth, glaring at their friend. She was sat on the floor in the middle of the living room, leaning against the sofa while pouring over her laptop balanced on the coffee table. Around her were stacks of albums, folders, and leafs of paper with various sprawling notes on them. 'You haven't slept in like, 24 hours. Whatever this is you're looking into, it can wait.'

Morgan didn't dignify that with a response, tapping away at her keyboard and ignoring Alex's protests. Until they stepped closer to her. 'If you even think of poking me to sleep I'll bite your finger off!'

'You'll break your teeth if you do that,' Alex said. 'And also probably your jaw.'

'That's a price I'm willing to pay,' Morgan glared. 

Alex opened their mouth, but footsteps from the hallway interrupted them. Bernard appeared, wiping his hands with an oil-stained cloth and smiling at the two of them, 'Need anything kids?'

Tell Morgan she needs to go to sleep,' Alex said. 'She'll listen to you and Mum.'

Bernard huffed in amusement, 'I'm not sure we're as persuasive as you think kiddo. Besides,' he pointed to Morgan, 'she's an adult. We have to respect her decisions.'

'Thank you!' Morgan cried, making Alex's scowl deepen.

'How about you leave her to it and help me make lunch?' Bernard asked. Alex grumbled, but followed Bernard into the kitchen. Their scowl faded though at the sight on the kitchen table. 'What's that?'

Bernard grinned and looked at the pile of wires and electronics. 'That was our coffee maker. I figured if she doesn't have her caffeine she'll probably wear herself out at some point.'

Alex had to hold back a snort. Still an edge of laughter crept into their voice as they spoke. 'I thought we had to respect her decisions?' Bernard gave Alex a look at that, and the two of them burst into giggles just as Janice came in through the back door.

She looked at the pile of wires, then gave Bernard a pointed look. 'You're getting me a new coffee maker.'

'I can put this one back together no problem!' Bernard said, 'After Morgan's gone to sleep.'

Janice sighed, 'Is she still awake?' Both of the others nodded, and Janice worried at her lip. 'What is she looking for that's taking so much time?'

Alex shrugged, 'Everytime i try to get close she chases me away in case I poke her to sleep.'

'Right,' Janice said, 'well if she's got the tech route covered maybe I can get some divination working to help out. Are you two alright making lunch? And cleaning this away?' They nodded, Bernard stealing a kiss as Janice went past while Alex went to the fridge to check what supplies they had.

‘We’re running low on eggs,’ Alex said.

‘We can make a shopping list for later,’ Bernard said, moving the pile of machine parts off the table and into the utility room. ‘Anything we can piece together for lunch now?’

Alex started pulling out ingredients, asking Bernard to check the other cupboards to work out a meal between them. Soon Alex was dicing vegetables while Bernard began browning off some chicken that they could add into a sauce. They fell into a mostly comfortable silence, Bernard watching Alex out of the corner of his eye. Alex had abandoned the dark villainous costumes for a pair of loose fitting dungarees over a dark shirt. They seemed more relaxed, a softer energy around them compared to when they had first arrived, which had Bernard smiling. But there was still a snag between them, something that made the silence sit a little sour. 

He didn’t approach the tension in the room until the dicing was done and the knife was out of Alex’s hand. ‘How are you doing kiddo?’

A ripple of tension ran through their shoulders. ‘Fine,’ Alex said. ‘Better when Morgan’s actually had some sleep.’

Bernard nodded. ‘Are we talking, thinking or ignoring?’

Alex paused, closing their eyes for a moment. ‘There’s nothing to talk about.’

‘I disagree. But if you don’t want to, that's a different thing entirely.’ Bernard watched as Alex pulled out a carton from the cupboard and a bag of pasta.

Alex sighed, ‘Talking won’t help.’

‘Bottling it all up will make you feel worse though,’ Bernard said. 

‘I’m not.’

Bernard shrugged, ‘If you say so.’ They scowled at Bernard as he turned back to cooking, grabbing the vegetables to throw into the pan. 

‘I’m not bottling up anything,’ Alex growled. ‘If I was…’

The taps finished their sentence for them by beginning to creak, threatening a growing water pressure that was growing more dangerous by the minute. Bernard dropped the pan, diving to turn off the water as Alex shook their head and took a few breaths. The lights flickered above them, a door slammed somewhere in the house, and then everything grew still.

Bernard sighed in relief, adjusting the water before giving Alex a look. ‘Sure you’re not bottling anything up?’

Alex was silent, eyes squeezed shut, their hands balled into fists. Bernard’s face fell at the sight. He climbed to his feet, touching Alex’s shoulder gently. They didn’t flinch, but they bit their lip, and Bernard had seen enough. He pulled them into a hug, tucking their head into his shoulder and stroking a hand through their head.

Alex shuddered, voice thick as they spoke. ‘I told myself I was done crying about this.’

Bernard deflated, humming softly as he squeezed Alex tighter. ‘That isn’t how this works. If you need to cry you need to cry. Don’t hold that back, not for anyone.’

Alex shook their head. ‘I…I’m not going to cry for some arrogant self righteous hero.’

‘Then who will you cry for?’

Alex looked up, yellow eyes meeting sad grey ones, and their face crumpled. ‘They stole Charlie. And…they turned him into an asshole.’

Bernard slowly nodded, ‘Yeah. They did. And it sucks.’

Alex nodded, their first tears spilling over and staining Bernard’s shirt. ‘I never got to teach him how to ride a horse. Or walk with him to school. And now I can’t look at him without wanting to break his stupid face. And…and I know you and Mum don’t want me to hate him…’

Bernard shook his head, pulling away enough to look Alex in the eyes. ‘You and Charlie, and you and Chad, are entirely different concepts. We know that. And we’re not going to ask you to just forget years of…whatever bad stuff has happened between you, because of this.’ Alex’s face crumpled again, and Bernard pulled away to grab some tissues to mop their face up. ‘You’re allowed to hate Chad and mourn Charlie at the same time. Even if it hurts. And I want you to be honest about it hurting, because if you’re not it will only make everything that much worse.’

‘And break your pipes.’

He chuckled and shrugged, ‘We can fix pipes. I’m more worried about you.’

Alex nodded, sniffing as their chin trembled. ‘All I wanted was to have my baby brother back. And I couldn’t have him, and that hurt. It hurt enough when he was dead, but now? It’s so much worse.’ Bernard nodded, wiping away the tears as fast as they fell. ‘He’s alive, and I…hate him so much. And he hates me just as much, and I couldn’t care less what Chad thinks of me. But…’

‘Like night and day?’ Bernard asked. Alex nodded. ‘And you can’t reconcile the two?’ They nodded again. ‘I know kiddo. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’

Alex choked back a sob, letting Bernard drag them back into another hug. One that shut away the rest of the world, one that didn’t care if Alex was infinitely powerful and dangerous. Right there and then, the only important thing was a father comforting their child, holding them up and together so the pain didn’t overwhelm them. They didn’t stir when Janice ran past to usher the various animals away from the rapid onset storm, or when Morgan ran off to the workshop to offset the interference to the various internet and radio signals to the house. 

By the time Alex had calmed down enough to finish cooking lunch (something that they insisted on doing) Janice and Morgan had finished their emergency preparations and were back in the living room. Morgan had finally moved to an actual seat, curled up in one corner of the couch and typing away furiously at her laptop. The grimoire was open now in the middle of the various folders and books, Janice almost absentmindedly flicking the pages to find something useful. The rest of her attention was on the TV showing a large scale battle between various heroes from the FA, the Chastisers, and a strange collection of giant flying birds, ridden by lavender skinned creatures. 

‘Who are they?’ Bernard asked, handing one of his bowls to Janice.

‘Some sort of aliens,’ Janice said. ‘I missed the start of the fight so I’m not sure where from. Or what they’re after.’

Alex nudged Morgan, forcing her to put down her laptop and grab a bowl. ‘Look like Qur’eon from here. Or Munqrul.’

‘What’s the difference?’ Bernard asked.

‘Eh,’ Alex shrugged, ‘I forget.’

The family watched as the giant birds, all azure blue and iridescent wings, swooped around the sky scrapers before building up to a height in the sky to fall into a formation. Their wings crackled with violet electricity, before they began a nosedive back to the band of heroes that were tiny in comparison. Small enough for one of the birds to pick up and try to swallow in one gulp. Energy exploded out from the group of heroes, fire and lightning and plasma bolts, all being picked up by a growing tornado that grew bigger and bigger, before barrelling into the formation and bowling the birds out in all directions. Some of the riders fell, only for heroes to swoop in from the sidelines to pluck them out of the air and cart them away. The birds left without riders squawked, loud enough to cause static through the TV speaker, violet smoke gathering in their mouths. 

‘Nice!’ Bernard grinned, and Alex rolled their eyes. ‘That was a good move.’

‘Probably Chad’s idea,’ Morgan said, making Janice and Bernard snap their focus over to her. ‘He loves big team combo moves.’

Janice beamed, eyes glistening at the sentiment, and Bernard grinned. Alex shook their head and shuffled closer to Morgan, the two villains leaning on each other while picking at their food. The fight continued, with them barely paying attention to the news anchor trying to provide any sense of commentary. Janice and Bernard commented on a few other clever moves, on both sides of the fight, wincing at the tense moments and applauding the more decisive victories like it was an action movie. 

Eventually the final purple alien fell, the birds being rounded up and teleported away so they weren’t a threat to the city anymore. ‘I have to say,’ Janice said, ‘I definitely have more investment in these big battles now. That’s probably rather biased of me isn’t it?’

‘Absolutely,’ Bernard said, kissing Janice on the cheek. ‘But you’re also right, they’re much more interesting now.’

Alex grumbled on the couch, scowling at the TV. Morgan was ignoring all of them, tapping away at her computer still. 

‘Don’t worry kiddo,’ Bernard said. ‘Your fights are still better.’

‘I know they are,’ Alex glared. They glanced over Morgan’s shoulder, scowl falling away as they caught a glimpse of her screen. ‘Those heroes don’t stand a chance.’

Janice pulled her spellbook closer, returning to flicking through the pages with glowing red eyes. ‘They never do, dear.’

The lot of them jumped at the sound of a phone ringing, and Morgan swore as she had to move her laptop to fish out her phone. She sighed at the caller ID and answered, ‘Kind of defeats the point of me being off the radar if you call me while you’re literally still in your hero gear.’

Alex’s scowl returned at Chad’s voice coming through the speaker. Morgan on the other hand began to frown in concern. ‘Okay, whoa whoa, slow down. Start from the beginning, what about Diego?’ Bernard cleared away the last of the bowls, shifting past Morgan as she clambered off of Alex’s lap and began to pace around the living room. ‘You can’t be serious?’ she said, making Janice turn around in concern. ‘Well that was stupid of you.’ She winced at a sudden yell from the other end, yanking the phone away from her ear. Alex was on their feet, rage in their eyes, when Morgan raised a hand to them. She shook her head and put the phone back to her ear, ‘Do you want me to call Diego? Yes I know she might not believe me but there’s not much else I can do. If she’s going to ignore science, magic and her own two eyes I can only reason so much, but I can try. If you want Diego to come to the farm then you’d better ask Janice and Bernard. Sure. Yes. I’ll keep you updated.’ 

The call finally cut, and Morgan groaned, her head falling into her hands. ‘So Diego saw Chad’s real face. In probably the worst way possible.’ She scrubbed at her face, shoulders sagging for a moment, before she snapped back into action and turned back to her phone. ‘She thinks Chad’s been replaced or something, and she’s not listening to him.’

Alex frowned, ‘So now you have to fix it? Again?’

Morgan shrugged, looking at Alex defeated. ‘What else am I supposed to do?’ She put the phone to her ear and left the living room, heading upstairs for a more private conversation.

‘Oh dear,’ Janice tutted, ‘that can’t be easy on…what are you doing?’

Alex was on their feet, cracking their knuckles. The dungarees melted away into black lace over a perfectly fitted corset, paired with leather pants and stilettos. They twisted their hand, and their loose flyaway hair shifted into a perfectly slicked bun, with not a single strand out of place. ‘Off to pay someone a visit,’ they snarled, vanishing before Janice could protest.

Chapter Text

Nearly every hero was on high alert after the latest invasion. Those that weren’t on damage control were trying to corral birds the size of whales, or working out containment for the lavender skinned invaders, or already in labs analysing the strange smoke and violet energy that the birds generated. 

There were three exceptions. The Chadster, uncharacteristically quiet, had headed into debrief first. Shadowstep had nearly phased into the wall in her attempt to hide from the rest of her team. And Leader USA was hunting down his wife.

He sighed at the sight of her barely poking out of the metal and concrete wall, his brow creasing with worry. His movements were slow and deliberate, not in any way hidden, but she didn’t look up even when he was standing next to her. ‘Hey love,’ he whispered, leaning on the wall next to her. ‘What’s going on?’

She screwed her eyes shut, shaking her head. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

He pursed his lips, tempted to try and insist, but he thought better of it. ‘Want a hug?’

Diego stepped out of the wall alarmingly fast, cracking part of the wall as she rematerialised in time to wrap her arms around his waist. Dave pulled her into a tight embrace, squeezing her shoulders as she began to tremble. He pressed a kiss to her temple, closing his eyes for a moment. ‘For better or for worse,’ he whispered. ‘Whatever’s wrong, please don’t think you need to hide it from me.’

Her breath hitched in time with her arms tightening around his waist, and she buried her face in his chest. ‘I don’t know where to begin.’

‘At the beginning?’ Dave suggested. 

She shook her head, pulling away from him slightly to talk. ‘It’s…Morgan’s got herself convinced in this insane conspiracy. And Chad didn’t believe it either. But…’ her lips quivered, and when she looked up at Dave she was beginning to tear up, ‘I think something’s happened to Chad. Either…either someone’s replaced him, or cursed him, or something. I don’t know what happened to him. But he’s not right, And…I don’t know what to do.’

The tears finally spilled over as Diego’s voice broke with a sob. ‘Whoa, okay,’ Dave said softly, hushing her softly while cradling her close. ‘Okay, Chad. Cursed or replaced. We can deal with that. We know the best people to help with that.’ Diego sniffed and looked up at Dave. ‘If there’s tech involved then I’ll badger Terry for ideas. Or if it's magic then Professor Wyrd can have a look. But there are options. Whatever it is, we’ll fix it okay?’

Diego grimaced, ‘Chadster’s FA. Why would our team help?’

‘Because we’re talking about your brother,’ Dave said. ‘And, let’s face it, he’s almost a Chastiser already.’ Diego managed a small smile at that, looking down and away from Dave. Until he took her face in both hands, making her turn up to look at him. ‘This is Chad. We’re not going to leave him to deal with whatever this is alone. And we’re not going to leave you either. I promise.’

She teared up again, but nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. 

‘You’d do the same for me,’ Dave said with a smile. ‘Now, let's go look for him before anything worse happens.’

Diego nodded, wiping at her eyes as the two of them started to head down the corridor towards the debrief room. 

A faint buzzing broke the brief silence, and Diego started fishing through her outfit for her phone. She pulled up the caller ID and sighed, muting her phone and tucking it away without answering it. ‘Who was that?’ Dave asked.

‘Morgan,’ Diego said. ‘I’ll call her later. I just can’t right now.’

The phone stopped buzzing, and immediately started again, but this time they both ignored it. Her phone buzzed like this four more times before they found Chad loitering near the debrief room. He was still in his hero gear, minus his domino mask, paleing at the sight of the two heroes getting closer. ‘Ah, Shadow Step! Leader USA!’ he tried to slip into his hero voice, but none of the usual bravado was there. ‘It’s wonderful to see you! How are you faring after today’s daring battle?’

‘We’re well,’ Dave said, giving Chadster a courteous smile. ‘That was a good move, with the tornado? Very well timed.’

Normally at such a compliment Chadster would puff up his chest, pull back his shoulders and wax on about how it was all in a day’s work. But this time he faltered, like the words were a strong wind threatening to bowl him over. ‘I…thank you. That means a lot. Especially coming from you.’ Dave blinked, keeping his smile calm and expression neutral, even as the debriefing agent ushered Diego into the private room. Leaving him alone with a rather rattled Chadster lookalike. 

As soon as the door closed Chad’s bravado dropped, and he looked up and down the corridor before stepping closer to Dave to whisper. ‘I’m sorry, I’m know I’m not acting like myself.’ He licked his lips, taking a deep breath as if to brace himself. ‘It’s been a rough few days.’

Dave quirked his eyebrow, curious but also worried. This could be a fake, but it could also be his brother in law. And either option had him concerned. ‘Want to talk about it?’

Chad chuckled wryly, looking around again. ‘What’s Dee told you? So far?’

Using her nickname? That’s a good sign . Dave pursed his mouth, trying to find the right words. ‘I know something’s happened, but she was rather vague on the details. I’m not sure she knows either to be honest.’

Chad closed his eyes, screwing them up while scrubbing his hands over his face. ‘She thinks I’m an imposter, doesn’t she?’

Dave winced. ‘She’s not sure, but like you said. You’re kind of…not acting like yourself.’

Chad peeked through his chrome fingers at Dave. His heart clenched at the desperation and pain in that look. ‘How can I convince you it’s me?’

Dave frowned, thinking for a moment. The easiest way would be to get him to say information only Chad would know. ‘Mind if I ask you some questions?’ 

Chad nodded, ‘Yes. Please. If it will help.’ He dropped his hands and watched Dave expectantly. 

Why does he have to look like a kicked puppy like this? ‘Easy one first. How’s the family?’

Chad winced, squeezing his eyes shut. ‘Mum and Dad are still missing. Diego thinks I’m an imposter. And Morgan’s apartment got broken into so she’s gone completely off the radar. So not great, if I’m being honest.’

Dave nodded, breathing a mental sigh of relief. ‘Okay, something a little more lighthearted then. Perhaps about tattoos?’

Chad opened his eyes, looking at Dave warily. He looked up and down the corridor again. ‘Why on earth would we talk about tattoos? I’m not interested in them in the slightest.’

Dave raised an eyebrow, ‘Really?’

‘Yes really. They look crude and…and unprofessional, and it wouldn’t do well for a role model to ruin his image with things like that?’

Dave rolled his eyes, ‘And if your mother wasn’t listening in?’ He spotted the small sparkle of excitement in Chad’s eyes and couldn’t hold back a small smile, ‘Have you picked a design yet?’

‘Not quite,’ Chad said. ‘I’m torn on ideas. I feel like a sword is required for…obvious reasons,’ he smirked at his own joke, and licked his lips. ‘But a nautical compass would be cool as well. Maybe a little clockwork motif? The question is where to put them as well, I was thinking of a maze on my forearm at some point, but that won’t really work now.’ He paused, glancing up at Dave. Who was grinning at Chad. ‘I got rather distracted then didn’t I?’

Dave chuckled, ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Chad tried for a small smile, ‘Why are you asking me about tattoos? I expected something more…personal. Something only the two of us would know?’

‘And how many people know the tattoos you want?’ Dave asked. Chad opened his mouth, pausing as he tried to think of a name but couldn’t come up with anything. ‘But if you want me to test you on something between just the two of us…’ Dave furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. ‘First time I came to Caroline and Richard’s for dinner. How did that go?’

Chad immediately snorted. ‘Oh you nearly put your foot in it so bad.’ Dave raised an eyebrow, and Chad laughed, ‘What? You brought the wrong wine!’

‘How could I bring the wrong wine? We were having some sort of beef roast.’

‘You brought a cheap merlot. If you’re eating beef you need a mid rack cabernet sauvignon minimum. But dad decided to have venison, and for that your safe bet would have been pinot noir. If you wanted to impress you’d have brought a mature bordeaux.’

Dave sighed, ‘Wine is wine. What’s the big deal?’

‘I know that and you know that, but when you’re trying to impress our parents you can’t admit that,’ Chad laughed. ‘Diego enjoyed the merlot when you guys left I recall.’

Dave chuckled. ‘She did. Did I ever thank you?’

‘For saving your reputation? You probably did, but I didn’t do it for that anyway,’ Chad said. ‘Diego really liked you, and I wanted to help you make a good impression. And it was easier for me to sneak out and find the right wine.’

‘Even so, thank you,’ Dave said. ‘Okay, one more question.’ Chad’s easy smile dropped, and he braced himself. ‘Morgan’s phone password.’

Chad frowned, ‘You don’t know that.’

‘Says who? Maybe Diego told me.’

‘She wouldn’t. And I won’t either.’

Dave raised his eyebrow, ‘Remember what you’re doing here? I need to check that you are who you say you are.’

‘I don’t care,’ Chad said. ‘I'm not giving you Morgan's phone password, it would defeat the purpose of me trying to get her into better cybersecurity practices. Besides, she has like 50.’ 

Dave snorted, relaxing his shoulders, ‘Good answer.’ 

Chad has his mouth open, ready to go into a passionate argument about Morgan’s privacy and security, when he stopped at Dave’s words. ‘Oh. So…did I pass?’

Dave stepped forward, putting a hand on Chad’s shoulder. ‘Well I’m convinced. I’ll have a talk with Diego.’ Chad sighed in relief, slumping next to Dave. ‘She’s still going to be worried about something being wrong though, she mentioned a curse?’

Chad shook his head, eyes closed. ‘No, nothing like that. It’s a long story, and I’d rather only tell it once? Diego knows parts of it, but she’s also struggling to believe what she does know.’

‘Why?’

Chad swallowed, trying to find the words. ‘It sounds rather…conspiratorial. But there’s evidence. And Morgan’s looking for more.’

Dave frowned, ‘Dee mentioned Morgan got convinced of a conspiracy of some kind. You think its true now as well?’

He nodded. ‘Unfortunately. It’s hard to deny it.’ He took a slow calming breath and looked at Dave. ‘I’ll explain everything. I will. To you and Diego. And then you can make up your own minds.’

Dave nodded, ‘Okay. Whenever you’re ready. We’re here for you.’

Chapter Text

By the time Diego and Dave had both finished with debrief, Chad was past the point of anxiety and fixed firmly in dread. Yes, Dave seemed to be willing to listen for now, but that couldn’t last long once he had heard the full story. And Diego? After her reaction at his apartment that morning, he couldn’t help but feel sick at her reaction to hearing the full story. From the beginning. And about Janice and Bernard, and what they had done for him while he was at the farm. He was praying that Morgan had managed to get in touch with Diego before the three of them got to his apartment, but just as he was leaving he got a text from Morgan.

“Tried to call Dee. Phone’s either off or she’s blocked me. Need me to come up?”

Chad tried to keep calm. The last thing he wanted was to make Morgan have to come out of hiding and back into the thick of it, but the thought of him doing this conversation alone was terrifying. “No. Can I call you? Loud speaker?”

Morgan threw a thumbs up back and Chad had a moment of relief, promising to call her when he was ready to start the conversation. It was a brief moment of relief, before the silence from Diego and Dave in the car to his apartment started filling him with dread again. 

The silence continued throughout the whole journey, all the way up to Chad’s apartment door. He went ahead of Dave and Diego, offering to put on a pot of coffee and cringing at the sight of the untouched breakfast bagels on the side. 

‘Maybe I should get some lunch ordered in?’ Chad suggested, trying to smile despite Diego’s tense silence and Dave’s worried expression. ‘We’re all probably hungry after that fight.’

‘You guys didn’t get breakfast?’ Dave asked.

‘We didn’t have time,’ Diego said, voice quiet. Chad looked away, wracked with guilt, and walked away from Diego and the kitchen. The living room should be a bit more comfortable at least.

He turned the light on and froze, phone slipping out his phone. The clatter of his phone had footsteps rush behind him, but Chad barely paid them any attention. ‘What are you doing here?’

Alex pushed themselves out of the armchair, dressed entirely in black and lace, and with a burning rage in their eyes. Chad wouldn’t be surprised if that look would actually kill them, and Alex prowled closer. ‘What. The fuck. Did you do?’

He backed away quickly from the approaching villain, barely aware of Dave and Diego next to him. ‘I…I don’t…’

Alex snarled. ‘You really are useless aren’t you? Do you need Morgan to help you breathe as well? Does she need to make sure you’ve tied your shoes right?’

Dave stepped up next to Chad. ‘Alex. This is breaking and entering, and threatening someone unprovoked.’

They laughed coldly at that. ‘Stay out of it Frisbee Boy, this has nothing to do with you.’

Chad faltered, trying to get his voice back. ‘I…I don’t know what you’ve think I’ve done, but-’

Alex was a blur, and the next moment Chad was launched off his feet and crashing into the closest wall, pinned in place by a single hand with a vice-like grip. He grabbed onto the hand holding him up, trying to move it to no avail. Dave yelled his protests, but Alex ignored him, yellow eyes blazing in Chad’s direction. ‘I will only ask one more time. Morgan got a call from you and then ran off to fix your fuck up, yet again. So. What did you do?’

The hand tightened around the collar of Chad’s shirt, and he winced. ‘I took off my necklace. And Diego saw. I didn’t get a chance to explain.’

It should have been impossible for Alex’s rage to grow darker, but they managed it. ‘And why the fuck would you do something so stupid?’

Against the fear something bristled in Chad, and he managed a scowl back at Alex. ‘I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.’ 

The lights flickered above them and Dave swore under his breath, stepping closer to try and help. Diego backed away, eyes wide, and Alex brought up their free hand in a fist. Chad didn’t think, letting go of Alex’s hand and throwing his arms back and away, before lightning crackled across his chest and blasted Alex back. They stumbled only a couple of steps, but far enough for Chad to land on both feet and summon a gust of wind to blast them the rest of the way into the middle of the room. Alex looked amused, just for a moment, before stepping back towards Chad.

Dave dived in between them, shield up and red laser blaring and pointed at Alex. ‘Enough!’ he shouted, glaring at the villain until they stopped. ‘I’m only warning you once Alex. Stand down.’

They rolled their eyes at Dodgers. ‘This doesn’t concern you Frisbee Boy.’ They glanced past his shoulder at Chad, their lips curling into a cruel sarcastic smile. ‘This is a family matter. Right hero?’

Chad flinched, clenching his fist to try and keep the winds around him under control. ‘Don’t. Please. That’s not funny.’

‘Oh, that we can agree on,’ Alex said. Dave glanced back at Chad in confusion, before bracing with his shield and facing Alex again with renewed determination. Alex tilted their head, cat-like eyes scanning over Dodger’s stance, over Chad behind him, making the calculations in just a few moments. ‘Dodgers doesn’t know. Does he?’ Chad’s shoulders stiffened, and Alex chuckled. ‘I wonder, would he be so determined to protect you if he did?’

‘If I knew what?’ Dodgers asked. 

Chad glanced over at Diego, cringing at her pale and frightened expression. ‘I said, I was going to explain the full story when we got here,’ Chad said. ‘And I am. But…not while you’re here Alex. The last thing we need is you losing control.’

‘I won’t,’ Alex held up their hands, stepping back. ‘I’ll even help you if you like. Make sure you don’t fuck it up again.’ Chad bristled. ‘And then if you do, I’ll already be here, and you can leave Morgan to it.’

‘Why are you so opposed to her helping me?’ Chad asked. ‘If she didn’t want to, she would tell me where to stick it.’ 

‘See you say that,’ Alex said, ‘but ever since this whole bullshit started you managed to get under her skin again. Managed to get her worrying and caring about your feelings like she doesn’t have more important things to worry about.’

‘Important things like you?’

Alex bristled. ‘Important things like people who actually care about her. And don’t just want to use her for their own ends before tossing her to the fucking kerb again.’

‘I’m not going to do that,’ Chad said. ‘I never did that. Why do you think I went after her?’

‘Because you wanted your stupid self righteous hero image to be perfect!’

‘I wanted my sister!’ Chad yelled, the wind picking up around him. ‘I wanted my family back!’

‘You had other family, remember?’

‘I was twelve! I was twelve and she left and everything broke apart. Diego couldn’t stop crying and Mum and Dad couldn’t handle it. I just wanted to fix my family, I wanted to have both of my sisters back and happy, and then everything would go back to the way it was, and I would have done anything to make that happen.’

Alex’s eyes widened, nostrils flaring, ‘Anything?’

Chad licked his lips, trying to get his composure back. ‘I know better now. Learned my lesson a little too late, I know, but I do know better now. And I’m not trying to use Morgan, and I’m definitely not going to abandon her. I would never hurt her like that.’ He looked at Alex, swallowing down the worst of his nerves. ‘I wouldn’t hurt any of my family.’

They scoffed, ‘Oh, how noble of you.’

‘That’s enough,’ Dave said. ‘Chad said he wanted you to leave. And I suggest you listen to him.’

Alex chuckled, ‘What are you going to do? Break your wedding present on me? That shit was expensive Dodgers.’ 

Chad’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to try and glance at the screen, It was Morgan.

“Yo, when are you calling me?”

Chad looked up at Alex, now facing off against Dave, who was pushing forward shield first. He turned to Diego, who was frozen near the corner of the room. Her face was blotchy with silent tears, and she was staring into the middle distance with a look of growing horror on her face. He winced, and started typing on his phone. 

“Sorry. Alex decided to drop in at my place, they put a bit of a wrench in things.”

The message sent, and immediately ticked over to read. There was no response, and Chad had to put his phone away to back up Dave as he and Alex traded verbal blows. But within a minute a familiar ring tone rang out, and Alex frowned, pausing mid sentence. They put a finger up, making Dave scowl, as they pulled out their phone and checked the caller ID before answering. ‘Morgan? You okay?’

Red lightning sparked in the air in front of Alex, making the heroes all jump back. Chad recognised it after a moment, as the red light darted in front of Alex and a familiar circle of runes began to grow one the floor. Dave dived for Diego, putting the shield in the way, and shouting for Chad to follow him. But Chad didn’t move, watching Alex’s confusion and concern at the growing spell before a flash filled the room and blinded all of them.

Chad blinked the light out of his eyes, looking back up in time to see Morgan pull the phone away from her ear and hang up the call. If her looks could kill, Chad reckoned Alex would be dead ten times over. ‘What. The fuck. Are you doing?’ 

Chapter Text

Alex frowned, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ Morgan said. ‘Why, Alex? Why are you here? You couldn’t wait to get Chad off the farm, and now you’re letting yourself into his apartment?’ Alex looked past Morgan to glare at Chad, but Morgan shoved them in response. ‘Don’t look at him. I’m the one you should be worried about.’ 

Alex rolled their eyes. ‘I’m trying to help.’

‘Help who?’

‘You!’ Alex shouted. ‘If Chad’s going to call you every five minutes about every single little thing that he fucks up-’

‘If Chad starts calling me every five minutes I’ll tell him to fuck off,’ Morgan said. ‘I know how to set my own boundaries Alex, I don’t need you to do it for me.’

‘Then do it,’ they said. ‘Tell Chad he’s got to fix his own problem himself. That you aren’t going to be at his beck and call.’

Chad looked over at Dave and Diego as they straightened up, a mixture of confusion and wariness between the two of them. Morgan’s attention was entirely on Alex however. ‘What if it was the other way around?’ Alex frowned in confusion. ‘What if he’d been born Chad and became Charlie?’

‘Who’s Charlie?’ Dave whispered.

Alex was watching Morgan with a wary expression, ‘Don’t.’

‘Why? Don’t want to jump into my shoes for a second?’ Morgan asked. ‘Imagine you grew up with Charlie, found out he was actually related to me, and then one of your family members freaked out on him and refused to believe anything he said. And he came to you for help? What would you do?’

‘Stop it Morgan,’ Alex said, the lights flickering above them. 

Chad stepped closer, but Morgan pushed on. ‘No Alex, go on. Answer the question.’

One of the lightbulbs popped and Chad stepped in between them. ‘Morgan, stop. I think they get it.’

She glanced at Chad for only a moment, and he saw just how exhausted she was. There was dark bruising under her eyes from lack of sleep, she was a shade paler than the day before, and her eyes were starting to go bloodshot. But any exhaustion was covered up by her glaring at Alex again. ‘Alex, I do not need you to start dictating who I help, or when, or how. Especially when we both know how much of a bloody hypocrite you’d be if it was the other way around.’

‘Morgan,’ Chad said, ‘when did you last get some sleep?’

She rolled her eyes, ‘Not now Chad.’

‘Night before last,’ Alex said, and Morgan scowled.

‘What the hell Morgan?’ Diego asked. Dave jumped at her sudden question, looking around at the others completely lost.

‘I’ve been busy,’ Morgan said.

Chad’s shoulders fell, ‘Research?’ When she didn’t answer Chad pulled out his phone and started tapping on the screen. ‘Right.’

‘What are you doing?’ Morgan asked.

‘Asking Janice to get you back to the farm,’ Chad said. ‘Morgan you need to sleep.’ She glared, opening her mouth to argue, and Chad put his hand up. ‘No, no arguing. If I had known you hadn’t slept I wouldn’t have called, I would…I would have thought of something else. Alex was right.’

Alex blinked in surprise, turning to Chad with a frown, looking for the other shoe to drop. Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘You’re both being ridiculous. I’m a grown ass adult, I can take care of myself.’

‘Morgan,’ Chad said. ‘Please. The research will be there when you wake up, we’ll all be standing and alive when you wake up. Just, please, don’t burn yourself out on this.’

She scowled, ‘Just because you don’t want to know what’s going on-’

‘I didn’t say that,’ Chad said. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t want to know. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself while trying to find the answers.’

‘Huh,’ Alex said. ‘Someone we can agree on.’

‘No,’ Morgan said. ‘No, you’re not setting Janice on me. I’m here now, we’re settling all of this emotional bullshit now. All of it. Alex isn’t going to invite themselves into your apartment to threaten you, you’re not going to blunder through telling people the truth and making them think you’re an imposter, and you,’ she turned around and pointed to Diego, ‘are going to actually listen to the truth and stop burying your goddamn head in the sand.’ 

Dave put a protective arm in front of Diego while she reluctantly met Morgan’s eyes, ‘Morgan, he has a different face. You can’t actually expect me to believe that any of this ridiculous theory is true?’

Alex growled, folding their arms, ‘If I have to believe it, so do you sweetheart.’

Chad looked at Dave, who was completely lost, and leaned into Morgan, ‘I still haven’t told Dave anything.’

Morgan nodded, ‘Right. Okay. This might be a two birds one stone situation then.’ She gestured for the couple to sit on the couch, pulling out her phone and bringing up various pages she needed. ‘Chad, you got any coffee in the house?’

‘Only decaf,’ he said. She glared at him in suspicion, and he shrugged. ‘Even if I had proper coffee, I’m not giving you caffeine right now.’

‘Asshole,’ she muttered, and turned to Dave and Diego. ‘Okay fine, you get the blunt version because I’m decaffeinated and sleep deprived. Don’t you dare say anything,’ she snarled, pointing at Alex without looking. ‘So, about a month ago Rex reached out trying to get me to help stop Alex from killing the Chadster because of something he found in Chad’s DNA. I then snuck off to do paternity tests for me, Diego, Chad and Alex.’ Dave frowned, thoroughly confused and looking concerned, while Diego just shook her head. ‘The DNA tests confirmed that, biologically, Chad and Alex are siblings.’

‘Not possible,’ Diego said.

Alex scowled, ‘Stop being so dense.’

‘Anyway!’ Morgan shouted over both of them, ‘none of us reacted well, Alex went home, and Alex’s mum told us about their baby brother Charlie. Who “died” in a villain battle when he was two.’

‘And we saw Chad come from the hospital,’ Diego said. ‘You can’t tell me those memories are fake, okay?’

‘I’m getting there,’ Morgan said. ‘Chad offered to bodyguard me to go to the Stewart’s house, and while we were there, Alex’s mum spotted that there’s a magical enchantment on Chad.’

‘Alex’s mum can see magic? How?’ Dave asked.

‘She used to be the Crimson Caster,’ Alex said. ‘Now retired. Obviously.’

Dave’s eyes went wide, but Morgan continued. ‘She saw this enchantment that was changing Chad’s appearance, which is on a necklace he wears. Other magic going on with that, but when you take it off…’ she stalled, licking her lips as she tried to find the right words, ‘...when Chad takes the necklace off he looks…very different.’

‘How different?’ Dave asked.

Chad cleared his throat, ‘Would a demonstration be okay?’ Alex scowled, but stayed silent, Morgan shrugged, while Diego squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. 

Dave watched the other’s reactions and looked at Chad with concern, ‘Only if you want to.’

He nodded, hands trembling only slightly as he fiddled with the clasp on the necklace and pulled it away. In other circumstances watching Dave leap out of the chair and sending pillows flying might have been funny, but right now all it did was make Chad’s gut twist. ‘Oh,’ Dave said, voice shaking, struggling to take it in. ‘That’s…very different.’

Chad nodded, ‘I’m aware.’

Hearing Chad’s voice from a stranger’s face seemed to make Dave pale even more, and he finally tore his eyes away and back to Morgan. ‘And you’re certain that means he’s related to Alex? This could be a curse. Or any number of things.’

‘Dave do you know what my parent’s look like?’ Alex asked. He shook his head, and Alex pulled out their phone, scrolling through their apps until they brought up a photo and showed it to the couple on the couch. ‘That’s my dad. From about ten years ago before he started to go grey.’

Diego flinched, glancing up at Chad for a moment before looking back at the picture, and Dave’s shoulders fell. ‘The resemblance is uncanny.’

‘I’m aware,’ Alex growled, glaring at Chad until he began fumbling with the necklace to put it back on. ‘Believe me, if I thought any of this had been made up or was a lie, I would be first in line tracking down the idiot who orchestrated this and making them fucking hurt. But…Morgan is very thorough. And so is my Mum. They’ve not sniffed a lie out of it yet.’

‘If anything it's the opposite,’ Morgan said. ‘Every clue we find out only backs it up even more.’

‘Like what?’ Dave asked.

‘Little things,’ Morgan said. ‘The farm animals recognise Chad, his childhood bear was in the Stewart memory boxes-’

‘He’s a bunny and his name is Hops,’ Chad said. 

Morgan rolled her eyes, but Dave cut in. ‘I’m sorry, the animals on the farm? They’re part of your evidence?’

‘In our defence,’ Alex said, ‘the animal is a nearly thirty year old horse and is, in literally every way but name, my mum’s familiar. So she’s smarter than the average horse, and smarter than most people actually.’

‘Also,’ Chad cut in, ‘this is…nothing on its own. But when I was a kid, I had this recurring nightmare. I’d end up waking up Morgan or Diego in the middle of the night with them.’ Diego looked up at Chad then as he swallowed. ‘The nightmares always ended in me being surrounded by fire.’ Alex’s face fell and they looked at Chad, while Morgan nudged her shoulder into Chad’s to ground him. ‘Charlie apparently died in a burning building that collapsed.’

‘Fuck,’ Dave said. ‘I’m sorry.’ Chad shrugged, and Dave glanced at Alex. ‘That…this is…hard to process.’

‘Because it’s ridiculous,’ Diego said, glaring at Morgan. ‘It can’t be true.’

Morgan sighed, ‘Now you’re just being belligerent.’

‘No I’m not,’ Diego said. ‘You’re relying on a former villain to tell you about magic you don’t otherwise understand. Chad’s nightmares were probably from seeing Mum use her powers. A horse told you they recognise a fully grown man from assumedly 20 plus years ago, and Chad found an old bear at Alex’s parent’s house.’

‘Bunny,’ Chad said.

Morgan sighed. ‘Dee, come on, just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean you can twist the evidence.’

‘Then you need to stop ignoring the evidence!’ Diego shouted. ‘Two years Morgan, two years of holidays and doctors visits that you’re pretending didn’t happen. Our lives weren’t made up for those two years. I know I had a baby brother then and I know we did everything we could to keep him healthy and safe. No one could make those memories or stories up.’

‘I know,’ Morgan said.

‘And I don’t ca-’ Diego said, and then faltered. ‘You know? What do you mean you know?’

‘I mean I remember everything you remember,’ Morgan said. ‘And I’m not ignoring that. If anything, it feels like another clue.’

Diego frowned, ‘How?

Morgan licked her lips, thinking hard for a moment, ‘What were Chad’s first words?’

Diego looked away in concentration, ‘It was no. He would always say it when someone tried to give him his medicine.’

‘Medicine?’ Chad asked.

‘Yeah,’ Diego said. ‘Medicine. For when Chad was sick.’

‘He was sick a lot,’ Morgan said. ‘There were doctors around all the time it felt like.’

‘Exactly,’ Diego said. ‘You expect me to believe that someone would fabricate those memories? Ignoring how hard it is to create fake memories, if they were going to, why would they make them so detailed? Why not fabricate something normal and boring that we wouldn’t think about? It makes no sense. So those memories must be real, so then Chad must be our brother, so then all of this must be wrong.’

Morgan nodded, her eyes shining. ‘Logical argument. When did Chad start getting sick?’

Diego shrugged, ‘A few months after he was born I think?’

‘And when did he get better?’

Diego thought for a moment. ‘It was a Fall? Yeah, because we begged Mum and Dad to let us take him Trick or Treating for Halloween.’

‘Because he was finally healthy enough to go,’ Morgan said, something catching in her throat. ‘How old was he?’ Diego’s eyes widened, her lips pressing together. ‘Diego, how old was he?’

Diego took a breath, looking between Chad, Alex and Dave. ‘Two. We were so excited for his third birthday, Mum and Dad agreed we could go to the petting zoo. And we went Trick or Treating before the petting zoo.’

Morgan nodded and pulled something up on her phone, giving it to Diego as she spoke. ‘I started building a timeline. Charlie died October 17th, at two years old. Chad Sterling went out trick or treating for the first time on October 31st that same year.’

‘What are you implying?’ Alex asked.

Morgan squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I don’t know yet. But I think I’m going to need to go through hospital records to find it. Maybe the original paper ones.’

‘You’re going to break into a hospital?’ Dave asked. ‘That seems excessive.’

‘I’ve broken into worse places for less,’ Morgan said. ‘And who said I needed to break into a hospital?’

‘Where else would original paper records be?’ Dave asked. ‘Why not just get into the electronic records?’

‘Electronic records are easier to change,’ Diego said, staring at the picture on Morgan’s phone. She looked up at her twin, tearing up again, ‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know yet.’

‘What do you think happened then?’

Morgan sighed, taking her phone back. ‘I asked Janice about how magic works? With, making new faces, erasing and hiding things, changing memories. She said… for most magic users it’s easier to change or build on something that already exists than to create something from scratch.’

Chad shuddered, touching the necklace around his neck, ‘For all magic?’ Morgan nodded. ‘Then…where did this face come from?’

‘Most likely,’ Morgan said, ‘it was based on someone else.’

‘Who?’ Diego asked.

‘I don’t know yet,’ Morgan said. ‘That’s what I’m trying to find out. That’s…why I need the original medical records.’

Dave shifted forward, looking to the necklace around Chad’s neck. ‘That needs to be examined. We can get Will to have a look at it and-’

‘No,’ Morgan and Chad said in perfect sync. Morgan quirked an eyebrow at Chad and gestured for him to carry on. ‘Until we can get a full picture of what happened together we can’t let this get out to the rest of the hero communities.’

‘Why not?’ Dave asked.

‘Because if it comes out,’ Morgan said, ‘Mum and Dad will bury every single lead, every clue, every loose thread.’

‘If they don’t just come after Morgan directly,’ Chad said. ‘Besides, Professor Wyrd doesn’t have the best reputation for keeping things discrete.’

‘You can talk,’ Alex scoffed.

‘He also knows our aunt,’ Chad said. ‘The second he knows there’s something weird Aunt Sonja will know, and then Mum and Dad will know we’re onto them.’

‘You really think Mum and Dad will hide this?’ Diego asked.

‘They hid it so far,’ Morgan said. ‘They’re not going to just come clean now because we worked out part of the mystery.’ 

Diego sniffed, ‘You think…Mum and Dad are behind all this?’

Chad sighed, ‘Aunt Sonja’s magic signature is on this enchantment. The building was on fire, which is Inferno’s power. Everything comes back to them.’

Diego shook her head, ‘If…if that’s true. Then…’ she looked at Morgan, beginning to tear up again. Morgan pocketed her phone and knelt down in front of Diego, taking her hand as her tears spilled over. ‘What…why…’

‘I’m going to find out,’ Morgan said. ‘I promise. They won’t have any secrets after I’m done.’ Diego closed her eyes, curling into her sister’s shoulder, and Morgan wrapped her up in a hug. She whispered something in Diego’s ear, something too quiet for even Dave to hear. Diego scrambled to cling to Morgan tighter, half in Morgan’s lap as she began to sob uncontrollably. Morgan rocked backwards, carrying Diego the rest of the way, closing her eyes so her own tears didn’t have a chance to fall.

Chapter Text

The other three in the room managed to make a silent agreement to give the twins some space for the moment. They found themselves congregated in the kitchen, Chad tidying away the cold bagels and chucking the abandoned coffee while Dave puzzled over what to eat for lunch. Alex elected to brood in the corner, watching the two heroes move around each other in complete silence.

‘You know,’ Chad said quietly, ‘you don’t have to stay here.’

‘I’m not leaving Morgan,’ they snarled. ‘So I guess you’re stuck with me until she’s done.’ 

Chad gave a flat smile before turning back to tidying. Dave looked between the two of them, and at the menus in front of him. ‘Does one of us want to head out for lunch? Or should we get it ordered here?’

‘You should go pick it up,’ Alex said, looking at Dave pointedly. ‘Will probably be quicker, right?’

Chad swallowed, refusing to look at Alex while Dave dithered. ‘Will…everything be intact if I head out?’

Alex smiled coldly, ‘I won’t harm a hair on Chad’s head. Cross my heart.’

Dave looked unconvinced, humming as he turned to Chad for his reaction. Chad shrugged, ‘I am getting hungry. And I survived the farmhouse for two whole days with Alex there, I think we can cope for an hour.’

Dave frowned in worry, but nodded. ‘Alright. Should I get anything for you and Morgan then?’ he asked Alex.

‘We already ate.’

‘I can grab some drinks then? Maybe a pick-me-up?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Chad said.

‘Don’t you dare,’ Alex replied at the same time. They looked at each other, Chad in surprise and Alex in anger, as Dave backed away and headed towards the door. ‘Do you have to do that?’ Alex snarled.

‘It was an accident,’ Chad said, shrinking away and turning back to cleaning. 

Alex huffed and turned away, the two of them standing in a very uncomfortable silence. Alex was perfectly still, leaning on the wall, refusing to look at Chad while he moved around his kitchen, determined to remove every invisible stain and mark he could find. Every sound seemed to grate on Alex though, making them clench their hands so tight it would crush anything else. 

By the time Chad had wiped over the surfaces for the fourth time and shuffled food around the cupboards three times, Alex finally cracked. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

Chad looked up at Alex in surprise, ‘About what?’

Alex was still staring at the floor, almost ready to burn a hole through the tiles. ‘About the dreams. With the fires.’

‘Oh,’ Chad closed the cupboard door, looking at Alex curiously. ‘It…didn’t come up really? At first anyway. And then when it could have, it felt…inappropriate.’ Alex raised an eyebrow in a silent question at that. ‘Just, hmm. It was a long time ago for me, I haven’t had those dreams for years. And…it felt like something that wouldn’t help any of us and would just hurt Janice and Bernard. I wasn’t hiding it intentionally. I just…’

‘I get it,’ Alex said. They squeezed their eyes shut, immediately regretting speaking, but they nodded anyway. ‘Not the best first impression.’ 

‘More like…I didn’t want them to feel bad. Or worse. First impressions were out the window the second Janice looked past this thing,’ Chad pointed to his necklace, fiddling with the disc for a moment. 

Silence fell between them for another few minutes. Chad had abandoned his fake cleaning, his attention focused on the quiet from the living room for any sign he needed to go through. ‘Do…’ Alex said, and Chad looked back at them, ‘do you remember anything else? From back then?’

Chad cringed. ‘Not really? Nothing obvious anyway. There were the dreams, I know I lost Hops…’ he thought hard for a moment. ‘I think I was obsessed with trees for a while.’

Alex perked up, looking at Chad. ‘Trees?’

‘Yeah,’ Chad nodded, ‘I wanted to go to all the forests, all the fields, I would try to drag Morgan or Diego to every tree I could find.’

Alex looked away for a moment, seeming to connect something together, ‘Why trees?’

Chad shrugged, ‘I don’t know, it was a long time ago.’

‘You ever tell Morgan about what you were looking for?’

‘I have no-’ Chad faltered, frowning at Alex. ‘Why do you think I was looking for something?’

Alex shrugged, ‘Call it a hunch.’ Chad folded his arms, not buying it, and Alex rolled their eyes. ‘Alright fine, where did you put those pictures Mum and Dad gave you?’

He wanted to ask why, but thought better of it, instead going to fish out the album without a word. Within a minute or two Alex was leaning on the counter and flicking through the album, eyes flickering over the photos for only a moment or two before turning the page. Chad tried to not stand too close, torn between his curiosity and offending Alex in some way that could end with a super strong hand through his face. Soon enough though Alex paused, and spun the book around. ‘Look at this.’

Chad looked at the picture, his frown immediately vanishing at the set of pictures. There was a close up shot that showed a toddling Charlie sitting on Janice’s lap while she set up a picnic under a large tree. Charlie was clearly laughing, reaching out for a young Alex who was swinging upside down from one of the branches. The second photo on the page showed the tree on its own, a huge one, standing in the middle of a field.

‘That was Charlie’s favourite spot,’ Alex said. ‘We could go there for picnics, to hunt for bugs. When I was learning how to ride, Mum would guide me around the fields, and Charlie and Dad would play under the tree and watch.’

Chad’s shoulders fell, and he sniffed. ‘I think…I remember it.’

Alex looked at him suspiciously, ‘Don’t say that just because it's in the fancy photo album.’

‘I’m not,’ Chad said. ‘I mean it. It’s…I don’t remember all the picnics, or the horse or the games. But the…’ he sighed. ‘It’s like deja vu, and like I’m remembering a dream at the same time. It feels…familiar.’

Alex nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable. ‘Alright. You remember Charlie’s tree, the rabbit and fire. Good to know.’ They straightened from the counter, turning away from Chad and the kitchen. Before he could object, Alex headed through to the living room and poked their head in.

Morgan and Diego had made their way back onto the couch, Diego clinging to Morgan’s waist while Morgan rubbed circles in her back. Morgan looked up at Alex’s appearance and raised an eyebrow at them. ‘Dave’s gone to get these guys food,’ Alex whispered. ‘When do you want to head back?’

Before Morgan could answer Diego whimpered and tightened her grip on Morgans’ waist. Morgan squeezed her shoulders in response and turned back to Alex, ‘I’ll be here for a while longer.’ Alex’s frown deepened and Morgan rolled her eyes. ‘You don’t need to hang around. I can call you or Janice when I’m ready to head back.’

Alex grunted at that and pulled back, returning to sulk in the kitchen. Diego looked up at Morgan, eyes red from crying. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Morgan shrugged, ‘What are sisters for?’

Diego sighed, ‘I’ve been a pretty lousy sister.’

‘Probably,’ Morgan nodded.

‘You’re not supposed to agree that fast.’

‘You’re supposed to listen to the smart twin.’ Diego scowled, and Morgan gave a cheshire grin. ‘I’m not wrong.’

Diego sighed and closed her eyes. ‘How is this our lives?’ Morgan fell silent at that, tightening the hug as Diego buried her face in Morgan’s shoulder. ‘I really wish this was just a bad dream,’ she whispered.

Morgan squeezed her eyes shut, her grip tightening around Diego’s shoulders. ‘I know.’

The sisters were quiet for a while, the silence only broken by slight creaks of the building from the flat above and occasional footsteps from the kitchen next door. 

‘It’s crazy,’ Diego whispered. ‘This time yesterday I was worrying about Chad surviving the Stewart’s farmhouse. I half expected him to come back with his arms missing again. And now…’ she trailed off, her teary eyes focused on the carpet.

‘Now Chad’s officially fought every one of his siblings,’ Morgan said.

Diego scowled, squeezing her eyes shut, ‘That’s not funny.’

‘It will be when the heartache goes,’ Morgan smirked. ‘Besides, from what I heard, you opened the door to Chad’s apartment to see a complete stranger in Chad’s clothes. If it was me I would have tasered him on the spot.’

‘You would have broken his arms if you did that.’

‘Eh,’ Morgan shrugged. ‘Depends how strong the voltage is. And robotics can be fixed if they get fried.’

‘It gets dangerous when they’re attached to people though,’ Diego said. ‘They can be nasty conductors.’

‘Huh,’ Morgan pursed her lips in thought, ‘That explains why Chad started favouring wind and cold over lightning.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Diego said. ‘You should have seen it the first time the arms took an electric shock. Mum and Dad thought he had misdirected some of his own lightning and were ready to rip into him in the hospital as soon as he woke up. Until Dave brought one of his rookie heroes in to apologise to the lot of us.’

Morgan’s arms tightened as she scowled, ‘While he was in the hospital bed?’

‘We ended up hearing the apology twice. One to Mum and Dad, and one once Chad finally woke up.’ Diego closed her eyes again, leaning heavily on Morgan. ‘They’re probably going to find Mum and Dad soon. I’m pretty sure half the FA is looking for them.’

‘The longer it takes the better.’

Diego sighed, ‘Morgan, they’re still our parents.’

‘So? Just because they had sex doesn’t mean they deserve my respect. In fact they deserve as much respect that they show others. Which is fuck all.’

‘You can’t say that.’

‘I just did.’ Morgan sat up straighter, feeling Diego’s eyes on her. ‘They kidnapped a child, lied to all of us, got our family to help them hide this conspiracy as you call it. And then they used all of that to try and make their perfect three part hero team out of their fucking children. They stole a child and then they stole all of our childhoods. What part of that means I’m supposed to show them anything except the middle finger?’ 

Diego looked to the door to the kitchen, then back at Morgan, ‘What are we going to do when they get back?’

She sighed, ‘Well I went off the radar for a reason. I don’t want them ambushing me at the apartment again. I’m not going anywhere near them unless it's on my terms.’

‘So what are the rest of us supposed to do?’

‘Nothing. Not until I’ve dug out the truth. Once I have, we can work out the next move we want to make.’

‘Nothing?’ Diego asked. ‘You want me to pretend nothing’s wrong with them?’

‘Well they can’t figure out that we suspect them,’ Morgan said. ‘If they find out they’ll hunt down any loose threads and turn them into ash and you know it.’ 

Diego opened her mouth to argue, but wilted just as quickly. ‘I can’t lie to them this time. I can’t pretend that this hasn’t happened.’

‘Then go off the grid,’ Morgan shrugged. ‘But don’t tip them off. Please Dee.’

Their conversation was interrupted by a knocking at the front door, and there was a quick scramble from the kitchen before footsteps headed out to the front door. Dave’s voice came through when the door opened, and Diego was immediately on her feet. By the time Dave had made it to the kitchen Diego was already waiting for him in the doorway, rushing forward to wrap her arms around his waist. Dave returned the hug, handing the bag of food to Chad with a thanks before scooping Diego into a more tender embrace.

Morgan elected to ignore the sheepish look from Chad as he tidied something away under the counter and Alex’s scowl. Instead she looked at the bag curiously, ‘Got any good drinks?’

‘Yeah,’ Dave said. ‘Water, lemonade or juice.’

She scowled at the hero, ‘You’re killing me over here. Why is caffeine suddenly forbidden?’

‘You know why,’ Alex sighed. She glared at Alex while Chad unboxed the food. ‘Can we go now?’

‘Actually,’ Dave said, ‘before you do, we should work out a plan.’ Alex raised their eyebrow at the hero, as the others zeroed in. ‘I know Morgan is still putting some of the pieces together, and will hopefully use legal means,’ he said, looking at Morgan pointedly. ‘But while that’s going on, you don’t want Caroline and Richard to know you’re investigating or suspicious. Which makes sense. So, how do we deal with that?’

‘Get rid of them,’ Alex said with a small smile. 'Easiest way to avoid them is if they don't exist anymore.'

'Absolutely not,' Diego scowled.

‘Wanna bet sweetheart?’

'I want them alive,' Morgan said. She was staring into the middle distance, her face dark with fury, before she turned to Alex. 'No one moves against them until I'm ready.' 

Alex grinned at her, giving a little bow with their head towards Morgan. ‘Alive it is then. For now.’

‘You aren’t killing my parents,’ Diego said, leaning towards the villain until Dave’s hand was on her shoulder. 

‘The no kill list is a promise to try,’ they sneered, yellow glare aimed at Diego. ‘And I’m trying very hard right now. If I see them after Morgan’s had her pound of flesh? Who knows what will happen.’

Chad cleared his throat, glancing between Alex and Diego before continuing. ‘For now, they’re going to be alive and safe. And we can’t let them suspect anything until after Morgan’s investigation is done. So…until then I guess we’re playing dumb.’

Morgan raised an eyebrow in surprise, ‘You’re okay with lying to them?’

‘They did,’ Chad said. ‘Besides, it’s that or go off the grid, but if we’ve all vanished that will be too suspicious.’

Dave snorted, ‘Imagine if they thought Alex had kidnapped all of you?’

‘You couldn’t pay me to kidnap Chad,’ Alex snarled. 

‘We don’t actually want you to,’ Dave said. 'But anyway, with the playing dumb plan. They leave us alone for the most part, even more now that Diego’s with the Chastisers. And when they do come around there are ways of distracting the conversation. But Chad’s another matter.’ He turned to his brother in law, worry starting to come through again. ‘You still have dinner with them nearly every day, and they love to get involved in your business all the time.’

‘I won’t go to dinner then,’ Chad said, fiddling with his fries as he spoke. ‘And I think I can make a reasonable alibi for it.’ He looked up at the heroes at the end of the counter. ‘I need to make a move against Roofer. If I schedule it right, I can be on stakeouts and scouting missions when they’re sitting down for dinner.’

‘Won’t they want to have you around another time then?’ Dave asked. ‘What’s to stop them getting you around for breakfast or lunch?’

‘My normal shifts.’

Diego finally looked at Chad with a frown, while Dave was scowling at Chad. ‘Double shifts? Seriously Chad.’

‘Just until Morgan’s done with her research,’ Chad said. ‘Besides I’ve done them before, it’s not that big a deal.’ Dave opened his mouth to argue but Chad cut in. ‘It’s either that or try to lie to them, and the last time I tried to lie to them on the spot they ended up trying to barge into Morgan’s flat.’

‘At least you know what you’re bad at,’ Morgan smirked. ‘I’ll get answers as fast as I can. I could do with a bigger computer though.’ 

Alex looked pointedly at her, while she furrowed her brow in concentration. ‘Would a supercomputer do?’

Morgan looked at Alex, her face a careful mask. ‘Will you let me use your supercomputer?’

‘On one condition,’ Alex said.

‘Pass,’ Morgan shook her head.

‘You haven’t even heard what it is!’

‘Are you going to ban me from caffeine in your lair?’ Morgan scowled.

‘No! You just need to sleep more.’

‘Pass,’ Morgan shook her head. ‘I’m too busy.’

Alex growled, ‘Morgan you need to rest. You can’t keep this up.’

‘Can and will,’ she folded her arms, watching Alex begin to get frustrated without flinching. ‘Maybe Bernard will want to help me get some oomph for the laptop.’

‘Don’t count on it,’ Alex said. ‘Dad’s the one that disappeared Mum’s coffee maker.’ 

‘That mother-’ Morgan bit back the rest of the insult, face screwing up in anger. ‘This is bullshit.’

‘What’s bullshit is you burning yourself out on this,’ Alex scowled.

Chad frowned, ‘Morgan, we can help investigate things on this side, you don’t have to do all of that on your own.’

‘No,’ she shook her head. ‘You’re too close to Mum and Dad, if they suspect anything we lose any advantage we currently have to try and find out the truth.’

‘And they’re not even back yet,’ Alex said. ‘You do not need to find everything out this second. And you definitely don’t need to risk your health to find out all the answers.’

‘Don’t be so dramatic!’ Morgan rolled her eyes. ‘There’s more important things going on here.’

‘No. There isn’t.’ Alex grabbed Morgan’s shoulder and spun her around so she had to face them. ‘I won’t let you neglect yourself for anyone or anything else. Got that?’

Morgan’s scowl didn’t falter. ‘Let me? Remind me who put you in charge of what I’m allowed to do? Oh that’s right! You’re not.’

‘Morgan,’ Chad said. ‘Please, we’re allowed to worry about you. We all want the answers, but we want you to be okay more.’

‘Besides,’ Diego said, ‘you look dead on your feet. How well would you be able to work now anyway?’

Morgan scowled at her siblings in turn, ‘I don’t like you three being on the same page, especially when it's about me. Stop it.’

‘No,’ Diego said, folding her arms. ‘And there’s only one way to shut us up. You’ve done more than enough today. Go look after yourself.’

‘Holy shit,’ Alex said, raising their eyebrows, ‘finally pulled your head out of the sand huh?’ Dave scowled from behind Diego, putting a protective hand on her shoulder that Alex ignored. ‘And Chad engaging brain cells, never thought I’d see the day.’ Morgan glared daggers at Alex, who only beamed in response. ‘It sounds like all the emotional bullshit is done for the day as well. So we can go home now right?’

‘What about the rest of the plan?’

‘You know your part,’ Alex said, ‘and they’re adults. I’m sure they can work out how to be discreet without you needing to hold their hand.’

Before Morgan could respond with more vitriol Chad chimed in. ‘We’ll let you know as soon as we have something sorted.’

She huffed, folding her arms. ‘You’d better,’ she muttered. Alex took that as their cue to scoot up next to her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. For a moment Morgan’s anger wilted, leaving nothing but exhaustion before the two of them vanished. 

Dave sighed in relief as soon as the two villains were gone. ‘Chad? My sincere condolences.’ He looked at Dave in confusion. ‘Not sure how I would cope with the revelation that I was related to Alex Stewart of all people.’

Chad snorted, turning back to his plate. ‘I’ll let you know once it’s sunk in.’

Dave managed to smile, leaning down to check on Diego while Chad finally tucked into his burger. The three of them fell silent as they ate, Dave humming in satisfaction at his own food. Diego managed most of her fries, but mostly picked at her burger. 

‘So,’ Dave said, ‘Are we…happy seems like the wrong word. How are we feeling about the plan?’

‘Lousy,’ Diego mumbled.

Chad bit back his immediate response to Diego. ‘It’s the best plan we’ve got. I’ll contact my team later to get my Roofer plan going. What about you guys?’

Dave shrugged, ‘Like I said, we don’t deal with them all that much. And I’ve gotten quite good at steering conversations so they don’t ask about grandkids and stuff.’

Diego pushed her plate away, leaning into Dave’s shoulder, ‘I’m actually getting kind of tired. Can we work out the rest later?’

Dave nodded, ‘Sure. We can chill out for now, let the emotions settle a bit.’ He looked up at Chad, ‘How’s your movie collection coming along?’

Diego looked up at Dave, looking thoroughly drained. ‘Actually, I’m not going to be good company love. Can we go home?’

Dave looked down at Diego, frowning slightly. He opened his mouth, but Chad cut in quickly with a smile. 'Of course! If you're tired you're tired. We can catch up after you've rested?'

Dave's brow only creased more, but Diego leaned against him before he could object. 'Are you sure Chad? If you need some company, or any help at all-'

'I'll call,' Chad nodded. 'Thank you. I appreciate it.'

He still looked unsure, but at Chad's insistence he grabbed the last of his and Diego’s lunch and guided her out of the apartment. ‘If you need anything,’ Dave said.

‘Thank you,’ Chad replied. ‘I’m serious, go take care of your wife.’

He watched them while beaming, his smile not faltering for a moment until the door closed behind them. When he dropped the smile his whole body slumped with it, sliding down the wall until he was sat on the floor with his head in his hands. 'Fuck,' he whispered.

The apartment was far too silent after the day he’d had, but Chad didn’t have it in him to move. He curled inwards, taking measured breaths and trying to hold back the tears as much as possible. At least he’d managed to eat, part of him thought, now he could wallow without worrying about an empty stomach. Some sadistic part of his brain reminded him that this could have gone much worse, but all that did was make his chest ache even more.

Eventually his joints complained enough to force him to clamber off the floor. He shuffled back into the kitchen, moving around the counter to dig out the album hidden in the cupboard. He should hide it again. Pack it away. He placed it carefully on the counter, opening it back up to the photo Alex had showed him earlier. It was odd looking at the small blond children, at Alex with blue eyes instead of yellow, at the baby that was supposed to be him. Everyone and everything in the photo was strange to him, strangers and strange places. Except for the longing ache that was growing in him. 

He reached out to turn the page and paused, his attention catching on his hands. Cybernetic enhancements. Caused by Alex. He sighed, and slammed the album closed, taking it through to the bedroom to hide it again. There was no point wondering over what could have been. He had this life. And there was no changing it. 

Chapter Text

The second that Morgan and Alex landed in the Stewart’s living room Morgan was shrugging off Alex’s hand and beelining for her computer. Janice was sat on the floor still, eyes glowing red as her grimoire floated next to her. She raised an eyebrow at the two villain’s appearance. ‘Everything alright dears?’

‘Peachy,’ Morgan growled, grabbing her laptop and leaving the room without another word.

Janice frowned and looked at Alex, ‘What did you do?’

They sighed, snapping their fingers to vanish their villainous look, returning to the dungarees from earlier. ‘Chad snitched on me. Which is ridiculous, I had everything under control.’

Janice’s eyes returned to their normal blue, the book closing and falling onto her lap. ‘What exactly was your plan?’

Alex slumped onto the couch, folding their arms. Janice moved over, sitting next to Alex, tucking a lock of hair behind their ear while they waited for Alex to share. ‘Morgan doesn’t have to do everything.’

‘I agree,’ Janice said. ‘But how does that lead to you breaking into Chad’s apartment?’

‘She’s not his sidekick. She’s not at his beck and call. He screws up, that doesn’t mean she has to fix it.’ Janice nodded, but stayed silent. Alex stayed quiet, wrestling with their thoughts for a moment, before finally sighing. ‘I don’t want Chad to think he can start using Morgan whenever she wants again.’

‘Alex?’ Janice said. ‘I love you and Morgan dearly. I am certain that if Morgan thought Chad was using her she would give him a piece of her mind. And maybe use some of those drones of hers to get the message across.’

‘Okay but,’ Alex paused, trying to piece their thoughts together. ‘Before all of this she didn’t give Chad the time of day. And now she’s not sleeping because she’s pouring over his old medical records, or racing off to help him when he’s screwed up, or dealing with Diego because she’s ignoring the truth right in front of her fucking face! They’re just using her, or taking advantage, or whatever. And I can’t stop Morgan from scouring every inch of whatever records she thinks she needs, but I can try and help get the others off her back.’ 

Janice nodded in understanding. She pulled Alex into a hug, feeling them melt into her embrace. ‘Maybe it would be worth sharing your concerns to Morgan?’

‘I did,’ Alex said. ‘She didn’t listen.’

‘Well, she is rather fiercely independent. Having people worry over her or try to make decisions on her behalf rarely ends well.’ Alex stiffened, before slumping against Janice with a groan. ‘Are you alright there, love?’ They nodded, hiding their face in Janice’s shoulder. ‘Need any help with anything?’

They shook their head, ‘No, I got it. You made your point.’

Janice smiled, ‘Can I make a suggestion? Give her some space first, maybe wait until she’s caved and gotten some sleep.’ Alex nodded, leaning into the hug as Janice squeezed their shoulders. ‘And maybe convince your father to put my coffee maker back together?’

Alex smirked at that, ‘I’ll do my best.’

*****

Diego and Dave were silent in the car drive home. He kept glancing over at her in worry, but Diego was staring out of the window, barely paying attention to the city rushing past them. Thankfully there was no alarm from the Chastisers, and as they finally pulled up the drive to their house Dave sent an alert to the team: Leader USA and Shadowstep are dealing with a high priority matter. Not available for emergency alerts.

He watched in concern as Diego shuffled out of the car and up to the house, barely paying attention to anything around her. When she began to phase through the steps up the porch Dave finally spoke, ‘Dee? Love, the porch.’

She blinked, coming back to the present, and looked down at her predicament. ‘Oh.’ She righted herself quickly enough, and Dave pressed a gentle hand to the small of her back, grounding her enough to climb the steps and get into the house without falling through solid matter again.

‘Want to talk about it?’ he asked once the door was closed behind them.

‘No,’ she said, turning away and heading for the stairs to the bedroom.

Dave’s face fell, ‘Dee…’

‘Don’t Dave,’ Diego snapped, turning around to face him. ‘Don’t “Dee” me. Not right now. I don’t want to talk about today. I don’t want to think about today. I just want to sleep.’

Dave frowned, but nodded, watching her head up the stairs. He went into the kitchen, putting their leftovers in the fridge in case Diego got hungry later. He gave her space, cleaning up the kitchen and the living room from his mad dash at the hero alarm that morning. His phone pinged from the rest of the team, wanting to check in with him and Diego and make sure the two of them were okay. He fielded all the questions, leaving the answers vague and implying something personal had happened. They quickly got the message and dropped it, in time for Dave to have straightened up the entire downstairs. Only then did he grab some aspirin, a bottle of water, and quietly headed up the stairs. 

Diego was already in bed when he poked his head through the door, facing the far wall so he couldn’t see her face. He crept in slowly, taking his time so as to not disturb the floorboards. Just in case she had managed to get to sleep. But when he got to her bedside table he saw she was wide awake, staring at the wall with tears trickling silently down her face. His heart broke, putting down his supplies and reaching out for her shoulder. At the touch Diego grabbed his arm, pulling him closer so she could bury herself in his embrace. He climbed in beside her, wrapping her up in his strong arms, gently hushing her as she began to sob. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Dave whispered. ‘I’m so sorry you’re going through this.’

She shook her head, ‘Please tell me it's not real. This is a nightmare. Or some villain has me in a simulation or something.’

Dave’s face fell, and he stroked his hand through her hair, ‘I wish I could.’

Neither of them spoke much after that, Dave focusing on comforting Diego as she cried. Only once she had started to calm did he manage to persuade her into drinking some water, offering the aspirin as well, which she took gratefully. He mopped up her face with some nearby tissues, and when she tugged on his collar he pressed gentle kisses to her blotchy cheeks, her temple, against her hair.

Eventually she was calm, half asleep against his chest, and he was playing with her curls absentmindedly. ‘Dee?’ she hummed, shifting against him. ‘Would you mind if I texted Chad later? Just to check in.’

She shook her head, tightening the arm wrapped around his waist. ‘Sure.’

He pulled out his phone, checking over any other messages from the team, that he responded to before putting together a message for Chad. ‘How you feeling?’ he asked Diego.

‘Tired,’ Diego muttered. ‘This morning I thought my brother had been replaced. And now I found out it’s true, just not like how I thought.’

Dave winced at the bluntness of it. ‘Chad’s still your brother.’

‘Don’t. Don’t do that,’ Diego said. ‘There was a baby brother who came home from the hospital, who Morgan and I helped take care of while he was ill. And then there was a baby brother who we took trick or treating and to the zoo, and we trained with, who I helped with homework. And those are different people.’ She took an unsteady breath. ‘You don’t need to remind me Chad’s my brother. I know Chad is my brother. But now there has been two of them, and I don’t know what happened to the first one, but…’ she faltered, emotion catching in her voice again.

‘I’m sorry love,’ Dave whispered, tightening the hug.

‘He’s probably dead,’ Diego whispered. ‘Why else would Mum and Dad need to try and replace him? Which they shouldn’t have done in the first place.’

‘I know.’

Diego was breathing heavier, tears beginning to well up again as grief and anger mixed together. ‘Did they even bury him? The first one? Was there a funeral I wasn’t invited to?’ Her breath shuddered, and Dave pressed his lips to her temple again. ‘If he died, then I didn’t even get to know. I didn’t get to say goodbye. They just replaced him with someone else’s child.’

‘It’s fucked up,’ Dave said.

Diego tried to laugh, her shoulders shaking. ‘Yeah it is. How…how did that even happen?’

‘Morgan said that Charlie kid died in a villain fight right?’ Dave said. ‘So they must have found him in there.’

She sniffed, ‘That goes against so many laws and hero codes. On every level. If the FA finds out they’re ruined.’ Her face fell, ‘Chad would be too.’

Dave blinked, ‘Another reason to not tell anyone. Not yet anyway.’ Diego nodded, and Dave glanced at his phone. ‘He’s not seen my message yet.’

Diego sniffed and sat back against Dave’s chest. ‘Am I a terrible sister?’

Dave looked at Diego in shock. ‘No! Absolutely not!’

She sniffed, ‘I didn’t notice Chad got replaced. Didn’t notice that he was wearing a magical necklace all these years. There so many things-’

‘Things that were hidden from you,’ Dave said. ‘Actively hidden. By authority figures who knew a lot more than you did. Not realising that you were lied to isn’t your fault.’

‘They lied to all of us,’ Diego said. ‘And Morgan started going after the answers, Chad’s still working somehow, and there’s me. Falling apart.’

‘They had more time to process it,’ Dave said.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘No. We found out about the DNA results at the same time. I just refused to believe it. Because I couldn’t humour it as an option.’

‘That’s understandable though,’ Dave said. ‘It sounds insane.’

‘I had the results in front of me,’ Diego said. ‘The science said it, and I chose to ignore it because believing it was too hard.’ She sniffed, looking up at Dave with glistening eyes, her chin quivering. ‘I should have been there for Chad. I should be there now.’

Dave sighed, ‘Are you in a position to comfort him right now? If Chad bared his soul right now, what would you do?’ Diego shuddered, recoiling at the thought, and Dave held her closer. ‘It’s not wrong to put yourself first right now. It just means that later you’ll be able to actually help Chad, rather than trying now when you’re not in a position to and hurting the both of you in the long run.’

Diego sighed, closing her eyes, ‘But who does he have right now?’

‘Like I said,’ Dave said. ‘I can check in. We’re not abandoning him.’

She snuggled closer to Dave, tucking her head in just underneath his chin, sighing softly as he stroked his hand through her hair again. ‘Thank you.’ 

*****

It had been a few hours since everyone had left Chad’s apartment, and he hadn’t allowed himself to be idle. After hiding all the evidence that Charlie existed and cleaning the flat, he dived into his plan against Roofer. So far he had pieced together the snippets of ideas into a comprehensive plan and set it to its own schedule separate from his normal shifts and patrols, and reached out to the heroes based in detective work for advice on working undercover, what to watch out for. He hoarded the tidbits like gold dust, and was grateful for a very enlightening conversation with the Vigilante on some of his more successful operations and the pitfalls he’s learned to avoid. 

When Dave messaged Chad a couple of hours in he barely paid attention. Not because he was ignoring Dave, he definitely wasn’t. But Dave had more important things to worry about. And it wasn’t like he even needed to worry about Chad, after all he was busy at work. He was in the zone, and he really didn’t want to lose his focus. He nearly missed it when Dave sent through a second message, and he gave it just enough time to read and reply with a perfectly civil response before getting back to work.

He was finalising a few details on his plan when his phone started to ring, and he sighed. ‘Dammit Dave,’ he muttered, grabbing his phone and looking at the caller ID. He jumped when he saw the name “Joan Stephens,” immediately getting to his feet. How many times had it rung now? When was too soon to answer? He shook that anxiety out of his head and answered with his best light hearted tone, ‘Hello, Chad speaking.’

‘Chad dear!’ Janice said in a warm tone that made his heart ache. ‘How are you doing?’

‘I’m good,’ he said, trying to make sure there was enough of a smile in his voice. ‘Just finishing off some work. How’s the farm?’

There was a pause on the other end, ‘Work? You’re working?’

‘Um…yes?’

Janice sighed, ‘Honestly you’re almost as bad as Morgan. At least tell me you ate.’

‘Oh yeah, Dave brought some lunch over.’

‘Chad it’s nearly 9.’

He frowned and looked at the nearest clock. ‘Oh,’ he said, chuckling nervously, ‘guess I lost track of time.’

‘Apparently,’ Janice said. ‘You’d better get some dinner sorted.’

‘Oh, I’m almost done with-’

‘Young man,’ Janice said with a warning tone that made Chad pause, ‘the end of that sentence had better be “I’m almost done cooking.” Otherwise I’m coming over there myself and making sure you eat.’

Chad paled at the threat. ‘There is…really no need for that,’ he chuckled, noticing too late that he was slipping into his more heroic voice. Normally it would help people believe in his bravado and confidence, but to Janice it would only add more fuel to her fire. ‘I just need five minutes to wrap this up.’

Janice scowled, ‘If I don’t hear food being prepped in five minutes I’m coming over there. Understood?’

‘Yes ma’am,’ Chad said, sitting down and wrapping everything up as quickly as he could.

‘Can I ask what work you’re doing?’ Janice asked.

‘Oh,’ Chad faltered. ‘Sure, I’ll have to be vague though. Confidentiality and all.’

‘Of course.’

The next five minutes went by quickly, with Chad finalising the last pieces he needed while explaining to Janice the bold strokes of the undercover investigation. She showed genuine interest, which both made sense and surprised Chad no end, and offered her own anecdotal advice, which he added to his plan before closing down for the day.

‘Alright,’ he said, ‘I’m done. Now I’ll get food.’

‘Good,’ Janice said. As he began to put together a quick grilled sandwich with chicken and cheese, Janice began to ask him about the rest of his day. Chad was more than happy to relay the more fun details of the morning fight against the aliens, which he then had to repeat when Bernard appeared on the line and insisted on a blow by blow account. The two of them oohed and aahed in all the right places, and as Chad described the twister attack he managed to coordinate Bernard cheered over the call.

‘Brilliant!’ Bernard laughed. ‘Absolutely fantastic!’

Chad was grateful Janice hadn’t tried for a video call, so they couldn’t see him blush horrendously blush under the praise. ‘It’s just my job.’

‘Sure, but you do it so well!’ Bernard said. ‘And the way you coordinated everyone. There were so many different elements in there and you kept the tornado perfectly controlled, it’s impressive!’

Chad’s shoulders stiffened, his chest tightening again. But he managed to get his breathing under control while Bernard continued to compliment his perfectly average skills as if they were something to actually be proud over, and get his voice to a normal pitch just in time to respond. ‘Thank you. Really. But it’s honestly not that impressive.’

‘How isn’t it?’ Janice asked. ‘You had four elements in there? Minimum? You had to give them the same momentum, without smothering any individual elements, but keep them far apart enough that they wouldn’t react within the tornado and cause something disastrous on your end.’

‘Sure, but it was nothing special,’ Chad said. ‘I’m a high tier hero, it’s expected.’

‘Excuse me?’ Janice said, her voice taking that dangerous tone again. ‘Who on earth put something so ridiculous in your head?’

Chad blinked. ‘It…it’s my job.’

‘So?’

‘So…’ he faltered, trying to work out what to say. ‘I’m supposed to face the most dangerous threats and be able to fight them off effectively. Today was…pretty standard.’

‘You were fighting aliens riding on giant birds,’ Bernard said. ‘We raised the S tier. That did not look pretty standard to me.’

‘I’ve fought aliens before,’ Chad said.

‘You’re both missing my point,’ Janice said. ‘Yes, Chad’s fought high tier threats before. Yes he’s an A tier hero. But that doesn’t mean that he suddenly doesn’t deserve praise for a job well done.’

‘I know that,’ Bernard said. ‘Tell him that.’

Chad froze in his kitchen, cringing as he heard some shuffling around. ‘Chad?’ Janice was closer to the phone, based on the way the echo had changed. ‘Can you try something for me?’

‘Uh…okay?’

‘I’m going to say something, and you’re not allowed to argue with what I say. Or dismiss it. Just accept what I say and move on. Got it?’

A shiver ran up his spine, and Chad swallowed, ‘If you insist.’

There was a pause before Janice spoke again. ‘Chad, dear. We watched your whole fight today.’ Chad squeezed his hands into fists, already feeling the tugs of a breeze at his shirt. ‘And after hearing the close up parts we missed, I just have to say this. You did such a good job today. Your twister attack was incredible. The way you coordinated your team was inspiring.’ Chad sniffed, closing his eyes to try and stop the emotions from overwhelming him. ‘You should be proud of the work you’ve done today.’

‘I agree,’ Bernard chimed in. ‘Because we’re proud of you.’

‘But-’ he said, voice cracking under the stress of keeping his emotions at bay.

‘No buts,’ Bernard said. ‘We’re proud of you son. You can’t argue us out of that.’ Chad was trembling, trying to stay silent. ‘Got it?’

He nodded, the first tears trickling through. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re very welcome,’ Janice said, with nothing but warmth in her voice. ‘Now, Alex mentioned a little bit about what happened earlier. Want to talk about it?’

He let out a harsh breath, the damn breaking with it. ‘I think Diego hates me now.’

‘Oh sweetheart,’ Janice said, and Chad wiped at his face furiously. But everything was boiling over now from the day, and all he could do was wrap his arms around himself in an effort to hold himself together. ‘Do you want one of us to keep you company?’

He shouldn’t have wanted it. They were far enough away, they had their own things to worry about. He didn’t want to inconvenience them. But he couldn’t refuse, part of him was desperate for them to just appear in a flash of red light. So they could comfort him and promise everything would be okay, even if they all knew it wouldn’t be. 

A red light flashed behind him and Chad spun around on the spot, eyes going wide as Bernard appeared out of the runes. ‘Sorry son,’ he said with a sheepish grin. ‘You didn’t respond and Janice got antsy. How are you doing there?’

He sniffed and shook his head, not able to trust his voice.

‘Okay,’ Bernard said. ‘Do you want a hug?’ Chad nodded, and Bernard stepped forward, wrapping him up in a hug that left him trembling and choking. ‘She hates me,’ Chad whispered. ‘I know she does.’

Bernard hushed, rocking them slightly on the spot. ‘If she’s anything like you and Morgan I don’t think she would hate you that easily. Want to talk about it?’ Chad looked up at him, unsure, but Bernard gave him a reassuring smile. ‘Janice and I are always happy to lend an ear. No advice required, unless you want it.’

Chad nodded, leaning heavily against Bernard’s shoulder. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

‘Of course,’ Bernard said. ‘We told you, we’re here whenever you need us.’

*****

The sun had set long ago, the moon beginning to shine through the open curtains into the dark bedroom. The bedside lamp was the only source of light aside from the sharp light from the laptop screen perched on Morgan’s lap. She rubbed at her eyes, ignoring how sore and red they were, scrolling through the page of handwritten notes she had found. She ran the page through another imaging software, watching as it brought up certain points of the page and started making notes. She had been at it for hours, ignoring any and all sounds from the house, including the various times the Stewarts had knocked on the door. Didn’t matter which voice followed or which one stuck their head through the door, Morgan carried on tapping away at her computer, making notes as she went, without rest. Without a break. There was no time. She needed to find the answers, and she needed them now.

It was the same when there was a knock on the door while she was writing up her latest notes. The door creaked open, and Morgan had felt that powerful gaze on her enough to know it was Alex this time. The scent of warm meat and gravy hit her next. They must have brought up dinner.

‘Morgan? I brought you some dinner.’

She didn’t respond, turning back to her keyboard and pulling the next page into the scanning software.

‘I also brought coffee.’

She paused, fingers hovering over the keys, but she didn’t look up.

‘Peace offering?’ Alex said.

Morgan rolled her eyes and carried on tapping away. ‘I’m still mad at you.’

‘I know,’ Alex said. They stepped all the way in this time, putting a bowl of stew and a freshly made mug of coffee on the bedside table. ‘And I probably deserve it.’ They looked at Morgan sheepishly, watching her work and ignore them completely. ‘So…if you still want to use the supercomputer it’s available for you,’ Alex said. ‘No conditions attached. Except I’m not going to the lair until tomorrow morning.’ Morgan held out her hand, and Alex picked up the mug and handed it over to her, watching with trepidation as she began to sip at the drink. ‘But aside from that, it’s all yours. For this I mean.’

‘What made you change your tune?’ Morgan asked, watching the page reappear with new sections highlighted. She tried to juggle the laptop, notebook and mug, fishing out her pen to make notes along the way.

‘Mum talked some sense into me,’ Alex said. ‘I was, and am, worried about you. I was trying to help, but I went about it the wrong way.’

‘Understatement,’ Morgan muttered under her breath.

Alex sighed, ‘Can I apologise properly?’

Morgan paused. She didn’t want to stop. She couldn’t stop. But when was the last time Alex had apologised for ignoring boundaries? She didn’t move, except to finally look up at Alex. They were dressed in their fluffy hoodie, reserved for evenings when they demanded nothing but comfort, and checked pyjama bottoms, the low light in the room casting dark shadows over their already worried face.

‘I’m sorry,’ Alex said. ‘For not asking before I decided to “help” with Chad and Diego. I’m sorry for trying to make you sleep when you clearly didn’t want to. And I’m sorry for withholding coffee.’

Morgan nodded, sipping at the mug again, ‘I thought the coffee maker was out of action?’

‘I got Dad to put it back together,’ Alex said. ‘After Mum talked some sense into me. Can I at least explain why I did it?’

‘You already did,’ Morgan said. ‘You thought Chad was taking advantage, you thought I was ignoring my health, and you thought you knew better than me.’ Alex winced at the last comment, but didn’t deny it. ‘Apology accepted.’ Alex sighed in relief, and Morgan followed up, ‘Not forgiven. I’m still mad at you. But I accept the apology.’

‘Thanks,’ Alex said, looking at the computer. ‘Still want to use the supercomputer in the morning?’ Morgan nodded. ‘Cool. I’ll send a message to Joe, make sure the minions know to expect us.’ Morgan nodded again, sipping at her coffee as she picked up her pen, looking back to the computer screen. ‘Do…do you need anything?’

‘No,’ Morgan said sharply, trying to pick up where her notes were. She had paused for long enough. She couldn’t lose her momentum, not now. Not in front of Alex. If she did…

‘Morgan?’ Worry tinged Alex’s tone, and Morgan closed her eyes before the welling tears had a chance to fall. ‘If you don’t want my help, I can go get Mum.’

‘I don’t need any help,’ Morgan snapped, dropping her pen so it didn’t scratch through her notes. Her other hand began to shake, and Alex quickly braced the mug and took it away before Morgan spilled any coffee. ‘Fuck,’ she whispered, putting her hands to her face. She tried desperately to force the tears back, to pin the emotions down and smother them until later. Until Alex or Janice or Bernard weren’t knocking on the door every 30 seconds and threatening to witness her finally losing control.

The weight of her laptop shifted and Morgan looked up sharply. ‘I’m not taking your stuff away,’ Alex said. ‘I’m just giving you a little more space so you don’t accidentally break them.’ They finished up, setting the notebook and laptop a little ways down the mattress, and summoned a box of tissues which they passed to Morgan. ‘Okay, you’re good, I can leave now if you want?’

Her heart twisted in her chest, and Morgan’s squeezed her eyes shut, the first tears falling before she could stop them. ‘Dammit!’ 

Alex froze in place, ‘I won’t leave then?’

Morgan buried her face in her hands, and Alex shuffled closer. When they touched Morgan’s shoulder her breath hitched, and Alex’s composure snapped. They clambered onto the bed, pulling Morgan into a gentle hug.

‘I’m still mad at you,’ Morgan choked out.

‘I know,’ Alex said, rubbing soothing circles between her shoulder blades. 

Morgan curled up, leaning against Alex and tucking her head under their chin. Alex nuzzled into their frizzy curls, stroking the ticklish hairs away from their nose, and trying not to freak out when Morgan began to cry. 

‘This is stupid,’ Morgan choked out.

‘No it’s not,’ Alex said, trying to sound soothing like their Mum does. ‘You’ve got emotions you need to let out, right?’

Morgan screwed up her face, ‘I need to work.’

‘You can work later.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘No if…if I lose my momentum, if I stop for too long, I…’ Alex’s hand was still rubbing soothing circles in her back, their warmth bleeding through the fluffy hoodie, making Morgan slump against them. ‘It’s too much.’

‘What is?’ Alex asked. ‘The investigation? I can help with that, just tell me what you’re looking for-’

Morgan shook her head, gesturing for her notes. Alex summoned them closer, and Morgan turned through the pages, trying to keep her breathing steady and failing as she did so. ‘I found Chad’s old medical notes,’ she said. ‘They’re scanned in, and I ran them through some different imaging software.’ She held the notes up to Alex. ‘If I stop, it might sink in. And…it’s…it’s too much.’

Alex looked at the notes, frowning slightly, ‘Name too short? Signs of alteration?’

Morgan nodded, ‘The notes look genuine. I can confirm it better if I can track down the originals, but the information looks genuine. But on the imaging there’s some alterations, just at random points on the pages, on single words.’ Morgan sniffed, ‘On Chad’s name. The colouring is off, and the spacing isn’t right with the rest of the handwriting.’ 

Alex’s confusion fell away, ‘You think they changed the name on the medical records?’

Morgan nodded, ‘It makes sense. Charlie was two, teaching him to respond to an entirely new name would have been too hard. But they could have taught him how to respond to a nickname, and then change it to a similar sounding name.’

Alex closed their eyes. ‘Charlie, to Char, to Chad.’ Morgan nodded. ‘Those motherfuckers.’

‘It gets worse,’ Morgan said, looking at Alex. ‘I have no idea what that name is supposed to be.’ Alex frown reappeared, now in worry. ‘We were six when Charlie died. So assuming I’m right about this, I was six when Chad appeared. But before then, all those memories of that sick baby? The only name I have in my head is Chad.’

‘They didn’t,’ Alex whispered. ‘Do you want us to check? Mum will offer in a heartbeat, you know that.’

Morgan shook her head. ‘No. Not yet. Not until I have the paper trail to back up whatever she finds.’ She hiccuped, flicking through her notes as she leaned on Alex’s shoulder. ‘If it’s too much now and I’ve barely scratched the surface, I…what happens if Janice finds that they’ve...rewritten my memories. And she fixes them or uncovers them, and I just…break. I can’t. I can’t break yet.’

‘Okay,’ Alex hushed her, pulling her into a tighter hug as her voice broke into sobs. ‘Okay, I understand.’

Morgan’s breath was ragged as she tried to speak. ‘I hate them.’

‘I know.’

She squeezed her eyes shut, ‘If they fucked with my memories, I’m going to kill them.’

‘Okay. I’ll help you hide the bodies.’

Morgan cringed, hiding her face in Alex’s chest. ‘I’m sorry.’

Alex blinked in confusion, ‘For what?’

‘We stole your brother,’ she whispered.

‘Hey, hey no,’ Alex touched Morgan’s chin and made her look up. ‘There’s no “we” there. You didn’t do anything. You were a child. None of this is on you.’

Morgan shook her head, ‘He was your family, and he was stolen, and then we took his childhood.’

Alex’s nostrils flared, ‘Morgan if you keep blaming yourself-’

‘He was supposed to grow up here,’ Morgan said. ‘This was supposed to be his bedroom. He was supposed to learn how to ride a horse, and cook, and…have a life where the most stressful thing he had to worry about as a kid was homework. Not hero training, and learning about the difference between born powers and mutations and magic and all that other bullshit.’

Alex scowled at Morgan, ‘None. Of this. Is your fault. Do you understand me? The only thing I’ll get mad at you for here is if you blame yourself.’ Morgan wilted under Alex’s scowl, tears streaming without any hope of holding them back, and Alex wrapped her up in another tight embrace. ‘I’m sorry about your brother.’

Morgan nodded, eyes squeezed shut.

‘I can help you find him,’ Alex said.

‘No,’ Morgan shook her head, ‘It’s not your responsibility-’

‘I know,’ Alex said. ‘But I care about you. And I want to help you. And you absolutely shouldn’t be doing any of this alone. So, I’ll help you find him. We’ll find his name, and what happened to him, and everything in between.’ Morgan choked on a sob, burying her face in Alex’s hoodie to try and muffle the sound. ‘And you’re not going to blame yourself for what happened to Charlie. Or Chad. Or whatever name he uses next.’

Morgan couldn’t respond. Not to argue, or to thank Alex. All she could do was curl up against them, crying uncontrollably as she felt herself drown in the grief and the guilt of everything she had found so far. Alex never left her side once, and the two of them didn’t move except for Alex to tuck the two of them into bed when Morgan had finally cried herself to sleep. 

Chapter Text

The next few days were strange for everyone. Mainly for Chad, who started getting a lot more messages suddenly. Dave and the Stewarts were checking in with him at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. If he had been seen on the TV Bernard would send extra messages, mostly involving emojis displaying his pride in Chad that made him blush. He made sure to respond to both parties. Dave got a watered down version, he had to admit, but it was better this way. The last thing Chad wanted to do was put Dave in the middle between him and Diego. And besides, Janice and Bernard were good to confide in.

Morgan was messaging him too, although her messages were a lot more erratic, and he took to deleting those as soon as they came through. But she kept him updated when she had gotten to Alex’s lair, anything she had picked up from Rex’s server that Chad needed to be concerned about, and often emojis sharing her…frustration at the quality of clues from 20 years ago. In turn Chad kept her updated on the search for their parents, which was often the same message to be fair. But it was all he could offer for now. 

In the meantime he got stuck in with his plan for double shifts. His patrols were welcome breaks of normality in the chaos of everything else, a familiar routine that he latched onto, and were mostly filled with low level fights. The new work set his nerves on edge, especially since it was the first time he had attempted a move against Roofer like this. The progress was slow, which was to be expected. Part of him actually admitted it was a good thing. It would buy him and Morgan more time if it proved to be a longer mission. 

It was the third day of his new routine, the third day since Dave and Diego had found out the truth, when everything shifted again. He woke up to the usual check in from Dave, and Chad gave his usual response of general tiredness and positivity, while asking after Diego again. He got a text from “Bert Stephens” during breakfast that featured a picture of Oreo, which made Chad beam. He even got a message from Morgan on the way to HQ, laughing about another Trojan virus she’d managed to sneak into Rex’s server. 

Work kept him busy as usual, his patrol taking him to a rather explosive bank robbery and a B tier mad scientist testing a prototype of their new freeze ray. He was wrapping up the discussion with the B tier team who he had backed up, the scientist already in cuffs and on their way to their usual cell when a call came through from FA, calling him back to base. At the same time he got a text through on his phone. He shivered, blood threatening to freeze in his veins. There was only one thing it could be. Sure enough, when he pulled out his phone, already heading back to HQ, there was a text from Diego.

“They’re back.”

Caroline and Richard Sterling were in the medical bay at HQ, and at first weren’t permitted any visitors. That was fine by Chad, it gave time for him to work out what to say, how to act. Maybe for an emergency to come through so he’d have to fly out again. But for now he had to pace in the waiting area of the medical bay and wait to be allowed in. Or be told to head back out. 

Dave and Diego got there in record time, rushing through the doors to the waiting room. All of them were in hero gear, sans masks, and before any awkwardness could settle in Dave pulled Chad into a one armed hug Chad woodenly returned. Diego stepped up, looking at Chad guiltily as she offered a hug. Chad accepted, but pulled away quickly and returned to pacing.

‘Where did they find them?’ Dave asked.

‘Off the Gulf of Mexico,’ Chad said. ‘They were on an abandoned oil rig.’ Dave gave a low whistle, and Diego sighed. ‘They had managed to fashion something together to purify sea water so they had something to drink, and Mum was able to cook them some fish. The doctors are currently treating for severe dehydration, heat stroke and sun stroke, and putting them on observations to make sure there’s no organ damage or failure.’

‘Shit,’ Diego whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘They were out there for a week.’ Chad nodded, and Diego ran her hands through her hair. ‘Who found them?’

‘One of the winged teams,’ Chad said. ‘They had some goggles or something to help them find heat signatures.’

Dave nodded, ‘So now we wait for the doctor’s prognosis.’ Chad nodded, and the three of them fell silent. Chad continued to pace, while Dave and Diego sat on two of the chairs. Diego had her phone out, texting someone avidly while Dave had his arm around her shoulders in a comforting and grounding embrace. 

It took three hours for them to hear some news. No new alerts came through for the Chastisers or for the Chadster, so they were left with each other’s company. At some point Chad went to get them all food and drinks, and they ate sandwiches and fruit in silence. Chad didn’t dare try to offer any small talk, he was terrible at it anyway. Diego opened her mouth a few times, but the tension in the room had her close her mouth again before anything could be said.

Morgan messaged him at one point, asking how he was doing. He sighed, admitting to his quite frantic nerves, before deleting both messages. He messaged “Joan” telling her that something had happened and that he wouldn’t be free for their catch up that evening, before wiping their entire conversation history, ignoring how it stung to watch her messages of joy and pride vanish. The same thing happened to “Bert’s” messages, the emojis disappearing in a flash. Part of him wished that he could have kept them or backed them up. But he knew enough about cybersecurity practices to know that it would just be asking for trouble. No matter the security, if it still existed then there was every chance it could be found. 

When the doctor came out into the waiting area Dave and Diego were immediately on their feet. Chad hadn’t sat down, but his pacing stopped as they all turned to the doctor.

‘They’re both stable,’ the doctor said, and the tension in the room shattered. Diego shuddered, wiping at her face as Dave held her close. Chad let out a slow controlled breath, eyes closed, ready to put on his mask back on. ‘They’ve been through a lot, but they’re going to be fine. Recovery will take a while, so they’re off duty until they have their strength back.’

Diego sighed, ‘Good luck with that.’

‘They’ve already been informed,’ the doctor said, frowning slightly. ‘Although they didn’t take the news particularly elegantly, I’ll grant you.’ Chad suppressed a laugh, keeping his face perfectly stoic. ‘In any case, they are awake and available for visitors, although they are both tired. I would recommend a brief visit.’

‘Of course,’ Dave said, ‘thank you doctor.’ They nodded and gestured towards the room, leading them down a white corridor to a spacious, brightly lit room. There were two beds on the far end, surrounded by various machines and monitors quietly beeping. 

Chad’s breath caught in his chest at the sight of his parents. It wasn’t the first time he had seen them in a hospital bed, and he told himself he was just worried about their complexions. Under rather severe sunburn on their faces, necks and hands was pale dry skin, verging on grey. They both looked up at their guests with bloodshot eyes, blinking heavily and squinting against the light. Without a word Chad went to the dimmer switch.

‘No need for that,’ Caroline said with a hoarse voice. Chad flinched, backing away from the light, and looking at the two of them again. They were leaning heavily on multiple pillows on sterilised sheets, looking between the three heroes carefully.

‘It’s good to see you back,’ Diego said, her voice no more than a whisper.

Richard nodded, ‘Thank you.’

Chad swallowed, ‘We missed you.’

‘Did you now?’ Caroline said, her gaze falling on Chad again. ‘I wonder then why you didn’t help with trying to find us.’

Diego looked away guiltily, and Dave stepped up. ‘I’m very sorry. I tried to offer our team’s help, but the search was headed up by the FA. And…frankly? The red tape is a pain for a retroactive team up, but when trying to coordinate future help it's nearly impossible.’

‘Bloody bureaucrats,’ Richard muttered. Caroline didn’t respond, watching Chad carefully.

‘I wanted to help,’ Chad said. ‘But I had an emergency undercover operation for three days. After what I told you about Roofer’s plot against the Chadster there were some developments and I needed to investigate, so I was no contact. By the time I came back and found out what had happened most of the teams had mobilised. Besides,’ he looked between the two of them, trying to give off sheepish guilt instead of despair, ‘I’m not the fastest flyer, and I can’t fly for long distances. I can’t track, or have any advanced senses. I was worried that if I insisted on joining the search I would slow my teammates down.’

Caroline’s eyes narrowed, watching him carefully. Eventually she nodded, and Chad had to look away so she couldn’t see his relief. Richard was the one who responded, ‘Not ideal, but your logic is sound. I don’t know what state we would have been in if the winged team had needed to account for any liabilities.’ Chad didn’t flinch at that. ‘I trust you’ve both been keeping up with your duties in the meantime?’

Chad and Diego looked at each other, and Diego sniffed. ‘Sorry, but…I haven’t. Between you vanishing and Morgan, I haven’t been able to focus, so Dave’s moved me to support.’

Caroline tried to straighten up against her pillows, ‘What happened to Morgan?’

‘She’s missing,’ Chad said.

Richard and Caroline both looked at Chad, then at each other. ‘What happened?’ Caroline asked.

Chad took a slow and steady breath. ‘Inconclusive? When I came back from being undercover Morgan was gone. Her apartment…it looks like there was a struggle there.’

‘That S tier monster finally get bored of her?’ Richard sneered. Diego winced, gritting her teeth. ‘I know you’re still sentimental for your sister Diego. But we need to be realistic, and if she runs in dangerous criminal circles and with the S tier villain, there’s only one fate she’s bound to find.’

Chad licked his lips, ‘Based on the timing and some of my findings, it looks more likely to actually be due to Roofer. In the past she’ll go to one of his poker nights and then he’ll arrange some assassination attempts. But with the pieces I found out before all of this started about Roofer’s plot, I worry he’s escalated his efforts against her.’

‘You sure it’s Roofer?’ Caroline asked.

‘He’s doing something, and the timing feels too coincidental,’ Chad said. ‘I finally got authorisation to start my investigation against him. I’ve been liaising with the Vigilante and Dark Feather for advice on detective missions, and I actually started working on some scouting missions.’

Caroline frowned, ‘What about your patrols?’

‘I’m doing both.’

She opened her mouth, but Richard laughed. ‘That’s my boy. The world’s falling apart so you decide to fix it, damn what those bloody villains want, eh?’ Chad managed a smile, nodding along with Richard’s grin. ‘Good, good lad.’

‘And how is this mission cutting into the rest of your time?’ Caroline asked.

‘My patrols are unaffected,’ Chad said. ‘It does mean overtime into the evening and night, but if it puts a villain behind bars, then it’s worth a few extra hours of work.’ 

Caroline frowned, ‘But what about family dinner nights?’

Chad blinked, ‘I…I’m so sorry. I was so fixated on getting the plan underway I didn’t think.’

‘Ah,’ Richard said. ‘Almost perfect, but I suppose there are only so many hours in the day. Besides, from the sounds of it we’ll be here for a few more days until the doctors are satisfied. We’ll have to work out an alternative arrangement when we know when we’ll be home.’

Chad nodded, trying to look eager. ‘Thank you for understanding. Hopefully you’ll be back home soon. But that doesn’t mean you should rush yourselves. We want you to be safe after all.’

Caroline hummed, ‘Evil doesn’t sleep. We can’t stay idle for too long. But we can discuss that when we’re closer to discharge.’

Chad nodded, stepping back as they turned to Diego. They scrutinised her “support” role and insisted she get her head back into the game sooner rather than later. Dave hung behind her the whole time, his presence giving her the support she needed to play her part. Look forlorn and guilty, apologise and promise to do better, and step back before they got themselves too worked up.

Before either of them could try to ask the appropriate questions to their parents an FA representative knocked on the door, asking for a debrief as soon as possible. Caroline and Richard waved them in, insisting that Diego and Chad stay to listen in on the debrief. The two of them suspected what was coming, and were both sure to act shocked and horrified at the account of Morgan shooting the two of them with a stun ray, and them waking up to being on the abandoned oil rig. On pressing, they revealed that Morgan had essential information about Roofer endangering Chad, and they went over to seek answers. 

The FA representative turned to Chad, and he immediately offered the findings of his investigation as soon as he found them. Satisfied, the representative thanked them for their time, and the doctor insisted that the two of them were left to rest. Chad and Diego both promised to come and visit when they could, at which point both Caroline and Richard insisted that they put their work first. That is more important after all. 

As soon as they got out Dave insisted on dragging Chad and Diego out for a drink before Chad’s second shift started, the three of them stepping out in their civilian clothes and heading to the nearest bar.

‘Well,’ Dave said over his pint, ‘that was painful.’

Diego huffed, ‘It could have been so much worse.’ Dave shuddered at the thought, and the two of them turned to Chad. ‘How are you holding up?’ Diego asked.

Chad shrugged, ‘Considering everything, I’m counting that as a success.’ He sipped at his coke, watching the others in the bar. ‘We need to make sure the family’s informed about everything.’

‘Already on it,’ Diego said. ‘But you didn’t answer my question. How are you doing?’

He looked at Diego, trying to not let his hurt and guilt come through on his face. He didn’t need to burden her with that right now. ‘Fine. Worried about everything, of course, but that will only get us so far. And we have a job to do.’ 

Diego frowned, opening her mouth again, but Dave put a hand on her arm. ‘Speaking of,’ Dave said, ‘I might have some info you need, want me to text it over?’

Chad nodded, and Dave quickly typed it out. Chad pulled up the message as soon as it came through, frowning slightly at the text:

“How are you doing? We’re both worried about you.”

‘Huh,’ Chad said. ‘That does help, thank you. Let me get that added to my list.’ He started typing a response to Dave.

“Just make sure you tell Mo what happened. We need to all be on the same page for this to work.”

As soon as the message sent he deleted both messages from his phone. ‘I should probably get back to it. No rest for the wicked, so there’s no rest for us.’ He finished his drink, giving them both his signature grin before stepping away from the table.

Diego grabbed his arm before he could fully turn away and pulled him into a tight hug, ‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘And I’m sorry for the past few days. I just…’

He pulled away before she could finish, fixing her his usual smile, ‘Love you too Dee. But I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you both later.’ He turned away before she could respond, weaving through the tables to the door without stopping.

He only stopped when he was outside and dipped into an alleyway, his mask dropping as soon as he knew he was alone. He took a deep breath, trying to keep it steady despite the emotions clawing at his chest and throat. He wiped at his eyes before the tears could fall, trying to focus on something, anything that wasn’t his parents. Or Diego.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and with a sniff he pulled it out and looked at the screen, surprised to see a message from Morgan.

“How did it go?”

Chad wrote a brief reply, quick to delete the messages as soon as it sent. 

“They bought it. I feel like shit. Dee should give you a proper update later, I need to get to the second shift.’

Before he put his phone back in the pocket Morgan replied, with a tick, and angry emoji, and a series of Z’s. He chuckled.

“You’re one to talk.”

“Older sister privilege. Do as I say, not as I do. Unless what I’m doing is fun.”

He rolled his eyes, deleting the messages again, and slipped the phone back in his pocket before turning back to the FA HQ.

Chapter Text

It took three days for the farmhouse to settle into a new routine. As much as Janice and Bernard wanted to keep Charlie's boxes out, their presence made half of the living room unusable. Most of the stuff got packed away back in the basement, aside from a few choice photo albums and some albums and books that Morgan asked to borrow for her investigation. They cleaned up after the kids, putting the bedrooms right so they would be ready just in case any of the kids visited again soon. 

And then just like that, they were back to their normal activities. Oreo had a regular checkup booked with the local vet, the chickens had a scare from a neighbour's cat (which set Bernard off on his plot to oust the infernal neighbours next door and their little hellbeast). And in the evenings they spoke to Morgan and Alex, checking in and making sure Morgan was sleeping, Alex was talking, and that they weren't at each other's throats yet. 

Then they would call Chad, after he had finished his double shift and was clearly bone dead tired. Janice restrained herself after the first night and didn't have her or Bernard pop over, instead chatting to him over the phone while he whipped up some quick food before bed, about anything and everything. They told him about the farm, and he told them about the heroics of the day. For those days, everything felt at peace, and Janice and Bernard were hopeful for whatever came next.

Until the text from Chad came through. 

'I don't like this,' Janice said. The two of them were standing in the kitchen, lunch abandoned with Janice's phone in the middle of the table. Her arms were folded, her eyes flickering with crackling red light, a dark frown across her brow.

'I don't either,' Bernard said. Where Janice was restraining her impulses, Bernard had no such qualms, pacing the kitchen floor, fingers tapping to try and burn out the worst of his anger. 'But we told the kids we'd follow their lead.'

Janice's scowl deepened, 'Chad is about to go and visit his kidnappers, voluntarily, and pretend to be their normal loving son. If he isn't already there.' 

'I know.'

'The people that took our baby, faked his death, and then raised him to be some weapon for their heroic image. My baby, my child,' Janice was snarling, getting louder with every word. 'And he has to walk back in there and pretend he doesn't know what they did? That everything is fine?'

Bernard squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his hands over his face. 'I hate it too. Honestly I’m not entirely sure what Chad and Morgan were thinking.'

Janice shook her head, 'I'm calling him.' She reached out for her phone, hand inches away before she hesitated. Every desire in her being told her to call him. But her gut said something else entirely. She curled her hand into a fist, before dropping it and turning away. 'Dammit!'

'He's probably in HQ by now I reckon,' Bernard said, gritting his teeth at the thought. 'We can see if Morgan knows anything else.'

Janice nodded and picked up her phone, sending an enquiring text. 'I still can't believe that Chad would put himself through this, and that Morgan would agree to it.'

'She's going to want as much time as she can get,' Bernard said. 'If she's pushing herself too much now, imagine what she'd be like if she thought she was against the clock.'

Janice growled in frustration, 'It would go faster if she asked for help. An entire breadth of magic and knowledge at my fingertips, and she’s leaving me in the dark.'

‘I’m honestly surprised she’s letting Alex help so much,’ Bernard said. ‘She’s using their super computer and agreed to let them help her investigate? For her that's big.'

'That's basic,' Janice said. 'An extra pair of hands to find clues from 20 years ago? Even with the supercomputer they could be at it for weeks. I won't allow Chad to be subjected to those maggots for that long.' 

Bernard nodded, 'Okay. You're right, it's not fair to him. They're all doing too much.' He stopped pacing, putting his hands together as he began to think. 'They have two strands of this plan. Distract the parents so they don't suspect anything. And try to find the truth.'

Janice's eyes flared, her fist clenching, 'If they want a distraction I'll be more than happy to give them one.'

'Sweetheart?' Bernard said. 'I love your fire. But if the Crimson Caster comes out of retirement now after nearly 30 years people will want to know why.'

'And I have a perfectly good reason,' Janice snarled.

'You do. But timing is everything here, right?' Janice thought for a moment, her eyes dimming, until she huffed and nodded. Bernard sighed and tried to think for a moment. 'Distract the heroes, find the truth. Can your grimoire suggest anything good?'

Janice snapped her fingers, the grimoire flying in from the other room to hover in front of her. ‘Are you thinking distraction or finding the truth? Because the second one is going to be hard without Morgan telling me what I’m looking for. Anything about Chad’s history? I’m basically blind against while those wards are on him.’

Bernard furrowed his brow, thinking hard while Janice flicked through her grimoire, eyes glowing as she scanned over the runes with a critical eye. ‘What was Morgan looking at last?’

‘Alex said something about medical records,’ Janice said. ‘Which, now I think about it, was one of the only things she didn’t ask me about.’

‘What did she ask about?’

‘Charlie here,’ Janice said. ‘How he grew up, when he learned how to walk and talk, how he slept at night. And magic. She was trying to work out how they built the spell for Chad’s face I think. And she asked how someone could fake memories, perhaps she was trying to rule out them interfering with Chad’s memories?’

Bernard’s frown vanished and his face fell, ‘Oh no.’ He looked at Janice, horror slowly growing on his face. ‘Morgan is Alex’s age. So when Chad appeared she was six, and he was two. But she never questioned it before.’

Janice’s eyes widened with the same realisation. ‘Oh those good for nothing wretches!’ The book flashed in front of her, the pages turning of their own accord until they stopped on a specific page and came to rest on the table. She pulled the book closer, her face a perfect picture of fury, and she waved her hands, muttering under her breath. From between her hands a deep red cloud began to appear, rolling between her hands before moving out. Bernard watched carefully, watching his wife weave the smoke into existence, still muttering until it formed an ever shifting disc in front of her. She reached out, gently tapping the smoke before it recoiled and pulled away to reveal a hazy image within the smoke, and the two of them leaned in to watch. 

Two young girls, no older than four or five, were in the middle of a ballet class. Their wild curly hair was pinned into tight buns, looking smooth if not for the short curls frizzing out around the temples. They giggled, practising the various positions before occasionally spinning. As Janice and Bernard watched, the class wrapped up and the two girls ran to grab their bags.

‘Aunt Sonja!’ one of the girls yelled as they headed towards the door. There was a face Janice recognised, if two decades younger. Dirty blonde hair and an uneasy smile, she quickly ushered the girls out of the door. ‘Is Momma still in the hospital?’

‘Yes she is,’ Sonja replied. ‘Your father is with her too, so we’re going to meet your Uncle Henry for dinner and then head to the hospital.’

‘Has she had the baby yet?’ the other twin asked.

‘If she had I would have told you,’ Sonja said.

The girls didn’t seem to be perturbed by Sonja’s lack of enthusiasm as they got outside and climbed into her car, chatting to each other about the new baby.

‘It’s a girl.’

‘It’s a boy.’

‘It’s a girl.’

‘It’s a boy!’

Sonja sighed, ‘If you stop the argument now I’ll take you for ice cream.’

The girls froze, looking at each other and then back to Sonja, ‘Momma and Daddy don’t like us eating sweet things,’ one of them said.

‘It’s bad for us,’ the other said with a nod.

Sonja rolled her eyes, ‘Yes, well, what’s a secret between aunt and nieces, right? Can you keep a secret?’

The girls looked at each other, seeming to communicate silently. ‘Can we have chocolate sauce as well?’

Sonja sighed, ‘Yes Morgan. If you stop arguing about the baby and don’t tell your parents about any of this, you can both have ice cream with chocolate sauce.’

‘Deal!’ Morgan shouted, grinning with triumph. Diego bounced next to her in delight, and Sonja sighed, clearly already regretting her choices. 

The cloud shifted, and suddenly the twins were pushing open a glass door into a sterile white hospital reception. Both were wrapped up in thick coats and scarves, holding each other’s hands. Sonja was behind them while another man walked over to the reception desk and quietly talked to the woman behind the desk. After a moment he gestured to the three of them, and they walked through countless identical corridors before coming to a closed door to a private room. The man knocked quietly on the door, stepping back as it opened to reveal a much younger Richard.

‘Ah, Henry,’ Richard smiled, and looked down at the twins. ‘Hi girls!’ he whispered, leaning down towards them. ‘Want to come meet your new brother?’

The girls hopped in excitement, making all three adults hush them before they started squealing. ‘The baby and Momma are both sleeping,’ Richard said. ‘So you have to be quiet. You can do that for me, right girls?’

They both nodded so violently their heads threatened to roll off their shoulders. ‘Quiet as mice,’ Diego said.

‘Not even a peep,’ Morgan agreed.

He smiled and nodded at them, opening the door and gesturing for them to come through. They were in a private room, all white walls and furniture, with a long bed along one wall. Caroline was propped up on the pillows, fast asleep and clearly exhausted from the ordeal of labour. Next to her was a small hospital cot filled with soft woollen blankets and crisp sheets. Morgan and Diego clasped each other’s hands tighter, clinging to each other in excitement as they carefully crossed the room in perfect step with each other. Richard grabbed a pair of chairs for them, and they carefully climbed up to kneel on the chairs and peeked their heads over to see inside.

They both gasped at the small red face poking out from the blankets and a small blue cap. His tiny hands were clasped into fists by the side of his head, slightly obscured by the too-big sleeves on the onesie.

‘He’s all wrinkly,’ Morgan whispered with a giggle.

‘That’s normal,’ Richard said, leaning over both of his girls to wrap them in a loose hug. ‘He’s going to do a lot of growing soon so he’ll smooth out before you know it.’

‘Does he have any hair?’ Diego asked.

Richard lightly tugged on the cap to show a shock of dark dander soft hair. ‘Almost as much as you two did when you were born.’

Morgan hopped on the chair, looking up at her father excitedly, ‘What’s his name? What’s his name?’

‘Good question,’ Richard said. ‘Momma and I have been thinking of names for a while but we can’t decide on one. Maybe when Momma’s awake, we can ask you what your favourite name is?’

Diego and Morgan both gasped, looking at Richard in shock. ‘We can name him?’ Diego asked.

‘You can help,’ Richard said. ‘When Momma’s awake. Now shush, before you wake him up.’

Morgan and Diego both dived for their father, wrapping their arms around his neck. He chuckled, wrapping an arm around each of their waists and hoisting them up into a group hug. ‘Thank you Daddy,’ Morgan whispered, Diego copying her quickly.

‘Of course girls,’ Richard said, looking at his girls, and then his new son, with pride.

Before the conversation could continue red smoke filled the vision, obscuring the small children and their innocent delighted faces, before the cloud faded away entirely. Janice’s eyes faded from red to blue, looking up at Bernard with silent tears streaming down her face. ‘They had a brother.’

‘Morgan’s looking for medical records,’ Bernard said, his voice trembling. ‘She’s trying to find out what happened to him.’

‘They must have taken Charlie as a replacement,’ Janice whispered. ‘My God.’ 

Bernard shuddered, moving to lean against the table for support. ‘The building was on fire,’ he said. ‘Inferno must have been involved in that battle.’

‘I should have known,’ Janice said. ‘I’ve seen her fire enough times. I should have recognised it, should have kept Charlie and Alex closer.’ Bernard looked up, watching Janice run her hands through her hair as her breathing began to grow heavier. ‘What if she targeted us? What if she found out about our children and staged the whole thing?’

Bernard straightened up, moving around the table closer to Janice. He reached out slowly, gently tugging on her arm. ‘We’ll call Morgan. Or Alex. Tell them what we found. Insist on helping. Because I would love to know the answer to that myself, and the only way we can find out is by going to the source.’

‘And if we go now we'll ruin Morgan’s plan.’ Janice let out a slow steadying breath. ‘The sooner Morgan tracks down her missing sibling the sooner Chad doesn’t need to distract them anymore.’

‘The sooner you can hunt them down,’ Bernard said. She looked up at him, a shred of surprise creeping in her face at the venom in his voice. ‘You hunt them down, you pull the truth out of them, just like you used to. And then you make them pay.’

‘Like the good old days?’ Janice asked, a malevolent light in her eyes. ‘Taking everything I want no matter who gets in the way?’

Bernard nodded, ‘God I wish I could go with you.’

‘No,’ Janice said, raising her hand to stroke Bernard’s cheek. ‘I won’t allow them to hurt you. I won’t allow them to hurt any of my family. Not again.’ 

‘I know.’ He leaned into Janice’s touch, tilting his head to kiss her palm. ‘But if I had the power to keep up with you? Nothing would stop me.’

‘I know,’ Janice said with a smile, ‘And I love you for it. But it's more important to me that you’re safe.’

‘You need to stay safe too,’ Bernard said. ‘You find the answers, you make them pay, and then you come home.’

‘Always have,’ she leaned in to brush a kiss against his lips, ‘always will. And I’ll bring the children home this time.’

Bernard nodded, leaning closer so their foreheads were pressed together. He closed his eyes, trying to compose his more volatile emotions. ‘We should call Morgan.’

Janice sighed. ‘This should be fun.’

Chapter Text

When Morgan stormed through the doors to the large computer lab, energy drink in hand, Alex barely looked up from their tablet. Instead they were reclining in the plushest chair they owned, feet up on the desk, reading something intently on the screen in their hand.

'There,' Morgan said. 'I've had my mandated nap, are you happy now?'

'No you didn't,' Alex said. 'Why did you call Diego?'

Morgan tensed, teeth gritted in frustration, and slammed her drink down at the empty place at the oversized desk. 'Mum and Dad are back.'

Alex glanced up, scanning over Morgan’s form with a careful expression, 'Want me to kill them?'

'No, Alex. I don't want you to kill them.'

'You sure? I could just-'

Morgan cringed and shook her head. 'No. Absolutely not. No details of how you'd rip them apart or anything.'

Alex grinned, 'Oh no, that would be over far too quickly.'

Morgan rolled her eyes, 'Well it's a moot point. Because you're not killing them.' Alex frowned, but Morgan ignored them and carried on, 'Anyway, I should check in with Chad. Are you okay…what are you doing?'

'Researching,' Alex said, turning back to their tablet with a scowl.

Morgan frowned, 'Are you reading the medical notes?' Alex shrugged and Morgan tried to peek over their shoulder. 'I told you we're trying to work out the other name, you don't need to read them, just put them through the software.'

'Oh I did that bit,' Alex said. 'Scanned all the records and tracked down all the examples of Chad replacing another name. This is just being more thorough.'

Morgan frowned, staring at the screen before she rolled her eyes and looked at Alex, 'Really? Then why are you reading notes from when Chad was six?'

'Oh am I?' Alex shifted in their chair, their voice perfectly innocent. 'I didn't notice.'

'That's an invasion of privacy,' Morgan said.

Alex snorted, 'You started it.'

She opened her mouth to argue when a call came through on the computer. Morgan looked up at the caller ID, and with a grin answered the call before Alex could respond. ‘Janice! Bernard! Help me, Alex is reading Chad’s medical records from when he was six.’

Alex rolled their eyes, ‘Are you actually snitching on me to my parents?’ They looked up at the large screen showing the video, ready to argue with either or both of them, when their face fell. ‘Are you guys alright? What happened?’

Janice gave a watery smile, wiping at her eyes and nodding, ‘We’re fine love.’

‘Are you sure?’ Alex asked, getting up from their chair. ‘Do I need to make anyone disappear?’

Bernard opened his mouth, before pausing for a second. Alex and Morgan’s jaws both dropped in surprise before Janice gave him a smack on the shoulder. ‘No! No, you don’t need to make anyone disappear.’

‘It couldn’t hurt though,’ Bernard said.

‘Dad!’ Alex said in shock, before a grin broke out on their face, ‘who am I killing?’

‘No one!’ Janice said.

‘Yet.’

‘No,’ Janice scowled, ‘not before I’ve had a turn.’

Alex’s eyes went wide with delight, ‘Villain team up? Wait, are you coming out of retirement?’

‘I’m considering it, but that’s not why we’re calling,’ Janice said. She sighed and looked at Morgan. ‘Morgan sweetheart, we need to help you.’

Morgan frowned, ‘With what? Everything’s under control.’

‘No, Morgan,’ Janice said, ‘we know what you’re looking for.’ Morgan slipped into her normal poker face, Alex only noticed her tense because their shoulders were nearly touching. ‘Or rather…who you’re looking for.’ She sighed again, ‘I’m sorry love, but…Chad told us your parents have been found. And we got to talking about this whole situation and…Bernard put it together actually.’

‘Put what together?’

Bernard winced, ‘About…there being another brother. Before Charlie was taken.’ A shiver ran through Morgan, and Alex nudged her shoulder. ‘Charlie was two. You would have surely recognised that a new family member had appeared.’ Morgan nodded, looking away from the screen, her face a perfect mask. Bernard frowned in concern as he continued, ‘So…Janice had a look, and found…some memories.’

Morgan took a slow, careful breath, before releasing it just as carefully. ‘Which ones?’

‘The day you first met him at the hospital,’ Janice said. ‘You and Diego had been at dance class.’ Morgan’s brow furrowed slightly. ‘Richard said you and Diego could help name him when Caroline was awake.’

Morgan swallowed and nodded, ‘Yeah. That sounds right.’ 

Alex cleared their throat, ‘Okay, so…what now?’

‘Now?’ Janice looked at Bernard, and back at Morgan, ‘I know that you want to find the answers yourself Morgan. But this is a twenty year old conspiracy. And quite frankly? The longer it takes the longer you, Diego, and Chad are in danger.’

Alex raised an eyebrow, ‘Like I’d let anything happen to Morgan. She’s perfectly safe here.’

‘But I can’t stay in the lair forever,’ Morgan sighed. ‘And Chad can only avoid Mum and Dad for so long before he lets something slip. We’re up against the clock.’

‘Exactly,’ Janice said, ‘but two more people looking into it? We’ll cover a lot more ground.’

Morgan licked her lips, thinking for a moment, ‘I need more than answers. I need evidence.’ She looked up at the screen finally, holding back the tears enough to let her expression steel over. ‘When I confront Mum and Dad, and I will, I need receipts. Things that they can’t refute.’ She sighed, looking at the other screen that was running another program. ‘I need the original doctor’s notes.’

‘Alright,’ Janice nodded, ‘do you need help getting to them?’

Morgan snorted, ‘Probably not once I find them, but I don’t know where they are. I’ve been trying to find them since we set up here, but between that, and scanning the copies I can find, and sabotaging Rex, and trying to break into Mum and Dad’s private servers, and-’

‘The point is,’ Alex said, ‘Morgan’s been keeping herself busy, and she’s not been able to pin those records down yet.’

Janice nodded, eyes already flaring bright red, ‘I can see if the wards on Chad deflect his records or not as well. If not, we might be in luck.’

Alex smiled, ‘Thanks Mum. We’ll keep you in the loop. How’s the farm?’

Morgan looked away as the three Stewarts began to chatter among themselves, slowly slinking away to start tapping at one of the keyboards. The program running in the background came alive, scrolling through masses of text far too quickly for Morgan to keep a track of. She typed in a few commands, frowning at the readings, before bringing up another window. Rex Roofer’s and the FA’s servers were one thing, but her parents were a delicate thing to try and infiltrate. If she didn’t have anything else on her plate it would have been doable. If she was on her A game it would have been easy. But as she rubbed at her eyes with one hand and reached for the energy drink for the other, it was clear that Alex’s mandated naps weren’t working as they should have been. Maybe Janice had a point.

‘Alright we’ll leave you to it,’ Bernard said from the screen. ‘Don’t be strangers!’

‘We won’t,’ Alex smiled. ‘Talk to you later.’ The call switched off, and Morgan could feel Alex’s eyes on her. ‘Wanna talk about it?’

She shook her head, ‘Nothing to talk about.’ She tapped a few more keys on the computer. ‘This is your mum we’re talking about. It’s a miracle it took so long for her to start snooping.’

Alex didn’t make any noise, nothing to give their reaction or emotions away, ‘Maybe. But this is still rather…raw. Right?’ Morgan shrugged again, sipping at her can, and Alex finally sighed, ‘Mo, I can tell her to back off if you need me to.’

She shook her head again, ‘She’s got a point. Besides, knowing your family? It’s either that or go gunning for Mum and Dad.’

Alex rolled their eyes, ‘You sure you don’t want me to kill them?’

‘From the sounds of it, if you do you’re going to have to invite your parents along.’

They grinned, catlike eyes sparkling, ‘I would love to see Mum kicking their arses.’

‘If we get to that point?’ Morgan asked, ‘I’ll bring the popcorn.’

‘I’m holding you to that,’ Alex chuckled. ‘But in the meantime? Nap.’

Morgan groaned, ‘I just had a nap.’

‘No you didn’t. You called Diego. Go actually sleep,’ Alex looked at the software running behind Morgan’s shoulder. ‘Neither of those programs will be done today, and you threw another virus at Rex this morning. Everything is ticking along. So go rest.’

She sighed, sipping at the energy drink again, ‘Anyone would think you didn’t want me in here.’

Alex snorted. ‘If I didn’t want you here why would I invite you? I just want you looking after yourself. And seeing as you’re being too stubborn to do that, guess I’m going to have to do it for you,’ they said with a shrug. ‘Now go, before I make you.’

‘I’d like to see you try.’

‘I will tie you to the bed, and not in the fun way! Go!’

Alex finally managed to chase Morgan out of the computer room, letting their shoulders slump once they were alone. They went back to the computer desk, bringing up the cameras to make sure Morgan went to her designated bedroom. Once she was inside and (hopefully) getting some rest Alex checked up on all the other programs working. Satisfied that none of them had broken, they picked up the tablet and settled down again. 

They didn’t know why they were so intrigued about Chad’s medical records. This was past the point that Morgan was looking at, but with each page came another private doctor’s visit to treat some sort of injury. A twisted wrist. Stitches on a leg cut. A fractured finger. All small things, surely from kids being rough and tumble. If they were from a normal childhood of course. Alex told themselves the simmering rage was from the realisation that Morgan’s medical records probably read exactly the same way, with a multitude of “accidental injuries” that normally came from kids rough housing being reckless, instead of being indoctrinated into being child heroes. They pointedly ignored the images their mind conjured of six year old Charlie trying to survive hero “training.” They flicked through, until Chad got to seven, and a new record jumped out at Alex.

“Minor burn on left arm. Cause of burn: a small bonfire on a private property. Father reports that Chad ran too close to the fire while unsupervised.”

Their nostrils flared, eyes narrowing at the record, before they tossed the tablet onto the desk. That was enough prying for them for one day.

Chapter Text

The next few days were stressful for everyone. Despite her best efforts, Janice couldn’t seem to divine the locations of any physical medical records Morgan needed. The strength and breadth of the wards set against her had sent her past frustration, and into getting ready to declare a personal vendetta against whichever caster had made the protections. Where Bernard would normally try and soothe her more violent responses, in this he seemed more inclined to help her develop her vendetta from an impulsive attack into a well thought out blow. When he wasn’t helping tracking down various holding sites for medical records through more mundane means. 

Between him and Morgan they were starting to get a shortlist of places together for where the hospitals might hold the papers Morgan was after. It would have gone faster if Morgan wasn’t using Alex’s supercomputer and her own laptop to fight on other fronts as well. Alex helped her bypass the bulk of the FA’s security to sneak into their servers, pulling out what they could on the various hero and villain records for both the Sterlings and the Stewarts. Any information that seemed even slightly relevant was added to the growing timeline turned conspiracy board, complete with connecting strings of various colours. Alex just about understood half of the board, despite Morgan’s multiple attempts to explain the rest, but that didn’t stop them from adding more to the pile of clues. 

The real challenges Morgan was facing were her other hacking attempts. Her cyber hooks were buried deep in Rex’s servers, and when she wasn’t scrambling his information and investigations she was pulling information to feed Chad so he could keep himself safe on his own front. But Rex was recovering faster from every virus and data corruption Morgan attempted, and she was starting to see signs of him fighting back. And no matter how good she was, it was only a matter of time before Rex’s superior resources and technology caught up and managed to throw her off once and for all. But at this time, she was buying every second she could get. For her, and for her brother. 

And her parent’s private server was a whole other mammoth sized task. At this point Morgan was starting to suspect the source of their security prowess. Even the simplest firewalls proved nearly impossible to break through, and if she wanted to get in without leaving a trace she had no hope. She didn’t even know why she wanted to break into their private servers so badly, she had never wanted to before. Was it a gut instinct that told her they would have kept some essential information on their computers? Or was she just desperate for clues, for information, for anything that gave her the edge over her parents and made sure they couldn’t hide anything from her again? She didn’t know. Luckily Alex knew better than to ask about that at least. 

Chad wasn’t faring much better. Despite his attempts to distance himself from Janice and Bernard he still received daily messages from them, which were a source of so many complicated and draining emotions he didn’t know what to do with most of them. The initial happiness at seeing Janice’s morning message or Bernard’s latest string of emojis quickly soured when he forced himself to delete the messages. The guilt at trying to hide them was only growing, and that made the longing stronger as well. And yet he couldn’t show any of that, couldn’t tell anyone. He had to keep his distance from Diego for fear of her hating him for good, he couldn’t put Dave in the middle of his problems and make him choose between him and Diego. Telling Morgan would only get an angry Alex on his doorstep again, and Janice and Bernard…they had done so much for him. Repaying them with his ugly feelings was the worst thing he could do. 

Besides, he didn’t have time to indulge in those kinds of emotions. He had a job to do. His parents insisted on seeing him every day while they were in the medical bay. Short visits at the doctor’s “recommendation” to give them time to rest and recover from a physically straining ordeal. That didn’t stop them from trying to monopolise all his time while not out on patrol, or working on reports, or liaising with other heroes on the team, or scouting out Roofer’s locations, or his robotics check up, or any of the other countless things he had to keep a track of. All while pretending that he was his normal brave confident self. As far as Caroline and Richard needed to be concerned, he was the same old Chad Sterling, brave hero, loyal son, who had absolutely no inkling as to the truth of his birth, or any lies and subterfuge that had followed.

Safe to say, a week after his parents were found Chad was beginning to feel rather tired.

He was currently in their hospital room, humouring yet another rant about the FA following the doctor’s insistence that they needed to be benched for a minimum of another two weeks. Caroline was clearly well enough to try and raise her complaint higher, making her anger at being treated like an invalid the problem of every higher up bureaucrat in the hero league. Richard was taking a different tactic, insisting on building his strength back up by picking up his old exercise routines one by one. The colour had mostly returned back to their skin under the violent sunburn that had reduced to a rather ruddy flush. But they were still thin, moving without their normal power or grace, and tired easily (although their stubbornness refused to admit this). Today’s exercise to prove his strength apparently required Chad. Under the supervision of a very uncomfortable nurse, Richard insisted that Chad spar with him, there and then in the hospital room.

Chad smiled and agreed, knowing better than to refuse. Besides, sparring he could do, and he knew how to pull his blows. Most of the sparring match involved him ducking and weaving out of Richard’s reach, guard up and the smallest whisper of a breeze floating around them. Richard’s psionic energy began to gather around his fists as the sparring went on, weak violet tendrils that barely had any power behind them, but flashed with every tap against Chad’s guard. 

‘Chad,’ Richard said with a frown, ‘why are you holding back?’

Chad glanced at the nurse and gave Richard his signature winning smile, ‘I wouldn’t dream of holding back.’ 

Richard pulled up, folding his arms with a scowl, ‘Don’t lie to me. You know how I feel about lying.’

Chad’s smile faltered, and his guard dropped slightly. ‘Okay yes. I might not be going 100%.’ Richard raised an eyebrow and Chad tried not to flinch. ‘Knowing your doctor he might ban me from visiting if I go all out and hurt you in the process.’

Richard snorted, ‘Please, as if you could.’

‘I could hamper your recovery at least,’ Chad said. ‘And the quicker you recover the quicker you get out here and back home.’

‘Correct Chadster,’ a voice said from behind him. The heroes turned simultaneously to the doctor standing in the doorway, smiling in a way that did nothing to hide his frustration or annoyance. ‘Pushing too hard too fast will only be detrimental in the long run.’

Caroline scoffed from her seat in the corner, ‘If you say so.’

‘Chad, what do we say about pushing ourselves?’ Richard asked, folding his arms again.

‘It’s the only way to improve,’ Chad said. ‘Someone who is settled in their comfort zone is living in complacency and will never achieve their full potential.’

The doctor bristled, while Richard smiled at Chad, ‘Good lad. So don’t hold back on me again, got it?’

The doctor cut in, ‘Actually I recommend he does until you’re at your full strength. I don’t want to see you back in again for stress-induced again.’

Richard opened his mouth to object but Chad cut over him, ‘Back in?’

‘Yes,’ the doctor said, opening the file tucked under his arm. ‘One more night of observations, but we’ve reviewed the current situation, with all factors taken into account,’ he chanced a glare at Caroline at that statement before carrying on. ‘And it looks like Professor Psion and Inferno can be discharged tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Oh thank goodness,’ Caroline said. ‘Finally we’re being taken off the bench.’

‘I didn’t say that,’ the doctor replied. ‘In fact my recommendations on how much time you need to rest and recuperate still stand, and you need a minimum of a month to make sure that your physical health is up to standard. The FA guidelines recommend a phased return including physiotherapy for both your bodies and your powers, since both of your abilities are innate and are influenced by your stamina. But once you have been discharged from physiotherapy services then you can return to full duties.’

‘We’re still benched?’ Richard scowled.

‘You will continue your recovery from the comfort of your own home,’ the doctor said, ‘and can devise personalised physiotherapy plans with FA approved professionals. Which is not my expertise, so you will be discharged from my services tomorrow. Which in itself is a tremendous feat after the condition you came back to the FA in.’

Caroline hummed at that, but didn’t offer any other comments. Chad thanked the doctor, and when he and the nurse left he turned back his parents, ‘This is good news right?’

‘It’s better than a stun ray to the chest,’ Richard said, and Chad tried hard not to wince. ‘We’ll have to come up with a new plan to see you around your current duties.’

‘Of course,’ Chad said, with a smile. That immediately dropped when he saw the clock on the wall. ‘Oh no, I’m late for my next shift.’

Richard barked a laugh, ‘Get going then. You’ve humoured your old man long enough.’ 

He waved his goodbyes and bolted rather quickly, rushing through the FA to get back to his team to get his report on his next patrol. The rest of the team had already left by the time he got there, and with a flurry of apologies to Diviner, got his brief and flew out for his normal patrol. He had just enough time to send out a message to Morgan, Diego, Dave, and “The Stephens” before promptly deleting any evidence. 

“Doctor’s discharging them tomorrow. They’re benched until physio signs them off.”

He didn’t have any time to check in on responses, although some responses did come in. He had to focus on his patrol, reporting back to the Diviner along with the rest of the team. Part of his route had him cross paths with the Vigilante, and they very briefly traded words. Chad first apologised for his tardiness, and then delivered the good news about Inferno and Professor Psion. The Vigilante however was more interested with talking with the Chadster about his attempts at investigating Roofer. 

‘It’s going well,’ Chad said. ‘Slower than I anticipated. I never appreciated how much patience you need to have as a detective.’

The Vigilante hummed thoughtfully, ‘It’s a tough job. You’re doing well for your first mission like this. I do wonder if you’re missing some angles though.’

‘How so?’ Chad asked.

‘Well,’ the Vigilante said, ‘Your first report mentioned the assassination attempts on the Generator, but since coming back you don’t seem to have followed through on that thread at all.’ Chad opened his mouth, floundering for a moment, before looking sheepish. ‘It’s not a criticism,’ the Vigilante said, ‘you’ve had a lot on your plate after all. But if I’m correct she’s still missing right?’ Chad nodded, but couldn’t find his voice in the moment. ‘Even if you don’t think it’s related to Roofer, you should follow up that trail. She may very well prove instrumental in bringing together your case later, especially if she was your first lead.’

‘My first lead?’ Chad asked.

The Vigilante nodded, ‘With that attempt to steal your DNA. I read the report you gave after you came back from being incognito.’

‘Oh right! That, yes, of course,’ Chad shook his head, trying to keep his expression calm and his voice light. ‘You’re right, I need to try something else. So much has happened…maybe one of those old reports will give me an idea as well for a new tack.’

‘Good idea,’ The Vigilante said. ‘Look at everything with an uncritical eye and a fresh perspective. Often there’s some things we missed the first time that we’ll only see with a bit more context and hindsight.’

‘Got it,’ Chad said with a smile. ‘Thank you Vigilante, I really appreciate all of this.’

‘Anytime,’ he said. ‘Me and my kids, any of us are happy to help. Depending on which help you need.’

They nodded and parted ways, Chad trying to keep his composure even as he thought through the conversation in detail. The thought of the Vigilante reading his reports left him shuddering. One of the best detectives in the FA was keeping an eye on his investigation? He needed to be careful, any holes in his story or investigation would be sniffed out easily if he had anything to do with it. 

It was only at the end of his first shift that Chad got a chance to check over his phone. Morgan had replied first with a series of colourful expletives combined with emojis that showed her response rather eloquently. Chad followed up with his concerns over the Vigilante finding holes in his story about the Roofer investigation, warning Morgan to be careful while she was investigating. Morgan simply sent back a salute, which shouldn’t have calmed Chad’s nerves. But somehow it did.

Janice and Bernard were next with a combination of fussing over Chad and thinly veiled “suggestions” about how to get Caroline and Richard out of his hair. Chad tried to placate them quickly while his heart swelled at the thought of them worrying over him. He really didn’t know what he had done to deserve it, but he knew better than to question it to their faces. That would only make him feel worse. 

Dave’s came through while he was responding to Janice and Bernard. He somehow had the anger of Morgan’s response without the expletives, the concern of the Stewart’s without the fussing, and was just quintessentially Dave. He was offering backup, suggesting ways he and Diego could run interference, and the whole time making his opinion of the heroic parents perfectly well known. Chad agreed to a discussion about an interference plan, even if he was planning on just humouring him for the moment. 

After that he got back to his second shift, where he holed himself up in the FA to go over his previous reports and current investigations, trying to find something that he had missed. And in the process find a way to cover up the holes that he had made along the way. But he was struggling to concentrate, the words blurring together on the screen. He stuck at the same page for an hour before he had to admit it was a lost cause and changed tactics. Field work. Gathering some intel to analyse later. That would be a productive use of his time. So he pushed down his growing exhaustion and flew out again, scouting out Rex’s known sites for any suspicious activity. He noted down everything he saw, wanting to make sure he was doing a thorough job for later. He couldn’t take any chances.

Chapter Text

It was well past midnight when Chad finally got home. He shuffled into his apartment building, exhaustion making his whole body as heavy as lead. He was two steps away from curling up in the middle of the corridor and falling asleep there and then, but the promise of Janice “checking in” if he didn’t send his usual good night text was enough to keep him going up the various floors to his flat. His shoes echoed off the steps down the bare and empty corridors. Truly everyone was asleep, and the relief at the loneliness made Chad slump even more. For today, there wasn’t anyone else for him to put the mask up for. 

That was until he turned the final corner to his apartment and stopped. Diego was sitting by his door, leaning against the wall with a bag by her side. He recognised the logo on the bag from his favourite curry place, and his stomach disobediently growled at the realisation. She looked up at the noise, taking in Chad for a moment before giving him a small and shaky smile.

‘Hi,’ she said.

‘You should be asleep,’ Chad muttered, pulling out his keys and stumbling over to the door.

‘I’ll survive one late night I think,’ Diego said, standing up with the bag. She watched Chad struggle with the key and lock for a moment before gesturing with the bag. ‘I figured you might be hungry. Got you your favourite.’

The key finally cooperated and the door swung open, and Chad sighed. ‘Thanks, but I’m not hungry.’

‘Your stomach seems to disagree,’ Diego said. ‘Come on, it’s my treat.’

He couldn’t look up to see her expression, and his brain was whirring as fast as it could to find an excuse to not let her in. But he was running on empty, his last energy was reserved for washing up and going to bed, and any other functions had shut down for the night. When Diego touched his shoulder the only thing he could do was relent, stepping aside to let her in and watch her shut the door behind him, locking the door in place. She took his arm, pulling him through the apartment to her kitchen so she could put down her bag of food and got to work pulling out plates and glasses. 

Chad swayed on the spot, off kilter as he watched her. There was something else he was supposed to do but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what. He just felt wrong, watching Diego empty the bag, pour them drinks, and start to plate up the food. 

‘Here you go,’ Diego said. ‘Eat up.’

He sat down at the kitchen island, perched on the stool. The weight of his phone in his pocket suddenly reminded him about Janice’s goodnight message, and he quickly pulled out his phone and let her know he was home safe. He didn’t notice Diego’s barely contained worry as she watched him play with his phone, only settling when he finally picked up his fork and tucked in. His phone buzzed with Janice’s response, which he only glanced at briefly before turning back to his food. Something else was wrong though. But he couldn’t put his finger on it.

‘How are you holding up?’ Diego asked, watching his reaction carefully.

That was it , he thought to himself. ‘What are you doing here?’ 

She sipped at her drink, her expression carefully neutral, ‘Just checking in on you.’

‘Why?’ He didn’t mean for the question to come out so harsh, but it couldn’t be helped after everything from the past couple of weeks. 

Diego didn’t react, didn’t even flinch, ‘You’re my brother. I care about you.’ Chad didn’t respond to that, refusing to look at her and instead spearing a piece of chicken rather violently, but Diego carried on. ‘I know I reacted…badly. And I’ve not really been making the effort since the news came out. And…’ she sighed, looking at Chad, waiting to see if he would meet her eyes, ‘and I’m sorry.’

‘Okay,’ Chad said.

‘No,’ Diego said, ‘not okay. Do you even know why I’m apologising?’

‘Does it matter?’ Chad asked.

Diego’s shoulders fell and she bit her lip. ‘Of course it does.’ She dropped her fork and came round the kitchen island to stand next to Chad. She cupped his cheek, trying not to react to his flinch of surprise, and slowly coaxed him to turn around and look up at her. ‘I fucked up. I know I did. And I haven’t done anything to try and make it up to you, I just…left you high and dry. And I’m sorry for that. I’m so sorry Chad.’

Chad blinked slowly, trying to look past Diego’s face in an effort to keep his composure, ‘Thanks for dinner. You should head back before you get too tired.’

She swallowed, looking at the only partially eaten plates, ‘You really don’t want me here?’ Chad pulled his face away from her hand and turned back to his plate. ‘I understand, believe me I do. One apology and a late night dinner isn’t going to fix what I did. But I do, I want to fix it.’

‘Okay,’ Chad said. He shovelled another mouthful of food in before his mouth could run off and say anything else. His phone beeped again and he looked at the message, one from Bernard this time. But he couldn’t really open it with Diego there. Instead he tried to finish his food as quickly as possible to give himself the excuse to make Diego leave.

‘What can I do?’ she asked. ‘How can I fix this?’

He shrugged, ‘Ask Morgan. She’s the mastermind.’

‘I don’t mean about the plan,’ Diego said. ‘I mean about you. I hurt you, how can I fix it?’ Chad didn’t answer, chugging his soda as fast as he could, and Diego deflated. ‘Please tell me there’s a way to fix this. I’ll do anything.’

Chad scrubbed his face, rubbing the worst of the tiredness from his eyes, ‘We shouldn’t have this conversation at midnight. Go home.’

‘Then when?’ Diego asked. ‘Because your double shifts mean you don’t have time for anything else, Mum and Dad are stealing the rest of your time, and tomorrow they’re going to be back home. It’s only a matter of time before they’re back in your comms listening to everything you’re doing while on duty.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’ Chad growled.

‘I think after tonight there won’t be another chance to talk about this,’ Diego said. ‘So please. I’m not expecting forgiveness, I’m not expecting all the answers wrapped up in a bow. I just need to know that there’s a chance I can fix this.’

‘And that’s so important right now?’ Chad asked, holding onto the worst of his temper with all the willpower he had left. ‘It’s past midnight. You’re not going to get anything productive out of me right now so there’s no point in pushing.’

‘Then give me something,’ Diego said. ‘Talk to me, yell at me, throw something, I don’t know. Whatever you’ve got, I’ll take it. Please Chad, or…or Charlie? Which name…’

‘Don’t,’ Chad snapped. ‘Don’t say that name.’ He was on his feet, fists clenched at his sides as the winds picked up around them. ‘That name’s not for you.’

Diego nodded, watching Chad, ‘What names are safe then? Chad?’ The wind dipped slightly, and Diego let out a slow breath in relief. ‘Cheddar?’ The wind lashed out and blew the empty bag off the table as Chad gritted his teeth. ‘You don’t like Cheddar anymore?’

He looked up at her, and for a moment she got to see all the hurt and heartbreak he had been hiding, the desperate need etched into his face. And then it was gone as his anger flared, ‘Stop it. Stop poking, and prodding. I told you to leave. So leave.’

Diego took a careful breath and stepped closer. ‘Chad, do you have someone you can talk to about this? Because if you do-’

‘Why do you care?’ he snapped. Diego blinked, schooling her expression so Chad couldn’t see how the words stung, and she carefully watched as he stepped towards her in time with the wind dropping cold around them. ‘Why do you care about what I’m doing, or what’s happening, or how I feel? You haven’t cared the past two weeks. Alex has asked about me more than you have.’ She grimaced at that, and Chad’s breath shuddered with his growing rage, the air growing arctic-cold around them. ‘So why now?’

‘I messed up,’ Diego said. ‘And by the time I got my act together you had pulled away. I couldn’t find a way to reach out to you. Your messages to Dave had the bare minimum in them, and I didn’t know how to break past that wall to get you to open up to us. And then Mum and Dad came back, and you’ve been overworking yourself so much, even if you weren’t avoiding us there’s literally not enough time in the day to see you.’

‘Avoiding you?’ Chad snarled, ‘That’s what you think I’ve been doing?’

‘If I asked you to meet me, to come round and have dinner and talk, would you have agreed? Or would you have made an excuse to avoid us?’

‘I was following your lead,’ Chad said. ‘You pulled away first. You insisted on leaving first. You decided to hide from the truth first.’

‘I was wrong.’

‘Oh, well that makes it okay then!’ Chad yelled. ‘Tell me this, what did you hope to get out of this little plan? What’s your end goal?’

‘I told you,’ Diego said, ‘I need to fix what I did wrong.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I can’t lose you!’ Diego shouted. Chad flinched in surprise, and Diego took a breath before speaking in a lower voice. ‘I was the worst sister in the world, I abandoned you and I never should have done that. And I will never forgive myself for that. But I can’t lose you, and I…I need to know that there’s a chance I can fix it. Because I don’t think I could live with myself if you hated me.’

There was silence in the room. The frost collecting in the air around them broke as the tension did, collecting into snow before floating to the floor. All the anger had burned out of Chad as well, leaving him staring at Diego. Exhausted, and with the heartbreak on full display again. Diego winced, stepping closer slowly, watching Chad carefully as she reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder. Next to the metal prosthetic so he could feel her warm hand through his shirt. 

By the time the snow had finished falling and melted into puddles on the floor Chad’s eyes were closed. He whispered something too quiet for Diego to hear, and she leaned in closer, ‘What was what? I didn’t catch it.’

He took a shaky breath and opened his eyes, tears beginning to well up as he looked at his big sister. ‘That’s my line.’

Diego’s face crumpled and she pulled Chad into a tight hug, rocking him on the spot. ‘I don’t hate you,’ she whispered. ‘I could never hate you. You’re my baby brother.’

‘What about the other one?’ Chad asked, voice breaking as sobs threatened to shake through his chest. ‘What Morgan said…I’m the replacement.’

Diego shook her head. ‘I’ve had two brothers. I lost one, and I got you. But you’re as much my brother as he was. That’s never going to change. Never. I promise.’ Chad choked back more tears, slumping onto Diego’s shoulder as she squeezed him tighter. ‘I’m sorry I made you feel like that.’ She pulled away enough to rest their foreheads together, looking up at Chad’s now bloodshot eyes as the tears ran down his cheeks. She opened her mouth, ready to say something else, but paused as she looked at his eyes.

‘What?’ Chad sniffed. ‘What is it?’

‘Can I try something?’ Diego asked. She reached out for his necklace, pausing when his hands grabbed at her wrists. ‘Just for a second. I’ll put it right back. I promise.’ 

Chad swallowed, brow twisted in fear, but he didn’t stop her from gently undoing the clasp and pulling the necklace away. She slipped it onto the kitchen island, not looking away from Chad’s face. The fear was now in silver grey eyes, tears making his pale cheeks blotchy and darkening the smattering of freckles on his face. She cupped his cheek, rubbing some of the tears away, and met his eyes, giving him her most loving smile. ‘No matter what happens. No matter who you are or what you look like, now or in the future, you’re my baby brother.’ Chad’s face crumpled, his eyes squeezing shut, but Diego carried on. ‘I love you, so so much. And that will never change. I promise.’

Chad nodded, another sob catching in his throat, and Diego pulled him into another hug. Chad collapsed onto her, clinging tightly enough that his metal grip popped some of the seams in her jacket. But she only hugged him tighter, rocking them both from side to side. She stroked a hand through his hair, trying not to react to how soft and straight it felt, soothing him gently. 

‘You don’t hate me?’ Chad whispered.

Diego shook her head, ‘No. Never.’

‘Promise?’

‘I promise.’

Chapter Text

The next morning was a sluggish affair. Chad woke first, grumbling at the headache behind his eyes and curling into the soft warm weight next to him. The sleepy sounds of Diego answered and she slowly squeezed him into a sleepy cuddle, resting her cheek on the top of Chad’s head. Finally she yawned, blinking herself awake and rubbing at her eyes. A quick glance around the room reminded her of the events of the night before, and she kept an arm wrapped around Chad’s shoulders while she reached for her phone to check the time.

‘Chad?’ she said, shaking him gently. ‘Time to get up.’

‘Five more minutes,’ Chad mumbled, and Diego chuckled. 

‘Sure you don’t want breakfast bagels?’ she asked. He cracked a bleary eye open, looking up at her with a sleepy yet curious expression. ‘My treat.’ 

His brow furrowed, ‘You bought dinner last night.’ 

‘And now I’m buying breakfast too,’ Diego said. ‘Come on, we’re going to need it for today.’ He sighed, rolling away and Diego sat up to stretch. ‘Mind if I use the shower first?’ Chad waved for her to help herself and she hopped out of bed, adjusting Chad’s oversized tee she had used as a sleep shirt as she headed off to the bathroom.

By the time she came back, freshly washed and back in her own clothes, Chad was up and awake. His necklace was back in place and he was intently texting on his phone.

‘Anything interesting?’ Diego asked.

Chad looked up, clearly startled, ‘Nope! Just normal stuff.’

Diego raised an eyebrow in suspicion, ‘Chad?’ He pointedly looked away, fixated on scrolling through his phone. ‘What did you do?’

‘What?’ he looked up offended, ‘Why would you assume I did something?’

‘Because you’re acting like I caught your hand in the cookie jar.’ She ignored his grumbling and stepped closer, arms crossed in front of her chest, ‘What’s going on?’

‘Nothing! I’m just…doing the rounds,’ he said. Diego frowned in confusion, clearly expecting a clarification. ‘I’m serious, I’m just going through my morning messages.’

‘So Dave and maybe Morgan?’ Diego asked. ‘Why are you acting weird about that? Unless…’ her confused fell away, a more thoughtful look taking over, ‘you’re messaging someone else as well?’ Chad sighed, shoulders slumping, and Diego’s frown crept back, ‘Why do you need to hide who you’re talking to?’ 

‘Maybe it’s just private,’ Chad said.

‘Is it a villain?’ Diego asked. ‘A date? An assassin?’

‘What? No, why would I have private conversations with an assassin?’ Diego shrugged, looking at Chad expectantly, and he sighed. His shoulders hunched in uncertainty. ‘It’s just Alex’s parents okay?’

Diego blinked, face carefully neutral as she processed. ‘So they know? Of course they know, Morgan said Alex’s Mum saw the…face thing.’ She sat down on the bed, looking at Chad intently, ‘How are they…being with you?’

Chad glanced up to Diego, trying to get a read on her past the intense concern. ‘They…they’re nice.’ Diego’s brow quirked in a silent question. ‘I mean it. They are.’

‘They’re nice? That’s it?’ Diego said. ‘What have they said? Have they done anything? What do they want?’

‘Only good things,’ Chad said. ‘Janice was a bit…intense at first. But we talked about it, and she’s doing better now.’ Diego’s frown deepened, and Chad sighed. ‘They’re not trying anything. There isn’t any kind of plot to turn me to the dark side or anything.’

‘That you know of.’

‘No, there isn’t,’ Chad said. ‘Morgan was right, they’re just people.’

‘Aside from the villainous careers and incredibly powerful magic?’

‘Aside from that yeah.’ Chad sat back on the bed, turning to the bedside table for a moment. ‘They spent the entire time feeding me, and telling me stories about the farm. And when they found out, they just…wanted to know about me.’

‘Know what?’

‘My life,’ Chad said. ‘What school was like, my high school crushes, what I do in my spare time, just…me.’ Chad sighed, swallowing back the lump in his throat. ‘Bernard sends me pictures of the farm, Janice checks in that I’m not forgetting to eat, and that’s it.’

Diego was watching Chad carefully, ‘If that’s all it is, then that’s wonderful. And I’m really happy for you. But are you sure they’re not after anything from you?’

Chad didn’t answer at first, staring at the bedside table. Without a word, he leaned over to lift the table, pulling out a large album, before fishing around in the sock drawer for something small and fluffy. ‘Before I left the farmhouse they made me this,’ Chad said, handing the album over to Diego. She opened it carefully, peering at the old photos inside. ‘It’s Charlie. And the farm. And the family, including the extended family, like aunts and uncles.’ 

Diego flicked through, flicking over the notes by each of the photos written in a neat cursive, glancing up at Chad occasionally. He was curling into himself, the fluffy thing that looked to be a battered rabbit was tucked under his chin, his thumb unconsciously rubbing one of the rabbit’s floppy ears. She shuffled closer, knocking her leg into Chad’s, and he finally met her eyes. It had been a long time since she had seen him look so small, eyes shining with unshed tears, his face a mixture of uncertainty and fear. Diego shuffled closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, and Chad turned to cling to her tightly. 

‘Chad, if you need them to back off, or to give you some space-’

Chad tried to chuckle, but his voice hitched too much, and he shook his head. ‘No, it’s not like that.’ He took a shuddering breath, peeking up at Diego. ‘I like them. A lot. Bernard tells really good stories, and Janice is a huge gossip. They’re really nice, and warm. They were caring and fussing before they found out who I was, and then it just dialled up to 11. And…and it feels nice.’ He tried to keep eye contact with Diego, but she saw a mixture of fear and guilt before he looked away. She squeezed him tighter, looking back at the still open album. The page it was open to showed all four of the Stewarts sat on a plush couch. Janice and Bernard, beaming at the camera, bracketing in a small blonde grinning child who had a small bemused baby on their lap.

‘They really loved you,’ Diego whispered. Chad whimpered and nodded. ‘That’s not a bad thing. I just don’t want them to push you into something you don’t want to do.’ 

Chad nodded again, taking a shaky breath, ‘They’re not. They love hearing about my hero fights. Morgan said they were obsessed with watching that big alien fight the other week.’ 

Diego couldn’t help but smile at that, giving Chad another squeeze. ‘That’s alright then. I’m happy for you Cheddar.’

Chad’s arms around Diego’s waist tightened slightly, and for a while they sat on the bed in silence. When the tension finally started to ease out of Chad and the shake in shoulders lessened Diego turned her attention to the small teddy on Chad’s lap. ‘I’m guessing this is Hops?’

Chad opened his eyes and looked down, ‘Oh, yeah. He was hiding in one of the memory boxes. Apparently Alex was the one who rescued him.’

Diego snorted, ‘Be serious.’

‘I am,’ Chad chuckled. ‘They told me the fight broke out in the city, Charlie bolted and dropped Hops, and then Alex grabbed him.’ Diego couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief and Chad shrugged. ‘And Janice kept this thing called a baby book to record all of Charlie’s milestones, and Alex graffitied in it. They crossed out Charlie’s first word and wrote their name instead.’ Diego laughed, trying to smother the worst of it but she ended up just laughing through her hand. ‘Don’t tell anyone I told you that though? Alex might finish me off if they think I told anyone that.’

‘I’ll take it to my grave,’ Diego chuckled, eyes shining in delight. ‘That’s made my day though. Speaking of,’ she gave Chad’s shoulders another squeeze. ‘We should probably start the day at some point.’

‘Do we have to?’ Chad whined.

‘Breakfast bagels,’ Diego said. ‘My treat. You can’t say no.’

Chad sighed, ‘Fine.’

Only half an hour later the two siblings were showered and dressed, the old mementos hidden away before they set out for breakfast. Diego messaged Dave to catch him up, and by the time they got to their favourite breakfast bar Dave was already there waiting for them with all their usual coffee orders. Dave’s easy one armed hug and the light banter over coffee and breakfast did wonders for Chad, and he was laughing and almost back to his old self before they knew it. 

It was only after the bagels were eaten and the coffees had been topped up did the conversation turn. Dave was smiling at the siblings playfully arguing over who had the most embarrassing hero fight moments when a chime sounded from Chad and Diego’s phones simultaneously. Diego groaned, rolling her eyes before she even pulled out her phone, while the tension that had finally abandoned Chad for a while was back in force.

‘What’s happened?’ Dave asked as they both checked their phones.

‘It’s Mo,’ Diego said. ‘Head’s up, Chad’s going to get…what? How does she know you’re getting an FA call soon?’

Chad closed his eyes, trying not to cringe at the possibilities, ‘Don’t pry, don’t pry, don’t pry…I’m sure she has reliable sources. That are…completely legitimate.’

Dave snorted, ‘Don’t give yourself an aneurysm Chad. Okay, so three guesses what that call’s going to be about?’

Chad nodded, ‘They're meant to be discharged this afternoon. Chances are they’re going to try and pull some strings so I can “escort them home.” Like I don’t have other things to be doing.’ He sighed, suddenly tired. ‘What do I do?’

‘You could say you’re busy,’ Diego said. ‘We can help them home.’

Chad opened his mouth before blinking in surprise, looking at Diego. ‘You what?’

‘I am the older child,’ Diego said. ‘I know I’m married now but I can still help out, even if they don’t ask me anymore.’ Chad looked stunned, making Dave chuckle and Diego rolled her eyes, ‘Alright, so we’ll help them settle at home, and then you can crack on with work.’

Chad frowned, and shook his head, ‘No, Mum and Dad are probably getting me out of today’s patrol.’

Dave shrugged, ‘Which means more time on your other project right?’

‘I wish,’ Chad sighed. ‘I can’t justify more field research until I’ve gone through my reports and line it up with my new notes. Look for anything I’ve missed that might give me an edge.’

‘Quiet night in then,’ Diego said while looking at her phone. ‘Reports, music, maybe a beer. Sounds like fun.’

‘I’m not going to drink while working,’ Chad scoffed. ‘But it’s not like I can get away with doing that all day instead of seeing Mum and Dad out of the hospital. It will look like I’m avoiding them, they’ll want to know why it's so important. So even if I can get away for a bit of work I’m still going to have to see them home. And then…’ he trailed off, leaning on one hand while staring at the table. ‘What do I say? They’re going to want to talk about Roofer, or Morgan, or planning their new training regime or something. What if they want to know what I was doing while I was incognito?’ He sighed, ‘I can’t do this. I’m going to slip up, I know it.’

‘You haven’t so far,’ Diego said.

‘That’s because they’ve been more fixated on getting out of the hospital bed,’ Chad groaned. ‘They want everything to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Once it is? Then they’ll be back to normal, and normal is wanting to check in with my missions, or my training, or-’

‘They won’t be back to normal yet,’ Dave said. ‘They’ll get back today and probably be really tired. Once their energy is back up they’ll need to tend to their business to make sure that it didn’t fall off the wagon while they were away. Those things can take time.’ 

Chad glanced up at Dave, brow creased with worry. ‘I can’t afford to just assume they’re not going to want to check in every chance they get. Especially if they think we won’t have our normal family dinners for a while.’

‘Then we run interference,’ Diego said. ‘Give them other things to focus on and take the heat off you. Lord knows they’ll be bothering me to get off the bench sharpish.’

‘And they never pass up an opportunity to be passive aggressive about the Chastisers,’ Dave said. ‘Don’t worry, we can handle this.’

‘And what if they get suspicious?’

‘About what? Their daughter and son in law being more attentive after they went missing for a week?’ Dave shrugged. ‘Have a bit of faith in us, alright?’

Chad sighed, but before he could respond his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, recognising the number, and he subconsciously puffed out his chest as he answered. ‘Chadster speaking.’ 

‘Well aren’t you the lucky one?’ The Diviner’s voice came through loud and clear on the other line. ‘Inferno and Professor Psion are getting ready to discharge today and they’ve put in a special request involving you.’

‘Oh? Absolutely, it would be an honour to assist such renowned heroes. What do they need?’

The Diviner chuckled, ‘Relax, this is a private line. Looks like your patrol today has been replaced by babysitting duty.’

Chad tried for a chuckle himself, ‘No need to make it sound so demeaning. They have been through quite an ordeal, it only makes sense for them to have hero support until they’re back on their feet.’

‘Uh huh,’ The Diviner said. ‘Seriously, I’m the only one here to hear you being a kiss ass.’ Chad rolled his eyes, but the Diviner carried on before he could object. ‘Anyway, looks like discharge will be after 2pm, think you can get here for then?’

‘Of course!,’ Chad said, ‘That should be no problem. Thank you for your assistance.’

Diviner laughed on the other line, ‘See you on your next proper patrol Chadster.’

The line cut and Chad sighed in relief. Dave chuckled, ‘I don’t know why you’re worried about slipping up, that was pretty perfect from where I’m sitting.’

‘The Diviner is one thing, our parents are a different thing entirely,’ Chad said. ‘Discharge is for two o’clock.’

Diego looked up from her phone and gave a small smile, ‘Ooh, perfect.’ Chad raised an eyebrow in confusion and Diego grinned. ‘I’ve been trying to think of how to get into their good books. And the house has been abandoned for nearly two weeks.’

‘Oh god,’ Chad grimaced, ‘I can’t stand to think what their kitchen looks like.’

‘Hence the plan,’ Diego said. ‘They get back home, escorted by you, and walk into a newly cleaned house complete with a freshly stocked kitchen. Maybe with one of us putting a fancy dinner together for them.’ Dave snorted, and Diego gave him a pointed look. ‘Puts them in a good mood and then probing should be kept to a minimum,’ she said, knocking on the table for luck. ‘They get dinner and then when we all need to shoot off for very important hero work they can’t complain because we’ve already done so much.’

‘I’m sure they would find some way to complain,’ Dave said.

‘It’s worth a shot,’ Chad said. ‘Don’t know how useful I’ll be cleaning though, a lot of cleaning products end up irritating robotics.’

‘Then you can refill the fridge and cupboards,’ Diego said. ‘Dave and I will crack on to get the kitchen cleaned first so it's ready for when you get back, and then I’ll get the rest of the house done while one or both of you go and pick Mum and Dad up.’

‘Huh,’ Chad thought for a moment, ‘That just might work. Alright,’ he smiled, looking hopeful, and drained the last of his coffee in a single mouthful. ‘Have you still got your key?’ Diego nodded. ‘Perfect. I’ll go shopping now then and meet you at the house.’ 

Dave and Diego followed Chad out shortly after, giving hugs at the door before splitting off into different directions. Only when Chad was long gone did Dave give Diego a suspicious look. ‘What’s this about?’

Diego gave Dave a cunning smile and pulled out her phone, showing Dave her screen and a conversation with “Mo”.

D: are you asking for a favour?

M: shut up, before I change my mind!

D: sorry!

D: what’s your plan?

M: nothing bad. If you’re heading to the house anyway, keep an eye out for anything sus

D: like?

M: IDK! A nuclear powered supercomputer or a map to their secret lair. Something that would be weird for two veteran heroes to have.

D: nuclear powered computer?

M: I tried to investigate their private servers

D: how???

M: doesn’t matter how. The important thing is their firewalls have too much juice for normal security. They have more powerful defences than the FA and Roofer combined. 

D: ffs Mo…

M: you don’t have to help, I’ll find another way

D: shut up I didn’t say that. Just stay safe

M: you too

Dave sighed, ‘We still need to clean the house, or they’ll get suspicious.’

‘I know,’ Diego said, sidling up to Dave with a shameless grin. ‘You know how I love you so much?’ Dave raised an amused eyebrow. ‘I’ll make it up to you, promise.’

‘How?’

Diego’s eyes sparkled, ‘Well I can’t go into detail in public. But you’ll absolutely love it.’ Her grin grew as Dave’s neck began to flush, and she leaned into his ear to whisper something that made Dave choke. 

‘Yep! Okay,’ Dave coughed, red and flustered. ‘I suppose I can see what I can do with the kitchen.’

Diego’s grin turned triumphant and she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, ‘Love you.’ 

Chapter Text

A small part of Chad thought he should feel guilty at taking his time with shopping for food. After all, his parents owned a rather large house, and expecting Dave and Diego to tidy the entire building between the two of them was hardly fair. Or feasible. But he just couldn’t bring himself to be quick about it. He did pick up a pair of gloves on his way around one of the stores so he could pitch in at the other end, which eased some of his guilt. But for the most part he wandered, basket or trolley in hand, perusing the aisles with a leisure he probably couldn’t afford. Some of it was because he needed to be delicate, his robotic grasp bruised fruit and vegetables far too easily. But even then, taking a full five minutes to pick out a box of eggs was probably quite excessive in hindsight. 

Eventually though he had a full trunk of food and was heading to the Sterling family home. It should have only been a short drive to the house, but he ended up taking the scenic route, driving past the large park filled with people enjoying the sun, the city hall, and the Central museum. At some point Chad ran out of landmarks to admire on his drive and had to admit defeat, turning towards the house. In just a couple of minutes he was pulling onto the drive and setting his expression to one of his typical smiles, before climbing out of the car and grabbing the bags. 

Inside the house had the distinct smell of lemon combining with the sharp acrid chemicals. Chad’s brow raised in surprise as he admired the perfectly polished hallway, from the floors to the ornate side tables and the large mirror on the wall. The kitchen told the same story, with shining floors and marble worktops and the cupboards doors all open. The fridge and freezer shelves were all drying on the side, and Chad stacked his bags on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Diego and Dave had outdone themselves this time. 

Chad was in the middle of reassembling the fridge when Dave thundered down the stairs and poked his head through the door. Chad couldn’t help but smirk at the hero in marigold gloves with a basket of various cleaning rags and bottles. ‘You were quick,’ Dave said.

Chad snorted, ‘No I wasn’t. I barely left myself enough time to get all of this packed up before I need to go pick Mum and Dad up.’

Dave frowned, pulling back one of the gloves to see his watch. ‘There’s no way that’s the time!’ He sighed, blinking at the bags on the kitchen island. ‘That just flew by.’

‘You’ve done well,’ Chad said. ‘Everything I’ve seen looks spotless.’

Dave shrugged and took in the kitchen again, ‘Yeah, we did pretty good. There’s a few rooms left to do upstairs, but Diego reckons she can get them done on her own before your parents get here.’

‘On her own?’ Chad asked. ‘What about you?’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Dave said. Chad almost dropped the milk in shock and Dave grinned. ‘Like we’re going to let you fend for yourself in a car with both of them.’

Chad stared at Dave, mouth agape, before he tried to clear his throat and collect himself. ‘Oh. Uh…thank you.’

‘It’s nothing,’ Dave shrugged, putting down the basket and pulling off the gloves. ‘Alright, where does the rest of the food go?’

In no time at all the kitchen was set to rights, everything put in its place, and the cleaning supplies were scurried away. With a call out to Diego upstairs, the two heroes headed back out. Chad offered to drive, and Dave spent the drive to the FA HQ talking his ear off about the various recent antics in the Chastisers. The two of them were soon laughing, Dave sniggering while Chad had to try and wipe away a stray tear. It was so fun he almost forgot about where they were going. Almost.

Caroline and Richard were waiting for Chad in the HQ Reception. Caroline was currently leaning on crutches while talking the ear off their very unimpressed doctor when the two of them walked in, so Richard spotted them first.

‘Ah, there he is!’ Richard’s voice boomed around the reception. ‘And Dodgers? To what do we owe the pleasure?’

Dave smiled, ‘Here to help of course.’

Caroline raised an eyebrow, ‘The Chastisers agreed to be part of our escort?’

‘Oh no,’ Dave said, ‘this isn’t on the books. If it was, the red tape would probably authorise it in three months.’ Richard chuckled at that, and Dave flashed another winning smile. ‘No, Chad messaged Diego asking for help with getting your home straightened out. She’s just finishing off, so I thought I’d keep Chad company on the way here. And an extra pair of eyes never hurts.’

‘Very true,’ Richard said.

Caroline looked at Dave curiously, then to Chad, ‘Home straightened out?’

Chad covered up his startled choke by clearing his throat and gave his mother a beam. ‘Yes, I realised all too late that with no one in the house, the kitchen would hardly be stocked or usable. And the dust everywhere else would hardly help with any recovery. I should have realised sooner, but Diego and Dave were more than willing to help me make up for my tardiness on that front.’

Caroline hummed, before nodding, ‘Well, we’ll see how it looks. After you,’ she gestured to Chad and Dave, and with a final goodbye to the doctor the four of them headed out.

The perk to Chad driving was that he had an excuse to not be involved in the conversation all that much as Caroline and Richard filled the smooth drive with all their complaints about being coddled, about the doctor insisting that they have a “slow recovery” and use their crutches to help them navigate until they got their strength up. Dave thankfully knew better than to overtly side with the doctor, and kept them baited on their various gripes until Chad was pulling into the driveway. As predicted the crutches were abandoned, and Chad “insisted” on escorting Caroline to the porch, offering his arm for her to lean on. Dave hovered by Richard, letting the older hero lean on his shoulder for the short walk inside. 

When the door opened, the previous chemical smells in the hallway had been overpowered by onion and spices, mixing in with the previous smell of the lemon. Diego poked her head through from the kitchen and gave her parents a bright smile. ‘Welcome home! I was thinking beef wellington for dinner?’

Caroline blinked at Diego, partly in surprise and partly in amusement, and Richard chuckled, ‘Oh we are being spoiled today. Why do I feel like you three are trying to butter us up?’

Chad spluttered, ‘Such suspicion! Can’t we just be back to have you alive and safe and home?’

Caroline looked between the siblings with a sharp eye, before something dawned on her. ‘I know what this is about.’ Chad tried to keep his expression composed, even as his heart plummeted to his stomach, and Caroline sighed. ‘This is because you didn’t join the search parties isn’t it?’

Chad swallowed, glancing to Diego for backup. She sighed, ‘Were we that obvious?’

Richard stepped forward, leaning on the wall for support. ‘It makes sense, we raised you with a strong ethic. But we forgave you for that as soon as you came to see us. You did what you could. And this…is a very welcome surprise.’

Caroline nodded, ‘Although, if you were still feeling like you needed to make it up to us, you know what would be wonderful?’

Chad perked up, ‘I picked up some bottles of Malbec. A new vintage, and one from ‘72. And there’s a black forest gateau in the fridge.’

Caroline clapped her hands together, ‘Perfect! Thank you dears. We really are lucky to have you.’ 

After that and a quick inspection of the rest of the house, Caroline and Richard were resting in the living room, seeming to be very satisfied. Not an inch of the house was out of place, and not a speck of dust or dirt could be found. They had been set up in their armchairs with ice cold lemon water and were happily hearing stories from Dave and Chad about their latest heroic bouts while the sounds and smells of cooking came through from the kitchen. For once they were quietly listening without any probing questions or critiques to their various decisions and forms. Chad couldn't tell if it was from their exhaustion or something more benevolent, but he tried to not question it too much. 

Eventually the conversations moved to the dinner table as Diego served up a delicious wellington with various trimmings. In the presence of food and wine Caroline and Richard perked up, turning their attention to Diego and insisting on hearing what work she had been doing to get herself back into her full hero position. By the time Dave was pouring everyone a second glass they were mollified with her efforts, and turned to lighter topics. Their plans for hiring a physiotherapist, musings on what happened to their business during their disappearance. It was only when dessert was eaten and tidied away that Chad realised that his parents hadn’t mentioned Morgan once. 

The two of them were ready to retire, guided back to the living room and to their armchairs, and Chad gave them a smile. ‘Alright, is there anything else you might need for today?’

Caroline looked at him in alarm, ‘You’re leaving? But we discussed with the FA about your patrol, are they making you pick it up now?’

‘Oh, oh no,’ Chad said, trying to hide his sudden nerves with a chuckle. ‘No I still have my Roofer investigation to tend to. And that can’t wait anymore today.’

‘That’s still going on?’ Richard asked in disbelief. ‘You’ve been at it for how long?’

‘Unfortunately so,’ Chad said. ‘It’s been a few weeks I know. The Vigilante said I’m making good time, it's just-’

‘By whose standard?’ Caroline asked.

Chad swallowed, ‘If this works? I can take Roofer down for good. That’s the goal. I can’t afford to make a mistake.’

Richard sighed, ‘Even so. Is there no one else in the team who can work on it for you for a while?’

‘No,’ Chad said sharply, before stuttering over his reaction. Richard’s eyebrows had hit his hairline and Caroline’s frown was almost a scowl, and Chad swallowed. ‘Sorry, but no. Roofer is my nemesis. Taking him down is my responsibility. I won’t offload that on to anyone else.’

‘What about your other responsibilities?’ Caroline asked.

‘I’m keeping up with them,’ Chad said. ‘My patrols are unaffected, my work at the library only needed to be moved slightly but they were more than happy to accommodate that…’

‘And us?’ Caroline said. Chad fell silent, glancing away under Caroline’s scrutiny. ‘Where do we fit?’

‘Mum,’ Diego stepped forward. Richard however gave her a look and she fell silent. Dave was scowling from behind her, looking between Caroline and Chad.

‘Is this all we can expect now?’ Caroline asked with a huff. ‘A lift home, a dinner your sister cooked and then you’re off to do “more important things?”’

‘No,’ Chad said, swallowing around the growing lump in his throat. ‘That’s not what this is, I promise.’

‘Well that’s how it looks,’ Caroline said.

Richard touched Caroline’s hand, ‘Perhaps we should give the lad some slack. It’s not ideal, but he has been forthright. We knew this might be a possibility when we were planning on coming home.’

Caroline huffed, ‘I’m glad you can be so blase about this. But Chad,’ she turned back to him, barely taking in his hunched shoulders and tight fists, ‘you’ll have to forgive me for wanting to hold onto you tighter than you’re used to, especially after everything we’ve been through.’

Diego stepped forward again, frowning, ‘Mum, please. Chad’s doing his best. We all are. But we’re adults now, we have our own lives, our own responsibilities.’

‘So we can just be left behind then? And I’m supposed to just accept that?’ Caroline turned back to Chad, and he tried desperately to not flinch, to keep his breathing under control. He couldn’t crack now. ‘Try to see this from our perspective,’ Caroline said. ‘To be betrayed like we were by her, and then to be rescued by strangers-’

‘FA heroes,’ Dave corrected. ‘All high tiers, and your colleagues. And all of them willingly volunteered to find you.’

Caroline shot him a glare before turning back to Chad. ‘Only to get back and find that neither of our children tried to look for us?’

‘I did what I could,’ Chad whimpered, desperately blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. ‘I am doing what I can.’

Richard sighed and held out a hand, gesturing for Chad to come closer. ‘You know how precious you are to us right?’ Chad stepped closer, taking Richard’s hand and nodding. ‘Our son. The last one to leave the nest. Our pride and joy.’

Chad had to bite his cheek to stop himself from wincing. ‘I know. I…I love you. I do.’ He shuddered, looking between both of them. ‘This investigation won’t be forever. I will succeed, and I will make this world safe from Roofer. For good. I just need more time. Please try to understand.’

Caroline opened her mouth, but Richard nodded first, ‘We do. We understand. Being a hero requires sacrifice, to do thankless work for people that will never know how much you’ve given them. We know that better than anyone.’ Chad swallowed, trying to stop the full body cringe threatening to rock through his body. ‘We can be patient,’ Richard said, and turned to Caroline. ‘Can’t we dear?’

Caroline was silent for a moment, hands clenched on the arms of her chair, before she nodded. ‘If it’s the only way, then of course.’ She looked at Chad, ‘Is there no other way?’

Chad swallowed, ‘I…I have to do this. I’m a hero. It’s what we do.’

She sighed and looked away, resigned and a lot more tired, ‘Go on then, go and save the world. And come back home soon. We miss you, you know?’

‘I will,’ Chad nodded, trying for a smile despite the twisted ache in his chest. ‘I promise. Thank you.’

They nodded and Chad was allowed to say his goodbyes. He didn’t let out the breath threatening to crack him into pieces until he was in the car and driving around the corner. The shudder that ran through him had him gripping the steering wheel tight enough to leave dents, but it was better than losing control of the car. He drove as quickly as he dared, balancing the need to get back to his apartment with trying to keep safe while panic wracked through his body. 

Eventually he pulled up in the car park for his apartment, wiping the worst of his tears from his face before heading into the building. He didn’t have enough energy to keep his composure for long, and he silently begged that none of his neighbours would bump into him right now. Or worse; start a conversation. But he was spared and got back to his apartment without incident, barrelling through the door and slamming it behind him. Only then did he allow himself to break. 

Chad couldn’t tell how much time had passed. At first there was nothing but panic, fear and anger, clawing up his throat to make him want to retch and set his blood on fire. Something roared in his ears, some mix of a hurricane and his thundering heart, drowning out the rest of the world. He couldn’t see past his freezing tears scorching down his face and trying to blind him. Had it always hurt this much to try and appease his parents? Or was it the weight of the truth poisoning every word they said? His traitorous thoughts turned to Janice and Bernard, to cheesecake and breakfast omelettes, and the deafening winds flared in time with his aching chest. They made loving him look so easy, feel so easy. Was that because they didn’t know him yet? Was it because he didn’t know their horrible secrets? He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. But he couldn’t stop the thoughts spiralling, louder and faster than the winds around him.

Eventually the storm broke. Because storms always do. And when it did there was nothing but exhaustion left, blinding Chad to everything around him until there was nothing but the crushing cloak of darkness. It wasn’t sleep, it wasn’t restful enough for that. It was ice cold and numbed him to his bones and left him too drained to do anything. He couldn’t move, couldn’t even work out which way was up, where he ended and the floor began. All his thoughts were sluggish, echoing on the walls of his mind, but he couldn’t even make any sense out of them. It was too much. Too much.

But even the cold dark nothingness had to end. And it ended with a soft glow beyond his closed eyes, and a warmth enveloping him. Something soft and gentle was brushing through his hair, gently scraping at his scalp. He stirred at the touch, leaning into it on instinct. There were whispered voices above him but he couldn’t really hear them. The only thing he could focus on was the hand in his hair, and if he had more energy he would have reached out for it and pulled its owner closer. A soft whimper slipped through his lips, and the hand stilled. His face creased, until the hand started moving again, a soothing rhythm carding through his hair. He slumped, curling into the body next to him, so warm he couldn’t help but nuzzle into it. 

‘It’s okay Cheddar,’ a soft voice drifted though. ‘Go back to sleep. We’ve got you.’

He wanted to nod, but he was too tired to respond. All he could manage was a quiet hum, before curled into the warm soft safe touch, and drifted off to sleep. 

Chapter Text

‘We need a new plan.’

Morgan sighed, turning away from the large screen of scrolling text to focus on the phone at her ear, ‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know,’ Diego said, glancing down at Chad for a moment. He had sunk into a deep sleep, burrowed into his duvet and as close to Diego as he could manage. She had abandoned her perch on the edge of the bed to recline properly, and now Chad was using her hip as a pillow. ‘But we need to do something. One dinner with Mum and Dad and Chad had a panic attack so bad he made a storm around his building and we found him passed out just inside his front door.’ 

Morgan sighed, ‘Then he doesn’t go to their dinners. Problem solved.’

‘Problem not solved,’ Diego said. ‘The dinner wasn’t the problem. It was when he tried to leave “too early.” They chewed him out so much you’d think he was a dog toy. If he avoids them completely they’ll only get worse.’

Morgan turned at the door to the computer lab opening, waving to Alex as they walked in with a tray of drinks and snacks. ‘Should I be surprised? This is their normal MO.’

‘I’m not saying you should be surprised,’ Diego said. ‘I’m saying that if we carry on like this Chad is going to keep getting caught in the crossfire and he’s going to get hurt.’

Morgan bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut, ‘He knew what he was signing up for.’

‘You can’t be serious?’ Diego hissed down the phone. ‘Are you even listening to what I’m saying? He was catatonic Morgan.’

‘What do we do then? Hide him? Fake a kidnapping?’ Morgan growled and ran a hand through her hair. ‘I need more time to find those records. I can’t run the risk of them getting wind of any of this and burning the leads before I have a chance.’

‘And Chad’s going to take the hits in the meantime?’ Diego shook her head. ‘Not acceptable. There has to be something else.’

Morgan held up her free hand, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’

Alex was watching Morgan carefully from the other computer station, sipping on their drink. ‘Who are we kidnapping?’ Morgan scowled at Alex, pressing her fingers to her lips, and Alex just shrugged in response. ‘Murder’s still on the table.’

‘No it’s not,’ Morgan hissed.

‘What?’ Diego asked.

‘Nothing,’ Morgan said. ‘Alex is making suggestions.’

‘No murder,’ Diego said.

‘That’s what I said.’

Alex shrugged. ‘Then you’re running out of options,’ they said in a sing-song voice.

Morgan rolled her eyes and turned away from the villain. ‘Dee? I hear you, I do. I don’t like it, but we really don’t have a lot of options. If we kidnap Chad? First of all you’re going to have either an angry or pouting Chad on your hands who’s just going to want to get back out into the field. But you’re also going to have the entire FA looking for him, so you’re going to need a very good hiding place for him.’

‘He could stay with you,’ Diego said. ‘Where are you hiding?’

‘Classified,’ Morgan said. ‘Alex picked it. Safe to say Chad isn’t invited.’

‘You couldn’t pay me!’ Alex shouted loud enough for Diego to hear.

Morgan ignored them and carried on, ‘If he stays and avoids Mum and Dad, then he brings the wrath of our parent’s A+ parenting on his ass at literally anytime. His only real option is to try and stick it out.’

‘And he risks a mental breakdown,’ Diego said. ‘I hate all these options.’

Morgan licked her lips. ‘Look, I’ve started going through those pictures you sent me of Mum and Dad’s set up. I’m going to break it down, try and find some clues. If I’m right, I think Janice can help me get past the extra defences on their computer.’

‘You’re sure that’s going to help?’

‘My guts telling me there’s something there,’ Morgan said. ‘I’ll work as fast as I can. I promise. Just…you and Chad work out your end and keep me in the loop.’

Diego sighed, leaning on the headboard. ‘Will do. Love you Mo.’

‘Love you too,’ Morgan said, waiting for Diego to hang up.

When Morgan dropped the phone Alex finally piped up, ‘What happened then?’

‘Mum and Dad did,’ Morgan said. ‘Gave Chad both barrels of the emotional shotgun. He had a panic attack.’

She turned back to the computer, typing on the keyboard, and so missed the frown that flashed across Alex’s face. They licked their lips, thinking hard for a moment. ‘What’s the scale then, if Diego’s worried? Is she overreacting?’

Morgan sighed and shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I tended to get different lectures about pulling myself up by my bootstraps and to stop being a disappointment. Knowing them though? There was probably a healthy dose of guilt tripping involved.’

‘That sounds like it would be Golden Boy’s kryptonite,’ Alex said. ‘What did she want?’

‘She wants to protect Chad from them,’ Morgan said. ‘But we can’t kill them or even attack them without running the risk of losing all of this,’ she pointed to the screen for emphasis. ‘Chad could hide, fake a kidnapping or something. But then the entire FA will be looking for him. So what’s the option at that point?’

Alex thought for a moment, ‘Give them something else to focus on.’ Morgan frowned and turned back to Alex, a silent question on her face. ‘Picture this: the middle of Capital City, sun in the sky, all those dumb weak people scurrying around. And then there’s a bright flash. The heroes go to investigate and fall out of the sky, one by one. Those that survive go back with one message. “Where is Morgan?”’

Morgan blinked, ‘Oh.’

‘Yeah,’ Alex said. ‘We’ve been missing for two weeks. I show up? Pissed? Suddenly everyone is looking at me.’

Morgan thought for a moment. ‘They would deploy everyone to go after you. And they would start investigating what happened to me.’

‘We give Chad and Diego the heads up so they get their story straight,’ Alex said. ‘But the FA’s equipment isn’t getting in here, not in any way that matters. No one will find you while you’re here. And as long as you’re missing…’

‘You’ll declare vengeance on the planet,’ Morgan said.

Alex grinned, ‘It’s the perfect smokescreen. And then you can sneak in anywhere you need to get to. No one will be watching you.’

‘And Mum and Dad will be so focused on what you say and do and what the FA can find on tracking me down,’ Morgan said, ‘they might just get off Chad's back.’ Morgan paused, ‘But then you won’t be here.’

Alex shrugged, ‘I’ve always been more of a do-er than a thinker. I can get Mum and Dad here though, get the three of you putting your heads together right here? Damn, nothing and no one will be able to hide from you three.’

Morgan was grinning, eyes shining with delight. ‘Oh Janice is going to love this. I’ll call Diego and let her know the new plan.’

Alex smiled with a tinge of pride and got to their feet. ‘I’ll let Mum and Dad know the good news.’ 

Morgan waved over her shoulder as she brought her phone back to her ear. ‘Dee?’

‘What? What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Morgan was grinning. ‘I’ve got a new plan. Well, it’s Alex’s plan.’

‘If it involves Mum and Dad and any kind of torture or murder-’

‘It doesn’t. I promise.’ Morgan chuckled, ‘It’s actually pretty clever.’

Diego frowned, sitting up on the bed in curiosity. ‘What then?’ 

*****

It took three days for the rest of the pieces to fall into place, for stories to be straightened and alibis built. On the fourth day, Morgan Janice and Bernard were sitting in Alex’s computer lab, drinks and snacks overflowing on a nearby table, with an entire screen dedicated to every news station for Central City. They weren’t going to miss a single angle if they could help it. 

Alex, for their part, was currently flying over the city, scouting out the perfect spot to start the showdown. They looked and felt the part, blood red leather corset over black silk, with a chain harness wrapped over their torso. Their hair was short again, which obviously meant that they meant business, and their fingerless gloves had strategically placed studs across the knuckles. But the outfit only did so much. For this to have maximum effect they needed the perfect stage. Or the perfect hero to pulverise. It wasn’t until they were away from the tallest skyscrapers and near the centre of the city that they saw a cluster of buildings, a large gaggle of civilians, and a familiar sky blue cape. Perfect.

They started small, a single flash of violet light, manifesting into an orb in their hand. They twirled their fingers, watching the orb of plasma grow bigger and brighter. When they heard the first screams from the crowd below Alex grinned. The ball jumped from a basketball to a beach ball, then bigger and bigger until it could encase Alex entirely. Holding it high above their head, Alex took a moment to bask in the screams and yells of panic, the pounding feet of the masses trying to escape, before they looked down. The blue caped hero was still there, facing them now, if Alex focused they might be able to see the look of concentration on his face. 

‘Hey hero,’ Alex muttered with a grin. ‘Catch.’ And they tossed the roiling sphere of plasma towards the city. 

The screams in the city magnified at the same time as a bolt of blue raced towards the attack. A flurry of wind ran past the nearby buildings, before the Chadster braced and summoned a tornado, thrusting it forward to catch the attack. The two energies collided, pushing the Chadster back with a yell. He gritted his teeth, grunting against the effort and intensified the tornado, trying to offset the energy from Alex’s throw. It was beginning to slow down, the wind was starting to push it back, and Chad realised there was no additional resistance. Alex wasn’t pushing this. Just an attention piece then. He took a steadying breath, focusing as the tornado began to grow into a more powerful storm. With a yell, he thrust his arms forward, the tornado blasting away from him and the plasma ball went careening skyward. 

Alex cackled at the sight of the sphere flying towards them and easily dodged it, twirling in the air before righting themselves and staring down at Chad, who was lightly panting while floating in mid air. This was going to be fun , Alex thought. 

They shot down like a bullet, aiming straight for Chad. They barely felt the shift of wind, but realised what happened after they were rolled away from Chad. They growled, righting themselves and came in with a raised fist. Chad blocked one, then another, before throwing an icy punch of his own. Alex spun around Chad in midair, only for Chad to drop a few feet before coming up with an uppercut. Alex deflected the fist, their other hand grabbing the front of Chad’s costume, lifting them up just enough to toss them out of their little wind cushion and onto the roof below. Chad rolled, bouncing to his feet in a guard before Alex even reached him, and this time when Alex came in with an attack the wind buffeted him back. Alex roared, pushing further forward when Chad pulled one hand back, before throwing out a frost wind to blast Alex back. They stumbled, ice catching in their hair and on their chains, before they looked up and Chad was clapping his hands together, sending another twister right for Alex. 

Alex side stepped it easily, scowling at Chad, ‘Is that really all you’ve got?’

Chad laughed, his over the top boisterous hero laugh that grated on Alex every time. ‘Of course not, villain! I’m just warming up! I knew it was wishful thinking to hope that you were gone for good!’

Alex’s lip curled, ‘About that.’ They stepped forward, every bit the threatening villain, and despite the bravado Chad took a hesitant step back. Huh , Alex thought, that’s normally fun to see. They ignored that thought and carried on. ‘Let me paint you a picture, Hero. There I am, in the middle of a fight, having the time of my life, when I get a distress call from a mutual acquaintance of ours. And I head off to her apartment only to end up in the wrong place. In fact, I landed in a teleport trap instead.’ A glimmer appeared in the corner of Alex’s eye, and they ducked in time to dodge a flurry of icicles. They look at Chad in bemusement, ‘Did you just try a sneak attack?’

Chad shrugged, ‘You should know better than to monologue.’

‘Oh? You’re not interested in the trap I found myself in then?’ Alex asked. ‘Or that I had to go the long way around to get back to our mutual acquaintance? You’ll love this bit though. Guess what I find when I get back home?’

‘I’m not going to entertain your little games Alex!’ He raised his hand again but Alex bolted across the rooftop, their superspeed making them appear in the blink of an eye, and grabbed Chad’s wrist, wrenching it to one side to make the wind dissipate.

‘This is no game,’ Alex snarled, leaning into Chad’s face. ‘Not when my apartment is trashed and abandoned. And that acquaintance? Is nowhere to be seen. And now, I have a question for you and your little hero friends,’ Alex hissed. Quiet enough to be threatening, but loud enough that Chad’s comm should be able to pick it up. ‘Where. Is. Morgan?’

Chad blinked, ‘What? She wasn’t with you?’

‘Villain!’ a voice sounded behind Alex. They scowled and turned to the voice. The Amazonian was braced on the edge of the roof, spear pointed right at Alex. ‘I will only say this once. Let him go.’

‘Do you mind?’ Alex asked. ‘We’re trying to have a conversation.’

Chad took the distraction to blast away Alex’s grip before another twister sent them staggering. Alex growled and lashed out, Chad ducking and weaving almost effortlessly. A whistle sounded from behind them and Alex raised their hand, catching the spear in one hand. By the point.

‘Well that was stupid,’ Alex growled, turning towards the Amazonian. They twisted the spear away and the Amazonian rolled with it, coming up to lunge again. Alex swatted her away, taking a moment to scan the area around them. More heroes flying in. Oh this was going well. 

They traded blows with Chadster and the Amazonian, switching from one to another while they tried to get off their ridiculous team combo attacks that did absolutely nothing. Soon enough Alex dodged a pair of heat rays and sneered at the scowling bulk that was Aceman. ‘Oh are you getting the whole party out for me?’ Alex asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Don’t I feel special?’

Chad responded with a wind-powered punch that Alex easily dodged. They weaved through the quickly gathering heroes, the group growing from five to ten to twenty. That seemed like enough. They kicked off one, spinning over the crowd before landing in front of Aceman. With a cruel grin Alex slammed their hand into Ace, watching with delight as they stepped backwards from the blow, before vanishing in front of everyone’s eyes.

‘Ace!’ one of the heroes shouted.

‘Monster!’ another did as they lunged for Alex. They caught the hand and pulled them closer, their manic glee growing as the second hero disappeared as well.

‘They’re teleporting them!’ a third hero shouted.

‘Very astute,’ Alex growled, power gathering in their hands. All the heroes began to back away from them, but it was too late. Alex slammed their hands onto the rooftops, a wave of power rolling over all the heroes, making them disappear one at a time. When the wave died and Alex pushed up to their feet, they looked over to the only hero standing.

‘What did you do?’ Chad whispered, shock turning to horror on his face.

‘An eye for an eye,’ Alex said, raising their hands in a half bow half demonstration. ‘You steal my person, I steal yours.’

Chad blanched. ‘Alex, if Morgan isn’t with you I don’t know where she is.’

‘You might not,’ Alex said. ‘But we both know who will. So, be a good little boy and pass on a message for me. Your parents are going to release Morgan. They’re going to give her back. And if I find out she has been harmed in any way? Every. Single. Person. On this planet. Will pay.’

Chad shook his head, ‘Alex I’m telling you, they don’t have her. They can’t. They-’

‘Then they had better find her!’ Alex yelled. ‘And do it quickly. Because I am not a patient person. And I get bored very easily. Luckily, I have twenty A tier heroes to entertain me while you work. You’d better hope for their sake you find her fast.’

‘No!’ Chad yelled, and a wind gathered around them. Alex growled as Chad charged at them, the wind rushing in at the same time on all sides. Alex braced, deflecting Chad’s first blow before grabbing him by the scruff and lifting him into the air easily. Chad snarled, a flash of light crossing their eyes, but Alex barely noticed. ‘Tick tock,’ they snarled, before tossing Chad into the air, teleporting away before Chad had a chance to land. 

They stepped straight into the computer lab, the scowl on their face melting away at the cheer going from their personal popcorn gallery. ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ Alex bowed. ‘Think I was convincing enough?’

Chad spun through the air, not slowing until he reached the top of his arc. He righted himself enough to gather his senses and pulled the wind closer to cushion his fall. Once he finally stilled he was gasping for breath, looking around wildly for Alex, for the other heroes. Shit! He thought. That wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan.  

He tapped his comms and let out a breath. ‘Diviner? Did you catch all that?’

‘Yeah I did,’ she said. ‘Shit.’

‘I know,’ Chad swallowed. ‘I’m on my way back to HQ now for debrief. We’re going to need everyone in on this. Well,’ he looked over at the rooftop. ‘Everyone left.’

Chapter Text

The FA HQ was in mayhem by the time Chad got back. Nearly everyone was rushing around the building, careening from panic to confusion to anger. Heroes from nearly all the tiers were trying to keep some control over the masses, while sidekicks and interns rushed from one floor to another with intel, questions, plans, and everything in between. Those A tiers that were still around were stoic, weaving through the crowds to the main Observation Deck. And Chad joined them, barely aware of the crowds parting for him as he headed for the lifts to the top floor. He didn’t stop for any of the interns trying to deliver him updates and news, he was honestly barely paying attention to their words. He was too focused on keeping his composure. He needed to keep a lid on his own swirling anger and panic, trying not to think about the knot of very personal rage at Alex’s stunt. Did Morgan know what they had been planning? Did Janice and Bernard? He tried to shove down that thought and the stinging ache that came with it. It wouldn’t help. There were more important things right now. 

Right now he needed to make sure his part of the plan worked. All eyes would have been on Alex’s stunt and there would be questions about Morgan. Chad needed to try and steer the conversation, get the FA looking where the Stewarts wanted them to look. And he needed to make sure that he was keeping an eye on the investigation, so he could give the warning if they got too close. It was fine. He only had to lie and manipulate the most powerful heroes in the FA, including the country's most famous detective crime fighting family. Fighting Alex was easier. He ignored that particular thought and stepped into the lift, taking a steadying breath. He had this.

The lift up to the Observation Deck was silent, Chad too busy trying to get his thoughts and traitorous feelings under control to try and speak to anyone around him. No one else said anything either in fairness. Everyone was too busy in their own thoughts, or reading devices, or trying to not pace in the small space. Eventually the door to the lift opened and Chad stepped out into the large and familiar hall. Boots hammered on metal floors and stairs all around as A tiers rushed from computer to control panel, to the large round table set up in the middle of the hall. There were a handful of people already sat at the table, and without hesitation Chad moved towards them. 

Vigilante saw him approach first, giving him a stoic nod. ‘Chadster, good to see you back in one piece.’

Caroline and Richard, in their hero gear, looked over their shoulders at Chad approaching. ‘Thank you,’ Chad said, not quite managing his normal heroic voice. ‘Good to be back. I only wish I could have brought the others back with me.’

‘No one could have predicted that move from the S tier,’ the Vigilante said. ‘We’ll take the wins where we can.’

‘Even so,’ Chad said, ‘I should have done more for the others.’

‘You’re not out of the fight yet,’ Richard said. Chad swallowed and nodded, watching the other heroes start to trickle over to the table.

The Vigilante stood up, taking a file from one of his sidekicks and flicking through it. ‘When everyone is sat and ready, are you ready to give the debrief Chadster?’ Chad nodded. ‘Have you been to the infirmary yet?’

Chad tried to scoff, ‘That isn’t necessary, I’m much hardier than that my sleuthing friend!’

The Vigilante barely looked at him, ‘Infirmary after the debrief. We need everyone in their best condition for this.’ He turned to a freckled red head next to him. ‘Have we heard anything from the Chastisers?’

‘Representatives are on their way,’ The Diviner said, tapping at a tablet balanced on the table. ‘Shadowstep, Leader USA, and the Hornet. ETA 12 minutes.’ 

Chad blinked in surprise, ‘A team up has been authorised already?’

The Diviner snorted and smiled at Chad. ‘Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.’ 

The rest of the A tiers gathered the information they could before finding their seats, speaking in hushed voices to their neighbours and trying to ignore the number of empty seats. Caroline’s arm found Chad’s shoulder, giving it a light but firm squeeze, and Chad took a deep breath to brace himself. A few minutes after the A tiers were all sat the lift opened one final time, with the three Chastisers striding out in full hero garb. Seats were set up for them at the far end of the table, and the Vigilante got to his feet.

‘Fairness Association heroes. Allies from the Chastisers. I know Aceman normally tries for a speech around now, something to keep our morale up. I however don’t want to lose anymore time on this. So,’ he turned to Chad. ‘Chadster. When you’re ready.’

Chad nodded and got to his feet. He kept to the truth as much as possible, describing his patrol and Alex appearing, the initial attack and brawl. The attempts to nullify the threat from the other heroes and then Alex’s final move. Chad faltered slightly when relaying Alex’s final warning, but he pushed on. When he finished a ripple of fear and concern ran across the table.

The Vigilante stood again, a series of files arranged in front of him. ‘As I see it there are two approaches to this. We cannot and will not leave our colleagues under the continued threat of Alex Stewart for any longer than is necessary. There will be a team that will track down where Alex is holding their prisoners and an operation to free them and bring them home. The priority will be freeing the prisoners, not taking down the S tier. We can only do so much with our current force.’ He turned to Leader USA, ‘I would not expect to be able to give you or your team orders USA, but you are a full and primed team. Can we ask for your assistance with this mission?’

Dave looked briefly to Diego and the Hornet, before nodding. The Hornet sat up to speak, ‘If we cross reference our satellite imagining we should be able to pinpoint their location a lot quicker. And quite a few of us can get into small spaces. Besides,’ she looked around at the table, ‘I think we’ll have the element of surprise if we play it right. Our teams don’t normally ally for a mission like this. Not even for Alex Stewart.’

‘Excellent,’ The Vigilante said. ‘This won’t just be on you, we’ll allocate the A tiers that will work with you on this after the debrief.’ Murmurs sounded around the table, a mix of trepidation and righteousness blending around them. The Vigilante continued, ‘The second approach is this Morgan person.’ The Vigilante looked at Chadster, ‘Who exactly are they? And why are they important to Alex?’

Chad spared a glance for his parents. Richard was the picture of stoicism, almost looking like a statue at the table. Caroline however, wasn’t as effective at keeping her composure. The edge of a prominent vein was popping out from above her domino mask, and her jaw was so tight Chad could swear he could hear her teeth cracking. He stood up again, swallowing slightly. ‘That would be Morgan Sterling.’ Those at the table who knew the significance of that name snapped immediately to watch Caroline and Richard’s reactions as Chad continued. ‘Morgan is a friend of Alex Stewarts and shares an apartment with them. Morgan is also known as the D Tier villain Generator.’

The whispers that grew across the table were only partially silenced by Caroline’s glare, while the Vigilante spoke over them. ‘Why would Alex be under the impression we have hidden away a D tier villain? Assuming she’s not just in the justice system somewhere?’

‘She’s not,’ Richard said. ‘We checked the police records as soon as we had access to our private systems. There is no police record of the Generator being arrested in the past month, and we haven’t been able to track anything to her civilian name either.’

Chad cleared his throat. ‘For a while we, that is, myself, Inferno and Professor Psion, have been working on the theory that Morgan is under some form of mind control influencing her to commit villainous acts and to befriend Alex Stewart. As a result we have attempted to rescue her in the past. Alex has labelled those attempts as kidnapping previously, and takes them rather personally.’

One of the newer A tiers scowled at the three of them, ‘This is all your fault? Then the answer’s simple, give the S tier their pet back.’

Caroline scowled, ‘We don’t have her.’

Chad stepped in, ‘At the time Morgan most recently disappeared it was when Inferno and Professor Psion were missing. I was undercover tracking down some of Roofer’s activity, none of us were in a position to interact with her. When I got back there had been an attack at Morgan’s apartment and her and Alex had both vanished. I…suppose I was being naive, hoping that Morgan had escaped and gone to ground somewhere.’

‘She might have,’ another hero said. ‘If you’re right about the mind control thing, then she might have broken it.’

Chad shook his head, ‘If she had then she would have come home.’

‘Not if you were all missing,’ another hero said.

‘The Sterlings are a large family,’ Chad said. ‘There are siblings, aunts and uncles, second and third cousins. People she could have turned to for help. She’s not with them.’

The Diviner leaned forward, ‘At this point we don’t know enough about what happened. We can’t rule anything out.’ She tapped her screen and a large projection appeared in the middle of the table. ‘At this point I’m gathering every mention of Morgan Sterling and the Generator in the databases. The satellites will be busy tracking down the heroes, so we will need to rely on police reports, CCTV and the like.’ She looked at Chad, ‘Can you think of any angles? Any leads at all?’

Chad nodded, trying not to look too nervous. ‘Yes. Before she disappeared…well she managed to cross Roofer. He was sending assassination attempts after her. Those were the reasons why I went undercover for those few days. I needed to track down the activity so I could take out one of his cells. When I got back Morgan was gone. I have a feeling they’re connected.’

The Vigilante nodded, ‘Makes sense. It’s a strong a lead as any. Are all of your current investigation reports uploaded on the databases?’

‘All but one,’ Chad said. ‘It’s still being drafted.’

‘Draft is fine,’ Vigilante said. ‘Get it up today, after your trip to the infirmary. I’ll need all the information you can provide.’

Chad blinked, frowning in confusion. Richard leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, ‘You’re joining in the investigation to track down Generator?’

‘No,’ Vigilante said. ‘I’m leading it.’

Chad’s heart plummeted into his stomach. ‘What? But…’

‘You’ve done good work,’ Vigilante said. ‘But this is no longer a private investigation for you to work on in your off time. The world is at stake, twenty of our heroes have their lives on the line. They are counting on us. We can’t afford to make any mistakes, and I have been at this for a lot longer than you have. I will lead the investigation into Morgan’s whereabouts.’

Chad swallowed, trying to control his panic and the brief flash of anger. ‘Of course. This will be a great learning experience. I look forward to working on this mission with you.’

The Diviner tried to hide a wince as Vigilante shook his head. ‘No, you’re on the hero detail.’

Chad’s eyes widened, his parents sitting up next to him. ‘What?’

‘You will work with the Chastisers to get our heroes back from Alex,’ Vigilante said.

There was silence across the table for a moment, everyone’s attention switching from Vigilante to Chadster. Eventually Chad broke the silence. ‘No,’ Chad laughed humourlessly, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘No, this was all my investigation so far. And if I’m right and Roofer’s behind this? He’s my nemesis, he’s my responsibility.’

‘Don’t worry about it, Chadster,’ one of Vigilante’s kids said with a cocky smile, ‘We’ll bring you in for the fun part. Wouldn’t want to go against Roofer without you.’

Chad was shaking his head as Caroline straightened her shoulders next to him. ‘No, no I have to be part of his investigation. I have to help,’ Chad said. He could feel the panic building, and he tried to keep a lid on it even as his cape rippled in the slightest wind. ‘Morgan needs my help.’

‘I need detectives on this,’ Vigilante said. ‘People who can find the needle in the haystack and keep a cool and level head at all times. And frankly? You’re too close to this.’

‘But she’s my sister!’ Chad shouted, his hand slamming onto the table, the heroes around him that weren’t his parents jumping at how he dented the table.

The Vigilante simply looked at Chad’s hand, then met his eyes. ‘Exactly my point.’

‘You can’t,’ Chad said. ‘You can’t pull me from this.’ 

‘And yet I have,’ Vigilante said. ‘I am leading this mission. So I pick my team. And all three of you,’ he cast his eyes over all the Sterlings, ‘are too close to this. Two of you carry your hearts on your sleeves. This mission is too high profile and too sensitive as it is. I cannot have anyone in the team blow up and sabotage the rest of our work.’

‘Excuse you?’ Caroline said, leaning forward. ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

‘Professor Psion and Inferno,’ Vigilante said, ‘we appreciate you answering the call today. But until you are back to your full duties we cannot agree to have you work on either of these missions. Like I said earlier, I need everyone in peak condition.’ 

‘You’re not benching us!’ Richard said, moving to stand and trying to subtly lean on the table to do so.

‘Well you’re not joining my team,’ Vigilante said. ‘Darkfeather is leading the mission to rescue the heroes, so if you want to join him I suggest talking to him directly. Chadster,’ he said, turning back to Chad. ‘I expect you on Darkfeather’s team. You have a good rapport with the Chastisers and you’re one of our best fighters. We’re counting on you.’

Chad couldn’t look at Vigilante, or any of the other heroes as the teams were allocated. The storm of rage inside them threatened to drop a frost on everyone in the room and it was taking all his concentration to not let it out. He couldn’t lose anymore of his composure, not now. Not today. As soon as he could justify it Chad marched away from the table, ignoring the buzzing voices around him in favour of escaping the Observation Deck and finding a quiet corridor to hide in. His blood was pounding in his ears, panic beginning to set in as the A tiers melted away into B and C tiers still milling about. He had one job, and now not only had he been stonewalled from the one thing he needed to do to protect Morgan’s investigation, but the best detective in the FA was leading the case.

He finally found a private and empty corridor and quickly pulled out his phone, sending Morgan a hurried text to update her before sliding down the floor onto the floor. ‘Fuck.’ 

Chapter Text

No one disturbed Chad until a familiar head poked through the wall above him. Diego watched Chad for a moment, frowning at him curled up in a ball, his face buried in his arms with his cowl abandoned at his side. She stepped out of the wall and slid down next to him, bumping into his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry they took your mission,’ Diego said.

Chad shrugged, not stirring from his position. ‘It…makes sense,’ he said through gritted teeth, his shoulders tensing.

‘It’s still a dick move,’ Diego said. ‘Not only to swoop in and take over but to kick you out of the investigation team? You’re allowed to be mad about it. Or upset. Or both.’

‘It’s just,’ Chad started, pulling up slightly so Diego saw a glimpse of his blotchy face, ‘I’m a hero. I’m supposed to protect people and keep them safe. And when they’re in danger I’m supposed to save them.’ He looked at her, his damp eyes wide, like he was begging her to understand. ‘How am I supposed to be able to call myself a hero if I can’t even protect my family?’

Diego licked her lips, trying to keep her composure as she wrapped an arm around Chad’s shoulder. ‘You should give yourself more credit. You’ve done so much for us already, for all of us.’ Chad sighed and leaned into Diego’s shoulder, leaning into her embrace. ‘You’re a hero because you care about everyone. And as long as you do your best and always keep your compassion, then you’ll never not be a hero. Even when others need to help. And we will always be there to help.’

‘A hero is a legend,’ Chad whispered. ‘They’re an inspiration to the people of this City. They’re the bastions of courage, justice, and strength.’

‘And you have all of those in abundance,’ Diego said. ‘You’ve done everything you can for Morgan for now. She’ll understand.’ Chad didn’t reply, and Diego squeezed his shoulders a little tighter. ‘Did you make it to the infirmary?’ Chad shook his head, and Diego tapped his arm, ‘Come on then.’

‘I’m not hurt,’ Chad said.

‘You faced off against the S tier,’ Diego said. ‘Let me worry over you a little bit, okay?’

Chad sighed but let Diego pull him to his feet, grabbing his cowl to pull it back into place. ‘Did Inferno and the Professor say anything when I left?’

‘Oh they had plenty left to say,’ Diego said. ‘They were still yelling at Vigilante when everyone else had left.’

‘He’s right though,’ Chad said. ‘They should be prioritising their recovery instead of throwing themselves into something this dangerous.’

‘True, but when have they ever listened?’ Diego asked. ‘Besides, I think they were banking on you leading that investigation so they could insist on joining your team. Then they would have a chance to find Morgan first.’

Chad shuddered at that thought, not daring to consider what their parents might want to do with Morgan if they found her. ‘I should catch up with Darkfeather.’

‘Infirmary first,’ Diego said. ‘My team will be with him, so once you’ve been checked over we can go find them all together.’

The check up was finished in record time (Chad managed to get his boastful voice enough to brag to Diego how he really was fine after that battle) and soon enough they found Darkfeather talking to Leader USA, Hornet and a couple of FA heroes. 

‘Ah, Chadster,’ Darkfeather said, trying for a bright smile, but a shard of guilt slipped through. ‘Good to have you on this operation. I uh…feel like I need to apologise for Vigilante?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Chad shook his head, trying for a smile. ‘His logic is sound after all. Besides, his decisions don’t reflect on your or any of your…colleagues.’ 

Darkfeather nodded, his shoulders dropping the slightest amount, ‘Appreciated. And I’m not going to lie, I am rather excited at having you on the team. You do incredible work.’

‘As do you,’ Chadster said. ‘So, what have we missed so far?’

‘Not much,’ Hornet said. ‘We’re just talking about the easiest way to share our satellite imaging. Speed and red tape don’t go hand in hand.’

‘I’d suggest building something with the Diviner but the Vigilante has got her on his team,’ Darkfeather said. ‘The easiest way though would be to share all our intel onto a private server to collate it into one place.’

USA raised an eyebrow, ‘Do any of us know an independent third party who would be willing to help us with this that will also be discrete?’

‘Doesn’t need to be independent, just someone we can trust,’ Darkfeather said. ‘There’s a few people in the FA who have private servers that we can use to bypass the red tape that the FA would need.’

Hornet snorted, ‘And it has to be FA? Plenty of Chastisers have them too.’

‘And this is an FA mission first and foremost,’ Darkfeather said.

‘So we’re supposed to trust one of your heroes with all of the Chastiser’s satellite information?’ Leader USA asked, folding his arms.

‘It’s either that or give away that we’re working together,’ Darkfeather said. ‘And as Hornet said, the element of surprise here will be crucial.’

Chad and Diego looked at each other, sharing a silent conversation for a moment. Chad raised an eyebrow in a question, which Diego frowned at. Chad glanced up through the ceiling, and Diego sighed and shook her head.

‘You two okay there?’ Hornet asked.

Chad smiled, ‘Oh, sorry. I was just wondering how hard it would be to make one of these private servers.’

‘Depends how big you want it,’ Darkfeather said, ‘but if you made your own and then gave both sides access…’

Leader USA nodded, ‘I trust Chadster. And I’d trust him to keep our satellite information safe.’

‘Problem is,’ Diego said. ‘You don’t have one. And they’re not easy to make.’

‘Mu-Inferno and Professor Psion built a very robust one,’ Chad said. ‘They might be willing to give a template for it.’

‘They’ll just ask why we’re not using theirs at that point,’ Diego said. Dave and Chad winced at the same time. ‘Also, if you’re using someone else’s template then there’s every chance they could build a backdoor into it. That’s why everyone builds their own.’ 

‘Alright, how about this,’ Darkfeather turned to Hornet, ‘do you have your own server?’ Hornet nodded, and Darkfeather smiled. ‘So do I. We’ll send our templates to Chadster, help him build something out of the two templates, and then we’ll make sure there aren’t any hidden back doors.’

Chad thought for a moment, ‘That would be very helpful. Thank you.’

A few hours later, after discussing how to design the server and the rest of the initial plan, Chad, Diego and Dave found themselves sat in the Dodger’s living room. Dave was setting up his computer for a video call while Diego and Chad were cleaning up after dinner, when Diego turned to Chad. ‘Darkfeather is totally going to leave a backdoor in that server.’

Chad nodded, ‘I know. Think Mo will look at it for us and shut it down?’

‘She’ll want into the server to do it,’ Diego said. ‘And I don’t know how I feel giving Alex that access to our satellites.’

‘We’re absolutely not doing that,’ Dave said. ‘It would be bad enough having Morgan in there watching what we’re doing.’

‘Well do you know anyone else who can beef up the security on it that isn’t our parents with no notice?’ Chad asked. ‘Morgan at least we can trust. At least until this job is done, and then you’ll just remove my permissions to your satellites.’

‘She, and Alex, could still use you as a backdoor to us,’ Dave said.

‘Depends how the information is shared,’ Diego said. ‘We’ll need to talk with Anton and Wednesday tomorrow.’

‘Wednesday?’

‘His new AI,’ Diego said. ‘I think he’s given up on turning them into acronyms and just went for a theme for his AI names.’ 

The laptop rang from a new notification, and the three of them all jumped to attention as Dave answered the call. The screen lit up to a huge room filled with computer screens and control panels that looked every bit the villain’s lair. Morgan was staring at the screen for a moment, watching for the lag before grinning at them, ‘Hey losers. Sounds like you had a fun day.’

Diego rolled her eyes and started to mouth off at Morgan. Chad however was fixated on the other people in the room. Janice and Bernard were both beaming from behind Morgan, with Janice even giving a little wave. Bernard looked the same as always, but Janice’s large thick knit cardigan and comfortable farm clothes had been replaced with a deep crimson and silver pant suit set with a chain of sparkling gems around her neck. Chad offered a small wave back, trying to not look sheepish or embarrassed, and Janice’s smile only grew. 

Alex moved into the image, still in their outfit from the fight, and all the heroes snapped to them in sync. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Chad asked without thinking.

Alex raised an eyebrow and scoffed, ‘Thought it would be fun. And it got the FA’s attention.’

‘You abducted 20 heroes,’ Dave said, scowling at Alex with his arms folded. ‘The FA is freaking out.’

‘Then it worked.’

‘Morgan,’ Diego said, ‘did you know that was the plan?’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Not really. I told you it was Alex’s plan.’

‘Well to just sum up the outcome,’ Diego said. ‘The FA are splitting their forces between finding the heroes and looking for you, they’ve unofficially asked the Chastisers for help, and the Vigilante took over Chad’s case. And then kicked him off it.’

Bernard frowned at that, ‘Can he do that?’

‘He’s not one to ask for permission,’ Chad said, trying to keep his frustration to a minimum. ‘But I’ve been put on the mission to go after the heroes you took,’ he said, turning to Alex, ‘and we have no one to keep an eye on the Vigilante’s investigation into Morgan.’

Alex shrugged, ‘So? They’ll never find her here.’

Janice pursed her lips, ‘Is the Vigilante that dark and brooding one? The self made detective?’ The heroes all nodded and Janice frowned, ‘I know his type. If he gets his hands on any clue or anything we’ve missed he’ll follow it like a bloodhound.’

‘Wonder who that reminds me of?’ Bernard said with a grin. He chuckled at Janice’s scowl and planted a kiss on her cheek, ignoring Janice’s fake offended noises.

‘Then we’ll go over everything again,’ Morgan said. ‘Make sure all the creases are ironed out and there’s no clues for him to find.’

‘And how are we supposed to do that?’ Diego asked. ‘The only one of us who has access to the FA server is Chad, and he’s going to be kept too busy trying to track down Alex and save the A tiers.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ Morgan said, and Diego glared. ‘What? I’ve got the FA intel handled, why are you mad at me?’

‘Did you hack them?’

Morgan narrowed her eyes as a small smirk began to grow, ‘Do you really want an answer to that question?’ None of the heroes answered, and Morgan grinned, ‘Smart. In other news, we know what’s going on with Mum and Dad’s insane encryption on their private server.’

Chad frowned, ‘...Did I miss a memo somewhere?’

‘Oh,’ Morgan said. ‘I’ve been trying to hack Mum and Dad’s servers.’

‘What?!’

‘But they’re too beefy, and I couldn’t work out how to break in,’ Morgan said, ignoring Chad’s growing shock.

‘Turns out,’ Janice said, ‘they got their system built by a technomancer. So you need to nullify the magic and the technical measures to get inside.’

‘Wait,’ Chad said, ‘why are you breaking into Mum and Dad’s private server?’

‘I think they’ll have some clues for me to track down the information I’m after,’ Morgan said.

Chad scowled, ‘What are the odds that you’ll find something useful?’

Morgan shrugged, ‘Probably 40%’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Maybe 35,’ Morgan said. ‘Look, my gut’s telling me there’s something important on that server. And the sooner I find what I’m after, the sooner you can stop pretending to play nice with them.’

‘I’m not…that’s not what I’m doing,’ Chad said.

Morgan rolled her eyes, but Janice’s hand on her shoulder cut off Morgan’s next barbed response. ‘Back to the matter at hand? The magical wards can be nullified, but not from a distance. I can create something that will effectively allow Morgan to bypass the magic so she can crack the rest of the technical security, but I can’t get it where I need it. Not easily, and likely not without tripping some other sort of alarm.’

Diego watched Chad slowly deflate, and she turned back to the computer, ‘Where do you need it?’

‘In the same room as the wards,’ Janice said. ‘The closer to the computer servers the better. Which is not ideal I know.’ Diego and Dave looked at each other while Janice continued, ‘I can get the nullifying sigil made in a few days, we can work out how to get it in place when it’s done. Maybe you three can find an opening between you?’

Diego nodded, ‘We should be able to work something out.’ She blinked, realising something and suddenly flushing slightly, ‘I’ve just realised, we didn’t properly introduce ourselves.’

Janice chuckled, ‘Oh don’t worry about it dear, we’re all rather on edge I think for various reasons. But I’m Janice, Alex’s Mum, and this is my husband Bernard.’

He waved at the camera and stepped forward to wrap an arm around Janice’s waist. ‘Nice to meet you. Diego and…David is it?’

‘Just Dave,’ Dave said. ‘I hate David.’

Bernard nodded, ‘Noted. Nice to meet both of you finally.’ He looked to Chad and gave a big grin, one that made his eyes shine and made Chad’s chest clench in longing. ‘How are you doing kiddo?’

Chad nodded, clearing his throat through the sudden lump, ‘I…I’m good. All things considered anyway.’

Bernard nodded, ‘I know we’re talking business, but can I just say? You were bloody fantastic today.’ Chad blinked, eyes widening slightly, with Dave and Diego watching the both of them in confusion and concern. ‘I wish I’d seen that first tornado move you did, catching the giant plasma ball? But the damn news stations didn’t get cameras on it in time.’

‘You were watching?’ Chad asked.

‘Course we were,’ Bernard said. ‘I’m not about to miss one of your fights.’ 

‘But…I was fighting Alex.’

‘Oh yes we know,’ Janice said. ‘It was bound to be quite the spectacle, and Bernard loves breaking down hero battles. Besides, we had to make sure Alex didn’t take it too far.’

‘Excuse me?’ Alex said, suddenly insulted. ‘What do you mean too far?’

‘You know exactly what I mean,’ Janice said, turning to Alex with a sharp eye.

Alex folded their arms, ‘You can’t stop me fighting him. He’s not under your roof anymore.’

‘And?’ Janice raised an eyebrow, watching Alex coolly. They didn’t respond except to scowl at their mother, before scoffing and turning away. ‘That’s what I thought.’

‘Holy fuck,’ Dave whispered, watching with awe.

‘Not a word Frisbee Boy,’ Alex snarled.

‘I didn’t say anything,’ Dave said, raising his arms in surrender.

Bernard and Morgan were both looking like they were trying to hold back laughter, as Janice turned back to the screen with a smug look on her face to give Chad a soft smile. ‘Bernard’s right, you did brilliant sweetheart.’

Chad swallowed, glancing away from the computer. ‘Um…thank you.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘We should…the plan.’ He took a deep breath, ‘Morgan, I know you’re doing a lot, but could we ask for a favour?’

Alex looked back at the screen to scowl at Chad, but Morgan ignored them, ‘Depends, what is it?’

Chad sighed, ‘Unofficial alliance between the FA and the Chastisers means we don’t have formal sanction to share resources, so both sides are reluctant to hand over access to their satellites and intel. It was suggested that I build a server to collate the information onto, because both sides trust me, but building a secure enough server will take time. Darkfeather and Hornet have both offered to give me templates to cobble something out of, but there’s nothing stopping them from leaving secret backdoors in.’

Morgan frowned, ‘If they leave a backdoor in and then it's closed, they might wonder how you found and closed it down.’

‘True,’ Diego said, ‘but they’re more likely to suspect the other side than Chad himself. And they definitely won’t think it was you. Besides, what are they going to do, ask what happened to their back door? That’s basically them admitting that they left a hole in the security for them to sneak through.’

Morgan thought for a moment, then nodded, ‘Good point. Sure then,’ she looked up at Chad. ‘Once it’s built let me know and I’ll slip in and have a look.’

‘On one condition,’ Dave said.

Morgan looked at Dave bemused, ‘I’m doing you guys a favour, why are you telling me how to do it?’

‘Because I don’t want Alex’s fancy set up over there having access to my hero team’s private servers and intel.’

Alex laughed, ‘You think you could stop me if I wanted in?’

‘Maybe. Maybe not,’ Dave said. ‘But I’m definitely not making it easy for you.’ He turned back to Morgan, ‘If you’re going in there you’re going to behave. You’re going in to tighten up the security. You’re not going to use it to springboard into hacking our databases. And you’re doing it from a system that Alex doesn’t have access to.’

Morgan blinked, looking around at the screens in front of her, before alighting on something out of the camera shot. ‘Not possible.’

‘What do you mean not possible?’ Dave asked. ‘You don’t have your own computer?’

‘Course I do,’ Morgan said, ‘but that’s busy trying to fend off Roofer. Its not powerful enough to hack into two independent servers and also upgrade Chad’s.’

‘Then hack into Roofer’s with Alex’s computer,’ Dave shrugged. ‘Simple.’

Morgan shook her head, ‘Roofer’s beefing up his security every day. Only reason why I’m still able to interfere is because I’m already in there. If I try from Alex’s computer I’ll be starting from scratch, there’s no guarantee I’ll get back in. And even if I can? There’s no telling what Roofer’s been able to recover and then back up in the meantime.’

Chad puffed out a breath, ‘Right. Okay, I’ll think of something else.’ Morgan looked at Chad, her brow furrowing, and Chad shrugged. ‘I’ll think of something. Try and find someone else to tighten up the server. It will take a couple of days to build up anyway from what Darkfeather was saying earlier.’ He nodded, looking at Diego and Dave. ‘Is that everything for now?’

Diego nodded, ‘I think so. Server, magic wards, we need to see if we can keep an eye on Vigilante’s investigation at all. And obviously, save Alex’s hostages.’

Alex gave a wink, ‘Good luck with that.’ Diego and Dave both scowled at Alex, and they grinned. ‘I can’t make it easy for you. People might think I’ve lost my touch.’

‘We’ll keep in touch,’ Bernard said, and turned back to Chad. ‘Let us know if you need any help alright? About anything.’ Chad faltered, before giving a sheepish nod. Bernard beamed at him, ‘Alright then, take care of yourselves, and each other. Alright kids?’

Dave and Diego both blinked in surprise at the affectionate name, and Chad barely suppressed a smirk, ‘Will do. Talk soon.’

‘Love you sweetheart!’ Janice called out as Morgan reached out for the control panel, ‘Stay in touch!’

Morgan chuckled, ‘See you on the other side losers.’

And with that the video vanished, the laptop screen going dark. Chad’s shoulders slumped slightly and he let out a breath. ‘Right. That…went better than I expected.’

‘Did…’ Dave said, ‘did Alex’s dad just call us kids?’ He looked at Diego, ‘As in, including us?’

‘I think he did,’ Diego said.

Dave blinked, trying to process that. ‘I’m older than him.’

Chad smirked, ‘That’s just Bernard. He’s always like that.’

‘He’s…’ Diego was staring off into the middle distance, struggling to register everything, ‘he’s got that whole TV dad vibe going on.’

‘Honestly?’ Dave said. ‘He reminds me a bit of my uncle. And Janice has the exact same energy as my nan did.’ Diego turned to Dave in surprise while he looked at Chad. ‘And they’re your biological parents?’ Chad nodded and Dave let out a low whistle.

‘Are you sure that’s not an act?’ Diego asked. ‘They’re not just putting that on are they?’

Chad shook his head, ‘No. No, I think they’re actually like that. They were like that for the entire time I was at the farm, with me and with Morgan. They were fussing over Alex as well.’ Diego’s jaw was slack, and she unconsciously held her arms as Chad’s shoulders hunched up. ‘And ever since…that’s what all the phone calls are like. And the messages.’

Diego was silent, her arms tightening, and Chad looked away. A strange mix of guilt and embarrassment was clawing through his chest, and for some reason looking at Diego was only making it worse. 

‘Alex makes a lot more sense now,’ Dave said.

Chad looked up in confusion, ‘How so?’

‘You saw them when they were fussing over Morgan right?’ Dave said. ‘Where do you think they learned that from?’ Chad blinked, eyes widening in realisation and Dave grinned, ‘Wonder what else Alex got from their parents?’

‘Janice’s sense of fashion,’ Diego said without looking up. ‘They both looked like they stepped off the villain runway.’

Chad snorted, ‘That’s the first time I’ve seen her like that. When she was at the farm it was all thick cardigans and comfy clothes to work and bake in.’

Dave hummed, looking thoughtful, ‘Makes you wonder.’ The siblings looked at him, and he shrugged. ‘If she’s leaning back into her villain persona, what do you think she’s planning? After Morgan’s plan is done?’

Diego swallowed and Chad went pale. He knew that Inferno and the Crimson Caster were nemeses back in the day, but the thought of Janice fighting Caroline now…he really didn’t want to think about it.

Chapter Text

Any plans that Chad had for the next day were almost scuppered before he had even finished his breakfast. All morning he had been liaising with Darkfeather and Dave, putting together a plan of action for them to get the equipment to build a new computer and server. Chad already offered a hiding place for it in the form of an old storage unit turned mini base for Chad to hide various hero equipment and gear, from other copies of his hero uniform to broken robot arms to FA tech he already owned. The bulky hardware was being sourced by the FA, with Hornet and Steel Man planning on sending over some “upgrades” to add in during the unofficial alliance. Once it was built, Chad was informed that the two hero teams would sit down and put the server itself together. If there were no issues, they should be up and running within a couple of days. If that. 

He was just replying to the latest message to give a meeting time of when he would be at the storage unit when his phone started ringing in his hand. He blinked in surprise, before groaning. Now? Really? He cleared his throat and answered the phone, putting on his best positive voice, ‘Hi Mum. How are you and Dad recovering?’

Caroline hummed on the other end, ‘Oh we’re doing just fine. What are your plans for the day?’

Chad swallowed, ‘Oh I’m meeting Darkfeather and the Chastisers later to work on tracking down Alex and the missing heroes.’

‘And how long do you think that will take?’

Chad paused, faltering, ‘As in, tracking down Alex?’

‘What? No,’ Caroline laughed, and Chad felt the back of his neck prickle. When was the last time his Mum had been in such a good mood like this?  What had happened? ‘No I mean, how long are you planning on working on the search today? What’s the plan?’

‘Well,’ Chad said, ‘obviously it's a sensitive mission so I can’t go into too much detail.’

‘Of course,’ Caroline said, but something in her tone sounded like she wasn’t sincere.

‘We’re devising a way to share intel,’ Chad said, desperately trying to tread the line between feeding Caroline’s curiosity and ego without giving too much away. ‘So it’s likely to take most of the day.’

Caroline hummed again, then clicked her tongue. Chad knew that noise. It meant that Caroline had decided something, and no one was allowed to say no. ‘I imagine you and the others will be finished by dinnertime, yes?’ Chad opened his mouth but Caroline didn’t give him a second to answer. ‘Wonderful! Your father and I are planning a family dinner tonight. We’re thinking of a smoked salmon starter and then beef chateaubriand.’

‘That…sounds lovely,’ Chad said, trying to smile. ‘But I don’t know when we’ll be finished.’

‘Well it will have to be by six,’ Caroline said, ‘because that’s when dinner will be done for, and they can’t exactly work if three members of the team are missing are they?’

Chad blinked in confusion, ‘Three? You’re inviting Diego and Dave?’

‘Of course we are,’ Caroline scoffed. ‘Why wouldn’t we?’

‘Because…’ Chad started, and then stopped himself. ‘Sorry. Never mind. I’m just…used to them being too busy to come to dinner.’

‘Yes, well,’ Caroline said, ‘one of the perks of you working on the same mission now. I can have all my children round for dinner.’

Chad nodded, licking his lips as he desperately tried to not bend his spoon. ‘That is good. I’ll uh…are you going to invite Diego and Dave?’

‘Of course,’ Caroline said. ‘Remember, dinners on the table for six.’

Chad nodded, ‘Of course, how can I refuse?’

‘That’s my boy,’ Caroline said. 

Chad ignored how those words twisted in his stomach, and said his goodbyes. Immediately he set about texting Diego and Dave to give them the warning, and then sighed. Well that was going to be a fun evening. He turned back to his breakfast, sighing at the sight of the thick layer of frost over the now cold porridge. ‘Oh give me a break!’

Compared to what his evening was bound to bring, Chad’s day served to be a walk in the park. Even with Steel Man and Darkfeather trying to posture on more than one occasion over various things; their technological advancements, their heroic achievements, their charitable efforts. At one point Hornet jokingly called both of them pretty while Chad and Dave worked on installing the hardware for the servers, carrying the heavy computer boxes into the hidden room under the storage unit. But it was easy work, in that there were simple steps to follow until the geniuses needed to start building the servers properly, and Chad threw himself into it with all his effort. 

He didn’t have a chance to catch up with Dave and Diego, but judging from Diego’s growing nervousness over the afternoon, she was as tense about the evening’s dinner plans as Chad felt. He couldn’t work out if that reassured him or made him feel even worse, but by the end of the day even Steel Man was commenting on him seeming rather dour and Chad had to plead tiredness. It was better than admitting that he was nervous, or worried, or even scared, about a dinner with his parents. Such a thing would be a ridiculous notion anyway. 

As soon as the work on the server was done for the day and the others all left, Chad Diego and Dave rushed over to the Sterling’s house. They got there with ten minutes to spare, with Diego scrambling to fix her hair and Chad trying to get his breath back while Dave calmly knocked on the door.

Richard answered with a raised eyebrow, ‘Cutting it a little close aren’t you?’ He smiled, holding the door open for them and ushering them inside. Chad pointedly didn’t look at the cane Richard was leaning on as the door closed behind them, ‘Caroline was worried you were going to miss the starter.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Diego said with a breathless smile and offered Richard a brief hug. ‘We got held up a bit is all.’

‘Problems with the plan?’ Richard asked.

‘Problems with egos,’ Dave said, grabbing Diego and Chad’s coats. ‘Nothing we can’t handle, but it did slow us down a bit.’

‘Ah, always the way,’ Richard said with a shake of his head and turned to Chad expectantly.

Chad smiled his normal smile and gave Richard a one armed hug, before pulling out a bottle of wine, ‘You said chateaubriand, so I thought a bordeaux might work?’

Richard took the bottle, examining the label, ‘Don’t think I’ve tried this vineyard before.’ He hummed and looked at Chad with a crinkled smile, ‘Going to make us experiment tonight huh?’

Chad tried for a laugh, ‘What’s life without a little risk, right?’

Caroline called from further in the house and Richard ushered them all into the dining room. Chad offered to help with serving, because that is just what a good son does after all, and soon enough the five of them were examining the first course.

‘Mum,’ Diego said, ‘Dave doesn’t like smoked salmon, remember?’

‘Oh really?’ Caroline said. ‘Oh that’s such a shame. Since when?’

‘Since always,’ Diego said. ‘And I reminded you this morning.’

‘I don’t think you did,’ Caroline gave Diego a look, ‘I think I’d remember that kind of conversation.’ 

‘It’s fine,’ Dave said. ‘I’m just not used to how uh…rich all the food is nowadays. I still appreciate you including me Mrs Sterling.’ 

Caroline smiled at Dave approvingly, ‘You’re welcome Dave. I appreciate the gratitude, it’s so rare nowadays.’

‘So!’ Richard said, smiling at the three of them, ‘how goes the search for our missing heroes?’

Between the three of them Chad, Diego and Dave cobbled together enough information on the plan to sate the parent’s curiosity long enough for them to get through the salmon course. They didn’t start pressing until the main course was served and Caroline proved to be satisfied with Chad’s wine choice. 

‘So how do you plan on collating all the information together?’ Caroline asked. ‘The authorisation forms to build a formal independent unit and server would take weeks.’

Chad and Diego shared a careful glance. ‘Actually I’m building a private server,’ Chad said, looking between his parents to read their reactions. ‘One for both teams to have temporary access to. It was decided I was the most trustworthy choice for both sides.’

Richard smiled in approval at that, ‘Excellent. I suppose that’s one of the perks of having the leader of the Chastisers being part of the family.’

Dave scowled at that, ‘Chad earned his trust as a hero with both teams under his own merit. I had nothing to do with it.’

‘Oh I’m sure he did,’ Caroline said, smiling at Chad. ‘Need any help with designing the server?’

‘Um…’ Chad swallowed, ‘Darkfeather and Hornet are both offering templates to get it done quickly, hopefully by combining the templates we’ll avoid any gaps in the security.’

Caroline’s smile dropped, her expression perfectly neutral and composed. ‘You’re relying on others to build your security?’

‘No,’ Chad said, ‘I’ll make it secure. They just…already have the building blocks.’

‘You could have asked us for help,’ Richard said.

‘You’re still in recovery,’ Diego said. ‘Only way that could happen is if you get permission from Darkfeather to assist.’

Richard scoffed at that, and Caroline rolled her eyes at the same time. ‘Honestly,’ Richard said, ‘the lot of them are trying to baby us.’

‘It’s not babying us,’ Caroline said, ‘it’s the opposite. I’m just waiting for one of them to even think the “R” word.’ She speared one of her asparagus pieces rather forcefully and the candles on the table flared for a moment.

Diego shook her head, ‘They wouldn’t make you retire.’

‘Well of course they can’t “make” us,’ Richard said. ‘But just you watch. Physiotherapy from their FA mandated expert will be far too slow and careful. They’ll be banking on us not getting back to our full strength, and then it's just a suggestion that we take on light duties. More investigation based work instead of focusing on front line duties. And then next thing you know?’ Richard scowled and shook his head, descending into grumbles as he sipped at his wine.

‘Which is why,’ Caroline said, watching Chad carefully, ‘we can’t allow them to step over us. We will have to prove ourselves, prove that we are not fossils yet and they shouldn’t treat us as such. And as for you,’ she pointed to Chad, ‘Vigilante insulted you yesterday. You need to prove him wrong. Prove that you are just as good, if not better, than all of them.’

Chad frowned, a feeling of foreboding creeping up his spine, ‘How do I do that?’

‘Simple,’ Caroline said. ‘We find Morgan first.’

Diego nearly choked on her wine, causing Dave to gently pat her on the back. Chad was staring at Caroline in shock. ‘Really?’ he asked, and Caroline nodded. ‘But…she attacked you.’

‘Like you said yesterday,’ Caroline said, her voice cool and perfectly level. ‘She’s your sister. Despite everything, she is family. That makes her, and everything she does, our responsibility.’ 

A chill ran down Chad’s spine, and he swallowed, ‘What will you do if you find her?’

‘You mean when?’ Richard said.

‘Oh…of course,’ Chad nodded. ‘What will you do when you find her?’

Caroline hummed, putting down her fork for a moment to thread her fingers together and rest her chin on them. ‘That depends. If your theory about her being under mind control is correct and she is free of it, then perhaps she will regret her actions. And we can work on…rehabilitation with her. If you’re wrong, or if she’s not regretful?’ Caroline shrugged. ‘She’s our responsibility. And it's our duty as heroes to keep his city safe from any threat.’

Chad didn’t know if he was supposed to be surprised by Caroline’s response, but he knew he was supposed to agree. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Duty first.’

‘Good lad,’ Richard said. ‘Now, obviously the three of you will be very busy on your main mission, and we would never want to pull you away from your official duties. However, Chad has already worked double shifts on this before.’ An ice cold knife of dread ran through Chad, and it took everything in him to not drop the temperature in the room a few degrees. ‘So, perhaps in your off time you can help us with this,’ Richard finished with a smile, unaware of Chad’s turmoil.

Diego thought for a moment, ‘A family mission? Like the good old days?’

‘Exactly!’ Richard beamed. ‘Proper sit down dinners won’t be possible every night of course. But we can always whip something up for the three of you. Maybe having a look at our computer will give you some ideas for building your new one Chad?’

Chad tried for a smile and nodded, ‘That would be very helpful.’ He looked over at Diego and Dave, both of them with perfect hero smiles in place. ‘I can’t wait to get started,’ Chad said

‘You’re shitting me.’

Alex looked up from their tablet across the computer room. Morgan was spinning on the computer chair, phone to her ear and an incredulous look on her face.

‘And you said yes?’ Morgan held back a snort. ‘No I’m not laughing. But I seem to remember you being the one saying that you can’t let them around Chad too much.’ She rolled her eyes, ‘The word no does exist you know?’ Static exploded down the phone and Morgan pulled back sharply. Only now did Alex recognise the voice as Diego’s, and they sat up straighter. ‘Alright jesus!’ Morgan said. ‘You sure your power isn’t supersonics?’ Diego said something else and Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘Alright, I’ll be very careful, in the secret hideout that I was going to hide in from the FA anyway. Although, this is another perk to getting into their server. Of course I’m going to justify crime, it’s me.’ 

Alex couldn’t help but snort at that as Morgan said her goodbyes and hung up. ‘Fun times I gather?’ Alex asked.

‘Good news and bad news,’ Morgan said. ‘The bad news is Mum and Dad are starting their own private investigation to try and find me, probably for revenge after I shot them.’

‘Which I’m still sad I missed,’ Alex said.

Morgan waved her hand at that and carried on. ‘Anyway, they’ve “asked” Chad Diego and Dave to help them investigate, which means probably nightly dinners and investigations with dearest Mother and Father. Just like the good old days.’ The last line was said with nothing but sarcasm and venom, and Alex raised their eyebrows. ‘The good news.’ Morgan said, ‘we’ll have a way to get Janice’s ward in when she’s built it. They’ll have near nightly access to the room she needs.’

Alex shrugged, ‘So for us that’s a win right?’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘I guess. Lets just hope none of them crack under the pressure. We all flew the coop the first chance we got for a reason.’

‘Chad didn’t,’ Alex said. 

Morgan shrugged, ‘Yeah well Chad’s…you know what? I’m not finishing that thought.’ She stood up, stretching enough to make her spine pop. ‘I’m gonna get some coffee. Want some?’

‘I think cocoa would be better for this time of night,’ Alex said, turning back to their tablet.

‘Are you trying to put me to sleep?’ Morgan snorted.

‘Yes,’ Alex said. ‘Don’t act surprised.’ They tapped on the tablet screen, curling back up to read before Morgan even left the room. The medical records on the screen in front of them were well on their way to being memorised by this point, but Alex couldn’t stop reading them. It was getting to the point they could picture every wound and injury described in the notes, and then work out every possible cause. Alex had to work to not picture little Charlie getting those injuries, trying to work out what a young Chad might have looked like instead. But the image wasn’t much better, much to their disappointment. 

They rolled their eyes, moving to put the tablet away, but it never quite made its way out of their hand and onto the table. Alex growled, gritting their teeth. They were just angry that their little brother had been going through that ordeal. Because that young, he would have been more Charlie than Chad. So Alex could be mad and upset about that. They could be mad at reading about the ordeal that turned their precious baby brother into Chad. Yeah, yeah that was definitely what they were mad about. They pulled the tablet closer and tapped the screen, eyes scanning over the words again. They switched pages to the latest news article about the “horrific abduction,” gaze lingering on the still taken from some of the fight footage. Alex swallowed, looking up at Morgan’s still empty chair. Was there a way they could…

Alex shook their head and squeezed their eyes shut. The tablet clattered onto the table and Alex turned to the larger computer screen, pulling up cameras from the cells the heroes were shackled up in. They needed to stop thinking about Chad, there were more important things for them to care about. They were being ridiculous. There was no need for them to care about Chad. They didn’t care about Chad. The very idea was insulting. 

Chapter Text

The next day, despite egos and tempers clashing between the various heroes, the two teams had actually managed to make up for lost time and then some. The final touches to the server were being made ahead of schedule, with everyone excited to start running it straight away. With the sheer amount of satellite information that was about to be stored in here, the prospects of finding the missing heroes suddenly looked much more promising and everyone was feeling proud of that fact. Steel Man and Darkfeather even exchanged a handshake when the server began to successfully boot up for the first time. 

Which was good news. It was absolutely good news. Chad beamed along with the others, trying to focus on the various voices around him and the celebration that this should have been instead of what came next. The teams had organised a shift rota to monitor the server, one member from each team, and Chad wasn’t due on until the next day. Which meant that he was going to be freed up early. Along with Diego and Dave.

That…didn’t mean that they needed to go to his parent’s house early. Although it would have been responsible to. Just to check on the progress with their investigation if nothing else. And his parents would probably appreciate it as well. Maybe. But the thought of going at all made a knot of dread settle in his stomach like lead. And the prospect of going early only made it worse. Maybe the three of them could sneak off for a drink somewhere. Not beer, of course, they shouldn’t be drinking before planning on doing any work. But just a sit down with a soda would probably do, just for a chance to chill out. Maybe. Hopefully.

‘Alright,’ Darkfeather said. ‘Looks like everything’s good here. You all have your rota time right?’ Everyone murmured their agreement and Darkfeather nodded. ‘Awesome. Steel Man and Dash are up first, send the alert as soon as you have anything.’

‘On it,’ Dash said with a salute.

‘Don’t have too much fun out there,’ Steel Man smirked.

Everyone parted ways quickly, breaking off first into their teams and then their smaller personal groups within it. The only exceptions were Chad, Diego, and Dave, who were all climbing into Dave’s hatchback. The second they got on the road Chad sighed, slumping into the seat. He looked out the window at the city speeding past, watching the various people bustling about and worrying over their own lives. Dave and Diego’s conversation washed over him, the words floating just out of reach for him to focus on. Not that he needed to. They weren’t talking to him after all. He could take a moment to just…not relax. Just pause for a bit. Let his thoughts, that were already feeling like they were moving through treacle, just stop for a little while. He leaned against the car window, the glass cool against his forehead, his thumb and finger worrying the hem of his jacket. He just needed a moment for everything to be quiet.

A dull and distant boom pulled Chad back to his senses, making him sit up just a moment after Diego. ‘What was that?’ Chad asked.

‘Sounded like an explosion,’ Dave said.

Diego already had her hero communicator out, watching for alerts and intel. ‘Explosion over on fifth and second,’ she said. ‘Unknown source.’

Chad was pulling out his own, undoing his shirt to reveal the bulk of his hero suit underneath. As he was grabbing his backpack to pull out his cape and cowl another explosion, this one closer, sounded from behind them. A few moments later the alert came through and Chad frowned, ‘Another explosion, unknown source, by the theatre.’

‘What are we thinking,’ Dave said, ‘coordinated attack?’

Chad pulled on his cowl, attaching his cape to his shoulders. ‘I don’t know, but I’m going to check on the theatre. Dee, give me a hand?’

Diego rolled her eyes and shifted through her car, landing on the back seat next to Chad, ‘We could just pull over and let you out.’ Chad just gave her a grin, and Diego sighed, ‘Show off.’

‘Love you sis,’ Chad said as Diego pressed her hand to his chest. She focused and pushed Chad into the seat until he fell through. For a moment he was phasing through the seat, the trunk of the car, then out into thin air. On instinct Chad wrapped the winds around him, catching himself in midair, before angling up and flying away from the car.

The theatre was only a few minutes away by flight, but by the time Chad got there three more alerts had pinged up on the communicator, recording new explosions at seemingly random places. He had to focus on this one first though. He flew around a building, face to face with the theatre, and frowned in confusion. Everything was fine. There was no burning building or debris, no damaged car or truck, or anything really. The only strange thing was that the street had emptied of people. Which, if the sound of an explosion had happened then it would make sense.

Chad tuned into the right signal on his earpiece. ‘Chadster reporting from the theatre. There’s no signs of an explosion here.’

There was a brief burst of static on the comms, then another voice came through. ‘Blue Bolt at Second and Fifth. Only weird thing is how quiet the street is.’

‘Sparrow at Cental City Mall. Everything’s completely intact.’

Chad landed on the roof of the theatre, looking around for any clues. There were more explosions going off in the distance, but every report that came in confirmed the same thing. Nothing was being destroyed. They couldn’t work out what was causing the explosions. And there was no evidence being left behind.

‘I don’t understand,’ Chad said into the comms. ‘What’s the point of this?’

‘Maybe someone’s trying to scare the city,’ Darkfeather said through the comms.

‘To what end though?’ Chad asked.

‘What indeed?’ A voice said behind Chad. He spun around, wind flaring around him, surprise turning into a scowl at the sight of Alex. Alex, for their part, was smirking rather smugly as they leaned against a nearby wall, dressed in a blood red corset trailing with jet black chains. ‘What possible reason could someone have to set off explosions everywhere?’

Chad slid into a fighting stance, ‘What are you doing here Alex?’

The hero chatter immediately kicked up a notch in Chad’s ear, but he tried to tune it out. His focus had to be on Alex, who was currently rolling their eyes, ‘Isn’t it obvious? Or did you just forget?’

‘I didn’t forget anything,’ Chad snarled. ‘You stole good people, and if you’ve hurt any of them-’

‘You’ll do what?’ Alex looked at Chad with a knowing smirk. They stood up straight, slowly sauntering over to Chad. ‘What will you do, Hero?’ Chad scowled, and Alex grinned. ‘That’s what I thought. But enough of your empty threats. Have you found Morgan yet?’

Chad braced himself, ‘We’ve barely had time-’

He raised up his guard, buffeting the worst of Alex’s attack that sent him skidding over the roof. ‘Wrong answer,’ Alex snarled, their humour vanishing in the blink of an eye. ‘Want to try that again?’

Chad stared them down, ‘It’s been two days. The trail went cold weeks ago. We’ll need time to-’

‘You won’t need time,’ Alex said. ‘You know where she is. Or if you don’t, your parents do.’

‘They don’t know-’

‘Don’t lie to me!’ Alex yelled, coming in for another strike. Chad dodged sideways, gathering the winds around him to try and fend Alex off. ‘They know exactly where she is! And they’re going to let her go.’

‘It’s not them!’ Chad shouted. He threw a blast of wind at Alex, hoping to knock them off balance. ‘Just…give us some time. We can find her, but not while half of our strongest heroes are hostages.’

Alex snorted, ‘So what, I give you your heroes back and you’ll help out of the goodness of your heart?’ 

‘She’s my sister,’ Chad said. ‘I want to find her just as much as you do.’

‘I seriously doubt that,’ Alex said. ‘If you did you would have already been looking. Unless you don’t need to. Because you already know where she is.’

‘We. Don’t. Have her!’ Chad shouted.

Alex was a blur, and suddenly Chad was being lifted into the air. Alex’s hand tightened around his throat, making him gasp for breath. ‘Guess what?’ Alex whispered. ‘I don’t believe you.’ Chad scrabbled at Alex’s hand, trying to grab at Alex’s wrist and fingers with no success. Alex barely noticed, tilting their head to examine Chad. ‘Maybe I should up the stakes a little more. Think your parents will listen then?’

Chad choked, ‘Stop this. Please.’

‘I’ll stop,’ Alex said, ‘when I have Morgan back. It’s very simple really. And your parents might be more inclined to listen if I take you instead. As insurance.’

Chad’s eyes widened. They wouldn’t. They literally said before that they wouldn’t. But Alex was grinning, raising their free hand to snap, and Chad shook his head. He wasn’t taking any chances. 

He threw his arms away from his body, lightning arcing in front of his body before crashing into Alex. They flew back, letting go of Chad as they stumbled. Chad landed on his feet, slumping to one knee as he gasped for breath. But there was no time to recover. Alex was already straightening up, glaring at Chad in anger. 

‘Big mistake,’ Alex growled, and for a moment the air bent around them. For a moment Alex’s eyes were glowing, brighter than before, almost beacons across the roof. For a moment Chad saw the S tier flex their full power, the unbridled chaos of it. It was limitless. They raised their hand, snapping their fingers, and a chorus of explosions sounded off in the distance. Chad looked around in all the directions, hearing the hero chatter get louder in his ear.

‘That should keep your friends distracted for a while, ‘Alex said, prowling closer. ‘I wouldn’t want anyone getting in the way this time.’ Chad staggered to his feet, pulling the winds closer as he watched Alex with alarm. ‘How long do you think you’d last against me?’ Alex asked. ‘Just the two of us. If I’m not holding back.’

Chad swallowed, ‘You don’t have to do this.’

‘I don’t have to do anything,’ Alex said. ‘Everything I do, I do because I want to. And none of you can stop me.’

The wind shield buckled under Alex’s strike, barely giving Chad enough time to dodge the attack. He ducked and weaved, trying to back up to give himself some distance. But Alex didn’t give him a moment to breathe, their flurry of attacks only getting more and more savage. Fine , Chad thought, let’s make you move. He flexed, a twister curling in his hands before he ducked under another swing, getting under and into Alex’s guard. When his hand connected with Alex’s chest the twister exploded into the sky, blasting Alex up with it. Chad gasped, panting as he watched the S tier spin into the air, before righting themselves. Alex barely gave Chad a glare before racing back to the rooftop. Chad gritted his teeth. Fight smart. He brought his hands together, a small fog cloud gathering before he threw it out. In just seconds the cloud grew into a thick fog bank, across the entire rooftop and then up, covering Alex entirely. Lets hope its covers me too , Chad thought as he flew out of the cloud and away.

He finally began to pay attention to the comms, keying into the various voices. ‘This is Chadster. Alex made the explosions as a distraction. I need backup.’

‘We’ll be there as soon as we can,’ Darkfeather said. ‘But if it's Alex we can’t leave those explosions uninvestigated. Any one of them could have done genuine damage.’ Chad held back a growl of frustration, looking over his shoulder for any sign of Alex. ‘Try and hold them off as long as you can,’ Darkfeather said.

That’s easy for you to say, Chad thought, you’re not the one Alex is trying to kill right now. He swerved around the buildings, banking up higher so he was further away from the general populace. The last thing he needed was to encourage collateral damage. Chad blinked, frowning at that thought. ‘Hang on…’ The winds slowed around him, buffeting him enough to hold him in midair, but he was stationary. Alex’s explosions were just a distraction, literally for show. Nothing was actually destroyed. There were no ruined buildings across the city, no civilians maimed or killed. In fact, when was the last time Alex’s fights had ended in collateral damage? Sure they had killed civilians before, butchered people left and right without hesitation or remorse. But none of them were from collapsing buildings or falling debris. Unless Alex specifically dropped a building on their head. They don’t leave collateral damage.

A brief whistle in the air was the only warning he had before Alex tackled into him. He snapped out of his thoughts, grabbing at Alex to try and throw them off. The two of them were twisting through the air, losing altitude fast. Chad tried to grab at Alex but they were refusing to let go. Chad tried to push, strike and kick them off, throwing as much freezing wind as he could into it. But it wasn’t working. They were spinning too much for Chad to see what was happening, but the wind whipping around them was too fast. Alex shifted enough that Chad’s arms were free for just a moment, and Chad summoned lightning across his body without hesitation. Alex blasted off, spinning away. Chad wrapped the winds around himself, pushing against the growing velocity, and only when he pulled up did he see how close he was to crashing into another building. 

He looked up, panting slightly as he watched Alex hover above him. Suddenly Alex turned and they were quickly zooming at them again. Chad barely had time to dodge, spinning away with a flickering wind shield around them. Alex barely paid them a glance, coming in for another attack. Chad tried to deflect them, tried to meet or dodge each blow. But he knew he was beginning to tire. Every attack was shattering his attempts to build a defence, and he was struggling to pull on his reserves. His moves were getting slower. He was still full of adrenaline, still putting his all into every move. But it wasn’t enough.

Alex batted away Chad’s punch, grabbing his forearms so tightly the metal buckled under their grip. They pulled Chad closer, barely wincing as Chad threw another icy wind at them. ‘Enough of this,’ they growled. Their hand twisted, the metal bending, before they twirled in mid air, throwing Chad with it. The arm snapped mid toss and Chad went flying. Before he had a chance to catch himself he crashed into a nearby rooftop. 

He skidded and rolled across the concrete, all the air vanishing from his lungs by the time he had stopped. He gasped for breath, chest heaving, spots dancing in his vision. His shoulder was burning, threatening to overwhelm all his other senses. But he tried to ignore the pain. He had to. Alex was still around. They were still a threat. They were-

A hand grabbed the scruff of his suit and Chad was hoisted into the air. He blinked past the pain and swirling blurring rooftop until he could just about focus on Alex. The rage Alex showed earlier had dulled into a simmer, and he was looking over Chad with triumph. ‘I have to say,’ Alex said, ‘you lasted longer than I thought you would. Definitely longer than most. It’s almost impressive.’ 

Chad tried to move, his intact hand gripping onto Alex’s. He glanced down at the other arm and winced at the wreck. The shoulder had been half ripped out of the metal socket, loose and broken wires trailing down at his side. One of the panels brushed against his waist, swaying from Alex’s movements. He tried to move it, but all it did was send another jolt of pain through his shoulder and neck. It was nothing but a dead weight now. 

‘Oh dear,’ Alex chuckled at Chad’s wince of pain. ‘Did you get a bad boo boo?’

‘Stop this,’ Chad murmured, trying to focus through the pain, the exhaustion, the buzzing pressure in his head. ‘Please.’ 

‘Oh I don’t think so,’ Alex said, their free hand raising ready to snap. ‘The fun’s just beginning.’

Chad tried to kick at Alex to no effect. ‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘No you can’t. I need to help Morgan. You can’t do this.’

Alex snorted, ‘But you are helping. With my message to your parents about just how serious I am. And this way I get to enjoy watching you in the arena, and that’s just going to be so entertaining.’

Chad couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Alex, ‘Arena? What is this, Ancient Rome?’

They smirked, ‘The one armed idiot gladiator. Should be an entertaining bout against my fun little toys.’

‘And you sit as emperor?’ Chad scowled. ‘Deciding which heroes get to live or die?’

Alex shrugged. ‘You said it, not me. Now…’ they raised their hand again. Chad kicked again, throwing another wall of wind against them to no effect. Alex only laughed, ‘Man you really are tapped. Are you all out of juice? No more shocky shocky fingers for you?’

Chad glared, ‘You can’t do this.’

‘I told you,’ Alex said. ‘I do whatever I want. And none of you can stop me.’ Chad shook his head, but Alex ignored him. ‘Enjoy the arena. Who knows? Maybe your parents will give up Morgan before my beasties manage to eat you.’

Chad squeezed his eyes shut, trying to summon the last reserves of his power. Yes he was in pain. Yes the static in his mind was only growing louder. But that didn’t matter. He couldn’t let Alex take him. He had to protect his family, protect Morgan and Diego. He needed to be here for the plan. His eyes burned as they snapped open, and with a roar Chad threw the last of his power at Alex. The two of them were lifted off their feet, picked up for just a moment, before an icy wind ripped Alex away. Chad fell to the ground, gritting his teeth against the ache in his whole body and the burning fire in his head, behind his eyes. He looked up at Alex, watching them barely stay balanced in the whirling wind. Enough of this. Chad slammed his hand into the rooftop, watching sheets of ice stretch out in front of him. He pushed to his feet, the ice lifting with him, and he threw it into the air. Snow and ice and hail pelted into Alex, and Chad kept pushing. The wind roaring around them until it turned into a storm. No, a blizzard. Trying to rip at Alex and send them flying. 

A deafening snap, louder than the storm, echoed around them and the blizzard froze in place. Chad was panting, glaring up at the floating Alex. They were covered in snow and frost, hovering amidst the glittering snow and hail that was hanging in place. Alex growled and looked down at him. For a moment Alex’s face fell. For a moment their anger vanished, replaced with something that looked like shock. Or like they had seen a ghost. But then Alex blinked and their expression turned stony and stoic. They threw out their hand with another snap, and the storm around them shattered. Chad was blasted back, rolling across the roof until he slammed into a nearby wall. He slumped, gasping for breath. He tried to move but his whole body felt heavier than lead. He blinked, trying to look up and around him but he couldn’t even move his head. Everything in his vision was blurring together, and darkness was crawling in at the edges. Footsteps came closer, even though they sounded so far away. Was that Alex? Someone else? Had one of the heroes finally arrived? 

A hand grasped the scruff of his suit again, ready to lift him up, and he whimpered. ‘No,’ he murmured, ‘no…please.’

The hand stilled. There was a voice, but it was too far away for him to hear. His eyes fluttered, trying to open one more time, before he finally succumbed to the darkness.

Chapter Text

No one dared stop Shadowstep barging through the Fairness Association HQ, or batted an eye at Leader USA trailing after her. Various interns and sidekicks even jumped out of her way for fear of being bowled over. Not that she noticed. She didn’t stop or slow down until she turned into a familiar sector, the chrome of the main base shifting to the sterile white of a medical ward. At the sight of a familiar group of heroes and a doctor Shadowstep paused, before marching over to them.

Darkfeather spotted her first. ‘Shadowstep-’

‘Where is he?’ Diego demanded. ‘Where’s my brother?’

‘Resting,’ the doctor said. ‘He’s stable.’

Diego sighed, allowing herself to feel the relief for just a moment. By the time Diego caught up she was staring down the group again. ‘What the hell happened?’

Vigilante turned to her, ‘We need to still give an FA debrief-’

‘I don’t care about your debrief,’ Diego snapped. ‘What the hell happened to my brother?’

Darkfeather said, ‘It looks like Alex caused those explosions to scatter our efforts over the city and isolate various heroes. They went after the Chadster first. We got there as quickly as we could. From what we picked up over the comms…Alex was planning on abducting him as well. We only just got there in time.’

Dave scowled next to Diego, ‘You had better sent backup to Chadster immediately.’

‘Not possible,’ The Vigilante said. ‘At the point the Chadster realised their plan Alex set off approximately twenty five explosions across the city. Civilians could have been in danger, we needed to check those. And we’re on limited numbers.’

‘Are you serious?’ Diego snarled. She turned to Darkfeather, ‘Why didn’t you tell us? We could have backed him up.’

‘Most of the fight was in the air,’ Darkfeather said. ‘And if Alex knew the Chastisers were working with us against them we’d lose the edge against them when we go to rescue the other heroes.’ Diego scowled, turning away to pace. ‘I didn’t want to leave him to Alex’s mercy, believe me. We got there as soon as we could. And we got there in time.’

Dave put a hand on Diego’s shoulder briefly, ‘How is he?’

‘Alex did a number on him,’ the doctor said, ‘They wrecked part of Chad’s arm and some of the shoulder socket in the process. We may need minor surgery to regraft some of the robotic shoulder joint into place. There’s various cuts and bruises, the usual strain and exhaustion post battle. And then there’s the matter of his power strain.’ Diego and Dave both looked up at the doctor in confusion. ‘The Chadster pushed himself to the limit physically and in terms of his superpower. He’s facing a severe case of power exhaustion.’

‘How severe?’ Diego asked. ‘He’s a powerhouse. I’ve seen him hit power strain a few times, but never to full exhaustion.’

‘Well there’s a first time for everything,’ the doctor said. ‘The best scenario? He’ll be unconscious for at least the next 12 hours while his body has a chance to recuperate. Once he is awake he’ll likely need bed rest for a few days, maybe a week.’

‘What’s the worst case scenario?’ Diego asked.

The doctor sighed, ‘He may fall into a coma.’

Diego’s jaw dropped, tears springing to her eyes. Darkfeather looked at the doctor in concern, and the Vigilante’s stoic stance turned rigid. Dave’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, ‘What the hell did he do to exhaust himself that much?’

‘He faced off against the S tier in single combat for a number of minutes,’ Darkfeather said, ‘and then summoned a blizzard that covered the whole block and knocked out power in three.’

Diego shook her head, ‘That’s impossible.’

‘Evidently not,’ The Vigilante said.

‘But he’s never made a storm that big before,’ Diego said before.

‘Which probably explains the power exhaustion,’ the doctor said. ‘We’ll monitor him closely and inform family members when he wakes up.’ No one dared to voice the unspoken “if” in the room, and the doctor carried on. ‘He’s strong, not just in tier ranking but in himself. I have full faith that he can recover. As long as I’m allowed to work and take care of my patient without…certain voices getting involved in how long his recovery should be taking.’

‘The coma…’ Diego said, ‘what are the chances that he doesn’t wake up?’

‘He may very well not go into a coma,’ the doctor said.

‘But if he does?’

The doctor sighed, ‘It’s too early to tell something like that. Which is why we need to monitor him and not have any intrusive distractions.’

Dave nodded, ‘Thank you doctor, can we see him?’

Diego and Dave left the other heroes behind as they were shown into the private room Chad was staying in. It was smaller than the one Caroline and Richard had been in, but the decor was the same variations of white and beige. Chad was perfectly still, the monitors around him softly beeping. Diego sagged, rushing to the bedside and examining him closely. There was a plaster on his cheek and some light bruising around his neck that she winced over before looking at the remnants of his missing arm. There was only the shoulder socket left. Everything else had been removed, and under the hospital gown Diego could see traces of blood across angry red skin from where the attack had damaged the organic part of the shoulder. 

She sighed, brow creasing with worry at the sight. She brushed a stray curl off Chad’s face, lingering on the lock of hair that felt so much softer and lighter than her strong curls did. Her hand moved to Chad’s neck, pulling away the collar of the hospital gown to look at the innocuous necklace. Even though she knew it was there, even though she recognised it, her eyes couldn’t help but drift away from it. She touched the simple disc, swallowing at the feeling of the cool metal.

‘He’ll be okay,’ Dave whispered.

Diego nodded, sniffing slightly. ‘I should tell Mum and Dad.’

Dave sighed and nodded. ‘A call will do right? They shouldn’t begrudge you that.’

‘If they do,’ Diego said, ‘then I’ll tell them where to shove it.’

******

The repetitive thunk of metal into stone only made Bernard pause outside the bedroom door for a moment. He wasn’t scared of Alex. He probably should have been, knowing what his child was capable of. But then again he had never found it in himself to be scared of Janice either. That didn’t stop him from having a moment of doubt before he knocked on the door. After the way Alex had stormed back into the lair everyone else that wasn’t family or Morgan had ducked for cover, and there was every chance the stormcloud that was their emotions right now would only be worse. He could be about to become Alex’s tipping point. But something in his gut told him that leaving Alex alone right now would be worse.

He knocked, leaving a moment of silence before creaking the door open. The thud sounded again before Bernard could peek inside, but that wasn’t his focus anyway. Alex was reclining on their oversized bed, satin sheets crumpled where they were lying. They didn’t look over to Bernard as he slipped in and closed the door behind himself, instead summoning the knife buried in the wall back to their hand. They twirled it for a moment in an almost lazy motion before throwing it at the wall again. Bernard watched the knife get buried up to the hilt before Alex summoned it back.

‘Hey kiddo,’ Bernard smiled. Alex didn’t respond, twirling the knife while staring straight ahead. Their face was a perfect mask of fury, their shoulders tense even as they threw the knife again. The corset was gone and replaced with an oversized deep red silk shirt. ‘So, are we-’

‘Don’t,’ Alex growled, summoning the knife back. ‘Don’t finish that question.’

Bernard nodded silently, watching Alex toss the knife again. When they had summoned it back and started twirling it Bernard made his way across the room, climbing onto the bed until he was sitting next to Alex. Not quite shoulder to shoulder, but close enough that Alex would only need to lean slightly to rest against him. ‘You sure?’ he asked. Alex tossed the knife again, not answering. ‘Alright then,’ Bernard smiled. ‘Want to hear about my day?’

Alex sighed, catching the knife and twirling it, ‘Sure. Why not?’

Bernard proceeded to describe working with Morgan on the supercomputer, before cooking up some lunch for everyone. Then he checked in on Janice and her magic ward, making sure she had all the ingredients and tools she needed. Then it was an afternoon of cooking and baking. Dinner needed to be made at some point after all, and he was in the mood to work with his hands.

‘Which means,’ Bernard said, ‘we now have cookies and cherry pie. If you fancy any.’

Alex had stopped throwing the knife at some point. Instead they were just twirling it absentmindedly, staring off into the middle distance. ‘I’m not hungry,’ they said.

Bernard nodded, ‘Alright.’ He looked over at the wall now ruined with cuts. ‘I hope you didn’t hit anything that was structurally integral.’

Alex snorted, ‘Oh come on, give me more credit than that.’

Bernard shrugged, ‘You’re clearly unhappy. Might make your aim a little off.’

‘I’m not unhappy,’ Alex growled, ‘I’m…no I’m not talking about this.’

‘Because it’s about Chad?’ Bernard asked. Alex threw the knife in response, and Bernard gave a flat smile. ‘Want to talk about why you went out in the first place?’

Alex summoned the knife back, ‘I wanted to blow off some steam.’

‘I thought that’s what the arena full of heroic prisoners was for?’ Bernard asked. Alex shrugged, back to twirling the knife. ‘And the explosions?’

‘Wanted to scare the heroes,’ Alex said. ‘Make them panic. The more frazzled they are the easier they’ll be to trick later.’

‘And fighting Chad?’ Alex threw the knife again. And again. When the knife thunked into the wall a third time Bernard nodded, ‘Alright. We’re not talking about it.’ He slowly shifted, gently leaning against Alex’s shoulder. The knife stilled in their hand, and Alex let out a shaky breath. ‘How can I help?’

‘Stop poking,’ Alex said. They tried for an angry tone but there was no bite in it. The knife thunked into the wall again. ‘Stop prodding. I don’t need you asking questions like you’re my damn therapist.’

Bernard sighed, ‘I’m not trying to be a therapist.’

‘You sure about that?’

‘Yes, because I’m not your therapist. I’m your father. And I love you, and I care about you. And I worry.’ Bernard nudged them again, watching Alex squeeze their eyes shut as the knife fell onto the bed. ‘Especially when you’re hurt.’

Alex scoffed, ‘Please, I didn’t even get a scratch in that fight.’

‘Not that type of hurt,’ Bernard said. He touched Alex’s shoulder, squeezing against the tension built up in the muscle and sighed. ‘You don’t need to talk to me specifically. But I don’t think you should bottle it up either.’

Alex shook their head, ‘It won’t help. Talking about this won’t help.’

‘Are you sure?’ Bernard asked. ‘Sometimes just sharing what’s bothering you, it gives you that outlet. Even if it doesn’t change the situation, you’ll be facing it differently. Because whatever it is? You won’t be facing it alone anymore.’

‘You definitely sound like a therapist.’

‘Then apparently your therapist is smart,’ Bernard smirked. Alex rolled their eyes, picking up the knife and tossing it again. ‘I was thinking of making a cheesecake before dinner as well if you want to help.’

Alex’s head fell back onto the headboard, and they finally turned to look at their dad. Bernard’s worry only grew at the broken expression on Alex’s face. ‘I said I’m not hungry.’

‘I know,’ Bernard said. ‘You don’t have to eat the cheesecake after you’ve made it.’ Alex sighed, not moving as Bernard went to shift off the bed. ‘You coming?’

Alex looked up at the knife still buried in the wall. At the hundred or so scores and grooves into the concrete around it. They slowly nodded, ‘Sure.’

They were nearly at the kitchen when the two of them heard talking coming from inside the door. Poking their heads through, they both frowned at the sight of Morgan and Janice. Janice was in a crimson chiffon blouse, black acrylic nails tapping on the kitchen worktop while she watched Morgan with worry. Morgan was pacing across the kitchen, talking to someone on the phone. She looked up at the sight of the newcomers, and Alex flinched at the mix of hurt, worry and anger simmering in Morgan.

‘Thanks for the update Dee,’ Morgan said, her voice rasping slightly. ‘Let me know if there’s anything we can do. Sure. Love you too.’ She hung up, tossing the phone onto the worktop before slumping against the sink. She scrubbed her hands across her face, not paying attention to the Stewarts watching her with a growing concern.

‘Morgan?’ Janice broke the silence. ‘What’s happened?’

Morgan sniffed. She dropped her hands, looking at her phone with reddened eyes. ‘Chad’s in the medical bay. Doctor says he could fall into a coma.’

‘What?’ Alex said, their voice quiet. They looked at their parents in a flash of fear and worry. ‘How?’

‘The storm,’ Morgan said. She looked up at Alex, the anger coming to the forefront again. ‘That blizzard he made, it gave him a severe case of power exhaustion. So bad he might not wake up from it.’

Alex’s eyes widened, and they swallowed down a growing lump in their throat. ‘Morgan-’

‘What was the plan here Alex?’ she asked. ‘Diego reckons you were going to abduct Chad and throw him in your hero pit.’ They looked away at that and Morgan scowled, ‘What the hell? What happened to “we couldn’t pay you to kidnap him”?’

‘It was…I thought it would help.’

‘How the hell do you figure that?’ Morgan scoffed. ‘Kidnapping my brother and throwing him in the death arena is the opposite of helping. Jesus Alex-’

‘I wasn’t actually going to put him in the arena,’ Alex said. ‘I just wanted the heroes to think I’d done that.’

Morgan looked at Alex incredulously. ‘Then what were you going to do?’

Alex licked their lips, looking worried. I…look. He’s been putting so much on you and making you deal with all these problems. And when it's not him it’s Diego calling to worry about him. I figured disappearing him somewhere else would be an easy fix. This way there’d be no chance of him slipping up and saying something to your parents, or to the heroes. Diego wouldn't need to call you every five seconds to fuss over him. Hell, your parents would probably scrap their little hunt for you to try and save their “Golden Boy”.’

‘Just disappear him?’ Morgan asked. ‘Where? Where was he going to go?’

Alex shrugged, ‘Somewhere…away.’

Morgan sighed in frustration, ‘If you had told us that was your plan, if you had said something-’

‘You didn’t need to worry about it.’

‘But I could have given Chad the heads up,’ Morgan said. ‘Then he wouldn’t have tried to literally break himself trying to stop you.’ Alex winced, looking away as Bernard gave their shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Morgan gritted her teeth, tearing her eyes away from Alex. ‘I know you hate him alright?’ Morgan said, and Alex looked up with wide eyes at her. ‘I know you hate this whole digging up the conspiracy game. And I know you want to ignore this whole plan and just…I don’t know, rip my parent’s heads off or something.’

‘That would be too quick,’ Alex said with a rough voice.

‘Whatever,’ Morgan said, turning back to Alex. ‘We’re doing this my way, and I know you hate that. Trust me, I get that. But there’s twenty heroes in that arena you can take it out on. You can’t just attack Chad out of nowhere with no warning and expect me to be okay with it. And if what you’re planning is involved with all of this?’ Morgan gestured at the four of them for emphasis, ‘Then you need to tell us. So we can actually try and make it work properly. Preferably without crippling any of my family that I actually give a shit about. Chad included.’ 

‘Morgan-’

‘I don’t want to hear it,’ Morgan said. ‘You should have told us what you were planning. Then we could have worked it out.’ She grabbed her phone and marched for the door without giving Alex another change to speak. ‘I’ll let you know when I have an update,’ she said, barely glancing back at Janice and Bernard.

‘Thank you dear,’ Janice said, watching Morgan go. As soon as Morgan was gone she was on her feet and walking over to Alex.

Alex looked up at Janice in alarm, their eyes shining, ‘Mum I-’

Before Alex could continue Janice took their arm and pulled them into a tight embrace. ‘I know love,’ she whispered, rubbing soothing circles into their back. ‘I know.’

Alex buried themselves into the embrace, their face hidden in their mother’s shoulder to try and muffle the sniffling. Janice took a careful breath, looking at Bernard with a sad expression. Bernard stepped in, resting his hand on Alex’s back while Janice turned to stroking a hand through their hair. 

‘I’m sorry,’ they whispered.

‘We know kiddo,’ Bernard said, his voice low and calm.

Alex shook their head, their shoulders trembling. ‘I…I didn’t…’

Janice hushed them gently, rocking them slowly on the spot. ‘No matter what happens,’ Janice said, ‘no matter what comes next, we love you okay. And nothing can change that. Not even this, okay?’ Alex nodded, breath hitching as they squeezed Janice tighter. 

Chapter Text

Fire was climbing up the walls all around, red and angry and giving off choking plumes of smoke. Chad tried to keep low, looking around for an exit from the room. But there were no windows, no door he could see. His lungs were burning from the choking air, making him cough violently as his eyes streamed. He had to get out. He had to get out now. 

He couldn’t work out where he was going, where he was moving through. He must have found another room, but it looked exactly the same. Same walls. Same fire. Same promise of death. But he kept going, stumbling blindly. The fire loomed closer and he backed away, slamming into a nearby wall that crumbled under his weight, and he was falling.

‘Chad?’

He looked up gasping, tears still streaming. The fire was gone. It was nighttime, the moon outside big enough to fill the whole window and smiling up at the stars. He looked around, instantly recognising the room. And the wild-haired sleepy child in the bed.

‘Did you have another nightmare Cheddar?’ Morgan asked with a yawn.

Chad felt his lip quiver, his vision blurring again but this time from tears. He clambered to his feet, short and pudgy arms and legs clumsier than he was used to, and he shuffled over to Morgan’s bed. ‘Come on then,’ Morgan said, pulling back her duvet.

Chad climbed up, launching into Morgan the second he was on her bed. Morgan let out a soft oof, pulling the duvet over them before she cuddled Chad right back. ‘It’s okay Cheddar,’ she said. ‘It was just a nightmare right?’

Chad sobbed, shaking his head. It felt so real. It must have been, his poor chest was still hurting, and his eyes were still blurry. Morgan squeezed him a little bit tighter, trying to hush him gently. He knew she was looking back at the bedroom door. He was trying to be quiet. But it was so scary.

‘Bad dreams go away when you see the moonlight, remember?’ Morgan said.

Chad shook his head again. ‘But…but…’ how could he find the words to explain how scary it was? ‘Hops…’

‘It’s okay Charlie,’ a new voice said, and Chad turned around startled, wide eyes still shining from fresh tears. There was a new kid, with blond hair tied into braids and bright blue eyes. 

‘Awex?’

Alex beamed at Chad, pulling something out from behind their back with a flourish. ‘Hops is right here,’ they said, passing him over to Chad, ‘you must have dropped him.’ Chad clung to the small bunny so tightly, curling up against Morgan as Alex shuffled closer. They wrapped the two of them up in a big hug, so tight and warm that Chad could barely move. He didn’t want to move, he just wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, cling to Hops so tight, and stay here forever. The fire couldn’t get him here. Morgan and Alex would chase it away.

‘I don’t remember saying you could have a sleepover.’ Chad looked up, his face crumpling at the sight of Janice, younger but with the same warm smile that promised everything would be okay.

‘Momma,’ Chad sobbed, reaching out from the bed, and suddenly he was being scooped up, lifted into the air. He buried his face into Momma’s dressing gown, crying anew. 

Momma hushed him gently, rocking him back and forth. ‘It’s okay baby boy,’ she whispered, ‘you’re safe now. Momma’s got you.’ Chad clung to her tighter, until the worst of his sobs had shaken away and he was sniffling tiredly in her arms.

‘He had a bad dream,’ Morgan said.

‘Can he stay here?’ Alex asked. ‘We’ll chase the monsters off!’

Momma huffed in amusement, ‘You sure about that?’

‘Yeah!’ Alex shouted. ‘No monster stands a chance against me!’

Momma smiled and looked down at Chad. ‘Do you want to stay with Alex and Morgan? Or do you want your own bed?’

Chad shook his head, ‘No no no. Momo ‘n Awex.’

‘Alright then,’ Momma said, sitting on the bed. Alex and Morgan immediately gathered closer, curling up next to Chad and Momma. ‘One big hug then you’re all going to bed.’

‘Dee-Dee?’ Chad asked.

‘Sure baby,’ Momma said. ‘Dee-Dee can stay too if she wants.’

Chad sniffed, letting Janice lay him down. Morgan settled on his left, with Diego waving from behind her. Alex was on his right, snuggling close and whispering about how the monsters weren’t really scary, and Alex was much scarier.

‘Now then,’ Janice said. ‘Would you like a story or a lullaby?’

‘Wuwaby,’ Chad said, voice small, as he began to yawn.

The song was soft and gentle, the words drifting over him without a chance of being understood. One of the older kids pulled the duvet closer, tucking Chad in tighter. It was so warm like this, a soft tingly warm that made his eyes and body so heavy. He barely remembered the fire now. It was so far away, it couldn’t hurt him here.

A soft kiss on his forehead barely made him stir. ‘Goodnight sweetheart.’ 

His eyelids were heavy. That was the first thing Chad realised when he came back to consciousness. They barely stirred when he tried to open his eyes, leaving him blind to everything aside a dulled light above him. He tried to move, to shift on harsh thin sheets. But his body was just as heavy, if not heavier. The only thing he could move was his arms. No, one of his arms, one that knocked into his chest and made him wince. The other one wasn’t working.

Alex . Everything came back. The fight atop the theatre and in the air. The blizzard. Alex ripping away his arm. Alex terrorising the city to keep him fighting alone. Alex trying to abduct him. Something started beeping above his head, the beeping getting faster and faster in time with Chad’s panicked breathing. His heart was beating so loudly in his ears he barely noticed the scrap of chair legs or quick footsteps across the room.

‘Shh,’ a soft voice said, and Chad thought he would sob in relief if he had the energy to cry. Diego . ‘It’s okay Chad, you’re okay.’ He just about managed a whimper, brow creasing as Diego brushed his hair out of his face. ‘You’re in the medical bay at the FA. You’re safe, okay?’ Her hand never left his cheek. He tried to lean into it, tried to open his eyes and see her, tried to see his sister. But his body refused to move.

‘It’s okay,’ Diego said. ‘You need to rest and not push yourself right now. Doctor said you got a really bad case of power exhaustion, your body is literally tapped out.’ 

Chad swallowed, managing a frown. He’d never had power exhaustion before. He had never hit his upper limit that badly before. What the hell had he done at the end of that fight? Diego sniffed, and Chad managed to raise his arm to bump against her. She chuckled wetly, and a soft pressure was suddenly moving his arm. He squeezed his hand gently, feeling the soft but solid pressure that must have been Diego’s hand. 

‘Do me a favour?’ Diego said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘Don’t summon a block wide storm again, okay?’ Chad squeezed her hand again, trying to stroke his thumb along part of her hand in a comforting motion. He remembered the storm. He remembered the ice. But how the hell had he made it that big? He didn’t even think that was possible for anyone. Except maybe…okay trying to make a storm powerful enough to stop Alex in their tracks does sound like something he’d do and then get yelled at later about it.

‘The good news,’ Diego said, ‘is that the doctor thinks you’ll make a full recovery. It was a bit touch and go there for a bit, but now you’re awake everything should be fine.’ Touch and go? How was it touch and go? Chad’s hand tightened again, and Diego’s other hand moved to his shoulder. ‘Seriously Cheddar, please don’t get worked up okay? You need to rest. No stress allowed, got it?’ Which was easy for Diego to say when she could freely talk and ask questions about what the hell happened. ‘I mean it Chad, I can see the gears working,’ Diego chuckled. ‘Want me to get the doctor?’

Chad squeezed her hand again in confirmation and felt her gently put his hand down. He sighed when her footsteps moved away before a door clicked closed. He was suddenly acutely aware that he was alone. Blind to everything around him because he was apparently too exhausted to open his damn eyes. His hand moved up to his neck, blindly feeling around for his necklace. It must be there. Diego wouldn’t have left them here without it. The beeping picked up from the monitor again as he struggled to find the familiar chain or the little innocuous disc. It had to be here. It would be easier to find if he was working with more than just one damn metal hand that couldn’t feel-

The sound of metal clinking against metal made Chad sigh in relief. He pinched the small disc and pulled it up, fiddling with it and listening to his fingers make little rhythmic tapping sounds echo through the room. He had his necklace. And Diego was just down the corridor. He was safe.

By the time Diego returned with the doctor Chad was beginning to doze again, the promise of rest and sleep making his thoughts slow and sluggish. The doctor said that this was to be expected. He was honestly impressed that Chad had woken up after “only” 22 hours, and insisted that Chad should listen to his body and rest. After all, the more he rested the quicker he would recover. 

He tried to listen to the doctor explaining the extent of the power exhaustion and the risks going forward, about recovery and comas and power fluxes. But the doctor’s words were slowly blending into a droning static, washing over him to make his thoughts feel heavier. Diego’s light touch had returned, gently stroking his hair out of his face and lulling him further into sleep. In the back of his mind something soft, a slow and soothing tune he almost remembered, was calling him back to a farmhouse that was warmer than anything he had felt before. And it was filled with laughter, and tears, beasts ten times his size with soft velvet muzzles and squealing excitement as a bright face tried to tame the creature. Bright and warm, even the spikes of hurt when the world toppled upside down felt soft. Strong arms were always there to pick him up, loving faces that made him want to cry and cling so tight. Which only made those strong arms squeeze him right back, promising to never let him go. 

When the soft dreams melted away again Chad stirred against the now dimmed lights and the still rough hospital bedding. When he blinked away the last dregs of sleep and managed to focus on the light fitting right above his head Chad managed a small sigh of relief. 

‘Oh good, you’re awake.’ Chad blinked at the sudden voice, trying to turn his head. That still seemed to be too much for him, the most he could manage was to tip his head just enough to roll on the pillow. Just in time for Caroline to step into his field of vision with a smile. ‘I swear we need to get a second opinion. That doctor is severely underestimating how quickly you can recover.’

Chad tried to speak. But his lips barely parted and he just about managed a small whimper that made Caroline scowled for a moment. ‘What’s that noise for? I thought you’d be happy to see me?’

Where’s Diego? Is what Chad wanted to say. Along with, why are you here? Where’s Dad? Where’s the doctor? What time is it? How long have I been asleep? Why are you here? Why are you here?! But all he could do was make another small noise, that sounded far too pathetic for a supposed hero in his mind, and pray Caroline was going to be…be what, nice?

‘Oh dear,’ Caroline said. ‘Is the power exhaustion really that bad?’ Chad blinked again, what was his mother expecting him to do here? ‘Well I suppose it is to be expected in some part. I really didn’t know you had that in you Chad. I thought we’d found your upper limit already.’ She settled in the chair next to his bed, studying him closely. ‘Don’t you worry, I’m already putting together a plan. The next time you try to make a storm that big? You’ll walk away without a worry. No strain, no exhaustion. I guarantee it.’

Oh no. Chad swallowed, hoping his panic wasn’t showing on his face. He didn’t have the energy to try and put up his usual mask right now. Wait…when did it become a mask to him? ‘There’s no need to look so nervous,’ Caroline said. ‘You can trust us with this. We’ll know exactly what to do to get you fighting fit again. And then once I find a suitable space for more advanced training we’ll work on those storms of yours.’ She gave him a smile, the closest she ever got to looking proud, and Chad tried not to shudder. There was no reason to. Caroline was happy, even proud of him. That was a good thing. That was something he would have given anything for a month ago. 

Before Caroline could carry on planning the door opened and smart footsteps entered. ‘Mrs Sterling,’ the familiar voice of the doctor said. ‘Visiting hours are over, and my patient is supposed to be resting.’

‘We were just discussing his recovery,’ Caroline said, folding her arms. Her familiar scowl was back, and Chad tried to turn away to look at the doctor’s reaction.

‘That is a discussion to be had between me and him,’ the doctor said.

‘I’m his mother,’ Caroline said sharply.

‘And if he wants family support and advocacy then I’ll be more happy to facilitate whoever he chooses to fill that role,’ the doctor said. ‘When he’s recovered more to be able to lead those conversations and decisions. In the meantime, I insist you let him rest.’

‘But-’

‘That is not a request,’ the doctor said. Caroline shot to her feet, a barely contained burning fury in her stance. Chad could feel part of his face heat up, like he was standing too close to a bonfire. The doctor didn’t seem to even waver. ‘If you wish to raise your concerns I’ll be more than happy to escort you out.’ 

Chad knew better than to accuse his mother of huffing, but he couldn’t help but sigh in relief when the door slammed shut behind the two of them. He was left in silence again, something that he sunk into in relief after all of…well, that. 

The door opened again to reveal one pair of footsteps, and the doctor appeared in Chad’s field of vision. ‘Sorry about that,’ the doctor said. ‘You mother is…quite the character. Anyway, while you’re awake-’

Chad’s hand tapped on the side of the bed, making the doctor pause and turn to him. Chad tried to open his mouth again, tried to whisper just a single word. He should be able to do that. But he couldn’t manage more than a small hum. This was ridiculous. How could he be so useless as to not even be able to say a simple thankyou? 

The doctor watched him for a moment, before he nodded in understanding. ‘You’re welcome.’ Chad sighed, closing his eyes in relief. The doctor chuckled, ‘It’s not a big deal, trust me. She’s not the first “over attentive” relative I’ve needed to deal with.’

Chad huffed in amusement, almost managing a small smile. 

‘Now,’ the doctor said, pulling out his stethoscope. ‘Lets see how you’re recovering.’

Chapter Text

The good news was that Chad could tell he was recovering. Everytime he managed to stir out of unconsciousness it got a little bit easier to open his eyes and he was able to stay awake for a little bit longer. When Diego came around for her next visit Chad was even able to manage a quiet hum, which made the nurse checking his vitals scold him. But Diego’s hopeful smile made it worth it. 

The bad news was that his recovery was far too slow. At least in Chad’s mind. And in his parent’s mind as well if their comments during their next allowed visit were anything to go by. No amount of advice or reassurance from the doctor or nurses was enough to assuage any of their opinions about Chad’s condition or recovery. And he couldn’t help but feel guilty when he began to fall asleep in the middle of their visit, even as Diego was right there backing up the doctor and nurses. It was just too exhausting, being awake. How was he meant to recover enough to help anyone like this? 

He slept a lot, enough to lose track of time altogether. Or he might have just fallen unconscious, he couldn’t tell which. There were definitely some times he dreamed, such vivid dreams that they lingered even when he was shaken out of his slumber. Sometimes he simply blinked and everything around him had shifted, the day nurses changing to night nurses with no time passing. And sometimes there were dreams that hung just out of reach of his memory when he woke up. 

It was probably the fifth or sixth time when he woke up to see Diego again. It was her third visit, or at least the third visit that he had been conscious for, and she had already settled down in the visitors chair by his bed. He turned his head, slowly so that his muscles didn’t complain, and tried to manage a sleepy smile and hum.

‘Morning sleepyhead,’ Diego said with a smile. ‘Hope you’ve not been partying too hard in here.’ Chad rolled his eyes, barely paying attention to Diego fussing around with her bag. ‘Hey guess what? I’ve got you some proper food.’ She pulled out a thermos flask with a flourish, beaming at Chad. ‘Well, I got you soup. But it's homemade.’

Since when do you make homemade soup? Chad raised an eyebrow, partly in confusion and partly in amusement, and when Diego scowled he huffed in laughter. ‘Shush you. It’s good soup, Dave had some last night.’ She helped Chad sit up at a good enough angle to be able to drink the soup and poured out the first cup. She blew on it gently before moving to slowly and carefully feed Chad. ‘It’s better than whatever Dad tried to cook last night anyway.’

Chad ignored the twist of guilt in his chest and went to take a careful sip. As soon as it hit his tongue however there was an explosion of flavour and warmth that made him blink in surprise. Diego was watching him intently, watching as his cheeks began to flush from the warmth that quickly travelled through his body, until even his toes were tingling. 

‘Wow,’ Diego whispered, watching Chad’s face fill with colour. She smiled in wonder, before clearing her throat and composing herself. ‘Told you it was good.’

Where did you get this from? Chad’s question was silent, his voice still hadn’t come back, but the question was clear on his face.

Diego thought for a moment, looking to the door to check they were alone before turning back. ‘You know your new friends? They got in touch, wanted to help out.’ 

Janice? Chad only looked more confused. He had fought Alex again, and nearly wiped himself out in the process just to try and stand toe to toe with them. Why would she help him now? Did she want him back in the fight like his parents? Did she want him helping Morgan and her mission? Or was there something else he was missing?

‘What’s wrong?’ Diego asked. ‘I can see the gears whirring.’ 

Chad shook his head, trying to look away from Diego. She didn’t need to worry about this.

‘Nope,’ Diego said, touching Chad’s cheek. ‘No bottling it up.’ 

Chad scoffed, looking at her with an incredulous expression. She seemed to see past it though and saw the sadness and confusion in his eyes. 

Her brow unfurrowed in recognition, and she sighed at Chad, giving him a small smile. ‘She’s worried about you,’ Diego whispered. ‘They all are. Pretty sure in different circumstances they’d be here themselves to check in.’ 

Chad blinked, trying to process Diego’s words and failing. They were worried about him? No other reason? That was it?

‘Come on,’ Diego held up the cup, ‘this is genuinely good soup. And it will taste better when it’s still hot.’

By the time Chad was halfway through the thermos his entire body felt like it was glowing, tingling in a surprisingly pleasant way. His muscles had enough life in them now to ache more than any power strain he had experienced before. Diego insisted that he finish the whole thing however. And Chad couldn’t argue. He didn’t want to though. The more of the soup he drank the more at ease he felt, his worried thoughts settling until he finally felt calm. The sensation wrapped him up, reminding him of the soft sweet dreams he could barely remember.

Eventually he finished the last cup, sinking into the pillows with a soft sigh as Diego packed the thermos away. She gave him a smile, ‘Feeling better?’

Chad managed a sleepy nod and smiled back. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured, eyes sliding closed.

He was about to fall asleep when Diego’s hand brushed through his hair. ‘No problem. Rest up, okay Cheddar?’

*****

The sound of heels clacking on tile should have been enough to warm Morgan that she wasn’t alone in the computer lab. But she was too fixated on her laptop, typing away furiously while swearing under her breath to notice anything around her. The main computer console beeped, something else Morgan ignored in favour of glaring at her screen. Another beep, more footsteps, Morgan was deaf to all of them. Which is how the sudden voice of Janice made her jump out of her skin.

‘Have you had dinner yet dear?’

‘Jesus Christ!’ Morgan gasped. ‘Don’t sneak up on me like that!’

Janice chuckled, ‘In these shoes? No one could accuse me of sneaking.’ Morgan rolled her eyes and turned back to her laptop, missing Janice’s disapproving frown. ‘Morgan? Dear when did you last eat? Or rest?’

‘Not hungry,’ Morgan mumbled, typing away again. 

Janice put down the satin wrapped shape in her hand and took hold of Morgan’s computer chair. ‘Morgan? Sweetheart. The food is already cooked.’

‘I’ll grab some later,’ Morgan said.

‘No,’ Janice said. She started to pull back Morgan’s chair, which made Morgan yelp and cling to the console. Janice sighed, ‘Please sweetheart, I worry.’

‘I’m busy,’ Morgan snapped, shifting her chair back.

‘Can someone else deal with it?’ Janice asked.

The main computer beeped again and the two of them finally looked up at the screen. ‘How long has Diego been calling?’ Morgan asked.

Janice tapped on a button on the control panel, looking up in time to see Diego’s image appear on the screen. ‘Hello Diego Dear!’

‘Hi Mrs S,’ Diego said. ‘What was with being on hold so long?’

Morgan rolled her eyes, ‘We’re busy.’

‘So am I,’ Diego said. ‘I’ve got to head out in a few minutes to entertain our dear parents and make sure they haven’t tracked you down yet.’

Morgan snorted at that, while Janice clapped her hands together in delight. ‘Oh perfect timing! The ward’s done!’ She picked up the handful of satin, pulling enough of it away to reveal a small disc, gently glowing with Janice’s signature red light. ‘When you set it in place the colour will change,’ Janice said, ‘just so its not quite so obvious.’

‘Of course,’ Diego chuckled. ‘Can we get away with doing a quick trade now? I need to get your flask back to you.’

Janice’s shoulders straightened, her expression slipping into immediate concern. ‘Did Chad drink it all? How is he? If he couldn’t manage it all I can mock up a different recipe. Is he still stable? What has the doctor said about his progress?’

Diego gave Janice a soft smile. ‘He’s fine. He drank it all, that stuff is incredible. You could see the change straight away. He even managed to say something after he finished it all. Which…doesn’t sound like much now I say it out loud.’

‘No no,’ Janice said, blinking away her tears, ‘No that’s incredible. Oh,’ she slumped, covering her face with her hands to take a deep breath. ‘He’s really okay?’

Diego nodded. ‘Yeah. He’s okay.’

Janice sighed in relief. ‘Good. Thank you dear,’ she looked up at Diego with a tearful smile, her hands slipping down to clasp in front of her chest. ‘I…really appreciate you keeping us in the loop. I know…this whole situation is…’

‘Yeah,’ Diego said. ‘But you care about Chad as well. And…well if I was in your shoes I’d want you to keep me in the loop, so it’s only fair.’ 

Janice gave her another grateful smile. ‘Alright, shall we get this trade sorted? We don’t want to hold you up too long.’

Janice directed Diego to place the flask in front of her video camera, angling it to get the whole thing in frame. With a practised motion and a whisper of an incantation, Janice’s sigil appeared around both items, flashing brightly for a moment before settling. Diego picked up the ward before the sigil had fully faded, pulling away the fabric to spy at the crystal disc. ‘What’s the fabric for?’

‘It’s like a perception filter,’ Janice said, ‘but for magic. Just in case your parents have magical alarms.’

Diego snorted, ‘It wouldn’t surprise me. Alright, need me for anything else?’

Janice thought for a moment. ‘I think Bernard and I are alright. Morgan?’ She turned to Morgan, sighing at the sight of Morgan curled over the laptop again. ‘Morgan, sweetheart.’ She stepped up to the chair again, touching Morgan’s shoulder. ‘Morgan, do you-’

‘Fuck,’ Morgan hissed, lurching to her feet as she slammed at the keyboard. ‘Nononono, don’t you dare.’

‘Mo?’ Diego frowned from the screen.

‘Dammit,’ Morgan gritted her teeth, ignoring the growing concern from her audience and twitched the screen. ‘Don’t you dare you bastard!’

‘Morgan!’ Janice gasped. ‘What on earth?’

‘What’s happened?’ Diego asked.

Morgan slammed the control panel, still staring at the laptop screen. ‘He’s found a way to flush out my trojan horse,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘He’s going to kick me out.’

‘Who?’

‘Roofer,’ Morgan said. ‘I was still messing with his stupid snooping into Chadster. And stopping him from trying to recover the DNA files.’

‘He found you in his system?’ Diego asked.

Morgan shrugged. ‘Must have. I don’t know when though, that came out of nowhere.’ She froze, frown dropping with realisation. ‘Oh no.’ She looked at Janice. ‘When Chad was still unconscious. Bernard made me go to bed early because I nearly put a virus in the hospital archives. I wasn’t with it enough, I didn’t do the normal checks.’ She stood up, looking at the computer in horror. ‘He must have found my trojans then. And then…coded something to break them all in one strike.’

‘Kicking you out in the process,’ Janice said with a sigh.

Morgan’s hands tangled in her hair, her breath quickening. ‘Fuck, no. No I…dammit!’

Diego moved closer to the screen, before Dave’s voice sounded off screen. She looked over her shoulder and waved him away before turning back to Morgan. ‘Mo? You did your best. And you did a bloody good job okay?’

Morgan shook her head, ‘He’s going to try and track us all down. He’s going to find out Chad’s secret identity. And yours. And…he’s going to look into the DNA match he found.’ She looked at Janice. ‘I’ve just put Rex on the hunt.’

‘No,’ Janice said. ‘That wasn’t you.’

‘But if I didn’t try to hide it so hard-’

‘Then he surely would have found it sooner.’ Janice said. ‘You did your best. Like Diego said. You kept Rex’s plans at bay with just one laptop. For how long?’

‘Has to be two months now,’ Diego said. ‘Or near enough.’

‘See? That’s incredible.’

Morgan swallowed. ‘But he’s going to be looking now as well. For all of this. He’s going to want all the answers almost as much as we do.’

‘Then it’s a good thing you got us a head start then,’ Janice said. She wrapped an arm around Morgan’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. ‘You did so well.’

Morgan sniffed, ‘Not well enough.’

‘Nonsense,’ Janice said. ‘You were incredible.’

‘But-’

‘I will set Bernard on you,’ Janice said. ‘Don’t test me.’ Morgan slumped, leaning into Janice’s embrace, letting Janice stroke through her tangled curls. ‘My clever girl,’ Janice whispered, hushing gently as Morgan squeezed her tighter. ‘My brilliant girl.’ 

Diego looked over her shoulder again, then back at the two of them. ‘I’m going to be late if I wait any longer. I’ll check in with you guys later?’

Janice nodded and gave her a little wave, ‘Stay safe dear. Say hi to your husband for me.’

‘Will do, thanks Mrs S,’ Diego looked at Morgan. ‘Talk to you later Mo.’

Mo didn’t respond, her face buried in Janice’s shoulder. The screen went black behind them, filling the room with silence. The two of them rocked in place, Janice stroking Morgan’s hair gently as Morgan’s shoulders shook.

When Morgan finally spoke her voice was barely a croak. ‘Where’s Alex?’

Janice looked up at another screen. ‘I haven’t seen them around the base today. They’ve probably been entertaining themselves at the arena.’

‘All day?’

Janice let out a careful breath, ‘I think they needed some space. After the last fight with Chad.’ Morgan pulled back, her slightly blotchy face frowning at Janice. ‘They were giving you some space in part. But I think they needed it for themselves as well.’

‘Why?’ Morgan frowned. ‘It’s not the first time Alex has put Chad in the hospital.’

Janice sighed. ‘It’s the first time they have since we found out who Chad is. Or was rather. And…power exhaustion can be dangerous. Alex has seen how dangerous it can be.’ Janice looked away for a moment, eyes unfocusing for a moment. ‘It’s not a memory they want to relive I don’t think.’

‘What happened?’ Morgan asked. ‘They’ve never mentioned it.’

‘Well they wouldn’t,’ Janice said. ‘They’ll probably say it was a long time ago and it’s not worth thinking about.’

Morgan’s lips thinned, and she nodded in understanding. She thought about something else that made her brow furrow again. ‘Chad’s been awake for three days now. They’ve not been avoiding the base that entire time?’

‘No,’ Janice said. ‘No they’ve been around. Just…I don’t think they wanted to interrupt your work.’

Morgan sighed, closing her eyes. ‘Great. How the hell do I fix this?’

Janice rubbed Morgan’s arm. ‘Food first. Maybe a break away from the screens. And then? We’ll see what tomorrow brings.’

Chapter Text

The next time that Chad woke up, it was to the sound of mayhem outside his room. There were shouting voices, rushing footsteps, the heavy roll of wheels on tile. He tried to sit up, wincing as the slight movement made all the muscles in his good shoulder complain. Even so he forced himself to sit up, the simple movement leaving him panting and breathing heavily, blinking back spots in his eyes. Damn power drain.

He had just about come back to focus on his surroundings when the door opened and Diego slipped in. She didn’t notice him sitting up until the door closed behind her, too busy focusing on the voices on the other side of the door.

‘What’s going on?’ Chad mumbled.

Diego jumped at Chad’s response, staring at him in surprised before shifting into a frown. ‘What are you doing sitting up? The doctor told you to rest.’

‘I am,’ Chad said. ‘What’s going on outside?’

Diego shook her head, stepping up to his bed and dumping her bag on the chair before rummaging inside it. ‘That’s the last thing you need to worry about. Come on, I brought some decent food.’ She pulled out a thermos and a tupperware with sandwiches before turning to him. ‘If you’re feeling up to trying solids we can share?’

Chad scowled. ‘What’s going on outside? I can hear the nurses shouting from here.’

Diego looked at the door, pursing her lips for a moment. ‘Seriously Chad, everyone wants you to focus on you right now.’

‘I’m not going to drop it, so-’

The door to the room opened and Diego shoved the lunch back in her bag, hidden away just in time for Caroline to step through the door. ‘Oh Chad!’ she looked up at him in surprise, and then smiled at him. ‘You’re awake. And sitting up of all things.’ She chuckled, ‘I knew that doctor was underestimating you.’

Said doctor was following behind Caroline with a scowl. He blinked in confusion at the sight of Chad conscious and sitting up, but focused back on Caroline quickly enough. ‘Mrs Sterling, I insist, we cannot be having a thousand and one guests right now. Once the ward has settled you and Mrs Dodgers can come and have your full visit, but until then-’

‘Oh nonsense,’ Caroline said, waving her hand. ‘We’ll stay here and be out of your hair. And once your new residents are “settled” then we can discuss discharge plans.’

Chad blinked, trying to process what was being said without success. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Oh and you’re talking too!’ Caroline beamed. ‘Excellent, you’re doing marvellously. I don’t think there should be any objections then.’

The doctor gave Caroline a barely concealed glare. ‘Chadster’s discharge is a decision to be made by me. And him. When we think he is ready for discharge. And not a moment before.’

There was another clang outside and Caroline scoffed. ‘You really think you can give my son the care he needs when you’re this busy?’

‘Guys?’ Chad said, his voice already getting quieter from tiring. ‘What’s going on?’

Diego sighed, ‘Some of Alex’s hostages came back.’ Chad turned to Diego, a silent question on his face as she clearly looked torn. ‘Or rather, were sent back. Apparently Alex said something along the lines of “They’re too broken to be entertaining anymore.” So they got dumped just outside the city. The first wave of heroes that went to retrieve them have also gone missing.’

Chad cringed, anger and guilt mixing in his chest to form something ugly. ‘They wanted new heroes.’

‘It would seem so,’ Caroline said. ‘Now all the survivors are in the hospital wing, and the doctors have their hands rather full. Considering your progress, I think it's best we get out of their hair.’

‘Absolutely not,’ the doctor said. ‘We have more than enough staff, space and care to look after your son as well as all our new patients. He is best here where he can still be monitored.’

‘Isn’t he past the dangerous part of power drain at this point?’ Caroline said.

‘Yes,’ the doctor said. ‘As long as he continues to rest. And doesn’t push himself too much too quickly. Otherwise he runs the risk of relapse.’

Caroline barely held back a scoff. ‘Oh don’t worry, Richard and I know exactly what our son needs.’

Chad looked at Caroline in alarm, then at Diego. ‘I’m not…ready to go home yet.’

‘Of course you are,’ Caroline said. ‘Between me and your father we’ll make sure you’re perfectly taken care of.’

Chad’s alarm turned into a blind panic he didn’t have the energy to hide. ‘Move back in with you and Dad? I can’t.’

Caroline’s confident smile faltered, and she looked at Chad coolly, ‘Excuse me?’

Diego stepped in, putting a grounding hand on Chad’s knee, ‘Mum? Please be serious. You and Dad are still recovering yourselves. No one would expect you to be looking after someone else who is still recovering from major power drain right now.’

Caroline rolled her eyes, ‘Your father and I are perfectly fine.’

‘If your physiotherapy is going that well,’ the doctor said, ‘then the FA may be calling on you soon to assist with defending against Alex’s attacks. Especially since we’ve just lost another dozen heroes and sidekicks.’

‘A dozen?!’ Chad cried.

The doctor raised his hand, ‘Apologies Chadster, that was a callous way to tell you.’ He turned to Caroline with a scowl, ‘We are not having this conversation here, not if it's going to upset my patient. And I need to check in on the new admissions sooner rather than later.’

‘Well while you do that,’ Caroline said, ‘I’ll get Chadster’s discharge papers.’

‘No,’ Diego said. ‘You can’t be serious. This is the first time Chad has said anything in a week. And the first time he’s been able to move anything more than his robot limbs.’

Caroline’s cool expression turned to Diego, ‘Diego? I would expect you to have more faith in your father and I.’

‘Faith has nothing to do with it,’ Diego snapped. ‘If the doctor says he isn’t ready to leave the hospital yet then I’m trusting the doctor that was able to wake him up from the coma! ’

Chad reached out with his good arm, hooking Diego by the arm and pulling her closer. ‘Dee, which heroes? Who got taken?’

Diego sighed, ‘Of course that’s your priority right now.’ She turned to her brother. ‘Chad, please. If you try and burn energy on this now it will take you that much longer to recover.’

‘That won’t be a problem if he’s at home,’ Caroline said.

The doctor shook his head, ‘Right now Chadster’s having IV fluids to keep up his hydration and energy, along with daily painkillers you’re not qualified or trained to administer. Then there’s taking blood, BP tests, testing for oxygen and glucose levels, shifting him in the bed to make sure he doesn’t get pressure sores, cleaning and changing him. He’s here for a reason. This is the best place for him. When that is no longer the case Chadster and I will work on and agree his discharge plan.’

Caroline turned to the doctor ready to argue, when Chad tried to sit up again. He needed more information on what Alex had done, on who had been taken, on the condition of the heroes that had been brought back. He needed to get into his server to see what information and clues had been collected. He needed to convince his mother that he shouldn’t move back into his childhood home without making her suspicious or defensive. Even though the thought of moving back in and being “cared for” by his parents day in and day out made his blood freeze. 

But when he sat up and tried to hold his weight for a moment the room swam, stars dancing in his vision, and the world fell out from under him. Diego’s voice sounded from far away, something strong catching him before he fell through the floor, and he was vaguely aware of the bustle around and above him. The doctor’s voice came through clearly for a moment, demanding someone leave, before something cold and metal was pressed to his chest, right next to where his necklace should still be sitting. Chad’s last thought was to check the necklace was still in place, before the darkness swallowed him. 

The world was quiet when he woke up again. Quiet, and aching more than Chad could bear in the moment. A small whimper drew one of the nurses closer, a soft faced kind soul who gave him a reassuring smile and told him the doctor was on the way. It was late again. Too late for visitors Chad realised. The loud manic racing from earlier in the day was gone. Instead the corridor outside was quiet aside from the occasional footsteps and the click of a closing door. 

Chad was helped up into a reclining position this time, and was slowly sipping on a cup of cool water when the doctor returned. He was straight to business like always, checking in with the nurse and on the chart, his stethoscope already out and listening in on Chad’s chest. His breathing was still heavy, heavier than Chad would have liked, but the doctor wasn’t alarmed by it. When the doctor turned to a monitor nearby Chad finally put enough energy together to grab the sleeve of his coat, getting his attention.

‘D…discharge,’ Chad gasped.

‘You are in no fit state to be discharged,’ the doctor said, his tone brokering no argument. ‘We’ll discuss discharge when you can stand without fainting.’

Chad shook his head, ‘Not…not there.’

The doctor frowned, ‘Not where?’

Chad swallowed, face screwing up from effort. ‘Can’t go back. Please. Don’t…let her…’

The doctor’s confusion vanished, and he nodded with pursed lips. ‘You mean your mother’s home?’ Chad nodded. ‘Your care is up to you and only you. If you do not want to be discharged into someone else’s care then that is your right. And you don’t need to justify yourself either.’

Chad nodded again, ‘Please…’

The doctor paused, looking away for a moment to think. ‘I can come up with a rationale for you to not return there if you want. So you can’t be blamed for the decision.’

Chad slumped in relief, his hand finally untangling from the doctor’s coat. ‘Thank you.’

‘Of course, I’m here to help after all,’ the doctor said. ‘Now, let me finish my checks, alright?’

Chad nodded, eyes closing from exhaustion as the doctor turned back. Before the doctor had even finished his examination Chad had already drifted off back to sleep.