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“Rah!” Adam was six years old, dressed in a cardboard dragon costume.
“Stop, meanie!” Bree pointed a cardboard sword at him, adorned in armor of the same material. “You’ll never have the princess!” Chase stood behind her in the same garb, still a bit reluctant to leave training for this.
“Rah!” Adam repeated, making claws with his hands and hissing.
Donald sat behind a cardboard box, equally as reluctant as the youngest, even as a brown cut-out tiara sat atop his head. “Oh no. Please save me.”
“Charge!” Bree sped forward, tackling Adam to the best she could.
Chase snuck around them, going to “save” their father.
“You did it,” Donald smiled warmly at the four-year-old.
“This is stupid,” Chase pointed out.
“Sure,” Donald ruffled his hair. But he didn’t mind. It was nice hearing the kids laugh.
“Aw, come on!” Adam whined, pausing the wrestling with his sister. “You always win!”
Donald opened his arm for the other two.
“Yes, the knights saved me from the mighty dragon,” Adam pouted further. “But who’s gonna save you three from the ridiculously handsome Mr. Davenport?”
He trapped them in his hold, tickling as they shrieked and giggled.
—---------------------------------------------------------------
Donald glanced to the darkened corner of the lab when he felt a presence.
His oldest stood there silently in the shadows, arms folded and face set in a hard glare.
“Can I help you?” he didn’t pay much attention, more indifferent than anything at the man who could shatter his bones with a flick of a finger.
“Not me,” Adam didn’t falter his glare. “Goin’ to the tower?”
“Yes,” Donald replied, packing some more machinery into a bag for after he left to discuss potential buyers in Centium City.
“Are you actually?”
“Yes, Adam,” Donald rolled his eyes.
“To visit?”
“On the side.”
“Are they expectin’ you?”
“Yes.”
Adam shifted. “Show up.”
“That is the plan, Adam.”
“No. I mean it. Show up.”
Donald sighed. He wished Douglas balanced more intelligence in Adam’s creation. This kid was dumber than a bag of rocks, even twenty years later.
“Yes, Adam. Going there means showing up.”
“Not for you it doesn’t.”
“Excuse me?” Donald turned.
“When I say show up,” he took a step forward. “I mean actually be there. For them.”
“Who?”
Adam’s face twitched. “Bree and Chasey. Y’know. Your children.”
“What are you talking about?” Donald scoffed, waving him off.
“The last time,” his voice was lower. “When you told them you were gonna stop by. And you never did. He sounded more upset than I’ve heard in a while, and me and Leo couldn’t even understand her through how much she was crying. And the time before that. And the time before that. You do understand that they need you, right? For some reason I dunno. Personally, I think they’re crazy.”
Donald rolled his eyes again. “Please.”
“You better take this seriously,” Adam took another step. “They went through a lot. And you haven’t even called.”
“Three-fifths of you are adults now. You don’t need coddling. Coddling means treating you like babies.”
“I know that,” Adam’s scowl deepened.
“Well, color me surprised.”
“Don’t disappoint them.”
“Well, maybe they should use their brains and grow up a bit. I have too many problems to deal with, they don’t need to add themselves to the list.”
Adam went quiet for a bit.
“You don’t get to talk about disappointing your siblings,” Donald deadpanned. “You left Leo in all your cowardice because you couldn’t handle actually having pressure without Chase to pick out your clothes and cut the crusts off your sandwich.”
Something in Adam changed. More rage than Donald had ever seen from the usually happy-go-lucky airhead. Interesting.
“I left, because of you.”
“Convenient scapegoat. Do you know what either of those words means?”
“I sabotaged Chase’s job with the freakin’ president because I couldn’t lose him. And you turned around and ripped both of them from me. I couldn’t stand being on the island without them. Everywhere I turned, I thought I saw them. And yeah, it was shitty leaving Leo, and I hate that I did, but any more time there and I woulda lost it.”
Donald was mostly tuning him out. The only thing that ever came out of his mouth was nonsense, so this wasn’t surprising.
“See,” he grabbed Donald's duffel bag, sliding it off the cyberdesk. Donald threw his hands up in annoyance. “There’s a difference between them and me. You never cared about me unless you wanted someone to make you feel smarter or somethin’ heavy lifted. Never. It’s different with them, because you actually used to care. Don’t flake.”
Donald raised a manicured brow.
“What? Do I sound smarter than normal ‘cause you’re actually listening for a second? Watch it old man, don’t want you to have the big one. Or maybe I do, but they still like you.”
He gave Adam a look of disinterest.
Adam towered above Donald, hardly a step away, eyes glowing red. “But that mattering'll change real fast. You hurt my kid siblings again, and I’ll give you a problem.”
Silence.
“Well,” Donald hefted his bag. “I see you three inherited your dramatics from my brother.”
Metal screeched and crunched under Adam’s fist, having just gone through the expensive desk.
“Ugh, seriously?”
“Get. Out.” Adam’s voice was hardly above a whisper.
“This is my lab, Adam.”
“For your own safety,” he said through gritted teeth. “Leave.”
Donald rolled his eyes, grabbed his bag, and casually walked to the door. “Juvenile.”
~*~
“Chase… maybe we should talk.”
“He’s going to show up,” Chase bounced his knee as he waited on the couch. They’d been there for hours. “I know he will.”
Kaz sighed, putting one arm around his shoulders and squeezing his leg with his other hand. “Babe… I don’t want to see you hurt if he doesn’t.”
“He will. I know he will,” Chase squeezed his hand back.
Kaz frowned. He probably wouldn’t. The bastard hadn’t even bothered calling since shit hit the fan. If he wouldn’t answer the phone after such a severe, awful, need for parental love time, who was to say he’d make good on a visit?
Before he said another thing, Chase perked up. He gave him an “I-told-you-so” smile, pecking his lips quickly and standing.
Chase brushed his sweater off as the doors opened.
Well, slap Kaz’s face and call him Margaret, Donald Davenport was there.
He set his bag down on the floor, opening his arms to receive Chase’s hug. Ordinarily, say for Tasha, Kaz would carry the heavy bag to the room. For Donald, he might throw it in his face.
There was a gust of wind.
Bree stood there, looking astonished. “You’re actually… here?”
“In the flesh.”
She chewed her cheek hesitantly, but eventually joined the hug.
Oliver and Skylar walked through the hyperlift.
Oliver shrieked, jumping on Skylar’s back. Seeing Davenport in that tight of a shirt would give anyone that reaction.
“You came?” Skylar sounded thrilled . Oliver climbed down, just as wary.
“Yes. Now one of you three make yourselves useful and take care of my bag.”
“My pleasure,” Kaz took the bag. Heavy. Probably expensive. Excellent. He hovered to the balcony doors.
“Hey, where are you going?” Donald demanded.
Kaz whistled, pressing his thumb to the scanner. The doors whirred open as Donald followed him. Kaz chucked the duffel bag over the railing.
Donald gave a short scream, running over and watching helplessly as the tech sailed hundreds of stories down.
“Oopsie,” Kaz gasped. “I’m such a clumsy idiot butterfingers!”
Oliver and Skylar hid their laughs behind their hands. Bree smirked. Chase gave him a look that was less than pleased, crossing his arms.
Oh well, this might’ve gotten him in the doghouse with his boyfriend, but man the look on Donald’s face as it turned every shade of red was worth anything.
~*~
Donald appeared extraordinarily bored listening to his kids on either side fill him in on what had been happening in their lives.
Kaz on the other couch, Skylar beside him and Oliver behind them, glares all trained on the man, figured it was because they weren’t talking about Donald- Davenport’s favorite subject.
Hardly twenty minutes in, a phone rang mid Bree talking. Donald pulled it out, glancing at the screen.
“I have to take this.”
“O-Oh, okay,” Chase said.
The siblings exchanged looks as he disappeared into the hyperlift.
~*~
The buyers were ready for buying. The numbskull team member may have destroyed his prototypes, but Donald had schematics and plenty of pocket room for cash.
“I’m heading out,” Donald called.
Bree and Chase were on the couch. He was reading a book and she had tossed her feet onto his lap, scrolling on her phone. Both of them stared at him in disbelief.
“No you’re fucking not,” Bree sat up.
“I am, actually.”
Before he reached the scanner, Bree sped up and snatched his hand.
“Are you serious?” she pulled it away from the scanner. “This isn’t funny.”
“Yes, it isn’t.”
“You came here after months, ignored us talking for a few minutes, abandoned us for hours to make your call, and now you’re just… just leaving?!”
“Yes.” it seemed like more than enough time was spent.
“Mr. Davenport-” Chase stood, removing his reading glasses.
He gave him an icy glare. Chase flinched.
Bree moved her grip to his shirt collar, pulling Donald with her. “C’mon, Chase.”
~*~
Once they were on the balcony, Bree released him. Donald stood nearest to the door, his children occupying the side closer to the rail.
“I don’t have time for this nonsense-”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Bree demanded. Chase held his arms, avoiding eye contact with his father.
“I’m not the one who drags people around like-”
“Why don’t you care?”
He raised his eyebrow.
“Answer me!”
“Bree…” Chase tried. She was getting too emotional. She might actually hurt him.
“No!” she shoved Chase’s hand off of her shoulder.
“Tell me! What happened? What made you stop caring about us? What made you view us as… as…” she made a frustrated noise. “Not your kids! We’re like… assets! Why?! What changed? You i-ignore us, you talk down to us- just, why? It’s been months of this!”
“That’s childish. I’m busy.”
“It’s not childish!” tears brimmed in her eyes. “It’s how I feel!”
“Well, clearly you aren’t intelligent to discriminate between emotion and logic.”
Something sparked, deep in the pit of Chase’s stomach. Something repressed. Something ugly. Maybe it was from overhearing his older siblings’ conversations. Maybe it was hearing Tasha yell at Davenport over the phone. How defeated Douglas was. How Leo seemed more and more drained as time went on, crushed under a mountain of work that was not suitable for a seventeen-year-old. Maybe it was the voice in the back of Chase’s head, telling him how terrible his father had become. The one he always ignored. Maybe it was seeing his sister cry, right at that moment.
“She is plenty smart “enough”.” Chase got in between them. “And she’s not wrong.”
Donald seemed appalled that he didn’t take his side.
“Y-You’ve been cold,” he felt sick at Donald’s glare, burst of confidence vacating. He had never stood up to him before. “You- we’ve been second choice for a long time. You’ve always pitted us against each other. Adam and I almost lost our relationship over it.”
Chase really felt like he might vomit. He was shaking, beads of cold sweat popping up on his forehead under his father’s gaze. But he pressed on.
“It started with Leo. The second he came, you almost- well actually, quite literally threw us to the curb.” he heard Bree’s fingers dig into her arm. Chase raked a hand through his hair. “And I don’t resent that. O-Or him. He needed that after what happened with his biological dad. I just always wondered why. Why weren’t we enough anymore?”
He took a shaky breath, scrubbing a hand down his face to try and steel himself. Honestly, he wasn’t aware he had all of these feelings. They continued pouring out.
“A-And then, Naomi- you fully put us on ignore after.”
Donald scoffed, folding his arms.
“I… I don’t know if you just- if you’ve recognized your mistakes and want to parent her correctly-”
“I don’t make mistakes, Chase.”
Chase froze up.
“Yeah, you do, fucko-” Bree interjected, jabbing a finger in his face. “Look at the way us three have turned out. Tell me you did a great job.”
Donald’s eyes turned cold.
“You’re a piece of shit. Tasha hates you. Adam hates you. Douglas hates you. And the fun part about him is that he’s not even surprised because he's always known how awful you are.”
Chase was shocked by that admission. He didn’t know that. Or maybe he suspected it. And kept it buried.
“You don’t love. Not anymore. And we’ve been wholly tossed aside. For your newest “invention”.”
Donald’s lip curled. Cold wind lashed around them.
“That’s what it is,” Chase murmured, putting pieces together to form a garish picture. “That’s how it always has been. Y-You find a new project. And you leave your old one behind. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it? We’re just old, broken models.”
Bree made a choked noise, holding back a sob.
“We aren’t your science projects,” Chase whispered. “We’re your children. Right?”
Donald said nothing. His face didn’t show a hint of emotion.
Chase wanted to scream. He wanted to punch the wall, punch his father, maybe throw himself off the terrace. Grab Donald by the shoulders and shake him, snap him out of whatever mind control or blackmail or anything he was under, because it couldn’t be true. He wanted to claw his crawling skin to shreds, wanted to gouge his eyes out so he didn’t have to see Donald’s expression, an answer all to itself.
So much of their childhood flew before him.
So many warm memories now polluted with inky blackness, like his past nightmare.
“...Dad,” Chase choked, brows furrowing. “What will it take for you to love us?”
There was silence. The breeze ruffled hair and clothes, doing nothing to soothe the twin pounding hearts.
“I have work to do,” Donald turned on his heel and entered the penthouse.
It was like someone had dumped ice water over them.
The first tears slipped down Bree’s cheeks. She furiously scrubbed her face to dispel them, squeezing her eyes shut to quell the flood.
When she opened them again, her feet weren’t on solid ground.
She was midair. Hovering inches from the balcony. In the split-second, it was eternity. Bree’s heart spiked. The ground beneath her, the buildings, cars, pavement, thousands of feet below morphed as her arms blindly flailed.
Not this way. C’mon. She’d survived too much.
Right when Bree’s lips parted to scream, strong arms grabbed her middle and yanked her back to the terrace, snapping back to real time. She fell against her brother. They landed on the ground, her back to his chest and in the space between his legs.
Her elbow flew at high speed. The definitive crack noise and the warmth dripping onto her shoulder told Bree that she’d just broken his nose.
“No, shit-” her leg glitched. Then her head, slamming into the already damaged area. More tears poured down her face. Chase gritted his teeth through the haze of pain, putting her in a bear hug and wrapping his legs around her smaller ones to try and hold her in place.
“Stop it,” she wept as her body didn’t listen, continuing to glitch. Now her little brother was being hurt because of her. But she couldn’t stop. “I’m sorry-” she cried in their father’s voice.
“Fine,” Chase managed. He was clenching his jaw to keep her jolting from making him bite his own tongue off. “It’s fine.”
There was a rattling by the table. Shit.
Chase threw his body over his sister’s head to protect her as all the terrace’s furniture flew toward them, bouncing off his forcefield bubble.
~*~
Donald turned from the balcony door, coming eye-to-eye with an angry Calderan.
He rolled his eyes, trying to push past her.
Skylar shoved him back instead.
On either side of her stood Kaz and Oliver, both furious. Kaz had tongues of flame all over his body.
Donald scoffed. More nuisances.
“Can I help you?”
“What the fuck did you do?” Skylar’s eyes started glowing.
“Oh, please. You mean the unnecessary histrionics of immature-”
Donald was cut off by a fist cracking across his jaw. He stumbled, back hitting the wall.
Oliver stood there, fist still hefted. His eyes were more frigid than ice. “Count your damn blessings that I hit you. The other two wouldn’t be so gentle.”
Donald rubbed his swelling face. “Ridiculous, all of you.”
Kaz lunged. Oliver snatched him from the air, holding him back as he put up quite the fight to bash Donald’s face in.
Skylar grabbed Donald’s shirt, lifting him up.
Donald spluttered.
She stayed like that for a three-count, face twisted in rage.
Oliver realized she looked like she had back when her hair was occupied by white instead of pink.
Skylar balled her fists. She exhaled, holding her chin high as she dragged him to the door, still suspended in the air.
“This is my tower!” she ignored him, tossing the waste of space out like the trash he was. He crashed into the floor outside of their penthouse. “Is this how all barbarians from your planet behave?”
The doors slid shut.
“Oli.”
“On it,” he let Kaz go. Kaz shot forward. Skylar caught him.
“His prints are gone,” Oliver said. A few more pushes to the screen. “Retina too.”
Skylar sighed in relief. He’d fix it soon, no doubt. But they had some reprieve. She knew his coming would be catastrophic.
“Kaz,” she said. Kaz continued fighting toward the door. “Kaz.”
She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. “There are more important things going on.”
Kaz paused. He looked to the balcony.
~*~
They entered into a mess. Furniture was askew, there were gouge marks in the floor, and Chase’s face was bloody as he struggled to hold onto Bree.
Skylar hurried over, picking up Bree from under her arms and hugging her. “You’re okay, you’re okay. Just breathe.” Bree glitched, punching her stomach. Skylar was not affected. “It’s okay.”
She was whimpering apologies in her family’s voices. They’d never heard Bree apologize. Not like this. It was like Donald had broken her down. Kaz’s teeth ground.
Kaz crouched next to Chase. The second his hand touched his back, he practically collapsed against Kaz.
Chase’s fists buried in his t-shirt. He hid in Kaz’s neck, trembling profusely.
Kaz gently tilted his face to see his injuries, a bloody off-center nose and a rapidly forming bruise on his jaw.
Overload, overload, overload his system warned.
Oliver punched a vase that flew at them. “Wh-What happened?”
Chase stared at Kaz, wide-eyed. He pushed out of his arms, shakily standing and going to the door.
“I have work to do.”
~*~
“Hello there,” Kaz murmured softly.
Chase said nothing. He had his mission suit visor on because it doubled as a scanner for his inventions.
He was working with some chunk of metal that had a few miscellaneous wires poking around.
Kaz sat next to him, spinning in the stool and scrolling idly on his phone. He messed with the various chips in his Tecton phone case for ten or so minutes.
Chase made a frustrated noise. He chucked the poor machine with fury. It crashed against the wall. He put his head in his hands, practically throwing himself against Kaz’s side.
Kaz gave a soft oof before looping an arm around him and waiting for him to talk first.
“This sucks,” Chase spat.
Kaz could’ve laughed at how brash and yet nondescript that was. He instead rubbed his shoulder.
“I know I shouldn’t complain,” he continued. “You and Oliver have terrible parents. Hell, Sky doesn’t even have parents- I just-” Chase buried deeper.
“I think it’s worse for you because there was a point when he was a good dad,” Kaz suggested. “And change stinks.”
“Yes,” Chase’s voice was still muffled. “Yes, it does. It’s like I’m-” he pulled one hand from his face, curling his fingers like he was trying to grab the word from the air. “Drowning. In darkness.”
Kaz thought.
“Even darkness must pass,” Kaz hummed, warming himself and encircling Chase in his arms. “A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.”
“J.R.R. Tolkein,” Chase smiled.
“Nerd.”
“Says you.”
Kaz laughed. “All that to say: you’re strong as hell. And it’s gonna be hard. But you’ll come through on top, because that’s what you do. Freaky Genius.”
Chase’s smile widened. He wrapped his arms around Kaz’s shoulders. Kaz was more than happy to accept him, even though the angle was awkward.
He held him until Chase’s phone rang. It startled both of them.
“Tasha,” he pulled out the device. “Shit. She knows. She’ll ask!”
Kaz stared blankly.
“And then Adam will find out and kill him!”
Blank stare proceeded.
“That’s bad because?”
“Kaz! He’s an asshole, but I don’t want him dead! ”
“Oh. Why?”
“Kaz! What do I do?”
“Ignore it,” Kaz suggested.
“Shit, I pushed accept!”
“How?!”
“I panicked!” he tossed his phone to Kaz.
“Hello? Chase?”
“Uh- Hi, mom!”
“Hi, Kaz.” so his boyfriend impression definitely needed work.
“‘Sup Mrs. D?”
“Not much. It’s good to hear from you, honey. Is Chase busy with the visit?”
“You could say that.”
Silence.
“What happened.”
Shit.
Chase took the phone. “Tasha? Fancy hearing you!”
“Chase. What happened.”
Chase paled. He scrubbed a hand down his face.
Kaz gently took the phone back. Once he was done explaining what he could, he practically felt Tasha’s anger.
There was scuffling on the other line.
“Adam, no!” Tasha shouted. Chase tensed.
“I’m done!” his voice came back. “I’m done!”
“Park your ass, right now! You’re scaring the baby!”
“Mom, let me talk to him!” Chase took the phone back.
He took a shaky breath. “...Adam. Adam, calm down.”
“It’s always like this!”
“I know. I know.”
“I’m sick of him doing this to you guys!”
“Adam-”
Chase held the phone away from his ear with a wince as he yelled more.
“Breathe. You can’t let your heat vision go off.”
“But-”
“Breathe.”
There was a tense quiet.
“Okay,” Adam sounded calmer now. He seemed to realize that heat vision equaled possibly accidentally hurting their mother or baby sister.
“I don’t want you to hurt him. Neither does Bree. Please don’t.”
“...Then what are we gonna do?”
“Nothing for now,” Chase sank back in his chair from relief, wiping his brow. Kaz moved his hand to massage his neck. He knew all this stress and the injury to his face would give Chase a killer migraine later. “Maybe later. Just stay calm. Please.”
“...Fine.”
“I love you, Chase,” Tasha came back. “Please talk when you’re ready.”
“Love you, mom.”
Before the call disconnected, Chase heard Tasha inform Adam that Donald was kicked to another one of his buildings for the time being.
Chase slid the phone into his pocket, turning to Kaz exhaustedly. Kaz’s brows furrowed.
He worldlessly slid one arm behind his back and the other under his knees, lifting him out of his seat. Chase didn’t protest like normal, curling into his chest.
“Babe?”
“Hm?”
Rage filled Kaz’s very being from the thought he was about to say. “Did he do this?”
Chase lightly touched his cheek, flinching. “No. Yes. Kind of. Bree glitched.”
That was a lot of answers.
Kaz sighed, going to the hyperlift.
~*~
He set Chase on their bathroom counter, turning the faucet on.
Kaz checked the temperature and slightly adjusted it to Chase’s preference that he’d memorized, despite he himself liking blazing hot- any other temperature was like ice on his pyrokinetic skin- before stopping the drain. He dimmed the lights while it filled. Kaz added lilac bubbles, rubbing Chase’s back as they waited. He’d already set his nose and bandaged it. Icing his face could come later.
Kaz left to get clean clothes. A Tecton hoodie and soft Blue Tornado sweatpants. He re-entered the bathroom to see Chase’s previous garments on the tile. Kaz stooped down, crudely folding each item knowing how much Chase preferred neatness. It looked terrible, but Chase’s soft smile made it worth it.
Kaz knelt down by the tub, tenderly pushing his bangs from his face.
“Are you hungry?” he cupped Chase’s uninjured cheek. He didn’t reply, leaning into the touch and slipping his eyes shut. Kaz gently stroked his lips with his thumb “How about that one fancy ass salad you like? The one I can’t pronounce.”
Chase gave a small nod.
“Okay,” Kaz kissed him. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. I love you.”
~*~
“Well, you look about how I expected.”
“How else am I supposed to be?” Kaz angrily tied his apron.
Oliver shrugged, hopping up on the counter next to him.
“At least you got to hit him.”
“Because you two would have killed him.”
“I’d still like to.”
Oliver shrugged his agreement, sipping his water.
He poked the back of his neck. Kaz startled, batting his hand away.
“Relax,” Oliver said. “You’re all jumpy.”
Kaz grumbled.
He chopped vegetables in silence for a while.
“How’s Chase?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Oliver nodded. “I don’t know what all he said, but I’ll help you kill him. Be the cheerleader. I’ll make signs and everything.”
“Thanks,” Kaz snorted. “Where are the girls?”
“Skylar took Bree for a shopping spree. They’re gonna max as many of Davendouche’s cards as possible.”
“That’s one way to cope.”
“For real. …Hey, stop worrying about it. Karma’s going to get him good.”
Kaz would like karma to be his flaming fist, but he sighed, leaning against his best friend.
Oliver patted his head.