Chapter Text
It all went downhill when Oliver was hit first.
The Elite Force, still together after their defeat of Rodissius and his children and taking the first steps towards rebuilding Mighty Med, had been called away on another mission. Disappearances all across the city had started to increase, with eyewitnesses citing the same flash of light before the victim vanished into thin air. When Chase started to look into it, there were reports dating back years, too far back to be bionic related; as far as he knew, Douglas’ made the first attempt at bionic people with him and his siblings. But, as Oliver and Kaz helpfully pointed out, superheroes with time-related powers have been around for longer, which helped narrow down the search.
The two superheroes picked up as many comics as they could and holed themselves in mission command until they had something substantial, occasionally helped along by Bree and her ability to read a whole book in less than a minute. Chase had also tried to help, but he and Bree were struggling to keep up with Kaz and Oliver’s thought process, something that only the two of them could really understand. Maybe Chase should look into Kaz’s claims of their telepathy. Skylar, having known Kaz and Oliver for longer than he and Bree, could relatively keep up with them but chose to let them do their own thing and spend more time investigating what actual evidence they had alongside Bree and Chase.
A day later, Kaz and Oliver triumphantly returned to the living, carrying a smaller stack of comics than the one they started with.
“Okay!” Kaz said, still hyped up on energy and looking seconds away from bouncing off the walls, “We have narrowed it down to a couple of suspects. Wasn’t easy given we have no clue yet how the powers actually work-”
“-But!” Oliver cut in as if they were a double act. “The bright flash was a huge help. Not all chronokinesis users are as flashy, so that leaves us with…” He trailed off as he picked up the first comic and tossed it onto the table for the others to see. “U.N.A, who was human but is now a robot”
“Doctor X,” Kaz threw down another comic. “A guy who I’m fairly sure doesn't have a medical license or Ph.D.,” he added.
“And Aion, who works around the zodiacs”
Chase carefully picked up the comics, looking over the covers, and nodded. “Okay, nice job. Let’s see who we can find.”
—
Kaz and Oliver’s work had narrowed down the search until they were standing in front of a dilapidated and abandoned warehouse that was serving as Aion’s hideout. And as luck would have it, they were home.
“Oh well, this isn't fair.” Aion joked, looking at the team in front of them before springing into action.
Oliver was hit first. He was the closest to Aion and was caught off guard when there was a sudden bright flash and dropping down while the villain retreated further into their hideout, taking advantage of the darkness and weak lightbulbs to escape. Chase blinked to clear his vision from the sudden flash before following along with the rest of his team. Although the warehouse had been abandoned, that didn’t mean it was completely empty. during their time camping out here, Aion had steadily filled it up with different inventions, machines, and who knows what else in boxes and crates that piled up to the ceiling.
One such stack was knocked down by Aion to block off their route behind them, causing Skylar to crash into them as she was trailing the villain. Bree easily cleared the obstacle but was brought to a sudden stop when Aion knocked a barrel of sorts over, and what smelt like a tar-like substance coated the ground and threw her off balance, causing Bree to land face first, and half her body stuck on the floor. Skylar, having recovered from the crash, flew forwards but got caught in another trap. A net was shot from somewhere off to the side, and while Skylar easily stopped it, she was suddenly covered in a cloud of black dust, which caused her to cough and drop to the ground. As she was distracted, Aion also hit her with their power before aiming at Bree. Two sudden bright flashes in quick succession before they absconded further into the shadowy maze of their own making.
That left just Chase and Kaz.
“You didn’t mention that they liked traps!” Chase said as he scanned the warehouse and did his best to follow Aion’s path amongst the disorganized mess that was their hideout.
“I didn’t know! It’s not really their thing! Maybe they just really got into Home Alone?”
Both of them ran towards Skylar, removing as much dust as they could, which on closer inspection, turned out to be coal dust. They removed as much as they could, but she was still unconscious from Aion’s attack. Kaz continued to check her over while Chase went to get Bree, using his molecular kinesis to pull her out as gently as he could out of the tar and carry her back to Kaz.
“Take them back to Oliver and get them out.” he said, gently dropping her by Skylar, “Make sure they're okay; I'm going to follow Aion.”
“But-”
“No, you're the one with medical training, and my bionics means I can follow them easier. You get them out and meet me inside again.” Kaz looked like he was going to protest again, opening and closing his mouth for a second before setting his mouth in a grim line and nodding. He grabbed Skylar and Bree while Chase turned his back and followed Aion further into their maze.
Now that he knew to expect traps, it was a little easier for Chase to move forwards. More of the same traps were set off, stacks of crates and boxes falling to block paths, tar-like substances to force someone in place, and objects flying out at all angles. After the first few times, it all became predictable for Chase; the traps followed a similar pattern. He kept on dodging different traps until he reached what seemed to be the middle of the maze, a decently large space cleared of any clutter.
Unable to see where Aion went, Chase skidded to a halt in the middle of it, scanning for any signs of life when his hearing went haywire. A loud piercing shriek rang out all around him and started to overwhelm his senses, making him unable to focus long enough to notice that Aion had dropped down behind him. He felt a burst of pain as something metal hit his back, and he dropped to the floor, still struggling to focus.
Faintly, he could hear Aion say, “Well, you weren't the only one to do your research, buddy.” as they smirked down at him and prepared their attack. Chase was just about able to get back onto his feet, though still feeling sluggish from the sensory overload, and moved to counter their attack. Only to find that when he stepped forward, he was also stuck in the same tar trap that stopped Bree. Leaving Chase with no choice but to wait for the attack.
At the last moment, Kaz jumped in and tried to push Chase out of the way. Tried was the keyword because Chase couldn’t move. So instead, he grabbed Kaz and moved to throw up a force field to protect them both. He was too late, however, and both of them were hit at the same time; a bright flash of blue-white blinded him, and before he knew it, everything went dark as he blacked out.
—
Chase slowly woke up, blinking away pixels from his vision and wincing at the headache that came when his heightened senses came back online. He ran a self-diagnostic and deemed everything to mostly be in order; he slowly sat up and took in his surroundings. He could tell the fight had stopped and looking around, he could see that he was no longer in Aion’s lair; rather, he was sprawled out on the front lawn of an average-looking suburban house. It was disconcerting, suddenly in the morning light rather than under the flickering lightbulb of the previously abandoned warehouse- a staple of villainy according to Kaz and Oliver- that Aion had been operating out of. In the maps he had looked over before the mission, they should be nowhere near a neighborhood like this, so Chase had no idea where he was. A groan cut through his thoughts, and Chase looked over to see someone else lying on the lawn, wearing his team's blue and black uniform. He stumbled over and winced in pain when he put pressure on his ankle- not broken but not looking great either- as he knelt next to his teammate and turned them over. It was Kaz, smoldering slightly and unconscious but not looking injured in any visible way. Chase’s hands flittered over his body for a moment, unsure what to do before his rationality cut through his panic, and he reached over to check Kaz’s pulse. Deeming it to be okay, he scanned the rest of his body next, checking for any injuries and finding none. Chase sighed in relief, before placing his hands on Kaz’s shoulders and shaking him gently in an attempt to wake him up. After a few seconds, just enough time for Chase’s mind to already start thinking of the worst-case scenario, Kaz groaned, and his eyes fluttered open, squinting against the morning sun.
“Ugh, what happened?” Kaz asked as he propped himself up on his elbows and looked around, frowning slightly when he registered his new surroundings. “And where are we?”
“Aion. I think they sent us somewhere, but I’m not sure where yet.”
Kaz squinted up at Chase. “But I thought….” he trailed off for a second before jolting up to his feet. He took off across the road, and Chase had no choice but to follow him as he stopped in front of another house and picked up the newspaper lying by the front door.
“Kaz, this isn't the time to be reading the news,” Chase said, unsure of what Kaz was doing.
“No, dude, Aion didn’t just send us anywhere; they sent us back.” He held up the paper and tapped the date. Thursday, May 30th, 2013. Which should have been four years ago, but according to the paper, it was the current present. The paper didnt look like it had been edited, at least not in any way Chase could detect, and there wasn't any logical explanation aside from one.
“Aion sent us back,” Chase repeated Kaz, still looking at the paper and mind starting to overload with scenarios of what to do next.
Superpowers still didn’t really make sense to Chase, even after working with Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar for nearly a year and receiving many lectures and explanations. It wasn’t that they were bad explanations either, Chase could follow along perfectly fine, and they actually made sense at the time, but actually being faced with it all was different. Going into this mission, he knew that Aion had Chronokinesis or timey wimey powers, as Kaz insisted on calling them, but that had been an objective fact before. Now, having been on the receiving end of them and apparently actually time traveling, Chase wasn’t sure what to do and was stuck in a loop of trying to process it all. Almost as if he knew what was going on in his head, and Chase could admit that he had gotten pretty good at reading him, Kaz placed a hand on his shoulder and drew him out of his spiraling thoughts.
“Chase, the how doesn't matter right now. Do you know where the others are?”
“No, they’re nowhere close to us, at least.” He couldn't hear or sense them, even with his bionics. A further scan showed that he and Kaz were the only ones out of place in the neighborhood and their teammates were nowhere in sight. “Do your comms still work?”
Kaz nodded and tapped the comm in his ear, waiting for some kind of response. Chase did the same and was met with static. They tried again before Kaz finally got something.
“It’s Oliver!” Chase leaned in close to listen and could make out a faint noise above the static.
“G… guys? An…one?”
“Oliver? Can you hear me?”
“...az? Wha…. on? Where… you?”
“Aion got us, think we’re sent back. Do you know when you are?” the connection was cut off with more static for a moment before another voice joined in.
“K…?…ase? Did Ai…. you to…?”
“Skylar, do you know when you are? And Bree?”
“No B…..ut I hear…. disc….?”
“Disc what? Disco? Oliver, are you at a disco or something?” music was now joining the static, nothing more than a faint beat.
“I se…..m…vie…las…crus…e.” cut in Skylar again.
“Last crusade? Did you say Last crusade Sky?” Chase asked frantically, trying to piece together what was coming through.
“..es.” he nodded and looked up at Kaz.
“I think Oliver is in the 70s, if he is actually at a disco, around ‘77 if I’m hearing the song correctly, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade came out in 1989.”
“Holy shit, you got all of that?” Kaz didn’t hide the amazement on his face as he grinned up at Chase. “Has anyone heard from Bree, though?”
They got negatives from Oliver and Skylar, and Chase began to think over the numbers in his head, trying to develop a pattern of sorts. Bree not answering her comms could mean several things, the simplest being that it wasn't turned on or broken. He didn’t want to think about the worse case scenarios.
The years they were sent to seemed random enough; there didn’t seem to be anything major connecting them at all. Nothing from what they knew about Aion, at least. They were too specific just to be random, though. Aion didn’t seem like the type to just choose any old year; they always worked a pattern. So the years had to mean something. If it wasn't any events, then maybe the dates themselves?
“I think Bree is in 2001,” Chase announced suddenly, drawing a surprised look from Kaz.
“Wha- okay, why?”
“Arion works on a pattern. 1977 and 1989 are twelve years apart, and ‘89 is 24 years ago from us. To fit the pattern, Bree has to be in 2001.”
“Damn, okay.” Kaz didn’t even try to argue, just accepting that Chase had cracked the code. There was a warm feeling in his chest from the fact that Kaz just trusts what he says, but Chase pushed that feeling down for the time being. Right now, what they needed was a plan. It was frankly a miracle that they could all talk to each other at all, even if 90% was just static, but he had no idea if the connection would even last, so they had to act now before potentially losing all communication.
Figuring out what exactly they could do wasn't easy either. Aion had intentionally split them all up, though he and Kaz still being together must have been a mistake caused by both of them being hit at the same time. They also had no contact with Bree, which meant that Chase would have to try and predict her actions and hope that he gets it right.
It takes a few minutes to get the answers, but from what he and Kaz could work out, both Skylar and Oliver were fairly sure they were still in the same city, which means that Aion’s powers do not extend to teleportation as well.
They just needed a way to get back to each other. Kaz brought up that Mighty Med would still be around, and they had the means to time travel, but neither of them could make it to the one in Philadelphia before Aion caught up to them. It was only a matter of time before Aion would track them down, having most likely separated them to pick them off one by one. Skylar had mentioned that there were some other Mighty Meds around, though she couldn't remember where exactly they'd be or how to find them. She and Oliver agreed to look for it, but it was too subjective to be their primary solution. That left Chase with only one other idea.
“Mr. Davenport might have a time machine,” he said. “Or, well, at least a prototype, but there should be enough for me to work with and at least get us back together.”
“Of course, Davenport has a time machine; what hasn't he worked on?”
“A way to fix his ego.” Chase deadpanned.
So they agreed for Oliver and Skylar to remain where they were, stay as out of sight as they could, and avoid Aion if they were to appear while Chase and Kaz went to grab Mr. Davenport's prototype and locate them from there. They still had no contact with Bree, so there was no choice but to continue and hope that either shell finally gets in contact with them or they find her before Aion does.
Kaz shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Soooo, how do we get there? Cause I don't exactly have any change on me, and I'm not sure any public transport will accept us dressed like this.”
Chase thought it over. “Can you still fly?”
“Sure, not sure if the time difference will affect my powers that much, but it’s worth a try.” Kaz went to grab Chase but stopped before he could touch him. “What about your chip? It’s not gonna fry, right?”
He shook his head. There had been nothing to suggest that there was anything totally wrong with his chip; he still had control over his powers and felt no glitches. Maybe the edges of his vision were more pixely than he liked, but it wasn't anything to hinder him yet. Kaz accepted it and scooped him up in a bridal carry that Chase really wished he would stop doing, even if he insisted it was the best way to carry him, before flying up and away from the neighborhood. He wobbled for a moment; Chase tightened his grip around his neck and shot him a worried look before Kaz straightened himself up and shot him a grin back.
—
They reached the house before the sun had reached its highest point in the sky. Kaz dropped them down at the end of the driveway and loudly cracked his back.
“Ugh, I don’t care what your siblings say, you are definitely not light, dude.”
“Gee, thanks.” Chase rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to the house, scanning it for any heat signatures. “Right, it looks like only Tasha is home, and she never goes near the lab; that gives us enough time to find the prototype and get out before anyone notices.” He started to look through the plants outside the front door for the spare key. As high-tech as Mr. Davenport liked to think he was, he still had to keep a key hidden in case he locked himself out of his house, which had happened more times than he liked to admit.
Kaz idly watched him and leaned back against the front door. “I still don’t get why we can’t just ask Davenport for help. I’m sure he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to crack time travel.”
Chase sighed and lifted another pot, revealing a small pile of keys. “We need to keep this under wraps; none of us know about superpowers yet, and I don't want to create a paradox and further destroy the universe.” he put a key in the lock before pausing to say, “Though technically, I think we already did.”
“Wait, what? You’ve already created a paradox?”
He shrugged and opened the door. “Leo went back in time to save us, but we lived cause of his involvement, so technically, he doesn’t have any need to come back anymore, which I guess counts as a paradox.”
“Your life is so weird.”
“Says the comic book character.”
Chase ignored Kaz’s retort and surveyed the living room. Never before had he been glad for an open floor plan. He motioned for Kaz to follow him and not make a sound as they both began to sneak across the room to the basement lift. Well, Chase was the one who was sneaking; Kaz instead just walked right past him at his normal pace.
“What are you doing?” he hissed as he grabbed Kaz’s hand and brought him into a crouch behind the coach. He got an unimpressed look in return.
“Dude, you literally just said everyone, but your mom was out; we don’t need to sneak. How loud do you walk?” he stood up again and dragged Chase up with him, ignoring the way the bionic hero rolled his eyes. They had made it to the kitchen before Chase got reminded of one crucial detail he hadn't considered.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” a smug voice rang out. Both he and Kaz jumped and turned to the source, the screen on the refrigerator door. “Boy wonder, have you been drinking your milk? You're almost the size of a grownup! Maybe in another 15 years, you’ll finally get there!”
Kaz grabbed Chase’s shoulder. “What the fuck is that?” he hissed, but not quietly enough for Eddie not to hear.
“And who might you be?”
“Eddie, keep it down!” Chase hissed at the AI, knowing that if they stayed here too long, he was definitely going to tattle on them.
“Shouldn’t you be in school, mister? Donny isn’t going to like that!” he chimed loudly, obviously not caring who heard him. Not wanting to waste any more time, Chase removed the panel concealing Eddie’s wiring and inserted the hard drive in his finger. He may have forgotten about Eddie now, but he did come up with a contingency plan for dealing with him years ago, even if he never really got the chance to use it. He uploaded a virus and listened as Eddie’s voice slowly died down.
“Wait! What are you doin-” the screen finally went black, and Chase replaced the panel.
“Seriously, what the fuck is that?”
“That was Eddie, Mr. Davenport’s AI and general psychopath. No one’s going to miss him; come on.” He grabbed Kaz’s arm and directed him to the lift.
“And he’s in your fridge?”
“He’s not just in the fridge, he's technically a part of the whole house.” he paused as he pressed the button to the lab and spoke again just to see Kaz’s reaction. “He did once possess Tasha, though.” As predicted, he did a double take, and Chase couldn't help but grin at the confused and concerned expression on the other's face. Kaz opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to ask a question but couldn't think of the right words to say. Chase chose not to elaborate either, instead laughing to himself at the befuddlement on Kaz’s face as the lift descended below the house. He was glad Mr Davenport hadn’t added the elevator music yet, he did not need to hear that again.
The elevator doors opened up to the lab, and Kaz let out a low whistle as he walked out and looked around. “This is awesome!” he grinned as he ran his hand across the different panels lining the walls.
Chase looked around too, taking in the lab he hadn’t seen in years. It was slightly disconcerting seeing it again, the last time he’d been down here was when the lab had been blown up, and they were left with the remains. It had been rebuilt, sure, and there was also the island and the penthouse, but this iteration of the lab had been his home for 16 years. As unsuitable as it had been to raise children in, no matter how safe it was meant to be for them, there was a small part of Chase that missed it. It had been all he knew for years. He shook his head and grabbed Kaz’s arm, dragging him away from the counsel in front of the capsules.
“Let’s not break anything; we’re not meant to be here.”
“Hey! You can't put a bunch of buttons in front of me and not expect me to push one!” For all his protests, Kaz allowed himself to be dragged away as Chase led them to the vault holding all of Davenport’s prototypes. Anything he wasn’t currently working on was stored there until he could find the time again. Inside were crates upon crates of half-completed prototypes and partly broken gadgets, all stacked up and lining the walls.
“Okay, look for the time machine; if Mr. Davenport keeps everything in order, it shouldn't be too hard to find.”
They split up, each taking a different side, and started to root through the crates. They were all technically organized, but not in a way that Chase could properly work out. He and Mr. Davenport were similar in many ways, but their organizational skills couldn't be more different. There were a few gadgets and machines that Chase recognized from past missions and Mr. Davenport's general tinkering. There were even a few gadgets that he recognized Leo bringing out and improving.
From behind him, Kaz let out a cry of victory and held up the prototype for him to see with a wide grin on his face. Chase grinned back and walked over to take it from Kaz’s hands and examine it himself. The prototype for the time machine was still quite small, barely half-finished, and had more wires than anything else. It was supposed to be modeled off the device that future Leo used because, as Mr. Davenport said, ‘why mess with perfection,’ but its current form wasn't any near recognizable. He had begun working on it once future Leo left, but as Adam, Bree and Chase took on more missions and more pressing matters arose, it was left with the rest of his unfinished projects, buried in a crate along with its blueprints. Kaz grabbed the papers and started to fold them into his pockets, seeing as they were still only in their mission suits and had no means of properly storing them.
As they turned to leave, an alarm suddenly rang out. Chase dropped the machine to clutch at his ears to try and dampen the sound as it rang through his head and overloaded his hearing. It had not been even 24 hours since the sensory overload he received from Aion, and his hearing was still sensitive. Faintly he could feel Kaz hovering next to him, one hand on his arm and trying to calm him down, but the alarm was too overpowering in the enclosed space, and he couldn't focus. Instead, he curled slightly in on himself, clutching his head and screwing his eyes shut to try and block out the noise. There was a sudden flash of heat, and as quickly as the alarm started, it cut out. Chase blinked and opened his eye to see one of Kaz’s hands on fire, the other one clutching the machine, and part of the controls smoking.
“Chase?” Kaz noticed his eyes were now open and put out the fire in his hand, placing the now-warmed limb on Chase’s face and turning his head to make him look at the superhero. “Are you okay? What was that?”
“An alarm.” he scanned the rest of the house. “I think they found out we’re here.” He stepped towards the door and tapped the panel a few times, only for nothing to happen. “They must have locked us in.” He started to input whatever override codes he could think of to open them again.
Kaz readjusted the machine in his hands, looking around the vault. “Is there any other way out?”
“Nope!” another voice cut in. “That’s why it’s called a vault, dumbass!” Chase glared at Eddie’s avatar, which had sprung up on the screen above the controls.
“Oh, shut up,” he muttered, turning away from the controls.
“Maybe it'll be okay,” Kaz said, trying to sound positive. “We can just explain what’s happening and who knows, maybe they’ll help?”
“If you found an older version of yourself stealing from you, would you help?”
“Depends. Is this a bad time to mention I have, in fact, met my future self?”
“Wait, what?” whatever Kaz was going to say to explain was cut off when the doors of the vault finally opened.
There’s nothing really to prepare you for meeting a younger version of yourself. The younger versions of Chase’s siblings were something Chase could wrap his head around; as disconcerting as it was, they were still people he was familiar with. He, however, hadn’t ever seen his own face outside of photos and the mirror. It reminded Chase of those robots Mr. Davenport built years ago, right when Leo moved in, seeing his own face, albeit younger, staring back at him.
A sense of dread filled him at being caught. It wasn't that he expected anything bad to happen; as Kaz said, they were likely to get help with the machine; it was more the case of consequences. Part of the reason why Chase will probably never understand superpowers is that they don't follow the rules of science as everything else does. He knows that bionic abilities are extremely weird and wouldn't make sense to the average person, but they at least make sense to Chase because he can understand the science behind them. They followed the rules. Now, he and Kaz had gone back in time, and that left more problems for them to avoid. Namely the issue of paradoxes.
The future wasn't set in stone; Chase knew that from future Leo, and as terribly as parts of it had been for him, Chase wasn’t particularly keen on changing any aspects of the future. He had tried to avoid the younger versions of his family because explaining just how they got there alone could cause massive changes. None of them found out about superheroes for a couple of years, and yet here was Chase, set back in time by superpowers and standing beside a superhero.
And now, staring at the shocked and confused faces of his family, he wasn’t sure how he could avoid changing anything at all.
No one was screaming, thankfully, as they hadn't made as sudden of an appearance as future Leo had. There was more of a general atmosphere of confusion from the younger bionic teens, having found an older version of their brother had broken into their house and stealing one of Mr. Davenport's unfinished prototypes with a guy none of them had ever seen before.
Chase stared at the younger and confused face of his past self. He wondered briefly if this was how future Leo felt, seeing himself younger and almost like a whole different person. Arguably one of the weirdest things about this whole situation- ignoring the whole time travel aspect of it- was seeing Leo so small and young. He’d gotten so used to seeing his brother taller and more confident that he’d forgotten he was once even shorter than Chase was and hiding behind his siblings.
“Oh, you were so cute!” Kaz’s voice cut through his musing. “Now I get why Adam keeps calling you small!”