Chapter Text
As always, no matter how late he went to sleep, or how tired he still was, Chase’s internal clock woke him up at 5:30 a.m. He stepped out of his capsule and dragged himself to the kitchen to make himself a cup of black tea. Yesterday’s mission was difficult. Chase’s neck was sore from the pressure the building had put on his chip. It could have been done in half the time if Skylar still had her speed and strength.
Chase took a sip from his cup.
But Skyler’s powers were sucked out of her by some weird mutant that science can’t explain. Chase couldn’t even imagine losing his bionic abilities for longer than a few days. He’s had them forever. She was born with her powers.
Chase took another drink of his tea.
She was born with her powers. If she was born with them, then the cells that were responsible for her powers had to still be inside her body.
Another sip of tea.
If the cells responsible for her powers were still inside her body, they must be dormant. If those cells are just dormant, they can be activated.
Another sip of tea.
Chase just needs to activate the cells. Then maybe he would still be able to sleep.
Out of the comic book nerds, Oliver was the first to wake up.
“No training, today?” Oliver had gotten semi-used to Chase dragging him out of bed before the sun had risen.
“No, nobody got much sleep last night, so I figured today could be a resting day of sorts.” Chase explained, watching Oliver pour himself a bowl of cereal.
Chase waited, impatiently, for Oliver to finish his breakfast. Once he was finished, Chase dragged him to Mission Command without explanation.
“Dude!” Oliver exclaimed.
“I have a reason,” said Chase.
“Which is?”
Chase dived into his sparse explanation, “I had a thought this morning. If Skylar was born with her powers-”
“Well she wasn’t really born, she was, kind of, generated in a pod of nutrient solution-”
“I don’t care.” Chase interrupted, “then the cells that created her powers must still be in her body, just dormant. What if we could activate them?”
“That would be awesome but I’ve never heard of that before. Kaz might have but he won’t be awake for a while without being woken up.” Oliver tried to stomp down the growing hope in his chest.
That gave Chase an inkling of an idea. “Wake them up! Her cells are pretty much sleeping! We just need to wake them up!”
“Okay but how?”
“A shock to her system. Okay, think, when she had her powers, was there anything that made them stronger or weaker?” Chase questioned.
Oliver wracked his brain for anything of use. “Nothing I can think of that made her stronger, but coal can weaken her a lot, even kill her.”
Chase nodded as the puzzle pieces slowly formed in his brain. “If I give her a small amount of coal, it should be able to shock her immune system enough to get her dormant cells working again.”
Panicked Oliver said, “No, no, no, coal could kill her.”
“Not a trace amount in a controlled environment, just enough to wake up her cells.”
“Are you sure?” Oliver was willing to risk a lot, but not one of his best friends’s lives. He already lost too many people.
“I am. I really think this will work. But, the choice is Skylar’s.”
“Yeah, I know. Let's go see what she thinks, because injecting somebody with harmful substances without their knowledge or consent is morally reprehensible."
Chase scoffed, "Well, yeah. Who would even think about doing that?"
They step out of the hyperlift and sit next to Skylar.
Oliver opens, “We think Chase may have found a way to restore your powers.”
“Are you serious?” Skylar squealed and Chase moved his head away from the sudden noise, his hands coming to his ears. Her excitement caught the attention of Bree in the kitchen and Kaz coming down the stairs.
“I think so, but it may be pretty dangerous.” Chase wasn’t sure how to phrase his idea to sound the least insane.
Skylar just wanted to know what the plan was, “What do you mean? How are we gonna do it?”
Chase couldn’t find a way to soften the blow. “I want to inject you with coal.”
“What?”
Chase continued, “A very, very, small amount, enough to shock your immune system to wake up your dormant cells, not enough to do anything too harmful.”
Skylar just sat back in shock, thinking about it. Is she really willing to risk death, permanent death, to get her powers back?
While she was processing, Kaz leaned over Oliver’s shoulder and loudly whispered, “Why does Chase want to inject Sky with coal?”
“He thinks it will get her powers back,” Oliver stage-whispered back.
“Why does he think that?” Kaz continued their bit.
“Okay, I love the two of you but that is so annoying when I’m trying to think,” said Skylar.
“Sorry,” came from both Kaz and Oliver.
Chase looked at Skylar, "There's no pressure to make a decision right now. Take as much time as you need.”
Skylar nodded, “Thank you.”