Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mission Creek was nothing like it was promised to be. Not that Kaz was expecting it to be given the recent acquisition of the bad (or more like downright shitty) luck he’d had the past few weeks. The divorce was one thing, but the moving of houses and states? How was that anywhere close to fair?

Still, he had to admit, it was worth it if his mom’s mental state was even slightly better than what it had been. His parent’s marriage had always been a train wreck, but in more recent years it turned from that to a complete shit show. Most days Kaz would spend holed up somewhere within Mighty Med or the Domain. Whether it be burying his nose into whatever one of the thousands of comic books he plucked off the shelf that morning to escape the crappy reality that was his life, or working on a medical assignment with Oliver and Skylar, he just needed something to get his mind off of it all.

When the divorce papers were filed and Kaz was shipped off with only half of his siblings to live in Mission Creek with his mom, it was the worst day of his life. Not only was he forced to leave Mighty Med behind, but his two best friends. He missed Oliver and Skylar every day, praying he’d wake up one morning and find this had all been some terrible nightmare…

But it wasn’t, and he never did. 

This was his life now. And he had to get used to it.

Today was his second official day at Mission Creek High. He’d woken up surprisingly early — even for himself — and frantically raced around his cramped room, flinging a hundred different outfits on, slinging shoes haphazardly across the room to find the perfect pair to match his blue and white raglan and fitted jeans, brushed his teeth thrice, before practically flying down the stairs and nearly dying as he tripped on the last stair — backpack barely in-hand. Needless to say, it had been an unnecessarily chaotic morning. But then again, when was Kaz not chaotic?

Despite all of this, however, Kevin and Kyle had slept through their alarms and therefore caused all three of them to be late arriving at their respective schools. 

Now finally having made it to first period, he sunk into his seat in chemistry class with a heavy sigh. This fucking sucked. How did anyone expect him to be okay after everything? How did his mom expect the six of her kids she did manage to keep custody of to be alright with switching schools and lives on a dime without any breathing room?

Kaz didn’t know if he could make it. He’d never been good at school, barely passing as decent at it, but now nothing mattered anymore. What was the point if he didn’t have Mighty Med or his friends to get him through? Sure, they’d agreed to call once or twice a week if they had time, but Kaz knew how busy the hospital could get. It was only a matter of time before work would outweigh their want to catch up with his life. 

But who knows…Maybe he was overthinking all of this. Maybe everything would turn out differently.

But for right now, it all just sort of seemed...pointless. 

He flipped open a notebook that was riddled with random doodles of dinosaurs and vaguely-reminiscent-of superheroes. He smirked at his latest masterpiece of a T-Rex devouring his math teacher as he averted his gaze from his current professor to begin a new drawing: Oliver getting eaten by a pterodactyl. 

He didn’t get far, though, before he heard a resounding thunk! into the seat beside him. He raised his brows, wondering who on earth could be arriving later than he was…only to meet the side profile of a brunette. 

Kaz blinked, the world seeming to mutate to slow motion: the elegant slope of his nose, the slight curve that added character to his otherwise flawless features. The hazel eyes speckled with hints of green and gold shone brightly beneath the LEDs of the classroom. His lips were a pale pink that Kaz couldn’t tear himself from, the firm slant of the boy’s jaw only adding to his list of handsome features. He was strangely… tantalizing. 

And Kaz had definitely never seen him before.

To be fair, though, he hadn’t seen most people here. 

But there he was, dropped out of the sky like he was meant to be found. Found by Kaz, that is. 

There was an undeniable magnetism about him, too. A magnetic pull that drew Kaz in despite his best efforts to resist. In that moment, as Kaz observed the brunette, he couldn't help but acknowledge the undeniable truth: he was undeniably, irrevocably attractive.

The guy must have felt Kaz’s lingering stare because his eyes suddenly met his with expectant, raised brows, and a bored expression lazing across his features.

Kaz’s cheeks flared and he quickly averted his gaze back to his “note” paper. In his peripheral, Kaz watched the guy knit his brows in confusion momentarily, glance down at Kaz’s notebook, then shake his head with a barely audible sigh and refocus his attention to the front of the room.

As Kaz’s first day was only the day prior, it was just his luck he supposed that he happened to be plopped into the class right as they were getting into the more difficult AP-level content. As Kaz had soon found out, Mission Creek liked to mix its AP and non-AP students…apparently to torture them even further. Still, it wasn’t like Kaz ever paid attention in the first place, so it really didn't affect him whatsoever. 

But for some reason today was different. For some reason, the minute his attention was back on the teacher — Mr. Ackleson — his ears perked up and he found himself closing his notepad.

Another interesting observation Kaz noticed was that despite the class being full of AP students, no one seemed to give a shit about anything going on. Half the time he’d glance over the remainder of his classmates starting to feel guilty about drawing all the time…only to find most had passed out in their seats long ago. The other half of the time was spent daydreaming about the newest edition of The Adventures of Tecton. He’d been waiting for over a year for the 61st issue to be released, and now finally, there was a date!

Anyway, that wasn’t the point. The point was that Kaz was paying attention for the first time since birth and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. Was it seriously something as dumb as the good-looking stranger appearing beside him?

“-No? No one? Come on, how about you at least try and sort this one out, huh? I’m getting tired of explaining these piece by piece for you guys.”

“What was the question, Mr. Ackleson? Sorry, I was a bit late, I must have missed it.”

Kaz’s eyes widened as — to absolutely no one’s surprise but his own — the kid next to him was the only one to speak up.

“Ah, yes, I was wondering where you’d gotten off to, Chase.”

Chase.

Chase.

Hmm. It weirdly fits him…

Kaz caught himself and softly cleared his throat as he refocused on Mr. Ackleson. 

“The question was: In a saturated solution of Zn(OH)2 at 25℃, the value of [OH-] is 2.0 x 10^-6 M. What is the value of the solubility product constant, Ksp, for Zn (OH)2 at 25℃?”

By the time Mr. Ackleson had finished his sentence, Kaz’s brain had malfunctioned so many times it wasn’t functioning at all anymore. I’m sorry, what did he just say? Kaz had never heard so many incomprehensible things in a singular sentence. How on earth was anyone in 11th grade supposed to know shit about any of that-?

“-The answer is four point zero multiplied by ten to the negative eighteenth, Mr. Ackleson.”

“Very good, Chase! Now, how about you walk us through how you reached that conclusion.”

"Well, it requires us to remember the concepts of the solubility constant as well as how reactions work in order to conserve mass. We know that Ksp is written in the product of the concentrations of the aqueous ions in a solution. Since OH has a coefficient of 2, we have to multiply the concentration of the base-”

And on and on and on Chase went. 

It didn’t take long for Kaz to realize that he never shut up. Not ever. Not even if the teacher told him to. He would pause for a moment, the teacher would comment something else or begin explaining his next inquiry, and off Chase would go again…Never bothered to raise his hand, but, Kaz found maybe it didn’t matter so much…

Because he was always right. Always.

From quantum mechanics to thermodynamics to general organic chemistry. He knew it all, from top to bottom, every which way.

Kaz had never given much thought to other people outside of his friends, family, and patients. Sure, he was friendly and outgoing but he was never intrigued.  

But Chase…Chase was different. Kaz knew it immediately. From the moment he first heard him speak. He spoke with this confidence within the most mundane and boring of subjects that Kaz couldn’t help but be fascinated. 

But all too soon the bell was blaring and class was over. Kaz turned open-mouthed to the boy next to him, ready to ask how on earth he knew everything there was to possibly know about chemistry…Only to find the seat already abandoned.

He frowned as he stuffed away his materials in his bag. 

The remainder of the day continued on as normal. Chemistry, then history, math, biology, and English. He hated most of them — actually, all of them — but he’d promised his mom he’d at least try and pretend to care. Which was difficult considering he’d done next to none of his homework and couldn’t even be bothered to take notes in any of them because he still couldn’t shake the appearance of that boy.

Chase, he reminded himself. 

When he returned home that evening — as he was the only one of his siblings who preferred to walk — he found his brothers lounging around the television in the living room, a bowl of cheese puffs between them. Kevin was scrolling through his phone while Kyle had taken to the switch. 

“Whatcha guys doin’?”

“What does it look like?” Kyle sassed, not so much as sparing a glance in Kaz’s direction. Kaz rolled his eyes playfully and ruffled his little brother's hair before turning his attention to Kevin instead, hoping to get more out of him. 

Kevin must have assumed that was what Kaz’s expectant stare at him meant and did in fact look up at him — if only for a second.

“Did you know there’s a frozen yogurt event at school tonight?”

Kaz blinked, not following entirely. “What?”

“Fro-yo, tonight, at school. Apparently, it’s been on the board for two weeks. According to Tyler, it’s a whole thing.”

Kaz frowned, “Who's Tyler?”

Kevin sighed dramatically and retrained his eyes to his phone, “My friend. Duh.” He said it was like it was the most obvious thing ever. Like it was supposed to be. Like they hadn’t just switched their whole lives around and relocated in less than a week. Something about the way he said it made Kaz’s heart sink and something in his gut grew black with anger. 

Why did Kevin get new friends? Why did he get to meet people who understood him? Why was Kaz the one who was always left alone to fend for himself?

Deep down he knew it wasn’t fair, though. Hell, Kevin was older than he was (if only by a year), it was stupid to be jealous of your older sibling who supposedly had "more life experience than you", and Kaz knew that. But still, despite knowing that…it didn’t eradicate his feelings. At least not entirely.

He cleared his throat and decided that for his own mental state, he would focus on the first part of Kevin’s sentence instead of the latter. 

“Frozen yogurt event? Since when?”

“Since I just told you: two weeks ago. Everyone’s going. Even the losers. At least, that’s what Tyler calls them,” Kevin shrugged, still refusing to eye his brother again. But Kaz couldn’t give less of a shit now, his mind was stuck on one thing and one thing only:

Everyone was going.

Could that mean…? It could, couldn’t it…It could mean that boy — Chase — would be there...

And you know what? That alone was enough for Kaz. 

“We’re going,” he said defiantly as if it was a done deal and not something he’d just reached the conclusion of point-two seconds ago. This time, Kevin and Kyle snapped their gazes to him. 

“What?” They jinxed. 

“We’re going. To the fro-yo thing tonight. Besides, I thought you just said your friend’s gonna be there.”

“Well, he is, but I didn’t think you’d be willing to drive us…”

“Yeah, well, here I am. So take it or leave it.”

“Oh, well I’m definitely taking it. God knows Mom would never let us leave the house if she had her way.”

Kaz shrugged. Yeah, that was probably true. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his mother, but she had always been on the more protective side of parenting. Everything she did was for the safety of her babies, and that included the limited amount of access she allowed them to the outside world. Heck, he’d only received a phone two years ago!  

“Ky? You comin’?”

“Ugh, do I have to?” He whined. Kaz tsked at him.

“Wow, some brother you are, huh. Don’t want to spend time with your big bros?” He smirked, knowing it would annoy the hell out of Kyle to be referred to as the baby brother of the group. 

And indeed it did. Kyle scowled at him but said nothing else as he returned to his game. 

Sometimes, Kaz would admit, having five of your siblings living with you was just as torturous as eleven, but that didn’t mean he didn’t love them. Sure, Katie, Karen, Kasey, Kevin, and Kyle could get on his nerves — especially Kyle, since he was his singular younger brother — but he found his irritation stemmed more from protectiveness than real rage. 

When he and his siblings had all been divided between the houses, there was no real method to it, since their parents hadn’t really cared about which siblings had better relationships with who…Kaz didn’t blame them, though, even if his siblings did. Divorces were hard, and the last thing on their minds was probably worrying about stuff like that. 

Katie, Kevin, and Kasey, as they were three of the eldest, had gotten to more or less choose their new schools…Katie and Kasey opted for a boarding one about an hour west. Apparently, after their father had changed jobs and gotten a massive raise, he could afford to assist their mother in the smaller things such as that to help out with. 

Unfortunately, for the remaining four, they’d been forced to go to the public school just a few blocks down — Mission Creek. Though it was surprising Kevin decided to join them here,  given he could have easily chosen anywhere else. 

Kyle was in Mission Creek’s middle school with Karen, while he and Kevin were in their junior and senior years in the high school, respectfully. 

And apparently, Kevin had managed to adapt much more easily than Kaz had…Which was probably why they rarely passed one another in the halls…And if they did, Kevin refused to acknowledge him. 

“Did they mention dress attire?”

Kevin shrugged, “Just casual, I guess, dude. Unless…What, you trying to impress someone or something?” Despite the comment, he neither looked up from his phone nor gave any sort of sign he was teasing, such as a smirk or knowing smile. It was strange how different he had been since the divorce…Kaz still couldn’t wrap his head around it. 

But Kaz’s cheeks warmed all the same. 

“N-No, of course not. I just-...” But he cut himself off before spewing anything of real embarrassment. 

Clearing his throat, he announced his ascent up the stairs to re-brush his teeth before they had to get going.

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It was seven o’clock when Kaz finally pulled the car up to the white line of a parking space. It was…much more crowded than he thought…

His social anxiety was not going to do well, he could tell already.

Hand still gripping the helm, he turned to Kevin to inform him that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for him to stay—

Only to meet the thud of the passenger door slamming shut. 

Well, shit. Kaz groaned, head thumping against the wheel. He inhaled a short breath to attempt to steady his already wonky nerves, then carefully exited the car, closing and locking it behind him. 

He could do this. He’d just gotten through his parent’s divorce, switching schools, and houses…This was child’s play. He could absolutely do this…

Probably.

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However, there were a few things a person started to realize when showing up to a school get-together social like this. Things Kaz began to quickly start discovering…

One: It was crowded. Like, way more crowded than the parking lot previously made you believe, that deceiving son of a bitch. There weren’t just a few students here…There were tons. Hundreds, by the looks of it. While the line for the fro-yo was around the corner and spilling into the crossed-off street, that was only the beginning of it. The hoards of students clogging the empty parking spaces designated for the said event were packed, loud music and loud laughter filling the air to the extent that Kaz started to feel nauseous and had to clutch his stomach to properly center himself.

Apart from that, there was spilled yogurt everywhere, pushing and shoving and shouting beyond comprehension, and a strangely bizarre man dressed as the apparent mascot.

But the worst part? Worse than the crowds and the obnoxious yelling that was really starting to get on Kaz’s nerves? Worse than that way-too-creepy-to-be-normal Froyo-A-Go-Go Dodo?

Chase wasn’t even there.

So Kaz’s whole entire existence for being there was for nothing. 

He really was kind of pathetic, wasn’t he? 

It took him only a moment to decide he wanted to go home. For real, this time. With one last scan over the crowd — just to be absolutely positive Chase wasn’t there (he wasn’t) — he went to scour out Kevin.

As he searched the crowds he could hear a distant commotion behind him. It sounded as if people were arguing, but he paid no attention. Stupid assholes, they never learned good manners at gatherings, did they? How you weren’t supposed to disrupt others. 

Finally, he spotted Kevin amongst a gaggle of girls. Of course, he thought tiredly. He really wasn’t in the mood for this right now. 

Kevin locked eyes at his approach but did nor said anything to acknowledge him further. 

Typical.

“Hey, Kev, I’m feeling kinda nauseous and really want to go home to take my meds—”

“Dude. What the fuck? I told you I wanted to come tonight. Can’t you just get a water or something? You’ll be fine. You never actually throw up anyway,” he concluded with an exasperated roll of his eyes.

Kaz felt his nostrils flare and throat tighten, hands tensing into the beginning of fists.

He exhaled as he spoke as evenly as he could muster, “Kevin…I need to go home. So will you please just—”

“Jesus, okay! Christ, do you always have to be so annoying about this?” He turned to the girls as he untangled himself from their arms, “I’m so sorry, as you can see I wish I could stay longer. Catch you at school?”

They giggled and nodded enthusiastically as he stormed away in front of Kaz. With a sigh, Kaz followed. 

Kaz had almost made it back to the parking lot when he heard it. A familiar voice. The familiar voice…

His eyes trailed to the area where the Froyo-A-Go-Go Dodo was roaming until they landed on the boy. The boy he’d been waiting for. The boy he’d been hoping and praying would show up again. The boy who’d caught his curiosity and piqued his interest...

Chase.

God, it was so stupid how fascinated he was and he didn’t even know his freaking last name! It was sad, really, and a bit pathetic, but Kaz couldn’t even be brought to care anymore because there he was. He was there, so close yet so far…Just out of arms reach…just across the way…just—

Kaz frowned, brows knitting. 

Just…extending his arms toward the sky? Extending his arms as some man — Kaz thought darkly, something hot burning in his gut — was pressed against his back, holding his forearms and—?

Wait a second, what on earth were they doing?

Not even Kaz’s slight jealousy could defeat the utter confusion as to what the hell was going on over there. 

It was only now that Kaz noticed a third figure. A girl — about Chase’s height, maybe a tad shorter — who was — were those twigs stuck through her hair? What in the world—?

“Yo, Kaz, what the fuck’s the hold-up? Are you sick or what?”

With a reluctant yet puzzled final look in Chase’s direction, Kaz muttered out a: “Y—Yeah…Coming,” before turning his back on Chase completely and heading back toward his car.

Eh. He’d ask Chase about it in class tomorrow.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since the fro-yo event. And in case anyone was wondering, no, Kaz had not asked Chase about the strange sightings in the parking lot the next morning (he’d nearly had a panic attack when he thought about Chase thinking he was a creep or something for spying on him). 

So instead, he’d forced himself to try and ignore the fact it ever happened in the first place. Which, given that there were a lot of strange people who attended Mission Creek — including the ever-looming presence of the sumo-wrestler-man-child trapped in a middle-aged woman’s body excuse for a principal…Yeah, the peculiar posture of the two boys and that girl in the Froyo-A-Go-Go Dodo’s territory seemed less than worrisome. 

It was now between the fourth and fifth periods of the school day and Kaz had been stuck carrying around this stupid baby since second. He learned on his fourth day of school that he did, in fact, need to join health class if he wanted to pass sophomore year. And trust him, there was no way in hell he was retaking this year. It was bad enough already without the health class, but now it was just straight-up miserable. Apparently, the students had to “babysit a robo-baby for the night.”

Sounded like torture, if you asked Kaz. But there he was, force-feeding it makeshift bottles every thirty minutes just to keep its incessant screams at bay. It had been cute for about the first five minutes, now he just wanted to rip its head off. 

(And no, please do not report him to CPS, you would do the same if you had to care for this stupid thing.)

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his materials for biology and shut his locker. 

He was about to proceed with the trek to the opposite wing of the building, which he always had to leave five minutes early because of how long it took to get there, when he was stopped by the sound of a voice.

But it wasn't the voice itself that stopped him, it was what it was saying:

“-Chase, have you been stealing from five-year-old girls again?”

Kaz’s face dropped. Slowly, he shifted his head just enough so he could peer over his left shoulder — trying to be as discreet as possible. The last thing he wanted was for someone — especially Chase — to think he was… stalking him or something.

“Ha ha," Chase laughed sarcastically, "It’s for health class. Each of us has to babysit a robo-baby for a night.”

...And then the baby started crying.

However, unlike Kaz, who wanted to murder it within the first fifteen minutes, Chase didn’t seem upset with it. In fact, he seemed more than happy to deal with the screeching of what Kaz believed was akin to the shrieking of bobcat during mating season.

...Don’t ask him how he knew that.

But instead, all Chase responded with was: “Are you hungry? Yes, you are, my Snoogie-woogie-boogie!”

Kaz watched on in half-awe/half-horror as Chase giddily hurried over to the circular seat at the center of the lockers and pulled the baby out of its holster, cradling it in his arms.

Kaz felt his cheeks warm as the thought of Chase being a father and holding an actual baby crawled into his mind.

It was only when the girl standing beside him opened her mouth to say, “Just when we thought he couldn’t get any creepier,” did Kaz realize that, it was that same girl. From the fro-yo event. Then, as his eyes trailed to one of the other two boys…they widened. The taller man standing beside the girl with the feet of what must have been his own robo-baby poking out of his shoulder bag was the same dude from before.

However, when Kaz’s gaze landed on the third, much shorter boy sitting on the seat directly next to Chase…Kaz didn’t recognize him. Was that another friend? Were they all Chase’s friends?

Kaz was suddenly bombarded with a slew of questions. How did they know Chase? When had they met? Why did they all seem so… comfortable around each other?

“It cries when it’s tired or hungry,” Chase explained defensively, “I have to take care of him because if I don’t, I lose a point.” Chase flips the baby over and rakes up the back of its shirt to display the point pad Kaz knew was there. “Which, of course, I haven’t,” he finished with a proud — if not slightly cocky — toothy smile. “And I won’t because I have downloaded every childcare book available. I even know how to rescue a baby out of an alligator’s mouth.”

Okay, yeah, that was definitely cocky. Maybe even a bit more so than just that. 

But still, even when cocky, there was something so confident about his arrogance that Kaz couldn’t help but let out an under-the-breath snicker. 

“-Happens more often than you think.”

Kaz slowly looked down at his own baby, of whom he had not bothered to even read one book on how to take care of, and sighed. His watch buzzed with his alarm reminder to start heading to class, and off he went, leaving Chase and whoever the hell the rest of those people were behind him. 

And once again, he swore to himself, Eh, I’ll ask him about it tomorrow.

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It was the end of the day when Kaz saw Chase again. He was patting the baby against his shoulder as he sang a personal rendition of Rockabye Baby.

And yeah, even Kaz had to admit it was a little weird when the part of the song came to, “-When you fall asleep, I’ll beat Adam at this assignment just like I beat him at everything else.”

This was it. This was Kaz's opening. Chase was alone. This was the moment. The moment in which he could strut over pretending to be confident as ever and ask Chase for his number and—

“-Baby onboard!” 

Then, there was the sound of something rolling across the floor, followed by a thunk!...

And the next time Kaz blinked, Chase’s baby was sprawled on the floor, shrieking, and that dude from the parking lot looking as offended as ever as if his baby was the one who just lost the point.

“Hey!” He exclaimed.

But Chase was quick to snap back, “I just lost a point because of your stupidity!”

“Relax. It was an accident.”

Before Kaz could even begin to properly understand what the heck was happening, the dude was pulling a plunger of all things (Kaz did not even want to think about how the hell he got his hands on that) out of the trash can he was rolling around and — Kaz was not kidding — literally plunged the fallen baby.

Which of course resulted in yet another point being deducted. Kaz internally cringed.

And now the baby was crying again.

“Now I’ve lost two points…” Chase trailed off, then whipped his head up to the guy, a look of anger crossing his features, “And so should you! Give me your baby!”

Kaz watched in — he admitted — amusement, as Chase proceeded to lunge at the taller guy who snatched the baby away before Chase could reach it…

“Too slow!”

Then above his head out of Chase's arm’s reach…

“Too short!”

Then added on for good measure with a teasing pouty face:

“Too Chase!”

Which only begged the question, how the hell did these two guys know each other?

The annoyance and jeering were clearly too familiar for them to be strangers —  let alone classmates — but they didn’t seem intimate enough to be anything more than friends…

Was that seriously all they were? Friends? But they seemed so...

There was another shriek of a baby and Kaz glanced back at reality only to notice one of the babies had its head lodged in the vending machine. 

How the fuck did-?

Then, in the most obnoxiously horrific mimicking of baby talk Kaz had ever heard in his life, Chase said, “Aw, da liddle guy musta been hungry.”

It was only at that comment — when Kaz was about to let out another snicker — that his phone buzzed. He unearthed it from his pocket to see the contact ID, “Mom", displayed. With a slight groan, he slid the green button across and answered the call. 

“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

“Kazimieras, where are you?”

Oh, boy. She was upset. Kaz screwed his eyes shut and silently cursed beneath his breath. His distraction of the two boys arguing had caused him to be five minutes late. His mother hated it when he was late. “I’ve been waiting here for nearly ten minutes! Get your butt out of that school, now!”

Click.

Mouth open ready to reply, she'd already hung up. 

Hastily snatching his bag from his locker, he sprinted out the double doors. 

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The ride home was silent. His mother usually got like this when she was pissed. Though Kaz had known her long enough to know that something must have happened at work, she had never been this upset because one of her kids was being a bit tardy. At least not to the point it lasted any longer than ten minutes.

When they pulled into the garage, Kaz stayed seated momentarily to see if his mother would want to talk about what had happened, but she was already closing the car door by the time he’d crafted a non-judgmental question to ask about her day.

Guess she didn’t want to talk. 

To make matters worse, Kevin was being more of a dick to him than usual. Ever since the whole frozen yogurt debacle, he’d made it more than clear he had no interest in speaking with him given Kaz had — as Kevin called it — “ruined his chances” with each one of the four girls.

Though, if you were asking Kaz, he’d say that sounded more like Kevin’s fault than his own if he’d failed to apologize correctly. 

Kyle and Karen were upstairs playing some video game, Kevin had locked himself in his room, and his mother had no interest in discussing anything.

So yeah, Kaz’s day was going great. Absolutely stellar.

With a huff and roll of his eyes at the unpleasant atmosphere of the house, he decided the next best thing was to call Oliver to help blow off some steam. 

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Situating himself on his bed after closing and locking the door, he pulled up FaceTime and pressed the call button. 

He wasn’t gonna lie…part of him was expecting Oliver not to pick up at all…But after a few rings, the bulging forehead of his best friend appeared a bit too close to the camera. 

“Kazzy! Hey, bud, how are you? Is that your new bedroom? It’s sick!”

A grin immediately stretched across his lips at the sound of Oliver’s familiar voice.

“Hey, Ollie! Yeah, yeah, look, I kept all my old posters,” he rolled on his back and reversed the camera for Oliver to see. 

“Hell, yeah, bro!” He paused, then queried, “So what’s up? Just calling to catch up? Not that I mind!” He added quickly.

Kaz gnawed at his lip, debating how much to tell him. He wanted to explain everything to his friend, but…He also didn’t want Oliver to worry. That was the last thing he wanted.

He cleared his throat, “Oh, uh, just wanted to check-in. It’s…Well, let’s just say no one really wants to talk to the new transfer student.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, man, that sucks. Well, you can definitely call me anytime! I miss you so much! And Skylar, but she’s working a shift right now.”

“How’s Mighty Med?”

“Same old, same old. In a good way. It’s not the same without you, though.”

Kaz averted his gaze, “Yeah…I miss it, too.”

It went quiet for a moment, something that was beyond bizarre for the pair. 

“Are you gonna come visit soon?” Kaz asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.

Oliver’s expression morphed into something akin to guilt, “I’m so sorry, Kaz, it’s just I’m so booked right now—”

Kaz cut him off, a bit deflated, “It’s fine, I get it. We’re doctors...our patients come first.”

Despite the nod Oliver gave in response, Kaz could tell he still felt bad. 

Another pregnant pause passed before someone yelled something in the background of Oliver’s screen. 

“Yeah, I’m coming! One second, geez!”

Oliver turned back to him. 

“I’m sorry, Kazzy, I gotta go, some emergency patient or something—”

“No, no, yeah, go take care of it—”

But Oliver was already waving goodbye.

“Bye, Kazzy! Love ya!”

“Bye, love you—”

Click. Oliver had hung up.

“-Too…”

Kaz sighed, dropping his phone to his mattress and rolling to his stomach, burying his face into his pillow in an effort to forget about everything fucked up in his life.

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

But before he knew it, his eyes had drooped closed as sleep overtook him.

Chapter Text

Kaz had to admit, his fire powers were pretty damn cool. I mean, come on, he could hold fire, breathe fire, and withstand fire. That was pretty cool, right? Not to mention the whole flying thing. That was cool, too.

You know what wasn’t cool, though? His pyrokinesis landing him in detention.

Sure, he might have set fire to one of the wooden cafeteria tables, but it wasn’t his fault the hot dogs were ice-cold! All he was trying to do was subtly and casually heat up his food…which just so happened to end with half the cafeteria screaming in terror and the other half covered in fire extinguisher foam. 

Still, it wasn’t technically his fault, it was the fire’s fault.

At least, that was what he told himself. 

The minute the cafeteria had erupted into uncontrolled chaos, Principal Perry had waddled into the room, a scowl etched on her face as she saw Kaz swaying awkwardly at the center of the mess. She marched right through that line of fire and got all up in his face with a glower. “You responsible for this, meat sack?” 

He gave a tentative nod. 

“Well, thanks to you, I now have to explain to the school board that no, I shouldn’t be put in a psychiatric hospital despite what my doctor says because my students have gone haywire. Because of you, I JUST LOST ME AND MR. WHISKER’S MONTHLY GROOMING SESSION AT THE CAT SALON!”

Kaz shot her a quizzical look at the mention of Mr. Whiskers and her grooming session at a cat salon…But decided it best to not comment. 

“Sorry, Principal Perry, but to be fair…” he trailed off with raised eyebrows, “It wasn’t my fault your hot dogs are cold.”

She narrowed her eyes further and crossed her arms. “Do you really wanna go there, Suzy sausage paws?”

Kaz raised his brows, “No…?”

“Detention!”

Kaz’s eyes widened. 

“What?! But it was an accident—!”

She smiled mercilessly, “Yeahhh, that’s exactly what my mother said when she signed me up for the pitbull fight club in eighth grade.”

And with that, she waddled off again. Kaz groaned.

Great. Just what he needed. A detention the second week into transferring on his record. 

His mom was gonna kill him. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Detention was just as boring as they made it out to be on TV. Kaz hadn’t bothered to write down any of his homework earlier, so now he was stuck staring at the blank wall in front of him, mindlessly drumming his pencil on the table, and hoping to God that Flo and Brandy did flip or rip him. 

…That was until the door busted open and in walked—

Holy shit. 

Kaz’s heart picked up as none other than freaking Chase (along with that same girl and guy) was practically shoved inside by Perry. 

She manhandled them into the seats at the table directly in front of him.

“Welcome to Dingo Detention…Or as I like to call it, Me Time!” She squealed way too maniacally to be considered anywhere close to sane. “I used to be a maximum security prison guard, and I still have the scars from the electric chair to prove it.”

After Kaz (and probably the rest of the poor students forced to succumb to this mind-numbingly dumb torture) shot her a look of disgust, she decided that wasn’t TMI enough and added on defensively for extra measure, “It was the middle of the night and I thought it was the can. It happens. You wanna see?”

Kaz gagged, nearly vomiting right then and there.

After her repetition of explaining the rules and something about mouthwash, she snatched the girl’s phone and headed to a pair of the lunch ladies near the main door to speak with them about something. 

Kaz sighed, eyes finding the back of Chase’s head and deciding the next best thing to pass the time was to daydream about what it would feel like to run his fingers through it…

Only for — not even three seconds later — an alarm to blare. Despite Perry being confused about where it came from, Kaz knew for sure — as he was staring at him — that it was coming from Chase’s pocket. 

Chase’s face morphed into something similar to concern. He leaned close to the other two and whispered something to them. The girl’s face lit up in mimicked worry, while the guy’s seemed less than, instead opting to raise his hand and call them out for being “talkers.”

The entire interaction was bizarre, almost as if there was some secret language used between the three, but the third one either didn’t care or wasn’t exactly smart enough to catch on…Honestly, Kaz thought it was a fifty-fifty chance. 

Oh, boy…

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz didn’t know how long the so-called “pat down” took. A while ago that same little kid had burst in…Something about a parent’s note and an emergency…

Yeah, Kaz didn’t know either. He was about as confused as Perry had been. She then took to devouring the note and telling the kid that they might be able to “earn” their freedom. 

Then everything became a blur. 

Baseball bats and spinning, heads slamming into various walls…boxing matches with obnoxiously large gloves…all of which failed. 

Like Kaz had said, he had no idea what was going on. 

He was just focused on Chase.

Unfortunately, after the whole boxing thing detention was over. At least his detention. He tried to sneakily stay behind just to see if he could learn anything more about this whole situation, but failed when Brandy found him crouching behind the dirty tablecloth bin and dragged him out of the cafeteria single-handedly. 

And in case anyone was wondering, they were way stronger than they appeared.

So, not wanting to upset her further (she was terrifying) he raced back to his detention table, grabbed his bag, and made for the exit. On his way out, though, he turned around for one last look, just to make sure Chase’s face was okay where he’d banged his head against the door.

He hadn’t expected anything from it, he’d come to realize his feelings — whatever they were — were not reciprocated in the slightest. Which was okay, he could deal with it, but sometimes when he was lying in bed staring at the black hole that was his ceiling…it still stung. Just a little bit. 

So of course he hadn’t expected Chase to look back at him…

But when he turned around for that one last glance…

Just for a millisecond, maybe less…

Chase’s eyes flicked over his. 

But then just like that, they were gone again. 

Which was good because Kaz could already feel the heat rising to his cheeks. It annoyed him to no end the effect something as small as a less-than-second glance from Chase in his direction had on him. 

But he couldn’t wallow in that. He had to get out before Brandy or Flo came back at him again.

And just like that, he shoved open the cafeteria doors and fled out of the school. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“Kazimieras, what on God’s green earth made you think detention was an okay addendum to your transcript?!” His mother screeched as the front door slammed shut. “The one thing — one thing — I told you to avoid at any and all costs! And for setting off the fire alarm with the microwave?! To heat your hotdog?! Ridiculous!” Kaz winced as she slammed a second door.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t realize how sensitive the alarms were!” 

“And you think that’s an excuse?!”

“No, I just—”

“Go to your room. I don’t even want to look at you right now.”

Kaz’s chest tightened at the blunt words but nodded silently and obeyed. He took his backpack and made way to the staircase.

With a heavy sigh, he dropped to his bed. How could this day get any worse?

A buzz sounded from beside him. 

It was on the group chat chain with the three of them.

Incoming text:

Skylar: 

Hey, we’re so sorry but we have an emergency we need to attend to and won’t be able to make tonight’s call 🙁

Can we reschedule?

The ellipses appeared, disappeared, then reappeared.

Skylar:

Hope mission creek’s going ok!

Text if u need anything!!

Well, that answered that question.

Chapter Text

Kaz had never been much of an artist. Ever since he was little, drawing, painting, sculpting, you name it, had never been his go-to. Or any “a-to” in his book.

Still, as the years passed and he grew older, and especially when Katie began her journey into the realm of “impressionistic airbrushing,” Kaz found that maybe being considered an artist of at least some sort was perhaps not as bad as he’d always made it out to be. 

It was only toward the end of freshman year in which he discovered his talent for sketching — the more realistic side of it. He liked drawing people especially; Those were his favorite. Something about how the slightest difference made to any part of the body could change an appearance entirely engrossed him to a degree he’d never quite experienced before in the world of art.

Don’t get him wrong, he despised art museums (or more like any museum) and would likely just go hide in the bathroom if dragged to one, but he enjoyed having his own dictation of where the pencils and erasers and blenders went on a page. 

Needless to say, when word of the upcoming art exhibition at Mission Creek reached him…he knew immediately he would do anything and everything in his power to avoid entering or being forcibly ensnared by the voted “artisan nerds.”

He absolutely did not want to be labeled in the same vein as that Owen kid, God forbid. 

Which he now found strange given he’d somehow managed to wind up in the nearly deserted drawing studio after school with said guy. He’d been working on his most recent portrait of Tecton when he was interrupted by a disturbingly close presence of loud breathing over his shoulder. 

He slowly shifted his head to see none other than Owen peering down over him with an absorbed expression on his face, clearly not caring about anything to do with Kaz himself and much too enraptured with the not-so-great messy linework of the superhero. 

“Um…Can I help you?” Kaz pressed, really not in the mood for this today.

“Sorry. Sorry,” Owen shook himself out of whatever trance he’d been caught in but kept his brows furrowed. He had a slight lisp to him that somehow only added to the nerdy artist persona…Kaz despised it. “I was just—” he cut himself off with a lick of his lips, a determined yet overly-animated posture striking through his body as he outstretched his arms in front of him in the most dramatic way possible, “-Bewitched by the beauty of the curvature and poignance of the contours of your—” he paused again, this time for a sharp intake of breath, “ravishing masterpiece.” Finally allowing himself a moment to breathe, he clung onto his last word with this expectancy, as if waiting for the silence to speak for itself. 

Kaz didn’t give two craps. He was done with this weirdo.

Ignoring everything Owen had just said, he started packing up to get the hell away from this creep when the guy began talking to him again.

“You’re planning to enter that, right?”

“Uh, no, not really,” Kaz responded distantly as he stuffed away his sketching utensils. 

The way Owen scoffed was as if the entire idea behind comprehending such a thing was utterly ridiculous, “Why not? Talent and beauty, — like me — not much can beat that.” He paused to add, “Well, mine can, but that’s not a surprise. But yours could definitely be runner-up.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Entering isn’t something I’m interested in—”

“Great! I’ll go add your name to the sheet. Kazimieras, was it?”

Kaz furrowed his brows in puzzlement at how the hell this dude knew that and opened his mouth to say something, only to think better of it when he recognized that Owen probably knew a lot more about everyone than Kaz thought. He seemed like the type of guy to observe people on the borderline of stalker territory for the “betterment of his art,” Kaz was sure he called it. 

“Wait, dude, no—”

But Owen was already hurrying out the door. 

Well, shit. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

The following day at school was just as mundane as usual. It was strange being somewhere that wasn’t Logan. How vastly dissimilar it was. For one, he’d actually had friends at Logan. Not a ton, but a few. God, he missed Gus and Jordan, he really needed to call…

But aside from that, attending Logan was just different. He supposed it had something to do with having accustomed himself to the many types of people who he interacted with as well as growing fond of the daily routines he’d learned throughout his time there. Even if at times he wasn’t a huge fan of people like Stefanie, Alan, or Jordan, he found quirks in each he’d come to appreciate. And don’t get him started on his embarrassing excuse of a crush on Stefanie first year…

A shiver ran down his spine at the disturbing memory of that horror show...

Needless to say, his time at Mission Creek had so far been less than ideal. Not only was his current friend list still sitting at a consistent zero, but he’d been in detention, failed to acquire the attention of his maybe-maybe-not-crush, and hadn’t spoken to Oliver or Skylar in just under a week. 

Not to mention how ever since the divorce Kevin hated his guts…

So no, Kaz wasn’t in any type of mood today to deal with anything other than lazing his way through classes (again) and going home to knock himself out into a thousand-year coma. 

However, by midday, fate had other plans. 

It had been around day eight (two days after the detention incident, he’d calculated loosely) in which he came to the utterly genius conclusion that he could, in fact, still use his powers to heat his food…He just had to convincingly step outside feigning innocence and fighting off any detection of suspicion Perry might acquire and quickly toast his food just beside the line of dumpsters out back.

Not a top-notch dining experience, but better hot than cold.

Anyway, it had been after the excursion he’d taken today in which something he had not been expecting happened…

At the start of the lunch period, he’d left his backpack abandoned at the table nearest the back door. Looking back it probably wasn’t the smartest idea considering how little faith in the people here he had, but it was too late and he hadn’t perfected time travel yet, so there was nothing he could do.

His next period was biology and his alarm was set to blare any second to warn him he had five minutes to make the trek across the building. So, with that on his mind, he grabbed his backpack — not caring to remember he’d left the main pocket unzipped — and slung it over a shoulder. 

He was in the middle of parading his way out the double doors when he heard a clattering noise from behind. At first, he wasn’t going to think much of it…

Until an unfamiliar voice called:

“Hey, I think you dropped this.”

He spun in place to see a boy about his age, an inch or two shorter, approaching him with his two spilled folders. The boy gave him a slight smile, which Kaz instantly returned.

“Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t hear—”

“All good. Don’t worry about it.”

It was only once Kaz had successfully re-stuffed and zipped his bag that he noticed the boy hadn’t moved. In fact, he seemed to be staring at Kaz with an odd expression, almost as if studying him…

“You’re that other new transfer student, right? From Philly?”

Kaz stuttered, a tad dumbfounded, “U—Uh, yeah…How did you know that?”

“‘Cause I’m the other one,” the boy grinned. Then, he extended his hand confidently, “Marcus.”

And Kaz took it. “Kaz.”

The boy — Marcus — shot him an easy smile. 

“Are you from around here?”

“Me? Yeah, I live with my Dad about fifteen minutes south. Too much bullying at my old school, so…”

Kaz nodded, “Makes sense. Not that I’ve seen this place be much better. Those footballers—...”

Marcus let out a laugh, “Yeah, no, they suck ass.”

And Kaz found himself chuckling along, too.

“You made any new friends yet?”

Kaz shook his head, a blush suddenly creeping up the base of his neck as the embarrassment of that statement flooded through him. Though Marcus didn’t seem to mind it anywhere near as much as Kaz did.

“No, it’s okay, I haven’t either, really. It’s…been pretty challenging, actually.”

Kaz blinked at him, slowly, taking everything in. Could this be…?

“Look, I, uh, I know we just met and everything,” Kaz started carefully, thinking back to Owen’s words from earlier, “But I’m showing some of my artwork at school tonight…If you wanna come. We can hang out? Get to know each other a bit better?”

Marcus stared at him blankly, and for a moment Kaz thought he’d fucked up. That he’d been reading this entire situation incorrectly and reality was about to come crashing down again…

But then a small smile graced Marcus’ lips, and he nodded.

“Yeah. Sounds cool to me. I’ll see you tonight, then?”

Kaz grinned, “Yeah! Yeah, no, I’ll, uh,” he swallowed thickly, “I’ll see you tonight!”

Marcus waved goodbye as he made his way back into the cafeteria. 

And all Kaz had plastered to his face the rest of the day was a massive grin.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz’s foot tapped anxiously against the rubber flooring inside the main entrance. It had been like this for the past twenty minutes: Kaz an anxious ball of nerves bouncing off the walls with the fear Marcus had stood him up. 

Honestly, he didn’t even know why he cared so much. It was stupid, anyway.

On top of that, as if being stood up wasn’t bad enough, Owen was there. He’d arrived before the exhibition had even opened, deeming that he needed the time and space to “properly attune himself to the musical chords that are those of the artwork.”

…Every time Kaz interacted with him, his faith in humanity diminished a bit more .

Now Kaz had no idea where Owen had run off to, the last thing he’d shouted in the general vicinity of Kaz was something about grabbing a videogame from his car. Though given Owen’s lack of a personality outside of art Kaz highly doubted he’d actually heard that correctly. 

Didn’t matter now, it wasn’t Kaz’s problem.

“Hey,” a voice sounded from behind him, “Sorry I’m late, we ran into some traffic on the way here.”

Kaz turned to see — to his utter shock he’d actually shown — Marcus. Kaz stood to meet at his level and shrugged as if he hadn’t nearly had a panic attack. 

“All good.”

“So where’s your art? Also, is that guy standing in the middle of the parking lot with his head covered in game controllers part of this?”

Kaz sighed. Oh, boy…

“That would be Owen. Don’t even know his last name, only that he’s some dude in our year who's obsessed with anything and everything to do with art. And apparently, he’s spread his so-called ‘genius’ to the video game world, too, now.”

“Those poor video games,” Marcus teased sarcastically.

Kaz clicked his tongue, “I know. Tragic.” He grinned, “Anyway, my stuff is this way!”

Feeling a sudden rush of giddiness overtake him, he practically skipped his way toward the section in which his latest sketches were displayed. 

“Woah…That’s Tecton, right?”

Kaz’s eyes widened. “You know Tecton?!” He was basically shouting now, but he couldn’t give less of a shit. Marcus knew who Tecton was!

“Uh, do I breathe? Yes, of course I do! He’s only, like, my favorite superhero ever!”

“Me too! You’re, like, the only person I’ve met here who even knows who that is!”

“Yeah, because unlike most people here I’m actually cool.”

Kaz laughed, feeling for the first time since arriving in Mission Creek the most himself he’d been.

Being with Marcus was easy. It was fun. He was witty and smart and everything Kaz missed about Skylar and Oliver, and he felt less alone than he had in weeks. 

They walked around the exhibitions for the better part of a half-hour, observing and judging the vast variety of prints to digitals to calligraphy, architecture, and bizarre half-assed sculptures. Marcus was relatively clueless when it came to art, but Kaz wasn’t surprised when he learned Marcus’ true passion was music, the guitar being his absolute favorite. According to him, he’d just joined a three-man band with some other kids from school. 

“Oh, yeah? Who are they, maybe I’ve heard of them?”

There was a moment where he seemed doubtful of that, but Kaz was determined. Maybe since he befriended Marcus he could get an in with them. Who knows? Maybe they’ll be more…eventful than whatever this art exhibition crap was. “Uhh…Adam and Chase Davenport?”

Kaz’s heart stopped. 

Chase…Davenport? 

“They’re brothers, so it was kinda easy to loop them in. Adam is a bit…how do you say it? Thick-headed?”

“Awesome! I am, too!”

Marcus gave him a look that suggested Kaz was as strange a human he’d met as any but commented no further. “Cool…”

Kaz frowned, “Wait, they don’t happen to have a sister, do they?”

“Yeah, they do,” Marcus arched a brow suspiciously. “How did you know that?”

Kaz grinned, proud of his victorious efforts, “Well, Marcus,” he patted his shoulder, “Sometimes in life, you come to the conclusion that not everything is about you. So,” Kaz added sprightly, “You start to learn to look at the people around you. And then, once you’ve really got a hang of it, you—”

“-You stalked them, didn’t you?” Marcus deadpanned with crossed arms.

Kaz gasped dramatically, “I did not, how dare you—” he cut himself off when he remembered exactly how he had been blatantly staring at Chase for the past several days… “Okay, well, I didn’t stalk them knowingly.”

Marcus barked out a laugh. “You seriously have no clue, do you?”

Kaz shook his head, eyes trailing somewhere off to the distance, “Bro, you have no idea.”

“Speaking of,” Marcus said, “Their step-brother Leo,” he breathed through gritted teeth, “Smashed my guitar a week ago, so now, my dad has me going on a guitar run.”

“At eight o’clock on a Thursday?”

Marcus shrugged, “Yeah, he likes to live what he calls the ‘eccentric’ lifestyle.”

“Ah,” Kaz nodded, “One of those millionaire mountain rich guys, I see.”

“Nope! Just an overindulgent, self-obsessed, helicopter parent,” Marcus pressed his lips into a thin line of agitation. Even with Kaz’s less-than-stellar brain power, he could see the annoyance. “Anyway, I gotta scram. I’ll see ya tomorrow, though…Probably. If my dad doesn’t murder me for being home two minutes past curfew,” he ended with an unamused, forced chuckle.

“Later, Marky! It’s okay if I call you that, right? I was just feeling it, you know? A "vibe," if you know what they say!”

Marcus blinked at him, “Sure, Kaz. Sure.”

And then Marcus was gone. Kaz released a pleasantly light exhale and flicked a finger over the surface of the nearest sculpture, finally feeling like himself again. 

I wonder how Oliver’s holding up…

Or Mighty Med, for that matter...

Did Mighty Med even miss him? At the beginning, Horace had even told him to his face he wasn’t sure if Kaz was a necessary member of the team. But then the whole thing with Tecton happened and well, the rest — as they say — was history. 

Still, sometimes Kaz did wonder—

His thoughts were cut off, however, by a loud—

BANG!

And then a groan, followed by a rather wrecked voice:

“See? That is performance art. I call it ‘Falling Uncontrollably Down the Stairs’.”

What Kaz saw was not — he repeats, not — what he’d been expecting. He might be a bit slow in most circumstances, but even he could gather that her crash landing — for whom he’d now gathered the name of Bree — was no performance art or theatrical catastrophe. 

And who knew, maybe it was the superhero doctor in him (or maybe his straight-up superpowers) but Kaz’s feet moved faster than his brain (as they often did) and he was helping her up before he could process he’d just flown across the room — and not by use of his powers.

“Hey, hey! Bdah-dah-dah, paws off, handsy,” another much shorter guy said as he pried Kaz’s fingers off of Bree’s body. Kaz only now recognized him as the boy from the other day, who’d been sitting beside Chase. That must be Leo…

But the moment Bree was in Leo’s arms again, she collapsed, as if the weight of her body was being continually crushed by the force of gravity. Before Kaz knew it, Leo and Bree were sprawling on the floor. Leo underneath the heaping pile of Bree as he made pathetic grunts and poor attempts to wriggle her body off of him.

Needless to say, he was completely unsuccessful. 

Kaz placed his hands on his hips and stood there expectantly, waiting patiently for Leo to finally determine he might, just might need someone else’s help.

Kaz raised his eyebrows, “You good down there, bud?”

Leo winced as he grunted out, “I’m— dyuh —fine— errgh!”

Kaz sighed. They never learn, do they?

“Yeah, it definitely looks like you’ve got this under control. One-hundred percent. Don’t worry, I’m sure someone is videoing this right now,” Kaz finished with a wicked simper.

Leo’s jaw dropped in horror at the thought of this getting posted, and Kaz had to snicker to himself and cover it up with a cough to hide the utter amusement this brought to him.

“Okay, okay, help, please!”

“Theeeere we go,” Kaz said like he knew this was eventually the outcome he was going to receive. Much more effortlessly than Leo, he managed to maneuver Bree off and slide her limply onto the nearby bench.

Leo popped up off the floor, heaving.

“Thanks, man.”

“No prob,” Kaz’s eyes flicked to the girl, who was currently lopsided on the bench, apparently unable to sit up straight in any capacity whatsoever. “So, uh…What’s up with sea slug, here?”

Leo’s mouth opened and closed like a blubbering fish for several elongated moments, and Kaz could see the gears shifting in his head as he debated whether or not to tell Kaz something. What that something was, Kaz had no clue.

Finally, the kid settled on, “Let’s just say…You know when things happen when you really don’t want them to happen but then they do happen so you try and figure out how to reverse what shouldn’t have happened but did, happen? Well, that’s exactly what happened when it shouldn’t have happened but did happen. To her,” he gestured with his head toward the flaccid Bree lolled across the seat.

Kaz opened his mouth, took a breath, then closed it, hesitated, then opened it again. “So…I only caught about five percent of that but, yeah, sure! Whatever you say, lil’ dude!”

Leo nodded in likeness, “Alright, cool! ‘Cuz I didn’t want to have to explain that again. Also, do you mind maybe helping me wheel her back home or something? I don’t think my scrawny little arms could make it,” he laughed awkwardly, as if unsure himself if any part of his body would make it. 

“Sure, man, sounds good to me.”

“Alrighty, Bree, just hang on tight, Kaz and I are gonna help get you to a—”

“Leo, I can’t even walk, everything is numb.” Leo shot her a deadpan expression, “Just help me get out of here before it gets ‘worth’.” Her eyes widened. “It’s ‘worth’!”

“What’s happening?”

She lisped out, “The numbness spread to my tongue! I can’t talk!”

Kaz watched as realization hit Leo and his face suddenly lit up, “Finally, a positive side effect.”

“Leo!”

“Let’s get you up. Alright, Kaz,” he nodded for him to grab her ankles. Together, they helped lug her over to a…roller stool?

She collapsed over onto it, face down, and Kaz had to wipe a stray bead of sweat off his forehead. 

Yeah, he really needed to work out more…

“Okay,” Leo started again, “Once we get outside, I’ll upgrade you to a nice shopping cart.”

Oh, boy... Kaz thought. 

“Bree! There you are.” Oh God, Kaz knew exactly whose voice that belonged to…He screwed his eyes shut and cursed out a ‘shit’ beneath his breath as Owen padded over, a determined look in his eye as he approached Leo and outstretched an artistically drawn arm in front of him. “I’m about to unveil the centerpiece of my exhibit.” He stowed his hands behind his back, then quickly — and ever-so-briefly — snapped his attention down to the mound of “Bree,” and added: “Are you okay?”

Leo was quick to jump in and save her, looping an arm beneath one of hers and silently begging Kaz to get the other — which he did. “Oh, yeah. Yeah. She’s fine. Your art is just so good, she’s getting…emotional!”

“That’s good, Leo, that’s good,” she lisped just loud enough for only them to hear.

“Come on,” Owen said, already having moved back onto the topic of his so-called “masterpiece” as he dragged Leo by the sleeve of his shirt toward the center of the room. “I’ve been waiting all night to show you this. I wasn’t kidding when I said you were my muse.”

Owen released Leo and walked over to a ginormous black sheet as Leo and Kaz helped lean Bree against the nearest pillar.

“You’ve inspired me to create my most deeply meaningful piece yet. I call it: ‘My Most Deeply Meaningful Piece Yet’.”

With a flick of his wrist, he unsheathed the painting from beneath the black cloth to reveal…a…big…

Okay, what was that?

A half-confused, half-horrified expression crossed his face and Kaz found himself just having to take a step nearer. 

What on earth—?

“Whoa,” Leo had the same idea, “That’s not totally horrible.” Okay, well, on that Kaz begged to differ, but whatever. “What is it?”

“It’s paintball art. Two thousand paintballs fired with precise accuracy to create a portrait of your sister.”

Kaz’s eyes widened and he glanced toward Leo, who mimicked his expression as they realized: 

Shit, his sister.

They spin around to find Bree collapsed on the floor beside the pillar and they hurry to get her up again, all the while Owen spitting on and on about:

“It’s about beauty, inspiring mankind to repurpose the tools of pseudo-violence as art. So, what do you think, Bree?” 

He turned just as Kaz and Leo had managed to haul her back onto the bench, Leo as her crutch.

“Bree?”

Her answer was one where if Kaz hadn’t known any better and thought this was all something completely normal to happen on a Thursday evening, he probably wouldn’t have laughed. But the complete string of gibberish spilling out of her mouth as she replied was too funny not to. His poise broke and he cackled loudly, earning sour looks from both Leo and Owen — especially Owen, who — beyond anything — was confused.

And once again, Leo saved it. “She had the same reaction to the Mona Lisa.”

Somehow Owen bought it. 

“Well, we have to go,” Leo continued, not missing a beat.

“Unh-unh,” Bree countered. 

“Uh-huh.”

“Unh-Unh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Mnh-Mnh!”

“Uh-Huh!”

And before Kaz knew it, Bree was flying across the hall, landing directly in Owen’s arms (who just barely succeeded in catching her).

“That’s enough, that’s enough,” Leo hastily yanked Bree out of Owen’s arms and into his own…

Only to completely disregard how heavy she was and flung her right through Owen’s painting...

Good riddance, Kaz smirked before racing to help Leo and Bree.

Leo and Bree were already well out the door as Bree called out behind her, “Bye, Oweeen!”

Once they were out of sight, Kaz faced the rest of the room, who were still staring at him in shock. 

“We’ll take it!” He laughed awkwardly, bunglingly swinging his arms before turning on-heel and sprinting the fuck outta there.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

When they arrived at the Davenport’s front door, Leo slowed the hand truck to a stop and turned to Kaz with a tired sigh. Bree had passed out from exhaustion somewhere around the halfway point.

“Thanks for all your help today, man. I don’t if I would’ve gotten outta there without it. And you know how much I hate art shows. 

“It was no problem. It certainly…energized my evening.”

They shared a chuckle. 

“Hey, if you hate art shows so much, why were you even there?”

“Oh, uh, I actually know Owen. Unfortunately—” Leo hummed in agreement, “And he, uh, he entered some of my sketches because he deemed them ‘talented’ or whatever, so.”

“But you yourself didn’t enter any?” Leo narrowed his eyes. Kaz nodded.

“Yeahhh, doesn’t make much sense to me, either, but I ended up making my first friend since transferring here so I thought ‘why-the-hell-not’, y’know?”

“Who’s your friend? Maybe I know them.”

“Some dude named Marcus,” Leo’s face dropped instantaneously, “Don’t know his last name, though, so can’t really help ya’ any more than that, man.”

It was only now Kaz clocked the concern dancing across Leo’s features. 

“Is…everything okay?”

Leo licked over his lips, then broke into a semi-forced smile and was back to his typical self in an instant. “Yeah! Yeah, no, everything’s fine. Sorry, I was just—Just got thinking about how on earth we’re gonna — I mean I’m gonna fix Bree.”

Kaz watched as a gulp traveled the length of Leo’s throat. He frowned but said nor did anything else.

“Anyway, I gotta get going inside so we can fix her, but I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow, I guess. And, hey, if you ever want to, you’re more than welcome to come sit with me and my siblings at lunch.”

Kaz’s heart thumped. Him and his siblings…

“Just, uh, do me a favor and try to avoid bringing that Marcus guy?”

“Why—?”

“Nothing. No reason. Just not a huge fan, I s’pose. I’ll see you tomorrow, and thanks again for your help!”

And with that, Leo was wheeling Bree the rest of the way inside and shutting the door in Kaz’s face.

But even though it was perhaps not the fondest of goodbyes, Kaz only had one thing on his mind the entire way home:

Lunch with Leo and his siblings.

Chapter Text

Of all the people at Mission Creek High, Leo Dooley was the last person Kaz would have expected to become a second best friend. He missed Oliver more than anything, don’t get him wrong, but he found that Leo in a lot of ways was quite similar. They were both geeky in that creative type of way, an over-active imagination just like himself. Like Oliver, Leo was smart and calculated — to an extent — and had a good head on his shoulders. He knew when enough was enough and when something wasn’t quite right about a given situation.

But that didn’t mean he and Kaz, too, had similarities. Leo liked to tease and pull pranks, which was how they really began to bond. They’d pulled one on Principal Perry last week where they snapped a bunch of glow sticks and emptied them all over her office. It looked cool as fuck with the lights off but smelled like absolute shit. They’d dumped a few containers of cat litter — the fancy kind that clumps — on top for good measure.

Kaz had also taken to sitting with Leo most days at lunch. And like he’d promised, no Marcus in sight. He didn’t know why Leo was so opposed to it, but he wanted to respect his wishes, so Kaz would meet up with Marcus after school. 

Bree talked to him, now, too. She remembered him from the art exhibition. Adam and Chase were a bit more nonexistent, given that lunch was their only free time to practice with Marcus in the band room (apparently their father, Mr. Davenport) didn’t much appreciate Marcus in their home. 

Maybe that had something to do with Leo’s disdain toward him. 

Kaz didn’t know anymore. Sometimes he felt he didn’t know anything anymore. 

“So where did you live, Kaz? Before all of this, I mean.”

Bree, Leo, and Kaz were sitting together like they usually did nowadays. Leo had been rambling about that Janelle girl again, and Bree was pissed off at some joke her brothers pulled that morning they deemed funny…At the expense of Bree. 

Kaz shrugged, “Philly. Or, you know, somewhere inside Philly, if you want more accuracy,” he grinned. 

Leo smirked. Bree rolled her eyes, “So helpful. Why’d you transfer, then? Thought you said you liked it there.”

“I did. It was nice, weather was nice…Had some nice friends…Well, except Jordan. She was a bit of a nutzo and, plus, she only liked you, like, fifty percent of the time, but she was cool. Relatively. Sometimes. And Gus was—...Well, he was Gus.”

“‘Gus’?” Leo pressed, not exactly amused with the name. 

“Yeah, he’s some kid who carries dead bait and mayonnaise around in his backpack.”

“And he’s your friend?” Bree chuckled, “Jesus.”

“Yeah, he sometimes goes to The Domain with me and Oliver.”

“The Domain?” Leo asked, brows quirking.

“Mine and Oliver’s favorite comic book store. It’s kind of become like our secret dwelling,” he laughed. 

“Ugh, I hate comic books. They’re so…stupid. With the buff men and skin-tight suits who think they’re all that,” Bree crossed her arms, definitely trying to come off as if she wasn’t into that kind of stuff.

“Mm-hmm,” Leo smirked at her, seeing right through her lie. He and Kaz shared a snicker. 

“Whatever, losers, I’m gonna go meet Owen, he wants to paint a portrait of me. Abstract!” She hops up out of her chair with a giddy yet bizarrely prideful smile on her face. 

“Abstract?” Kaz shivered at the mere thought of Owen, “Good luck turning out any better than a few messy slug tracks across a canvas.”

Leo guffawed and high-fived Kaz.

Bree shriveled her face in irritation and stomped out of the cafeteria. 

As their laughter died down, Leo cleared his throat and began on an entirely new topic:

“So, Kaz, I was thinking…You hear about that thing this weekend? The Robot Throwdown?” Upon Kaz’s puzzled, raised eyebrows, Leo nodded, “Right, first year here. The Robot Throwdown is an annual competition where remote control robots fight to the death—!”

“Awesome!” Kaz nearly interrupted, bouncing off his seat with excitement.

“And the best part,” Leo simpered, “The grand prize is five hundred freaking dollars.”

Kaz’s jaw dropped in astonishment. That was, like, an entire year’s worth of Tecton and Blue Tornado merch!

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!”

“Awesome! Okay, so, I was thinking—Laser cannons, flamethrowers, and satellite radio so we can pump up the jams,” he added on with a wriggle of his shoulders.

“Hell, yeah! I’m for sure down with that.”

“How ‘bout my house after school? Big “D” has a lab in the basemen-endyer-I mean billiard room.”

Kaz watched him quizzically.

Leo cleared his throat, “I mean, let’s go to the pool room, pool rooms are—They are so fun, aren’t they? With the sticks and the—the balls…”

Kaz nodded slowly, not quite sure he was following, but sure! Whatever Leo said. “Sounds good to me! I’ll meet you out front after school?”

“Yup! See ya, Kaz!”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

All day Kaz couldn’t sit still. His heart was pounding with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to tell Oliver he actually had friends now! He was sure Oliver would love Leo if they ever met that was. God,  he hoped they would one day…

Just like they’d agreed, they met out in the parking lot the second the school bell finished ringing. 

“Hey!” Kaz waved as he pranced over to where Leo was waiting in front of a—

Holy shit, was that a limo?!

“Damn, dude, sweet ride!”

Leo rolled his eyes, “Eh, not really. It’s Big “D’s”.”

“Uhhh, where’s the driver?” Kaz peered through the front windows. Interesting…

“Oh, it’s automated. Though not very “smart” if you ask me, I nearly got trapped at the bottom of the ocean a few weeks ago.”

Kaz’s eyes widened, “What? Dude, are you okay?”

Leo waved away his concern, “Eh, no big deal. My siblings saved me, so now they say I ‘owe them one’.” He sighed dramatically, like he was annoyed with them for that particular comment, “If you ask me, it’s technically their fault for not believing me about Marc—” Leo cut himself off before he could finish. Kaz raised a brow expectantly, “About myyy mother,” he laughed awkwardly, “telling us not to mess around with the controls.”

Kaz nodded slowly, suspicious as if that really was the truth…But commented no further. 

The boys slid into the car and Leo plugged in the address.

“Sooo,” Kaz started, only now realizing that Leo was alone, “Where are your siblings?”

“Oh, they went home early.”

The way he said it was casual…Too casual. Kaz wanted to press further, but when Leo abruptly switched the radio on (like maybe he didn’t want to speak any further on it), Kaz took that as his cue to shut up.

About that, at least. God knows you couldn’t shut him up entirely. It simply was an impossible feat. It just wasn’t in his blood.

“Roll them bleeding tapings, the Leslie, the Leslie mic is still on,” the speakers thrummed. 

“Yo, I love Elton!” Kaz exclaimed before proceeding to burst into his rendition, “Hey, good one, Jim! Okay, off we go, lad, take six! Two, three, four—”

Then Leo piled on, too: “She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, 9 a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then. I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife. It's lonely out in space on such a timeless flight—”

And on and on they went, screaming lyrics the entire way home and definitely disrupting fellow drivers on the freeway but Kaz didn’t give a shit. Neither did Leo. 

Good man, Kaz smirked. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

By the time the car pulled into the — as Leo informed — thirty-six-car garage, Kaz was already passed out in the seat, singing having been a massive laborious effort.

He scared the shit out of Leo, though, who let out a high-pitched shriek as Kaz screeched when Leo roughly nudged him awake.

“JESUS, DUDE!”

“SORRY, I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE INTO NEARLY MAULING PEOPLE WHEN THEY WOKE YOU UP!”

Kaz placed a hand against his chest as he heaved out a breath of relief. Eventually, they did end up making it inside. 

Kaz hadn’t really known what to expect the inside of a billionaire’s mansion to be…But somehow he was still shocked.

The living room alone was the size of the entire ground floor of his house: a corner sectional, dining table that looked to be made of polished crystal, large, wide-paned windows overlooking “commoner country” down below…It was certainly something…And Kaz one-thousand percent wanted to streak through every square foot of it.

“Bro, what the fuck? Is this your freaking house? My grandma’s entire kitchen is the size of the couch!”

“I know. My mom and I couldn’t believe it when we stepped inside. He had a virtual, interactive baseball game simulator. It was freaking awesome. Could catch real game balls!”

“Damn! Wait, where is it now?”

“Somewhere in the basement. Big “D” deemed it ‘out of touch’ with the trends in the technological industry or something.”

“Hey, well now you have a buyer,” Kaz grinned, using both hands to gesture to himself.

Leo rolled his eyes, “Just follow me, we only have 'til Sunday for this.”

Kaz nodded determinedly and trailed after Leo, silently screaming and fangirling over every little gadget or gizmo he passed as he went.

“Aaaand, here we are. This is the billiards room.”

Kaz noticed the large pile of spare parts hoarded on one of the massive pool tables. 

“That’s so cool!” Kaz gasped in awe as he lurched toward the clutter.

“Obviously we have more stuff lying around, but I think this is a good start, don’t you think?”

“Um, yeah,” Kaz stated as though it was as obvious a thing as any. 

Leo cleared his throat again, “Oh, and, uh, by the way, I roped Chase into this thing, too,” he coughed awkwardly. “Just so you know.”

Kaz froze. 

“Ch—Chase is on our team?”

“Yeah. Is that an issue—?”

“No! Uh—I mean, no. Of course not, I—I would love him to be on our team—” Kaz’s eyes widened as Leo’s narrowed. A blush crept up his neck. No, fuck, not now, he begged internally. “I—I just mean it would…be nice to get to know him better,” he settled on, determining that was the least embarrassing thing to follow the previous comment up by.

“Right…He’s around here somewhere. I think…We’ll see if he shows. He usually gets pretty immersed in toying and fixing up junk in the basement.”

“Then why aren’t we down there…with all the other scraps? Could be useful.”

Leo stammered, “U–Uh, because, um…I--It’s too messy. Yeah. You--You could--You’d—You’d fall and break your foot as soon as you stepped down there.”

Kaz frowned, “I thought you just said Chase was—?”

“He is!” Leo interjected, a bit too incessantly, “He’s just…He’s grabbing some stuff down there. That’s what I meant. And then he’s—he’s bringing it back up. Here. At least that’s—” Leo huffs out a nervous laugh, “That’s what he told me. Who knows if he’ll actually do it, he doesn’t ever listen to anyone but himself, but…”

Leo averted his gaze to the pile of metal scraps. “Anyway, let’s just start.”

So Leo and Kaz did. It went slow at first, but they got the hang of it eventually. They were just finishing building the inner body structure when the door opened and in walked—

“Hey, sorry that took so long. Mr. Davenport wanted a—...” Chase stopped mid-sentence when his gaze trailed from Leo to Kaz. “Who’s this?”

“Chase, this is Kaz. He’s the one who’s gonna be helping us with our robot.”

Chase narrowed his eyes, “You look familiar…”

Kaz's cheeks heated. “We, uh, we sit next to each other in Chemistry.”

Chase nodded, clearly not remembering. Without another word to Kaz, he fixed his attention to the semi-built bot.

“The heck is that?”

“Um, the robot—?” Kaz tried.

“The body’s all wrong. The feedback sensor is completely backward and you’ve strapped the main locomotor in wrong. We gotta scrap it.”

Kaz blinked. The hell? Though he supposed Chase must be good at robotics considering what Leo had mentioned earlier…Still. Chemistry and robotics?

“Aye-aye, Captain.” 

Chase nodded at the nickname and off the three of them went. Again.

For hours upon hours for what felt like an eternity in itself the three of them worked tirelessly, pruning up and breaking down various versions of the body, arms, and wheels of the little monster. 

But finally, after twelve hours (they had to work the following day, too), their masterpiece was finished. 

They were ready for competition. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“Next up, the competitor who’s taken home the Robot Throwdown trophy five years running: Kevin Stone, and his robot, the Merchaaant of Menace!” Announced the host. The crowd broke into a ring of cheers, though the remainder of the competitors — including the three of them — stayed silent. Dressed in green zip-ups and blue polos, the trio towered above their robot “Josh” as they rightfully labeled him. 

Unfortunately, at some point during the past few days, Mr. Davenport entered the competition simply to prove he could decimate them (and everyone else). Kaz thought it had been pretty funny for the first hour or two, but the minute Davenport started chucking the “I GOT CRUSHED BY THE DAVENPORT PREDARAPTOR” t-shirts (Kaz’s own striking directly into his face) he was more than done with it.

Somehow, by hour three, they’d made it to the semi-finals. Leo and Chase kept bickering about what controls were going to be their best bet at defeating Kevin’s Merchant of Menace, so Kaz just sat back and enjoyed the show (though he kept wishing he had some popcorn…).

After Leo’s strategy ultimately won (just fricking ramming that thing with all the force Josh got), they did in fact end up beating Kevin. And let Kaz just say, his victory dance had never felt so good. Chase and Leo had the same idea, as they were quick to join in on the mini dance party Kaz had broken into the second he saw Kevin’s enraged expression. 

That joy, however, was quick to die, though, when they realized they still had to beat Mr. Davenport…Sure, Chase knew more about robotics than Kaz would ever care to learn, Mr. Davenport was a billionaire built off his own ground-breaking technological inventions.

And Kaz hated to admit it, but…he was a tad nervous.

The trio took their stance on the rising podium, Kaz’s grip tightening around his controller. They could do this. He let out an easy breath and rolled his shoulders, jumping up and down a few times to loosen his muscles as much as possible.

They could do this.

“Gentlemen,” the commentator snatched the dangling mic in the center of the ring, “Take your starting positions. It’s time for the Robot Throwdooown!” He released the mic and hurried out of the stadium.

Davenport let out an unabashed maniacal laugh and Kaz just had to sneak in a snicker at how utterly ridiculous it looked for a fifty-something-year-old man to be so invested in a teen’s show. 

That dyed hair wasn’t fooling anybody.

The ding of the timer started and the match ensued. Jabbing and weaving and dodging, Josh fought back hard despite his much tinier body. Even without the giant fangs of death (as Mr. Davenport referred to them) Josh was putting up a decent fight…

Until the fangs caught him and threw him into the side-walling. Kaz winced at the impact and he could hear the groans from Chase and Leo along with the rest of the audience.

“I wish you guys had a better robot so your pain would last longer!” Davenport cackled again. Chase rolled his eyes, and Kaz took to sticking out his tongue.

The three of them — minds in perfect cohesion — shared a glance. 

“Let’s do this,” Leo spoke just loudly enough for the both of them. With a determined nod, as Josh and the Predaraptor charged each other, the three of them pressed a simultaneous button…

And just like in that weird martial art Chase had taught them (Kaz had been paying more attention to his pretty eyes than what his mouth was saying), Josh extended a hidden metal plate from beneath his body and—

The Predaraptor hurtled through the air…Up…up…up…

And then crashed to the floor, spinning on its head. 

The minute Kaz saw the sparks flying, he knew:

They’d won.

“YEEEEAAH! WHOO!” He jumped in place and high-fived Leo and Chase who shared in his excitement.

“HELL YEAH!”

“WE WON! EAT THAT, MR. DAVENPORT!” Chase yelled as he busted out some (to anyone who didn’t find everything he did adorable) rather embarrassingly bad moves.

After a rather humiliating loss, Mr. Davenport decided to go home before the three of them. 

As Leo cleaned up in the restroom, Kaz spotted Chase over near the photo table. 

This was it. This was his chance. 

Well, second chance. Technically, he reminded himself.

Exhaling a shaky breath, Kaz headed over.

He cleared his throat to warn Chase he was approaching, but Chase didn’t bother to look at him. 

“Hey…” Kaz started, admittedly more than a bit awkward.

Again, Chase said nothing.

Kaz felt the flush before he even spoke, “Um, good work out there today. You—…You really knew what you were doing.”

Chase nodded, still refusing to look at him.

“And you—” Kaz swallowed, face heating even further, “I enjoyed working with you. Even if you maybe didn’t…so much…with me…” he trailed off softly, beginning to understand just how unrequited these strange feelings were. Even if he himself didn’t completely know what they meant.

Chase turned to him. He didn’t say anything, just watched. Studying. As if calculating every molecule on Kaz’s face to perfection. Pinning the dark-haired brunette beneath his gaze. 

Chase’s eyes narrowed. Not in judgment, more like…assessment. Like he was trying to read something Kaz couldn’t possibly understand.

Chase opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before any words could come out:

“-Alright, guys, let’s go. Kaz, you need a ride home?”

“Huh?” Kaz snapped out of his thoughts, double-taking on Leo’s approaching figure, “Oh. No, I’m all good, man, my mom’s parked out front. Thanks, though.”

“No problem. Alrighty, then, see ya tomorrow!”

“Later, dude!” Kaz called back, his eyes catching for a millisecond on Chase’s, who held his gaze for the first time since, well, forever.

But this time Kaz was the one to break it. Stop it, Kazimieras, he reminded himself. 

Falling wouldn’t lead him to anything but pain. His parents taught him that.

He bounded toward his mother’s car and swung open the passenger side door, flinging his hoodie and ribbon into the back seat.

“Hey! What did I tell you about flinging stuff around carelessly, Kazimieras!”

Kaz grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, Mom. But we won!”

“Well that’s great, Kaz,” she said sarcastically, “But seriously, no more flinging things!”

“Okay okay, geez. I won’t, alright?”

She sighed haughtily. “Just put on your seatbelt, Kaz, okay?”

Kaz did as he was told and his mom pulled away from the curb. 

Kaz rested his arm on the door, staring mindlessly out the window, a soft smile on his face,

They won. They actually freaking won.

And you know what? Maybe Mission Creek wasn’t as bad as he’d thought. 

Maybe…Maybe he could get used to it here. 

Chapter Text

Was he seriously being blown off again? He’d promised Kaz the last time would be just that: The last. First, it was the arcade, then the bowling alley, and now the mall. Seriously. Kaz didn’t know how much more of this he could take. 

Marcus was supposed to be his friend. Right? Friends…Friends didn’t do this. Right?

Gus and Skylar wouldn't do this. Even freaking Jordan wouldn't do this. He remembered how pissed she'd been when he'd bailed on that dumb robot project.

Oliver wouldn’t do this.

Kaz paused, then corrected himself:

Okay, he wouldn’t do it this many times.

Marcus hadn’t even bothered texting…

Kaz sighed. This whole friendship thing was stupid anyway. Jokes on him for thinking it meant something, he supposed. He unlocked his phone and pulled up their message history. Hastily, he typed out a quick something along the lines of, Hey, you’re a bit of a jerk and I kinda don’t care anymore. Thanks for standing me up. Again.

And then pressed send. Honestly, he didn’t know what had gotten into him these past few days. Where this sudden boost of some nonexistent self-confidence had come from. Sure, he was loud and pretty obnoxious most of the time, but that had always been more to have fun and wreak havoc than anything of any depth. 

This was different. Maybe it had something to do with winning the Robot Throwdown…Though, he’d won a few awards before in his life — for stupid things like Spelling Bees and superhero medical exams Horace deemed "necessary." Luckily for Kaz, his entire life was superheroes, so the exam had been easy-peasy. He’d never been much good at anything else…

He shook that last thought from his head and went to move in the direction of the main entrance of the Mission Creek Mall.

“Hey!” A voice shouted, just barely loud enough to reach over the clamor of the shoppers. “Kaz, wait!”

Kaz froze in his tracks, eyes widening as he spun on-heel to see—

“Marcus?”

Marcus reached him with heaving pants, doubling over to catch his breath. Once it seemed to even out slightly, he erected his posture and stood to face Kaz fully. 

“Kaz. I’m sorry. I—Dad and I got stuck in traffic and—”

Kaz's nostrils flared as he crossed his arms in a huff. “And the other three times?”

Marcus averted his guilt-ridden gaze and swallowed hard. “Yeah, I—...I don’t really have an excuse for those.”

Kaz sniffed, “Look, Marcus…If you don’t want to be friends…Just say so. I’m not forcing you to do any of this—”

Marcus’ eyes widened, “No! You’re not forcing me, Kaz, I—I do want to be your friend, it’s just—” He cut himself off, almost like he realized he was going too far. Revealing too much. “It’s just…My dad, he…He works a lot. He’s my only parent. My mom died when I was young and it’s been just him ever since. So he has me run a lot of his errands to make things easier on him. And now that my grandma just died…” he trailed off and Kaz’s expression softened. 

“It’s okay, Marcus. I understand. Thanks for telling me.” Marcus nodded. “So…Did you come here to actually do shit with me or—?”

“Oh! Yes! Yes, I—I wanted to come and actually do shit with you. I think the arcade’s on level two.”

“Nah, I already checked when I went looking for that nacho place. By the way — not good,” Kaz confirmed with a tilt of his finger and an unamused smile.

Marcus raised one eyebrow, “Good to know…”

So off they went in search of the arcade. Unfortunately for them, they found out the arcade had shut down years ago and was since replaced with a pinball house…Which neither had ever been to one before, but Kaz had seen cowboys in dusty saloons play it on television, and seemed easy enough, so, really, how hard could it be?

Apparently, very. Either that or the Kaz Curse had come back around and plagued him again. Wouldn’t put it completely past the universe to fuck him over again. Still, since Marcus was doing a thousand times better than he was, he decided it must be his poor hand-eye coordination. Oliver teased him about it constantly. As did Gus, but Kaz always quipped right back that you can’t tease someone about hand-eye coordination when you collect belly button lint for a living.

Eventually, though, the three hours (max) their parents allowed them out of the house on a school night were gone and Marcus and Kaz walked themselves out of the mall. 

As they stood curbside awaiting the arrival of either one of their parents, Marcus squinted in the setting sun, oddly quiet. Now that Kaz thought about it and his mind wasn’t focused on video games or whatever you called it, Marcus had been quieter than usual for the past couple of hours. 

Kaz was about to ask if everything was alright when Marcus spoke first.

“That’s my dad’s car pulling in over there, I better go.”

“Can I meet him?”

“O—Oh. Um…Another time. He has…work tonight. Real busy, ya know?” Kaz nodded, a bit disappointed, but smiled anyway as he sent Marcus a wave. 

Marcus stepped down off the curb, paused, and then turned back to Kaz. 

“There’s, um, something I’ve been meaning to tell you, too…”

Kaz blinked, cocking his head expectantly. “What, you got a ghost haunting you or something?” He grinned cheekily. 

Marcus didn’t share in his amusement. He glanced momentarily at the asphalt of the parking lot, then back to Kaz with an expression Kaz couldn’t quite decipher. 

“I just wanted to inform you that…I’m dating someone.”

Kaz’s ears perked up as a simper spread over his lips. 

“Oh, yeah? They ' fit'? ” Kaz said with a roll of a horrendous British accent. Marcus laughed. “No, but seriously, you gonna leave me hangin’? Your new bestie?” He teased, nudging Marcus’ shoulder with his own. 

Marcus cleared his throat a bit too roughly and said, “It’s, uh, it’s Chase Davenport. You know, the guy I mentioned before. The one I’m in the band with?”

The name hit Kaz like a sledgehammer to the chest. His brain stuttered, turning to jumble as all replies got stuck in his throat, sucking the air from his lungs as the world tilted on its axis.

A bitter taste filled Kaz’s mouth as he struggled to find his voice.

"Chase...You're dating Chase?" The words felt foreign on his tongue, laden with disbelief. His mind was reeling and for once in his life, Kaz was rendered speechless.

Then Marcus, innocent as ever, responded, "Yeah, you met him before?"

But Kaz couldn't breathe. 

Open your damn mouth, Kazimieras, open your damn mouth and freaking say something—

But all he could do was nod as pathetically as ever and say just barely above a whisper, "Yeah. He sits next to me in Chemistry."

Marcus’ words felt like a knife twisting in his gut. He wanted so badly to run. Or fly! He kept forgetting he could fucking fly now. Just do something to get away from this. Away from Marcus, away from the mall, away from—from this. Because this...This—This couldn't be real...Could it? 

But as the realization sank in, a new wave of emotions crashed over: sadness, anger, and a profound sense of loss.

What was even worse than any of it—worse than anything that his friend had just told him was that Kaz couldn’t even be angry with him. It wasn’t Marcus’ fault, not really. Kaz had never spoken a word to him of the way he felt toward Chase. 

That apparently they felt the same. 

And you know what? Kaz couldn’t blame him. Chase was pretty — Chase was really pretty — and smart and he knew what he wanted. 

But it wasn’t Kaz. He didn’t want Kaz. 

He wanted Marcus. 

And to be completely honest, Kaz now felt kind of stupid. How could he ever think that Chase would want to date someone as reckless and stupid as him? He hadn’t exactly been praised for his grades his entire life — as he was sure Marcus and Chase had. He wasn’t handsome in the way Marcus was; that innocent, freckled face and those big brown eyes…

Kaz sniffed, hoping to at least be successful in subtly and definitely-not-suspiciously wiping the area beneath his eyes with the back of his hoodie. Then, with the most tremendous amount of effort he had ever — ever — had to muster, he plastered on a massive grin and dove in to congratulate Marcus with a bro-five and awkward pat on the back excuse of a hug. 

Marcus smirked back at him, “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Just, uh, don’t go sharing that information around. Not even Dooley knows. Especially Dooley. He’d just act all, uh, weird. You know?”

“Do Adam and Bree know? Or Mr. Davenport?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. No, they’re cool with it. Just…not Dooley. Yeah?”

Kaz nodded slowly, still not quite following this whole “issue” the two guys seemed to have with each other, but commented no further on it. 

“Alright, I really gotta go now, my Dad hates to be kept waiting, but I’ll see ya at school tomorrow, Kaz.”

Kaz shot him a much more half-assed wave this time around and watched him walk toward a red Prius, hop in the passenger side, and drive away. 

Chapter Text

Things had been weird since the mall. At least from Kaz’s side of things. It wasn’t that he was avoiding Marcus...Just minimizing the time he spent with him.

Which wasn’t hard considering more and more often Marcus would blow off the little time they did spend together to be with—

Kaz swallowed. He really didn’t want to think about that again. He’d thought about it way too much to be healthy already. He’d learned it actually made it harder to move on if he focused on Marcus dating the boy he liked and not…Literally anything else.

He’d even pondered calling Oliver to hear what he had to say. Never mind the fact he’d been obsessed with the same girl since forever, in Kaz’s eyes it was still more successful than that humiliating excuse of a crush on Stefanie.

But after he realized he literally couldn’t talk to anyone at Mission Creek (Leo was Chase’s brother, and Marcus was…Well, you know), he ended up having no choice. He rang Oliver.

It went straight to voicemail. 

“You’ve reached ya boi Ollie, unfortunately, something more important than whatever this is came up or I just don’t care and can’t come to the phone. Leave your message at the tone!” Then, in a comic character growl, “If you dare.” Then the beep.

“Yo, Oli-Pop, uh—I don’t really know how to say this but—” he licked his lips, “I just—I really need to see you. Er, uh, talk to you. Just—Text me or call me back when—...” Kaz cut himself off, another idea coming to mind. An idea he had no clue as to why he didn’t think about earlier. To be honest, the move to Mission Creek had taken a lot out of him and it just sorta…slipped his mind. So he remedied his previous words by saying, “You know what? Fuck it. I’m coming to you.” And with that, he ended the voicemail.

When he’d first moved into his new room he’d hated it. It was boring and barren and there was absolutely nothing to save it from how miserable it looked. 

Then he’d slapped up some old posters, forced his dad to pay for some new ones, added a few LEDs here and there, and voila:

It looked barely 3% better.

But, hey! It was still 3% better than what it was, so it was a win in Kaz’s book (he’d also been too lazy to do anything else.)

That was until he’d found one of those loose floorboards right beneath his bedside table, just like in all those crazy teen adventure films! Ahhh, Kaz was finally starting to feel like a comic book hero. Now all he needed was a cool suit that actually fit him and some sick shoes that could climb up walls and a sick hairstyle and—Okay, he was getting off-track. The point was that he’d found a loose floorboard and stashed away a few things he hadn’t wanted his family — particularly his mother (God knows what she’d do if she found out he could walk through fire) to find.

But, the most valuable of all possessions he’d chucked down there by far was the Wormhole Transporter. 

Well. And a small device he’d used Oliver to tinker to produce the best buffalo wings in all of history.

Which was exactly what he needed right now. Er—the Transporter, not the wings (though maybe a batch or two for the road couldn’t hurt…)

Focus Kaz, your stomach can have some when you get back. 

He snatched the Transporter from the compartment and secured the wooden slab back in place. He pressed the button and—

SCHWOOOP! 

With a smirk etching his features, he exhaled a steady breath and stepped through. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

As oxygen slowly re-entered his lungs, his feet hit the ground with a stumbling wobble. It took a moment to re-center from where he always nearly passed out.

Stupid wormhole — he glared at the disappearing rip in the atmosphere. 

When he managed to stand upright, he was pleased to see the familiar main lobby of Mighty Med, two nurses just then entering through the supply closet. The chaotic buzz Kaz had grown so fond of over the last year came rushing back into existence all at once, and Kaz found it challenging to reacquaint his senses after being away for so long (okay, it wasn’t that long, but knowing how Kaz hated to live in the past, he hadn’t bothered with timeframes).

The receptionist — who Kaz always forgot the name of but was pretty sure was Lawson — glanced up and narrowed his eyes once he saw Kaz.

“Bro, didn’t you quit, like, months ago?”

Kaz blinked at — he noticed the name tag — Larry (okay, kill him, he was close enough). He stepped forward and plastered on the fakest of pleasant smiles he could muster. The cute one his mother liked because he looked most “dashing” with it. He didn’t see it, but whatever, it proved time and again to work on charming the adults. 

“Hi—Uh, Larry— I did quit, yes, a few months ago, but you see, something rather urgent came up and I need to meet with Oliver, please.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that whatever ‘urgent’ matter brought you here is so urgent you don’t seem to be screaming or writhing in pain, but unfortunately, Doctor Oliver is busy and will be in post-op for the better part of the next hour, so if you wouldn’t mind, it would be better to schedule an appointment—”

“Kazzy?!” A voice practically shrieked.

Kaz snapped his head to the east wing exit door just in time to see Oliver shucking off his nylon gloves into the nearest trash can. Kaz’s eyes widened, a helpless grin spreading across his face as he raced over at full-speed to his best friend.

“Oli-Pop!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, hurtling toward the stunned brunette and nearly cracked his ribs with the force of his arms as he lifted him just barely off the ground. 

“Okay, okay, love me don’t break me!” Oliver exclaimed. Kaz quickly dropped him — Oliver staggering a bit — and cleared his throat and smoothed out his clothes. 

“Sorry, dude, just—Damn! I did not think I was actually going to see you!”

Oliver frowned, “Oh…Then…Why did you come? Did you want to see Sky or something?”

“What? No! I mean, yes, but I mainly wanted to see you. I just—” Kaz turned back to Larry — who was still staring at them with suspiciously narrowed eyes — and glared, “Larry told me you were too busy.”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry about that. Post-op ended early and—”

“Which, by the way, is that like a typical thing for you to do now? Why did it seem like you were the one in surgery room?” Kaz laughed dryly because there was no way Oliver would be in the operation room. That would just be ridiculous…

But upon Oliver’s guilt-ridden, lowered gaze, refusing to meet Kaz’s eyes…

“Holy shit, Ollie…” Kaz scoffed out another quiet laugh, “Are you…Are you an actual freaking surgeon now?”

Oliver snapped his head up with wide eyes and a desperate shake of his head, “No! I mean, not really. I just—...” He swallowed, voice lowering. “After—After you left, they needed the extra help with operations and check-ups and stuff, and I—...Well, Horace deemed me fit enough for the role and kinda…promoted me?”

Kaz’s jaw dropped as something sunk into his gut. “...You’re a…You’re a doctor now? Like, officially?”

Oliver lowered his gaze again and nodded slowly before daring to meet Kaz’s eyes. 

“Wow, that’s…That’s great, Oli-Pop. Really. I—I mean it. I mean, you’ve always wanted to be one. For superheroes, I mean, and now…” Kaz swallowed the lump forming in his throat. He could not ruin this for Oliver. He wouldn’t. “Now you are.”

“...Thanks, Kaz,” Oliver responded cautiously, as if hesitant of the fact this was true support.

There was a pregnant pause of awkward silence. A rare occurrence for them, as they were both too talkative for their own good, especially when together. 

But finally, Oliver broke it with another question.

“So…Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy to see you…But…” he raised his brows, “Why are you actually here, Kazzy?”

Kaz chuckled defensively, “What, I can’t just—just wanna see my best friend who I haven’t seen in forever?”

“No…” Oliver said, “But you never come without an ulterior motive — er, reason, I mean. There’s always something else—”

Kaz crossed his arms, “Pfft, what? No, there’s not, that’s crazy! I can tell you that right now, there is absolutely no ulterior motive for my coming here. That— That is just an insane—”

Oliver spoke with a bored, deadpan expression as he, too, crossed his arms, “Just spit it out, Kaz—”

“Okay, fine! I like someone, okay?! And—And I don’t know what the hell to do about it!”

The admission came out way louder than expected, and Oliver actually took a step back.

Oops…

Kaz swallowed as Oliver eyed him carefully, running his gaze up and down the length of his body.

But all Oliver did was hum. Or rather, “Hm.”

Kaz frowned. “What, that’s it? ‘Hmm’? I just poured my heart out and—”

“Well, I’d hardly call that ‘pouring your heart out’—”

“-And all you can say is “hmm’?” Kaz scoffed, not quite sure why he was so annoyed by something as harmless as Oliver humming, but here he was.

Oliver sighed and grabbed him by the wrist to lead him into the nearby break room — the empty break room.

The door shut behind them and Oliver sat him down at one of the small round tables, taking a seat himself opposite.

“Do you ever not scream exclamations?”

Kaz pretended to think, then shrugged and said, “Nope! But hey, that’s what you get for being friends with me. Don’t act like you didn’t know this already,” he smirked. 

“Oh, trust me, you remind me of it every day.” He paused like he was thinking about how to go about this topic of conversation, then settled on a simple, “What’s their name?”

“Chase,” Kaz breathed out effortlessly, images of said boy clogging his mind. His stupid pretty smile.

“Okay…? Did you meet at school or something?”

Kaz nodded, “Chemistry class.”

Oliver snickered, “A bit on the nose, don’t ya think?”

Kaz rolled his eyes as his cheeks heated slightly, which of course Oliver teased him endlessly about, “Damn, dude, I mention the frickin’ class you met in and you’re already red! How gone for this guy are you?” He guffawed at his own joke, which Kaz was less than amused by. 

“Will you shut up, I’m being serious!”

“Oh, trust me, I know,” Oliver cackled. Eventually, he managed to calm himself down enough to re-focus on the seriousness of the conversation. “So, what, you came to rant to me about how much you like him? Because you seem to be doing a pretty poor job of that so far.”

“No…” Kaz swallowed, “I came because I figured since you’ve been hopelessly in love with the same girl for, what, like since you were born?”

Oliver feigned offense, “It was not that long! I was at least seven.”

Kaz patted Oliver’s shoulder in sarcastic sympathy, “Sorry that didn’t work out, Oli-Pop.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and shoved Kaz’s hand playfully. 

“Fine. I’ll do it. But only because against my better judgment you are my best friend.”

Kaz hummed, crossing his arms as he leaned in to listen (for once).

“So. What do you like about him?”

Kaz shrugged, “I don’t know. He’s pretty and smart. Cute, in this little kid way, I guess. But…he’s dating someone. A guy. One of my friends, actually.”

“Jesus, Kazzy. I’m sorry.” Oliver hunched over on his knees and clapped his hands together, “Okay, what else?”

Kaz blinked, a bit taken aback, “What do you mean ‘what else’?”

Oliver stared at him like it was the most obvious thing in the universe (it probably was, but Kaz was still surprised), “Dude. What else do you like about him? You said pretty and smart, what else?”

And Kaz…Kaz gaped. Because what? What did that even mean “What else?” What else did Oliver need? He’d told Oliver how much he liked Chase and how deep his feelings went, but here Oliver was asking what else?

Kaz laughed awkwardly, “I already told you what I like. I—...I didn’t think I needed anything else—”

“So you have no other reasons for liking him besides him being ‘pretty’ and ‘smart’? And he’s taken?” Kaz continued to stare. Oliver sighed. “Oh, boy.”

“What?”

“Kaz…It's just I don’t think this is what you think it is.”

“...What do you mean?”

He laughed, a bit humorlessly, but Kaz tried to ignore it. “It’s just…I mean, you told me you liked him with this tone suggesting you were, like, head over heels or something, but then all you say you like about him is that he’s pretty and smart. That doesn’t sound like you actually have feelings for him, that sounds like you just think he’s attractive.”

Kaz blinked, speechless. 

Oliver continued, “I mean when you really like someone, you start to notice the little things. Idiosyncrasies, awkward habits, hobbies, gestures specifically rendered to them...You don’t just say ‘pretty’ and ‘smart’ and think you’re in love. That’s infatuation. I mean, you barely know anything about the guy, unless you’ve been keeping all that information secret,” he smirked at the last part. 

Somewhere inside Kaz, he wanted to argue. That section of his brain that was trained to fight and protect was raging to life with Oliver’s every word, but deep down, he had to admit…Oliver had always been better with this type of stuff…With most stuff… And…

Maybe Kaz agreed with him, just a little bit. 

Before Kaz could register it completely, Oliver was switching seats so he was sat beside him, his features softening. “Look, Kaz. You’re my best friend, you have been since practically the day we were born. But I want you to find someone worthy of you. Someone who understands and wants to be around you. You’re a hilarious, charismatic, wonderful person, Kazzy. And you deserve someone who sees all of that and more.” He paused, bit his lip, then carefully added, “...And someone available.”

Kaz hadn’t realized his knee had started bouncing until Oliver had to place a steadying hand on it. Kaz breathed out shakily. “But what if—” he licked his lips, “What if no one wants me? I mean, Stefanie didn’t. No one I’ve liked has ever liked me back, Ollie, and I—”

Oliver cut him off right there, “First off, you wanted her to like you back? Dude, she was like, crazy.”

“She wasn’t crazy, I just—”

“Okay, well I never liked her, and I never really understood what you saw in her, but whatever. Point is, you dodged a bullet, and also, it’s absolutely not true that no one you’ve liked has ever liked you back. You’ve only ever liked Stefanie, and wasn’t she interested in you until you lied to her?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Can you trust me when I say that someone out there will like you for who you are, without you having to impress them? It just,” he shrugged, “won’t be Chase. But believe me, you’ll forget all about him the minute you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, be it a boy or girl, or, you know, whoever.” 

Kaz sniffed. There were no tears, but he needed to do something to center himself. He nodded as Oliver reached over and squeezed his shoulder. 

“You’ve got this, Kazzy. I promise you’ll be okay.”

They sat in silence for a solid fifteen minutes, Kaz eventually leaning his head against Oliver’s shoulder. 

“Is Sky here?”

“No, she was called out on something across the city earlier. She won’t be back for a while. Maybe even tomorrow morning.”

Kaz nodded. “Okay. Well, tell her I miss her and to call me, yeah?”

“Where are you going?”

Kaz stood, “I have to get home, you know my mom, she freaks if I’m gone for more than an hour without telling her.”

Oliver hummed, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “Alright, well, it was great to see you and I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch more, but seriously, use the Transporter and come visit whenever. And I’ll make sure to call more, I promise.”

“Okay. Bye, Oli-Pop,” he reached to hug Oliver and held on a few moments before releasing and clicking the button on the Transporter again. 

“See you later, Oli-Pop!”

They waved to each other as Kaz stepped back through the wormhole.

And suddenly, he was back in his bedroom. But this time, a whole new determination was set in his mind.

Chapter Text

That morning, Kaz woke up happier than he had been since the divorce was filed. His visit with Oliver had proved to do him some good… a lot of it, in fact. Ever since he’d returned back home, he’d felt calmer, lighter, like some heavy weight had been lifted.

Finally, Kaz sarcastically rolled his eyes as he crawled out of bed to get ready for the day.

It was Saturday, but Kaz had business to attend to. Specifically, his Xbox. He’d been dying to get his hands on it all week, but his mother had made him stave away in hopes of “building character” and “maintaining a brain.” He’d thought it was stupid, but he was too scared of disobeying his mother to find out what the consequences would be. 

But anyway, today was the day. He was going to get his hands on it, mark his words.

But, of course, first up on his list was texting Leo. As they’d been spending more time together, chatting at lunch and stuff, they’d friend-requested each other and now played a wide range of games together, whether tournaments, one-v-ones, or onslaughts, he and Leo would match up every night they could and play. For hours. Well into the night, for sure. Kaz had grown to quite enjoy his time getting to be and chatting with Leo. He was a fun, charismatic, and relatively obnoxious person — much like Kaz viewed himself. Perhaps that was why they got along so well. 

Grabbing his phone, he shot Leo a quick message about his gaming plans, and let him know that he’d be ready in thirty minutes. Once taken care of, he abandoned his phone on his mattress and raced down the stairs into the kitchen. 

His mom was making pancakes, and apparently he was the first one of his siblings awake because he took one scan of the room, and noticed all the food was still there. Smirking to himself, he grabbed a plate off the table and immediately snatched whatever he could fit onto it off the different platters of fruits, sausages, bacon, and eggs. 

“Kazimieras! Get back here with that and sit down!”

“Sorry, Mom!” He exclaimed as he dashed out, “I’m meeting a friend in a few minutes!”

“What?!”

“Later!”

He bounded up the stairs in twos, reaching his bedroom in a split-second. He closed the door and locked it (God knew what his mother would do to his monitor if she came in and found him playing video games for hours on-end.)

When he picked up his phone, however, he frowned when he saw no reply to his message. 

So he decided to call him instead:

“Sup, ma dudes, you’ve reached Leo “Danger” Dooley, middle name “Danger”, so Leo “Danger” Dooley, for all y’all that didn’t hear the first time or, ya know, people who trust my grandma — my name is NOT “FRANCIS”, it’s “DANGER” — okay, anyway, yeah. Sorry, I can’t come to the phone, probably out doing something more important, so just leave a message to see if I get back to you. Gonna be honest, fifty-fifty chance, but hey, you never know.”

Every time Kaz called and it was sent to voicemail (most of the time it was when he forgot that just because he had a free period, didn't mean Leo did ) he forgot how damn endless it was. And now he was reminded of that fact again, for the millionth time. 

But it took only a second longer for his eyebrows to furrow as an entirely new question came to his mind:

Wait a minute…Where the hell was Dooley?

He and Leo allotted time every weekend to play together, so Leo always made sure he was free…But now he wasn’t responding at all?

Kaz was confused. Though, that was nothing new. He spent the majority of his life confused about a lot of things…

Okay, most things. 

But still. This was one of the things at this current moment in his life that confused him most.

Leo was not exactly known for ditching or leaving him hanging. Not like this, at least. 

Kaz tried to call him again, but all he reached was voicemail. Again. With a sigh and another text saying he hoped everything was okay and he’d see him on Monday, Kaz clicked off his phone and focused his mind back on his game. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Monday morning rolled around more quickly than Kaz cared for. It seemed as if in the blink of an eye he was walking back through the main entrance of the school again. He adjusted the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and rounded the corner to his locker…

To find none other than Leo standing in front of it, pacing. The minute his eyes landed on Kaz, they lit up and he grinned.

“Kaz!”

“Hey, Leo…What’s up…?”  Kaz queried as he side-stepped Leo to open his locker. 

Leo sighed heavily, “Look, man, I just wanna apologize for missing your texts…and call,” he added on after a tense breath, “I didn’t mean to, I swear, it’s just—” He cut himself off in a way so abrupt Kaz wondered if he had wanted to tell Kaz something and suddenly thought better of it. Leo waved his words away, “It doesn’t matter. I accidentally turned my phone off, I guess, and didn't see anything until I realized.”

Kaz blinked at him, nodding slowly. He didn’t… quite believe him. But he didn’t want Leo to know that. Not yet, at least.

“So we cool, man? I’ll catch you at lunch?” There was a slight hopeful tint to his voice, and Kaz just knew he couldn’t let him down. 

He nodded, only slightly forcing a smile, before dapping him up and waving bye as Leo — quite literally — skipped off to class.

After pulling out a few books for his necessary history class that morning (the only morning, thank God, that started with history) he sighed and closed his locker. Slinging his backpack strap back over his shoulder, he turned to head to class, but ended up slamming into a whole other body altogether. 

The boy’s books cascaded across the floor as he toppled over with an “oof” sound. Kaz’s eyes widened and he immediately ducked to help the guy up.

“Crap. I am so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going and I—”

“It’s fine, chill. I’m fine.”

…And then their eyes locked. 

Kaz felt his face flush as they met the stormy-blue gaze of the person he’d bashed into. 

There was no doubt about it…He was attractive. Like, really attractive. Like, exactly-Kaz’s-type kind of attractive. 

And Kaz wasn’t sure…But he could have sworn he saw the cheeks of the boy tint pink as well. 

With a clearing of his throat, Kaz smiled awkwardly and began helping gather the scattered books. 

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I have a Free anyway.”

“What? No, I’m gonna help, it’s my fault they fell—”

“I’m serious. It’s okay.”

Kaz met his eyes again.

“But thanks,” the guy added, a tad shy. Kaz nodded, a bit breathless, but said nothing as he stood, then extended his hand to him. He looked a tad hesitant, but ultimately accepted the offer and took Kaz’s hand. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“What class do you have?”

A bit taken aback, Kaz didn’t respond for a moment, too startled to know what on earth to say, but eventually managed to shake his head and clear his mind enough to reply. “Oh, uh, History. Why?”

“Well, I feel kinda bad for making you late. I can walk you if you want?”

Kaz was speechless. What the heck was he supposed to say to that? Was it out of pity? Or perhaps he was genuinely interested? Either way, no words came out. 

“Please? I want to. I owe it to you.”

Without knowing what else to do, Kaz nodded mindlessly. The guy smiled and followed Kaz’s lead down the hall toward his class.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz didn’t know exactly how it started, but somehow, they got to talking. And not just talking, but chatting. And yes, Kaz considered the two wildly different: talking referred to the action of spitting out words or explanations about something or someone and hoping to God the person or people you’re speaking to are interested enough to respond. At least that was what Kaz defined it as. It was simply and rather boring, in Kaz’s humble opinion.

But chatting. Chatting was different. Unlike talking, chatting was an engaged conversation in which either side was participating equally; back-and-forth banter, if you will, and an eagerness to learn and divulge more about and with the other person. 

Talking was a forced habit, chatting was a choice. Chatting felt natural.

And surprisingly, talking to Liam was surprisingly easy. It flowed smoothly and didn’t feel at all awkward or nerve-racking like Kaz had believed it would. He’d been worried about that for the first few minutes of conversation, but once Liam asked about the Tecton pin on Kaz’s backpack, that snowballed into a deep dive into the comic book side of life and how obsessed with them they both were. 

By the time they neared the classroom, Kaz found himself less than pleased to leave Liam’s side. He found himself wanting to skip class to spend more time with him…Was that weird? Kaz didn’t think so, but maybe it was for knowing someone less than fifteen minutes. 

But still…The thought never wavered from his mind. And as they slowed to a halt outside Kaz’s History classroom, Kaz snapped his head to Liam, deciding once and for all to forget about anything else, and blurted:

“Do you wanna skip?”

To which earned him a disbelieving laugh paired with a: “Why are you asking me that? You’re the one with a class period.”

Kaz looked down sheepishly, “Right. Your Free.” He cleared his throat again, “But still, the question stands…Do you?”

It took a moment, but Liam broke into a small smile and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, sure, why not?”

Kaz grinned and they headed back in the direction they came.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Instead of skipping just the one period, Liam managed to convince Kaz to skip the rest of the day. “Might as well,” he’d shrugged. And, you know, Kaz was a weak man in terms of people he was interested in. And given he was now interested in Liam, it made everything just that much harder to say no to.

What did surprise Kaz, though, was that Liam ended up bringing him back to his. And…it was big. Like, big- big. Like, “bordering-on-massive” kind of big. Kaz couldn’t help the under-his-breath scoff that escaped his mouth the minute he laid eyes on it. 

“How rich are you?” He exclaimed, mainly joking, to which Liam just chuckled.

“Way too much for my liking. But hey, the more money for video games, the better, is what I say.”

Kaz grinned, “Can we play?”

Liam smirked, unlocking the door and facing him, “Well, I was hoping I could get to know you a bit better, but if you want to…”

“No! No, getting to know you better is great!” Kaz hurried to rush out. Because in all honesty, he did want to get to know Liam better. 

“Alright, cool. Let’s go to my room.”

Kaz swallowed thickly, licking over his lips once. 

Oh, boy. This was going to be interesting, that was for sure. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

In the large, endless expanse of his room, Kaz’s jaw dropped. He’d never in his life seen a bedroom so large. Sure, he knew the Davenports were rich as fuck, but he’d never been to Leo’s bedroom (come to think of it, he hadn’t been to any of the Davenports' bedrooms…) so he couldn’t really compare it. Still, he doubted it would matter because Liam’s bedroom was huge. Posters of recognized superheroes such as Tecton, Solar Flare, Blue Tornado, and Captain Atomic were among the many that adorned the walls. Then, opposite the king-sized mattress was what must have been an 80-inch flat screen lined with wide, thick shelves piled high with mountains of video games. 

“Wow…You really…Have a lot…”

Liam chuckled, “You don’t sound uncomfortable at all,” he joked.

Kaz blushed, “Sorry, I’m just not…used to all this.”

Liam came over and rubbed a hand against his shoulder, “It’s okay, I get it. Thank you for trusting me enough to come to my bedroom on the first day we met, though. That takes guts.”

Kaz frowned, not sure he was following. He thought he might know what Liam was hinting at, but wanted to be sure.

“What do you mean?”

Liam shrugged and removed his hand from Kaz’s shoulder. “I just mean…given the fact we just met,” he flushed a bright shade of red, “...And that I’m pretty sure you’ve caught on that I’m relatively interested in you…” he gulped, “I didn’t expect you to be so…willing to come up here.” He paused, “So thank you, I guess, is what I’m trying to say,” he finished with what sounded like a strained nervous laugh.

Kaz’s cheeks heated again and they found themselves stuck for an elongated moment in a tense silence. 

The first touch Kaz felt was something warm and smooth against his cheek. The palm of Liam’s hand was suddenly right there on his face and he didn’t know what to do. His eyes flicked up to properly take in Liam’s face, his handsome features…His jet-black hair was curled to perfection. Wavy and loose, just the way Kaz liked it. It swept around his shaped and hollowed eyes, brushing against his eyebrows just enough to be incredibly attractive. 

His nose was slim and a tad pointy, extending almost to just over his upper lip. But not too far. Just far enough to be unique. Far enough for Kaz to like. His cheeks were full and jaw cut. A dabbling of stubble wrapped around his chin and jaw.

It was just as Kaz noticed this that he came to the sudden realization of something. He stayed firmly in place, firmly in Liam’s gentle hold, but finally breathed out a shaky: “I—I don’t even know what year you are…”

Liam quirked his lips up into a half-smile, keeping his eyes trained on Kaz’s lips.

“Trust me. I’m old enough.”

And…Kaz didn’t know exactly what that meant or was supposed to mean (he was only a sophomore after all), but he didn’t get much time to dwell because less than a moment later, Liam’s lips were on his and…

Kaz…didn’t really care?

In fact…

He kind of liked it?

He didn’t think. He didn’t think for two seconds. Not when he brought his fingers up to trace into Liam’s hair. Not when he gripped and tugged the black locks. Not when Liam grunted into his mouth and pressed him against the nearby wall…

He didn’t think about any of it.

But maybe, for once in his life, he didn’t need to think. Maybe not thinking right now was a good thing…

He smiled against Liam’s mouth. 

Yeah. He definitely liked it.

Chapter Text

The start of the week was not what Kaz expected. About a month ago he and Liam made things official, and it had been going…well, he would say. It certainly wasn’t everything he'd thought a relationship would be, but somehow he was okay with that. Early on, he'd notice that sometimes jealousy would get the best of Liam, but he was working on it. He’d promised Kaz he would. For him. And, really, that was all Kaz could ask for. 

On top of date nights and hang-outs after school, Liam had taken to driving Kaz every morning. They often skipped classes at least a few times a week, but Kaz couldn’t care less. He wasn’t good at school, anyway, and his boyfriend wanted alone time, so he figured it was okay.

Today was no different. Hand-in-hand they made their way through the entrance of Mission Creek. 

Several announcement boards were perched in the hallway reading: “OPEN AUDITIONS for the MISSION CREEK TALENT SHOW!”

“Uhhh—” Kaz dragged, completely lost. Of course, Perry hadn’t mentioned this. He’d come to recognize she cared very little about everything and anything having to do with her students, so really, it was not much of a surprise. But still, a heads-up would have been nice.

“Talent show?” Liam queried rhetorically. Kaz shrugged.

"Apparently."

“Yo, Kaz!” Kaz turned in the direction of the voice and saw Leo waving him over. “Get your butt over here and say hi to me!”

Kaz grinned and released his hold on Liam’s hand to walk over to Leo and his surrounding group of siblings. After a quick dap-up, Kaz noticed the books in their hands.

“Yearbook scouring, I see,” he smirked, “Anything embarrassing?”

Leo opened his mouth to respond when—

“Did you guys see the yearbook?!” A rather miffed voice said from behind where he, Leo, and Adam huddled together (Bree and Owen settled on the donut seat). And before Kaz knew it, none other than Chase Davenport was breaching into the middle of the trio, his own yearbook in hand, and flipped to the “Most Likely To…” page. “Everybody but me got a ‘Most Likely To…,' even Leo!”

“What? Let me see that,” Leo snatched the book and stared at the page. “Most Likely Never to Get a ‘Most Likely.’ I’m on the board!”

But Chase completely ignored that. “Well, that proves it. I am completely invisible at this school.”

Kaz frowned. Well, that for sure he knew wasn’t true. But Chase hadn’t even registered his presence, so maybe it was better not to comment. 

Leo spared Kaz a glance, but Adam was quick as ever to jump in. “Chase, that’s not true. If you were invisible, I couldn’t do this."

THWACK!

Chase grunted out an “Uhh!” and gripped the bicep Adam had punched. Kaz cringed. Leo only smiled at the action and returned Chase’s yearbook to his hands. With that, Adam walked away, leaving Kaz with Leo, Chase, Adam, and Owen.

“Chase, just because you weren’t nominated doesn’t mean you’re invisible,” Bree interjected. 

Chase pressed his lips into a thin line, flipped a few pages, leaned forward, and said, “Oh, really? Yeah? What’s this?” He turned the book so Bree could see one of the student class pages…The one where Chase was seemingly absent (Kaz would be lying if he said he hadn’t cackled when he first saw it). “‘Chip Davenport.’ I’m a misnamed question mark!”

...And yes, there was indeed a photo of a blacked-out random male head with a large question mark plastered over it. Kaz slapped a hand over his mouth to hold back another giggle. He and Leo shared an amused look. 

Chase slammed the book shut just as Perry marched through the cafeteria doors, a sign-up sheet in one hand.

Liam — who had been chatting with one of his friends — rejoined Kaz at his side. 

“Wassup, snot buckets? Don’t forget to sign up for the annual Mission Creek High talent show. Auditions are after school and will be judged by Moi. Chances are that if I don’t like you you won’t get through, and I don’t like any of you, so good luck.” She finished her quip with a maniacal crowing noise and turned to walk right back into the cafeteria…

Only for Owen to stand and make his statement.

Jesus Christ, did this guy have to argue with everything? Kaz rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Talent shows are wrong.” Kaz sighed and shook his head. Oh, boy. Owen stepped toward Perry and continued, hands as expressive as ever, “There are no winners or losers in creative expression.” 

Perry made a noise that sounded vaguely akin to that of a buzzer and said, “Stick a paintbrush in it, emo sabe!”

As she stomped back into the lunch room, Owen’s jaw dropped in offense and he trooped back to where Kaz and the rest of the mini-group stood. “I refuse to stand by while that woman crushes the artistic souls of our student body,” he pointed a defiant finger downward at the floor. Kaz huffed, Okay, a bit much, bro, don’t ya think?  

After an awkwardly long beat of silence which consisted of Owen staring them down with angered eyes to the point Kaz shifted uncomfortably against his boyfriend, Owen exclaimed, “I’m gonna go sketch my feelings!”

…And then promptly stormed off.

And all Bree could do was stare after him with love-struck eyes and say, “He is so tortured. Isn’t it great?” Then she was off, too.

Once she was out of sight, Kaz debated leaving Chase and Leo alone to be with Liam, but he was a tad interested to see what the two brothers' responses would be. So he stayed put, allowing Liam to take his hand and squeeze tight. 

“This talent show is the perfect opportunity for me to build my fan base,” Leo started. 

“Leo, you don’t have a fan base,” Chase countered.

“That’s why I have to build one. With magic,” he flared his hands in Chase’s face. 

“Well, that is what it would take,” Chase pushed past him, coming nearer to where Kaz and Liam were, but stopped when Leo began speaking again, this time looking between Chase and Kaz. 

“No. I got a magic kit and I’ve been practicing, specifically for the competition.”

“Can you actually do anything, though?” Kaz simpered and mimicked Leo’s crossed arms.

Leo stared at him with bored, telling eyes, showing he was not in the least amused. Kaz chuckled.

“A magic kit? Isn’t that kind of lame?” 

“There is nothing lame about buying something off the Internet to make friends.”

Now it was Leo’s turn to shoulder past Chase (and Kaz and Liam) and approach a pair of unsuspecting girls. Kaz raised an eyebrow suspiciously. What on earth was he up to?

And where the hell did that deck of cards come from?

Kaz watched in awe as Leo unearthed a card deck from his pant’s pocket. “Hello, ladies. Would you like to see a card trick?”

The girls shrugged. 

“Okay, this is your card,” he replaced the card in the deck, “Mm-hmm…Hey, what’s that in your hair?” He reached up to reveal… the same card. “Bam! See? Magi- ck,” he emphasized the last syllable. Kaz clapped slowly for him.

“Why, thank you, Kaz,” Leo did a small bow, “At least someone appreciates my talents,” he plastered on a fake smile at Chase.

Then, just as Liam tugged on Kaz’s hand, Chase turned to Leo, entirely shielding Kaz’s vision of the shorter boy, and turned their backs on him. 

“You know what my problem is? All of my talents are—”

“Kaz.”

Kaz whipped his head to Liam, who was looking at him with expectant eyes. 

“Babe, I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past, like, minute.”

“Oh. Sorry. What’s up?”

“My Free…? We were gonna head to the arcade?” He pressed with a tone that suggested he was upset at Kaz for not remembering. 

Kaz cleared his throat, “Right. Sorry, yeah, let’s—let’s head out.” He smiled at Liam and dragged him right back out the entrance. 

What he didn’t notice was Leo’s knitted brows of confusion as Kaz and Liam left the building just as quickly as they came. 

Huh. Guess Kaz wasn’t auditioning, then?

Leo shrugged. 

Welp. Wasn’t his problem.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Friday rolled around way quicker than anyone expected.

Nowadays, Kaz was so wound up in Liam that he hardly noticed time at all anymore. Leo had been asking all week for him to scout his act for the show, but Kaz had always been with Liam when he’d reached out, so he hadn’t been able to. But don’t worry, Kaz had made sure to clear his schedule so he absolutely wouldn’t miss Leo’s act…

…Until he found out minutes before that Leo had been replaced. By Chase, nonetheless. 

“Wait, what? When did this happen?”

“At the second round of auditions. Chase decided to use his—” Leo cut himself off right there. 

Kaz narrowed his eyes, “Decided to use his what?”

Leo grinned, “Well, you’ll see soon enough. See you in there, champ.” He patted Kaz’s shoulder and headed off to take his seat. 

Liam returned from the restroom and led Kaz over to where his friends were sitting. Kaz was stuck on the end, Liam quickly becoming much too engaged with the others to bother to include Kaz. Which…Kaz was okay with. It wasn’t the end of the world. Growing up with Oliver had built his imagination to a strong-hold. They’d both never really grown out of that creative, wild imaginative phase, so Kaz was able to easily split off into the little world inside his head and concoct whatever scenarios he wished. 

Soon enough, the lights dimmed as the makeshift stage spotlight (which flickered a few times before steadying) lit to life. Perry took center stage and made a very insult-infested announcement of each of the following acts (some singers, drummers, comedians, and even a few dancers). 

But finally, after a terribly versed tuba player practically burst everyone’s ear drums, she took the stage once more. 

“Okay, next up we have the amazing Chase—” (Kaz frowned, well that was a first), “The only magician whose magic wand is bigger than he is!” She did another one of her deranged giggles and promptly wobbled back to the podium. 

The minute she was sat down, some sort of strange rendition of rock music played as — What the fuck?

Chase leapt into the doorway of the side exit of the gym wearing a black cape and top hat. It took every fiber of Kaz’s being not to laugh. Chase confidently — more confidently than Kaz had ever seen him — strutted to the stage, grabbing a lone white chair as he went.

“Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. For my first trick, I will move that chair…With my mind.”

The chair was placed a few feet away from him and — Kaz glanced over to Leo, only to see…an empty chair?

Kaz quickly glanced about the room, stopping only when his gaze landed at the same side entrance, where Leo casually leaned against the doorframe, large metal rings hooked beneath one arm, his opposite hand holding a…What was that? 

It seemed to be some sort of slim metal device. Kaz had never seen one before, and he had no idea why Leo was holding it or why he had it with him…But it almost seemed as though he was meaning to point it in the direction of the stage…

Or…in the direction of Chase?

Kaz sighed and faced the front again. He didn’t even know anymore. He’d ask Leo about it later.

It was just at this moment that the lights dimmed further, the spotlight increasing its intensity, and Chase extended his arms toward the chair.

“And… Hmmm!” He wiggled his fingers as…literally nothing happened. 

“Bor-ing!” Perry shouted, “Bring out the girl who looks eerily similar to a giraffe!” 

“I don’t know what happened!” 

And, ya know, Kaz had been so close to laughing at the utter failure, but…Something about the sincerity and…almost nervousness in Chase’s voice made Kaz pause. Chase actually sounded…scared. Like he didn’t want to be laughed at.

Though, that was too late. Everyone in the audience was already whispering and giggling. 

“I do: you stink. Get off the stage before you incur the wrath of my rotten tomatoes.”

Kaz rolled his eyes (something he found he often did around Perry) and watched as literally the entire room began jeering at the boy who suddenly seemed quite small, hunching in on himself and grabbing at his hat as if it would somehow create a hole deep enough for him to bury into and disappear in. 

They were booing. The room was fucking booing him and Kaz looked over with desperate eyes to his boyfriend and—

He was booing, too.

In fact, the entire group was. But Liam seemed to be one of the leaders of the pack.

Kaz felt his heart sink into his gut. 

“No, no, no, no! Please! I can do it! I really can!” And so in an attempt at some of the most horrible embarrassment Kaz had ever seen, Chase tried and failed again to “move the chair with his mind.”

And the booing only grew louder…and louder…and louder…

And suddenly, the cape and hat were crumpled on the floor, and a gravelly, demonic voice erupted from Chase’s throat: 

“HEY! You want to see me move that chair with my head?” He shouted — or…whatever shouted.

Kaz’s eyes widened in shock and his body automatically pushed backward in his seat.

And before Kaz could blink, Chase was roaring and smashing the chair into pieces on his scalp. 

What. The. Fu—

“WOW! HAHAHAHAHA!” Perry guffawed. Clearly, she was the singular person impressed by—

Okay, nope. The room was clapping now. 

But Kaz knew that at least this couldn’t get any worse…Right?

Wrong.  

It took about only two minutes for Chase to switch from showing off his muscles to kissing them while making strange growling noises that had Kaz squirming quite uncomfortably in his seat…

And it seemed the rest of the audience was on the same page, as they all were glancing at each other like they wanted to run.

Leo (who had at some point joined Chase on-stage) was now joined by Perry.

“Well, there’s a fine line between entertaining and disturbing and…I think we’ve crossed it. So, let’s take a brief intermission.”

And off she walked. However, Leo did the complete opposite as the room began properly clearing out. And maybe it was his curiosity that once again got the best of him, but…Kaz couldn’t find it in himself to budge. He was frozen in place, to his seat, and couldn’t move. 

Leo took a step closer and attempted to push Chase further off-stage. “Hi, Spike. I was wondering if you could chill out and let weak little Chase pop back out before Principal Perry—”

“I DON’T WANNA CHILL OUT!” 

Kaz jumped in his seat at the sight of his neck veins popping and the reddening tint painting his face. 

“I WANT TO RIP OUT SOMEONE'S SPINE AND USE IT AS A POGO STICK!” Chase spat.

“Or…We could picture a nice, tranquil forest filled with leaping gazelles, while you have a nice, soothing cup of tea.”

He grabbed Mrs. Thistle’s dangling tea cup and offered it to…Chase? Spike? (Who the fuck was “Spike”?)

Chase snatched it from his hands and instead of sipping it, he fucking broke it in half with his teeth.  

Kaz raised his brows in startlement, every muscle tensing as he saw the utter raw, unbridled rage in Chase’s eyes. 

And Kaz wasn’t gonna lie…it was terrifying.

His palms started sweating, body beginning to heat as it switched into fight or flight mode, and he knew immediately what was coming. 

But as he stared on at Chase’s enraged body as he screamed at Leo in the distorted voice again, Kaz couldn’t. Move.

In his peripheral, he saw through the sliver of a crack in the chair that his fingertips had caught flame, but he was stuck. Glued to the seat. 

It wasn’t until the shouts and yells in the outside corridor that Kaz snapped out of it, his mind switching from fight-or-flight to doctor mode, and springing from the chair to race into the hallway.

His eyes first scanned for Liam — who was nowhere to be found — but after a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, his eyes landed on Leo, who was across the way, eating popcorn out of his hand as an entertained smile graced his lips, eyes trained at the scene on the floor:

Chase and Principal-fucking-Perry in a wrestling match. In a sea of popcorn. Owen was somewhere on the sidelines staring down at what Kaz could only assume used to be some masterpiece of his with a horrified expression and wailing arms. Like he couldn’t believe the audacity of these two. 

And, really, Kaz had no idea how, but Perry ended up pummeling Chase to the floor — mask and all — in a freaking pantsuit, while shrieking: “VIVA LA PERÍ!”

Poor Chase, Kaz sighed, the one-ups never ended. 

As the chaos of the talent show died down and people began trickling out back to their cars or otherwise, since Liam was still AWOL and since Kaz noticed Chase had lingered behind to clean up the popcorn (though he looked to be staring at it, instead)...Kaz knew he needed to say something.

So he headed over.

“Hey.”

He was pretty sure Chase knew it was him, but if he didn’t, he made no move to suggest so. Chase kept his head down and eyes glued to the mess of popcorn. But Kaz wasn’t going to give up, not again. He knew he needed to get what was on his mind off of his chest. 

He wet his bottom lip to steady his racing mind, and tried again, voice soft and calm: 

“I know you don’t like me. And at first, I have to admit, I…didn’t really get it.” Kaz swallowed. Chase still wasn’t looking at him, but somehow Kaz knew he was listening. “It took me a while for it to hit me that…You probably thought I was a bit of a creep.” Kaz looked down, took a breath, then kept going, “To be honest, I—...” Kaz had to tell him. There was no harm in it, after all, Kaz was over him. And Chase deserved an explanation. “I had a crush on you and I went so far with trying to get close to you, but somehow only did it at the expense of your privacy.”

He took a breath and exhaled shakily. “And I’m really sorry, Chase. For my behavior…And for tonight.”

For the first time in what seemed like ever, Chase snapped his gaze to meet Kaz’s. Kaz had forgotten how pretty those hazel-green eyes were…

He shook that thought from his head. 

Chase blinked at him.

“You didn’t deserve that. Any of that.”

Chase’s expression softened. For a moment, Kaz wasn’t sure Chase was actually going to speak to him. After all, most of the time when Kaz attempted to make conversation, Chase pretended he didn’t exist. 

Which was why he was absolutely staggered when he did.

“I don’t know about that. I messed up and made a complete fool of myself. Like I usually do, I suppose.”

Kaz was jumping to his defense before he could stop himself. 

“No, you didn’t. Trust me. I saw the whole thing, even after people had run out like it was the Second Coming.”

And to even more of his astonishment, Chase quirked his lips and smirked out the beginning of a laugh. 

Kaz had amused him. Chase had thought his joke was funny.

“But seriously. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Chase shot him a deadpan expression, “I was smothered by a chick Mexican wrestler in a pantsuit.”

Kaz blinked, then chuckled, “Okay, yeah, maybe you have one thing to be ashamed of.” And again to his surprise, Chase chuckled along with him. 

The atmosphere died down to something more serious, and Kaz had to clear his throat before asking his next question. 

“What happened in there, anyway? I mean, one minute you’re freaking out — understandably — and the next you’re splintering a chair over your head.”

Chase glanced away, gnawing at his lower lip like he was nervous something else might happen. 

Finally, he turned back to Kaz and stared. Simply watching for a few moments. 

“Not a lot of people know about this…And I was hoping it would play off more as a joke or something to most people, but…Seems you’re smarter than you let on.”

Kaz’s heart fluttered. 

But he shook that thought away, too. “What do you mean?”

Chase sighed and leaned in a few inches to lower his voice. “I have a split personality.”

Kaz blinked. “What, like the diagnosed kind?”

Chase visibly winced, “I—Kind of? I guess?”

Kaz scrunched his brows together and frowned. “Is his name ‘Spike’?” 

Chase’s eyes widened, “Yeah…How did you know that?”

With a shrug, Kaz said, “I overheard Leo call you that earlier and wondered if…” he trailed off just enough for Chase to nod in understanding.

“Ah. Well, that makes sense. Sorry if I scared you, by the way.”

“Oh, I think a lot of people were.”

“Shit,” Chase cursed beneath his breath. “That’s the last thing I want to happen with…Him.”

It was strange, Kaz thought, how much disdain Chase held for Spike. Like he hated him. Which, as someone who didn’t know much about Split Personality Disorder, maybe this was normal. Maybe hating your persona this much was just how it worked. But still. Kaz wanted to know more. 

“He comes out when I feel embarrassed or scared. To the point where I don’t know how to handle myself. Then he takes over. I’ve tried to suppress him as much as I can since coming to high school, but…I guess today was too much.”

He looked so sad that a part of Kaz wanted to lean over and hug him…But he resisted that urge. 

Kaz met Chase’s eyes again.

“I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

Although Kaz couldn’t really decipher what it was he was feeling, his eyes were trained on the way Chase’s kept flicking between his. As if searching for something he himself didn’t quite know.

But what Kaz did know was that both of their lips were curved up into small, soft smiles. 

“—Babe, what are you doing with him?” Suddenly, Liam’s arm was around his waist and he was tilting Kaz’s face toward his. 

“What?” Kaz said a bit absentmindedly. 

Liam scoffed as if this whole conversation with Chase was an absurd burden, “Why are you talking to this unstable freakshow?”

Kaz made a disgruntled noise and stepped out of his embrace. “You don’t have to be mean, you know.”

“I'm not being mean, I’m stating facts.”

With one glance over at Chase’s crestfallen face, Kaz knew his boyfriend had crossed a serious line.

“Okay, whatever, Liam, we’ll talk about this later, okay? I’ll meet you outside.”

Liam glared between the two, then growled out a “Fine,” shooting Chase daggers before stalking off. Kaz sighed.

“Sorry about him, my boyfriend’s usually not such an asshole.”

Chase frowned in curiosity, “Boyfriend?”

“Yeah…As of a few weeks ago, yeah.”

Chase nodded slowly, an unreadable expression crossing his features. 

“What? What is it?”

Hesitantly, Chase said, “You know he’s a senior, right?”

Kaz flushed, suddenly sheepish, “Yeah…?”

“So you know he’s nineteen, right? Got held back in Kindergarten?”

Kaz nodded. 

“Just…be careful, yeah? You’re only a sophomore and I don’t want you being taken advantage of or—”

“-Oh my God, Chasey, there you are! I came as soon as you texted!” 

Marcus rushed to plant a kiss on Chase’s cheek and wrapped his arms around his torso in a hug. 

Chase tensed at the initial contact but relaxed after a moment. 

When Marcus pulled back, Chase was quick to explain, “Don’t worry about it, it was my fault anyway. Well, mainly my fault. Perry decided to pummel me in the hall for something, but whatever, I’m fine,” he smiled. And Kaz couldn’t help but internally gag at how sickeningly sweet they gazed into each other’s eyes…

It was now that Marcus noticed Kaz.

“Oh, hey, Kaz. I didn’t know you were here tonight.”

“Yeah, my boyfriend dragged me with his friends.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Chase’s nostrils flare, slightly, but Marcus simply smiled at him. 

“Happy for you, man. You deserve it.”

“...Thanks…”

He and Marcus were technically still "friends" in the basic sense of the word, but they certainly weren't what they used to be. Ever since Marcus had announced he was dating Kaz's now ex-crush and that Kaz had a boyfriend...They sort of just unintentionally grew further and further apart. They barely spent any time together nowadays, whether it be in school or out of it.

Kaz would like to think most of it wasn't his fault, but he knew that would be a straight-up lie. He'd missed a lot of school recently due to Liam, and he'd bailed on Marcus several times at the beginning of dating to be with said boyfriend...So it would be a fabrication to say he didn't feel pretty damn guilty about what had gone down between them. 

By the looks of it, though, Marcus couldn't care less. His arms were snaked around Chase's hips, face crowding into his, and neither could give two craps about the world around them.

Which was why Kaz ultimately decided to leave the couple alone and refocus his attention on finding Liam again.

With a final glance in Chase’s direction, Kaz flashed him a parting grin — which Chase reciprocated — before departing for the door emptying into the parking lot to search for Liam.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

When he did spot him, however, it wasn’t in the best of circumstances.

Liam and his stupid friends were graffiting the fucking back wall of the gymnasium.

Chapter Text

Math was Kaz’s least favorite subject. It always had been, without a doubt. Everyone claimed it was “important for any job”, but honestly? Kaz didn’t see it. It was stupid and pointless and boring. Not to mention how formulas for the same concept changed depending on their relation to other concepts. Like, how did that make any sense? It didn’t. But apart from all of that, Kaz also despised it because he wasn’t good at it. He never had been and, at the rate he was going, he never would be. 

This was precisely where Kaz was stuck now. It was nearing the end of the day and Mr. McGillberry was droning on about something to do with tangents. Kaz wasn’t paying attention, as per usual. He was drumming his pencil eraser absentmindedly against the desk and staring out the window ruminating (again) about the whole Chase ordeal. 

He’d done that quite often since it’d all gone down.

He would like to say that after that night it never crossed his mind again. That it was a one-and-done sort of situation. Most of the time when these sorts of things happened, Kaz was the first to forget about them. Very unlike Oliver in that way. Oliver was typically the one to overthink and re-evaluate, Kaz being the one to never care to dwell. 

But this was different. 

Twiddling the pencil between his index and middle, Kaz recapped everything he’d learned that night, trying once again to even slightly better understand:

One, Chase had a split personality.

A split personality named "Spike".

Two, Spike appeared under high stress or nerves and embarrassment. 

And three — and perhaps most importantly — Chase despised him. Spike, that was. 

Kaz wasn’t gonna lie on that one, he could see why. Spike was reckless and vulgar, a clear defense mechanism born to protect and shield Chase from hurt. Yet it was strangely endearing that Chase did have someone, at least, who cared enough to safeguard him.  

He deserved that. 

It just sucked it was with someone who wasn’t Chase himself. 

The bell rang. Kaz packed his bags and made his way to his locker. After stuffing the various books no longer needed into the space, he checked his phone to see a message from Liam telling him he was waiting at his car. 

Kaz shut his locker and went to the restroom for a quick pitstop.

When he came out, the rest of the school was empty. Apparently, everyone had booked it as soon as they had the chance. It was Friday, after all, so Kaz couldn’t blame them. He could only handle so many hours in this hellhole before he wanted to off himself in the nearest bathroom so he wouldn’t have to deal with Perry anymore. 

Adjusting his backpack strap, he headed for the exit.

It was still strange walking through halls that weren’t those of Logan. At Logan it was comfortable. As much as he'd hated most of the classes and people aside from Oliver, he had grown accustomed to the environment and its people.

Here was different. Everything was suffocating and…crowded. Sometimes he felt as if oxygen ceased to make it to his lungs entirely.

But he supposed that now that he actually had a few friends and a boyfriend, it wasn’t all bad. 

Maybe he could even get used to it like he had Logan.

His train of thought was cut off there, though.

At that moment — literally the moment he thought it — there was a noise.

And not just any noise—

Voices.

Two, to be exact. At least from what Kaz could hear.

He was on the adjoining corridor to the main hall, but froze when he heard them. Before rounding the corner, he slammed to a halt. 

Quickly, he ducked behind a nearby garbage can.

“-Looks like it’s just you and me, Leo.”

Leo…?

But that wasn’t all. That voice…it sounded so familiar…But Kaz couldn’t place exactly why...

“Man, it is fun to mess with you when you can’t tell anyone I’m bionic.”

Wait a second…

Kaz’s eyes widened. Was that…?

He leaned closer, the trash can now a bit too close for silence’s comfort…

“Yeah, it’s a real party over here, too. I should just turn you in.”

“Go ahead. Then I’ll just expose Adam, Bree, and Chase as—”

CRASH!

…Oops…

Kaz had leaned a tad too far and accidentally nudged the trash can…until it flipped over.

Shit!

He froze.

The voices stopped momentarily before the second voice said, “Whatever. No one’s here, anyway.” Then the conversation got a tad blurry for a moment — something about the government taking someone away — before Leo jumped in again.

“Not unless I turn you in first.”

There was the echoing of running footsteps and Kaz peeked his head around the corner, just enough to see a sliver of the scene, and just in time to see…

Holy shit.

Marcus…

And then with a swoosh of his arm, another red trash can flew through the air and nearly crushed Leo. But Leo was too quick and it ended up instead striking the lockers behind him at the last second, Leo toppling to the floor with a shriek. 

“You are gonna keep your mouth shut. Or next time…I won’t miss.”

Marcus — yep, that was definitely Marcus — swaggered toward the closed doors and with a sweep of his hands, they parted like the Red Sea. He walked through, turned around briefly, and waved them shut again.

Kaz swallowed.

What in the actual fuck on earth was happening?

He was shaken from his jumbled thoughts by Leo’s voice cutting through the air again. 

“Voice log, Monday, 3:23 P.M. Gathering evidence on subject Marcus. And I will not give up until I prove once and for all that—!”

Then a musical ringtone. Leo answered the call, expression instantly shifting to something over-dramatically joyous.

“Hello? Oh, hey mom. Can I call you back? Thanks. Love you, too. Bye.” He ended the call, face changing back into what it was before, and ended the memo with: “That Marcus is evil and always has been!”

He shut his phone and paraded through the double doors. 

Kaz blinked.

Ya know, Kaz considered himself a relatively sane person when it really counted. And, ya know, on a normal day in a normal world where superheroes and superpowers didn’t exist, Kaz probably would’ve just ignored whatever the hell he’d just witnessed…

But that world was not this world.

Not only had he watched Marcus hurl a trash bin through the air without any sort of physical contact, but Leo had just spoken into existence the belief that Marcus was evil and always had been.

So ya know what? Kaz determined that everyone and everything else could wait. He had shit to do. 

With a lick of his lips, Kaz sprung up from his hiding spot, chucked his backpack into his locker, and marched on in Leo’s trail.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz arrived a few seconds behind Leo at a house. It was suburban and actually quite nice for a supposed “evil doer’s lair.” It was a one-story with white siding and baby blue shingles. He followed Leo’s lead and snuck into the bushes as discreetly as possible, a fair bit to the left of Leo. Far enough Leo couldn’t notice him…However, to be honest, Leo was much too focused on Marcus and his phone call to pay attention to much else.

“-Yes, Dad. Everything is under control.” Then a beat. “Yes, I took out the trash.” And another. “Yes, I set the DVR to record Funeral Mishaps.” With a roll of his eyes, Marcus stepped toward the back of the house as if to enter it (which was weird enough on its own). 

Leo leaned forward into the speaker of his phone. 

“Suspect is still on the phone with a man called ‘Daddy’,” he air-quoted. “Also, note to self, record Funeral Mishaps,” he grinned all self-righteous. 

Kaz followed Leo’s gaze as it steadied back on where Marcus was now lifting open the lid of a grill. Underneath was a touchpad. Marcus punched in a code, scanned his fingerprint, and the fucking wall. Split. Open. 

Kaz had seen a lot of strange things in his days back at Mighty Med. Not to mention all the weird shit he and Oliver got themselves into.

But this had to take the cake for the most outlandish. Kaz had never in his life seen whatever the heck that was. 

And apparently, Leo hadn’t either, because—

“Suspect has a morphing wall!” He high-pitched shriek-whispered. Then cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and repeated as calmly as possible, “Suspect has a morphing wall.”

And in through that wall Marcus strided, shoulders marginally hunched. 

The wall hesitated, but Kaz didn’t. This was his job. Helping people. And whatever the heck Marcus was up to…Kaz knew it couldn’t be good. So without delay, he lurched from his location in the bushes, and dashed for the gaping door…

Promptly crashing into Leo.

“AH!”

“OW!”

Leo rubbed at his head while Kaz floundered about on his back like a helpless blobfish.

But Leo recovered quickly, leaping up into a shoddy fighting stance, before his brows furrowed and mouth opened in…disgust? Bewilderment? Kaz couldn’t tell.

“Kaz?”

Kaz cleared his throat awkwardly and staggered to his feet, acting as casual as his body would allow. “Hey, Leo. ‘Sup?”

“Uhhh, my confusion as to why you’re here?”

“Um, yeah, about that…”

Leo raised his brows.

“Uhmmm—”

Leo exhaled with a wag of his head. “Okay, whatever, tell me later. I don’t have time to explain, just—follow me.”

Kaz had been so focused on Leo that he hadn’t realized they’d actually made it inside. They must have collided just as they’d jumped through.

Kaz still had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t want to find out in the pitch-black of this place alone. So he obeyed Leo’s words and chased after him. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Eventually, they rounded on a large room. It looked like the boiler room of some old factory. A control console was shoved off to the side nearest the door, a metal stairway leading up to floating platforms towered at the opposite end, and just off-center was stationed a huge, metal…something. Kaz had no idea what it was, but it looked scary as hell. No way did he want to go anywhere near that thing.

Pressed against Leo’s back behind a quite odd silvery chair beside the doorway, they eavesdropped on yet another call Marcus was partaking in with his father…

Or rather, arguing in with his father.

“Dad, it is gonna be so epic when I capture Adam, Bree, and Chase.” A pause, then flared nostrils, “Fine. When we capture them. Just like when we forgot my birthday.” Another beat, then an even angrier roll of his eyes and off Marcus was marching back toward the door, “Oh, are you angry, or are we angry?”

The minute he was gone, they popped up like a Whac-A-Mole.

“What is this place?” Leo said as the both of them properly took in the surrounding scene. 

“I have no idea. But it doesn’t look good.”

“No kidding.”

Kaz ventured over to the console, briefly flitting his eyes over to see if he recognized any of the buttons or knobs…

He didn’t. 

“This is some sort of weird underground lair.” 

“It smells like sewer water and…sweaty dudes,” Kaz grimaced.

Just then, Kaz noticed a peculiar board standing just a few feet from the console. 

With furrowed brows, he walked over. 

“Leo…” He gulped.

Leo quickly made his way over.

“What is that?”

“It’s Adam, Bree, and Chase…”

“Why the hell does he have this?” Kaz scanned over the board, following the colored lines of string to different pictures. Pictures of scanned X-rays of arms, legs, and heads, different magazine articles about the Davenport family, and…photos of some room that must be somewhere inside the Davenport mansion. A room Kaz definitely did not recognize. 

Slowly, he turned his head to the shorter boy. “Leo,” he started carefully, “What’s going on? What are these graphs on Adam, Bree, and Chase?”

Leo shook his head, clearly too unnerved to properly reply. Leo slowly lifted his camera and snapped a photo of the board. Then, he moved toward the strange structure at the center of the room.

“Bam. Evil lair,” he snapped a pic, “Bam. Marcus’ capsule,” and another, “Bam. Marcus--MARCUS?!”

Kaz had no idea how he’d completely missed Marcus’ reappearance, but suddenly there he was, overshadowing Leo. Kaz’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

As Leo tried to run, however, Marcus snatched him by the arm, dragging him toward Kaz. 

“You shouldn’t have come here. Either of you.”

“We couldn’t agree more. Where’s the exit?” Leo grinned to cover the utter terror on his face. 

“Oh, no. You are not going anywhere. You’ve seen too much.”

“Um, excuse me, but I don’t think the legal side of things would appreciate your—”

“Shut the fuck up, Kaz. How the hell did you even find this place?”

Kaz shrugged. “Followed Leo.”

Leo deadpanned, “Really, dude? Really?” 

Kaz laughed nervously and stepped toward Marcus, patting an awkward hand on his shoulder. “Listen, bro. I know we haven’t been on the best of terms recently, and I really am sorry for that, but if you could just release ma’ dude’s arm and let us go, that would be much appreciated. We cross our hearts, hope to die we won’t say nothin’ about whatever freaky little thing you got going on here—”

“Will you shut up? Like, actually? I don’t give a crap about whatever you think this is. Point is, you know too much. Both of you do.”

“What do you want with Adam, Bree, and Chase?” Leo cut in, his tone more serious than Kaz had ever heard. 

“You two won’t be around to find out.”

Kaz sighed haughtily, “You do realize you’re not even holding me, right? I could literally just leave if I wanted to—”

Marcus plucked a small remote off the top of the computer consoles. “Say hello to our remote-controlled home-security system.”

With the press of a button jutted toward a spot on the floor, a circular section opened, and out popped…

A vacuum. 

Leo and Kaz burst into spasms of uproarious laughter. 

“I’m sorry, you think that pathetic thing will somehow stop us?” Leo cackled.

“Oh, my God, I’m so scared, hold me, Leo!” Kaz mimicked a baby voice as they waved their hands around like scared toddlers running for their lives.

“What’s it scanning for, dust bunnies?” Leo splurted out another guffaw.

Marcus pressed a second button…

And right before their eyes, the small, harmless vacuum morphed into a monstrous metal-plated titan…

Jaws hung in horror, Kaz blurted: “How big are your dust bunnies?!”

…It took only about point-three seconds for Kaz to quite suddenly find himself being hunted by the massive thing.

“AAAAAAAAHHH!” He screamed in tandem with Leo as they darted every which way, between every crevice, into every nook and cranny they could find, trying and ultimately failing each time to avoid the wrath of whatever the fuck that massive giant was. 

With some snarky remark Kaz couldn’t hear due to his screeching, Marcus pushed a third button, and out from the shoulders of that thing erupted two laser cannons. It shot the metal panel directly above their heads, which caused a cascade of sparks to rain down. 

Quickly, Kaz dove out of the way, shrieking in a much higher-pitched voice than he would ever admit as he bounced back to his feet and bolted to the opposite side of the room.

He spotted a stapler lying abandoned on top of one of the computers. He snatched it, praying to whoever was up there in the heavens that it was secretly some device weapon of some sort:

“Aha! I have a weapon now, too.”

Kaz brandished it forward in an attack stance, only for Marcus to shoot him a one-brow-arched gaze that silently commented that Kaz was as stupid as a rock, and stated, “That’s a stapler.”

Kaz ineptly lowered it, “...So it is.”

As soon as he replaced it back on the console, Marcus stepped over, grabbed it, and admitted: “Just kidding. It’s a ray gun.”

“Dang it!”

Marcus zapped it randomly to demonstrate, then watched in feigned fear as the giant continued its chase after Leo and Kaz.

But as Kaz followed suit to Leo and made a dash for the exit, an abrupt tug at the back part of his collar stopped him, and he was lifted off the ground and into the air.

“Aaahh!”

“Kaz!”

But it was too late. Not a half-second later, Leo was in the air as well.

With his signature smirk plastered on, Marcus stepped in front of them. 

“Sorry, guys. As much as I enjoyed watching this little scuffle…Game over. You guys are no match for my robot’s awesome physical strength.”

Kaz wriggled in its hold. 

He wasn’t sure what was going through his mind — or Leo’s, for that matter — but a sudden thought did come to mind…

Kaz knew that most times he was rather useless when it came to not panicking. He made brash decisions all the time and they usually ended up getting him into even more trouble. 

But sometimes — sometimes — there would be that rare occasion when a good, reasonable idea did cross his mind in moments of chaos and need.

And this was one of those times. For some unbeknownst reason, now was the time his brain decided to function correctly and an idea — a far-fetched, albeit, but decent idea — crossed his mind…

And he knew instantly he had to go with his gut instinct and act on it.

Imitating Marcus’ simper, Kaz spoke: “You’re right. We are no match for his strength. But just remember, you didn’t beat us. This thing did,” he gestured with his thumb.

Marcus’ nostrils flared and he scoffed disbelievingly. “Please, I could pulverize you.”

Finally, Leo caught on. Thank God, Kaz thought. Leo grinned and placed his hands on his hips, “Yeah. I’d like to see you try.”

“Not smart, guys. The robot would’ve been quick and painless compared to what I’m gonna do to you.”

“Okay, tough guy. But if we win, you have to let us go. Deal?” Kaz grinned right along with him. 

With another scoff, Marcus complied, “Yeah. Deal.”

With yet another press of a button, the robot dropped them from its grasp. 

As soon as Leo was up on his feet again, he extended an arm, “Let’s shake on it.”

Marcus went to meet him halfway, only for Leo to flick his tongue over his right palm milliseconds prior to the shake and grabbing the remote out of Marcus’ opposite hand.

“Ewww! Why would you do that?” Marcus whined, yanking his now-wet palm away.

And it was all Leo could do but simper, all cocky and proud.

“Because I’m clever, and clever beats strong any day.”

Kaz looked at him with a raised brow, wondering if Leo had heard that somewhere before, but shook his head and decided that that was probably the least important thing to be fixating on right now.

With a few mishaps of button-pushing, Leo eventually managed to figure out enough to aim the laser cannons at Marcus and launch several in his direction.

There was one downside, however…

They all missed. 

Welp, there went Kaz’s plans for the weekend.

Kaz racked his brain for any sort of answer. Maybe they could destroy the console? Or somehow hack the computer? Would that destroy this place? (Kaz didn’t know on earth they would do that, but they were sorta running out of options here…)

But it was too late. 

Marcus was too quick.

He stood his ground and stared down the robot.

And suddenly — as if Kaz was in some sort of fantastical dreamworld where unicorns and fifty-foot tall ogres existed — he watched in what felt like 0.5-speed as lasers shot straight from Marcus’ eyeballs, striking the robot demon and dismantling it to pieces. 

Shards of metal scattered across the floor. 

And again, Kaz and Leo were left defenseless. What were they supposed to do now? They didn’t have a back-up plan!

“Aw, man!” Marcus stomped over, “That was my dad’s favorite toy! There goes pizza night.” 

Kaz met Leo’s eyes just in time to see Leo motioning to move his ass toward the door. 

Welp, he didn’t have to tell Kaz twice.

Kaz scurried after Leo just as he heard, “This is all your fault—” But Marcus trailed off when he realized there was no one there.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

An exhale of relief exited Kaz’s lungs the second they reached the main sidewalk. 

It all felt like some joint fever dream.

“Jesus Christ. Did that actually just happen?”

Leo nodded, oddly nonchalant. And that was coming from a guy who had worked in a superhero hospital. Not to mention his own powers! And yet even he was reeling from what had just gone down.

“Yup,” Leo popped the “p”.

It went quiet for a moment as they allowed everything to sink in. 

It didn’t—…It didn’t feel real.  

Marcus? 

But they were friends. Marcus was— …had been, his closest friend here. 

Right?

Marcus wouldn’t have lied to him about that, right? Pretended to care about a friendship between them…Right?

He wouldn’t have lied to Kaz…

But that annoying prying little voice in the back of his head gnawed at him as it whispered:

But he did.

Marcus had lied about everything.

Kaz wore a solemn expression as he faced Leo finally.

“Leo?”

Leo hummed, eyes not quite meeting Kaz’s.

“…You gonna tell what the hell that was back there?”

“What do you mean?”

Kaz sighed irritatedly, crossing his arms over his chest. “The board? Adam, Bree, Chase? Freaking Marcus? Any of that ring a bell?”

Leo screwed his eyes shut and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“You know something about this, Leo, I know you do. You knew he was up to no good and you knew that he could do that stuff. I know you did. Otherwise, you would have been screaming as soon as you saw it—”

“And why weren’t you, huh?” Leo snapped. “You were just as calm as I was and I know for a fact that you had no freaking idea.”

Kaz paused, caught off guard by the hostility. Leo was more observational than he’d thought…And as much as Leo was right — spot-on, even — Kaz just couldn’t. He couldn’t say anything, as much as he wanted to. It was too risky to expose himself like that. To expose Mighty Med like that. 

Kaz swallowed, averting his gaze momentarily. “I—...I can’t tell you. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

Leo blinked. “Then you’re gonna have to do the same.”

Kaz scoffed, “Leo, that’s different. You can’t just say that because I did—”

“And why not? How is it different? You don’t know anything about anything—!”

“Because I just almost died in there, and now you’re going to stand here and tell me you can’t tell me why or what the heck is going on?! No! That’s bullshit, and you know it!”

Leo fell silent. Apparently, Kaz’s words had reached him. But Kaz didn’t let up. He stared him down like a bull ready to charge. Stared him down until Leo broke.

With a sigh, Leo finally opened his mouth and spoke cautiously. 

“You saw what Marcus could do…At least, some of it. The lasers from the eyes — or what we call ‘heat vision’ — the moving things with his mind…” Leo spoke like he was holding his breath. Kaz realized he probably was, the atmosphere suddenly tense with half-anticipation and half-anxiety. “...He’s not the only one.”

Kaz narrowed his eyes to slits. “What—...What do you mean? What does that mean, ‘he’s not the only one’?”

A very noticeable, thick swallow traveled the length of Leo’s throat. 

Hesitantly, he finally drew the long-awaited answer out:

“...Adam, Bree, and Chase…” a pregnant pause, and Kaz could fill in the rest himself through predictability, but he wanted to hear Leo say it. Confirm it. “...They’re like him.”

Kaz frowned, still not quite understanding what he was truly saying.

With a hesitant breath, Leo opened his mouth.

Here went nothing.

Chapter Text

Come by our house tomorrow. 

That was what Leo had said. 

Kaz was fucking shaking in his boots — well, sneakers. He didn’t really know why he was so nervous, somewhere deep down he shouldn’t be all that surprised. It wasn’t like having weird powers wasn’t something he was already aware of people having. He had powers, for Christ’s sake, but still…Somehow, this was different. 

For one, how did it even… work?

Was it some kind of switch…or button? Could they be turned off and on?

…Needless to say, a lot was running through his mind. Just off the bat, he was betting having bionics was different from powers. 

But he was here. And at the end of the day, that was all that mattered. He’d managed to crawl his way up the steps of the outdoor patio and make it to the door without puking. So...at least that was something. 

With a cautiously raised hand, he pressed the doorbell. He could hear the muffled brrrring! on the other side, and waited with bated breath as the seconds ticked by.

After an elongated moment that seemed to last a small eternity, the door swung open. 

Chase’s face morphed into something akin to confusion, but he didn’t seem unhappy by the surprise. More just…startled. Which Kaz couldn’t blame him for, he doubted Leo had told anyone about their previous conversation (let alone what happened with Marcus).

“Kaz?”

Something in Kaz dared to burst. 

What the heck was he even supposed to say? 

No, screw that, how the heck was he supposed to act around him? Pretend to not know anything about anything? Pretend that Leo hadn’t just told him about their biggest secret? Pretend that Chase wasn’t—...

Kaz gulped. 

“Ch—Chase! Uh, what a—what a surprise to see you here. What are you…What are you doin'?”

Chase quirked his brows and shot a bemused expression his way.

“Um…I live here?”

Welp—

“Oh. Right.”

He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“So. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, just—just doing homework and talking to Leo about girls,” he swallowed. 

Chase blinked at him and crossed his arms with one of the most disbelieving looks Kaz had ever witnessed.

“Doing homework. You and Leo.”

Kaz didn’t know what to do to convince him, and he knew that the second he opened his mouth he would blab about what was actually going on, so instead he opted to take the safer route: his lips forming into an almost encouraging smile, as if to say: “You can one-thousand percent trust me.”

Chase narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then sighed and moved out of the doorway to let him in. 

“Leo’s finishing up his first of three showers, so he’ll be out soon…I think. But, I can get you something to drink if you want,” he shrugged. 

“Uh, sure!” He exclaimed a tad too loudly, then felt an ever-familiar heat coating his cheeks as he remedied, “I mean, uh, sure.”

“Cool. Uhhh, we have—” Chase rooted through the fridge, “Orange juice, cranberry, apple, some milk that’s—” he sniffed it, then scrunched his face in disgust, “Ugh! Three weeks expired.” He dumped the remainder into the sink. 

“Hey! I would have drinken that!”

“Kaz, you wanted expired milk? That’s gross,” he turned back to the fridge, “And it’s ‘drunk,’ not ‘drinken’.”

Kaz rolled his eyes, “Please, I do it all the time at home.”

“Your mom lets you drink expired milk? Okay, I told Leo I thought you were relatively normal for being friends with him, but now I’m starting to second-guess that—”

“Hey, at least I’m not like Adam who picks his teeth with old toenails,” Kaz gagged.

Chase tilted his head, “Okay, fair enough, Peterson,” he smirked. They stood there a moment. Just staring at each other. But it was broken not long after when Chase cleared his throat and continued on about the various drinks. “Right! Um, yeah, so we also have some seltzer, iced tea, and what appears to be Adam’s leftover specialty drink, which he dubs: ‘My Dirty Purdy Laundry Juice...”

“I’m sorry, his dirty what juice?”

Chase sighed, “Don’t ask. Point is, I don’t recommend.”

“Yeah, no, I could gauge that much for myself, thanks” Kaz chuckled. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of taking my taste buds that far.”

“Okay, good, cuz’, ya know, after that whole ‘expired milk fiasco’, I wasn’t quite sure I could trust you to make smart and informed decisions.”

Kaz’s jaw dropped in feigned offense. Chase cackled. 

“Don’t worry, I’m only partially kidding,” he simpered.

Kaz shook his head playfully, “Shut up and just get me a water.”

“Just a water? You sure? Even after all that work I spent going through our entire bar menu?”

“Especially after that.”

Chase rolled his eyes playfully but did as he was told. He grabbed a glass, filled it, and placed it in front of Kaz. 

As he lifted the cup to take the first sip, Leo leaped down the stairs with a resounding, “‘Sup, guys, the main event just arriiiiiiived! Whoo!”

“I’m sure,” Chase deadpanned, snatching the orange juice and filling a glass for himself. 

Leo made his way over and locked eyes with Kaz. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Cool. Let’s go.”

They turned on-heel to exit to wherever Leo had in mind, but they only got so far before…

“Hey! You two, what the heck is going on? Keeping secrets now?”

“Sorry, Chase, but not everyone is interested in sticking around and listening to you rant about how bedazzling Marcus’ eyes are.”

Chase rolled his own again and flipped him the bird.

“Yo! Bro, that was uncalled for, man!” Leo held his hands up and pretended to be utterly defended. Kaz snickered. 

As if on cue, there was a ringtone sounding from across the room — undeniably from Chase’s pocket. Chase whipped out his phone and his face instantly lit up.

“Who is it?” Leo said with a self-pleased, all-knowing grin, both of them knowing damn well who it was.

Chase’s cheeks tinted pink and he muttered a “Shuddup” under his breath before answering the call with a, “Hey, baby, what’s up?”

Kaz ignored the tightening in his chest and the, you deserve so much better than that liar, racing through his head. 

But he couldn’t say anything. Of course, he couldn’t. 

So he followed Leo up to his bedroom, tail between his legs. 

As soon as the door was shut, Kaz was on top of him — figuratively, that was.

“So what the hell, Leo? You can’t just say shit like that and then tell me, ‘We’ll talk about it more later. Come by our house tomorrow.’ That’s not how shit like that works, bro—”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? But I didn’t exactly feel comfortable talking about my bionic siblings out in the open in front of the house we almost nearly died in.”

Kaz exhaled through his mouth and sat on the mattress at the end of the bed. 

In the uneasy silence, Leo carefully sank down beside him.

“Look, Kaz—”

“How does it work?” Kaz cut him off.

Leo cocked his head, “...What?”

“Their…Powers. How do they work?”

Leo licked over his lips slowly. He shook his head softly.

“To be honest, I—I’m not really sure. I know in the most basic sense that there’s some sort of chip in the back of their neck that has been fused to their nervous system. Or…something like that,” he frowned.

“...O—Kay…? Uh, so what can they do?”

“Adam has super strength and heat vision — like you saw with Marcus, Bree has super speed and agility, though I still don’t really know what that even entails, and Chase has…” he furrowed his brows like he was genuinely struggling with coming up with what to say next, “Well, Big ‘D’ says he has super smarts, but to be honest, I haven’t seen it considering how freaking stubborn he is. So who knows if that’s true,” he shrugged.

“So that’s all? Super smarts?”

“Well. And he can move things with his mind. Molecular Kinesis.”

Kaz’s jaw hung open, “Bruh, why didn’t you lead with that, that’s so cool!”

“Eh, I don’t know. Adam’s heat vision is by far the coolest in my opinion.”

Kaz hummed. 

Just as another question came to mind, there was the sudden interruption of their conversation by a rather annoyingly loud voice from downstairs screaming: “Leo! Get down here, I need to show you guys something!”

It was no doubt Mr. Davenport’s voice. 

Kaz and Leo shared a look before booking it down the stairs.

They were the last ones to make it. 

“Um…What is that?” Leo nodded toward the gray sheet on display in the center of the small formed circle of Adam, Mr. Davenport, Bree, and Chase. The two boys joined, and Kaz crossed his arms and raised his brows.

“This is something I picked up at auction today,” Mr. Davenport smirked all cocky. “And it only cost me a million dollars.”

“Wha—For a sheet?” Adam dropped his jaw in astonishment, “I guess I’d better start saving up if I’m gonna be a ghost for Halloween.”

Kaz rolled his eyes. As fun and insane as Adam could be, his lack of brain cells was one thing Kaz would never understand. Adam had even less than he did, which was saying something. 

“It’s a painting, Adam, by a very famous artist named Von Schtopp.”

With a wave of his hand, he flung the sheet off to reveal a…painting that had apparently gone horribly wrong.

Kaz frowned and scrunched his face in repulsion.

“Hm. I wish I could have been there to ‘Von Schtopp’ you from buying it,” Leo commented, leading Kaz to snicker and the two to high-five.

Mr. Davenport shot an unamused look his way before Adam chimed in. 

“What is it?”

“It’s abstract art, Adam. It’s whatever you think it is.”

Bree shrugged, “I think it’s a crying woman—”

“I think it’s a storm at sea,” Chase just barely cut her off before Kaz couldn’t help himself any longer and said:

“I think someone just blew a million bucks.”

Before Mr. Davenport could respond to his quip, however, the sound of a musical ringtone that was clearly used by an old man gaslighting himself into believing age hadn’t caught up with him centuries ago burst from his phone. 

“That’s me. Davenport Industries,” he gestured to himself all self-righteous as if everyone in the room wasn’t already aware of the fact.

“Hello? Uh-huh…Oh, boy. All right.” He ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. “Looks like I gotta put out a fire at work.”

“What happened?” Chase asked.

“Betty from Accounting got her head caught in the Positron Collider again—”

“Ooooh!” They groaned in simultaneous horror. 

“Yeah, that’s gonna be messy. Can you guys put that in the Art Vault for me?”

Kaz's face set into a disbelieving stare. “You have an art vault?”

Mr. Davenport’s lips slid into an egotistical grin as he pointed to himself, “When are you guys gonna learn? I have a everything.” He chuckled, then his features morphed into something more serious, “But whatever you do, do not touch the Davenportraits.”

And with that, he was out the door. 

As soon as he was out of earshot, Leo asked the question on all of their minds: “What’s a ‘Davenportrait’?”

“No idea,” Chase said, “But considering the sheer number of long underwear ‘Davenstockings’ he’s hoarded, I don’t wanna find out.”

“Okay, well one of us has to go,” Bree stated, glancing over at Adam who was now examining the abandoned gray sheet on the floor. 

“Okay, okay, how about the three of us go and Leo, you stay here with Kaz.”

“What? But I wanna see the ‘Davenportraits’,” Kaz whined. 

“Yeah, well, you can’t,” Chase stated matter-of-factly.

“Why not?”

He glanced at Leo, hoping for some kind of support here, but instead, Leo’s eyes were wide and he was shaking head.

And suddenly, as soon as the words had left his mouth, Kaz understood.

Something was down there.

Something Kaz was not supposed to see. 

“Actually, uh, as long as someone shows me what there is to eat, I’m A-Ok staying up here,” he plastered on a fake smile and raised his brows at Leo, who instantly jumped in for the rescue. 

“I’ll stay up here!” He blurted, perhaps a bit too keenly, which made Kaz snicker under his breath. 

While Adam and Bree shrugged, Chase eyed the two of them dubiously. “What’s going on? You guys are acting weird.”

Leo scoffed, “What? No—No, we’re not—!”

“Nothing suspicious here!” Kaz exclaimed. Leo side-eyed Kaz as if to say 'shut up before you blow it.' Kaz kept the grin stuck to his face as Chase slowly dragged his gaze between them before sighing and turning back to Adam and Bree.

“Fine with me,” Bree said. “We better get moving before Mr. Davenport kills us for ‘disobeying orders’ again,” Bree sassed, rolling her eyes, grabbing the painting, and marching toward…a wall?

“Come on, Kaz, let’s get you some food,” Leo said as he led him toward the kitchen. 

Chase, Adam, and Bree disappeared on their hunt for the Art Vault. As Kaz rummaged through the fridge, Leo poured himself a glass of juice.

“So what was that about?” Kaz asked. 

“What?”

“That. Back there. With them leaving.”

“Oh.” Leo guzzled down the rest of his glass, placing it on the counter nearby. “...There’s a, um, secret elevator. It brings you down to the lab. Not really something they want you to see...”

Kaz frowned, “The lab?”

Leo released a short, breathy chuckle. “Right,” he opened up a bag of chips and stuffed a handful in his mouth. “It's thuh plahs werr thay sleeh.”

Kaz cringed, one brow quirking. “Sorry, what?”

Leo swallowed. “I said, it’s the place where they sleep. You know, capsules and shit. Like that big case in Marcus’ lair.”

It took a moment for Kaz to remember what on earth Leo was actually referring to, as the description was one of the vaguest in history, but after a moment, Kaz nodded, mouth opened around a silent “oooohhh.”

Then, another thought slammed into Kaz, his face now shriveling into a grimace of confusion. “Wait, they sleep in capsules? Why not beds?”

Leo sighed, waving Kaz’s question away, “I dunno, something about ‘regenerative capabilities’ and steadying their ‘bionic circuit’. And before you ask, I didn’t understand what the hell Big ‘D’ meant by that either.”

“Hm,” was all Kaz said in response, his mind already racing with a bajillion more questions. He’d eventually get to asking all of them in his lifetime, but there certainly wasn’t enough time for that right now. So, instead, he decided to ask a much more simple question.

“So…Have you told them about what happened yet?”

Leo froze, hand halfway down the shaft of the bag already. His large eyes met Kaz’s.

“No…I don’t really know how to tell them,” he gulped, “Especially Chase.”

Kaz’s gut warped again, tightening uncomfortably until he felt slightly nauseous. That bastard, he thought with gritted teeth. Had Marcus ever cared about Chase? It was a sickening thought, but one Kaz found he couldn’t rid himself of. 

“Yeah…” Kaz replied rather dumbly. He didn’t exactly know what the right thing to say was. Especially given the circumstances. It wasn’t like he’d expected Leo to have told them…More like he was hoping he had so Kaz didn’t have to worry about it any longer. He knew it was unfair, but something inside of him just couldn’t handle the no-doubt heartbroken looks on their faces when they would eventually find out. “We do have to tell them at some point. It’s not fair for them to go on, risking their lives for someone who cares so little for theirs.”

Leo nodded solemnly. “I know. I just—...I’ve tried before. They never believe me.”

“But maybe if I’m there to back you up—”

Leo shook his head, “No. No, they can’t know that you know. Not yet. They’d kill me if they found out I told you.”

Kaz exhaled haughtily, “But, Leo, you know I’m right about this. We have to tell them—!”

“No, not ‘we’, me. I’ll tell them. It’s too dangerous for you, especially once they know that you know.”

Crossing his arms and shaking his head, Kaz said, “Do you not trust me?”

Leo licked his lips, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Kaz. It’s that they won’t.”

Kaz blinked at him. “How do you know that?”

Leo simply sighed and looked away, as if the mere act of staring at Kaz was too much for him. “...I just do. Okay?”

And something…Something tore inside Kaz. 

Something inside wanted to scream. Scream at Leo for thinking so little of him. Scream at Leo for not believing he could handle the repercussions. Scream at Leo everything there was to say about Mighty Med. About Oliver and Skylar and Horace and how Tecton and Solar Flare and all of those children’s comic book characters were real. How supervillains and superheroes were real and that Kaz could take it. Had been taking it for years now. That he wasn’t just some silly, obnoxious 16-year-old, but had been a doctor who healed and helped people, just like Adam, Bree, and Chase. That Kaz understood what it was like to keep a secret. What it was like to constantly be hiding part of yourself in fear of what people might think. Of what people might do.

That Kaz was not so different from the bionic teens as everyone seemed to think. 

That, in many ways…he was the same.

But as he stood there gaping at Leo who was sheepishly turned away, nervously downing handful after handful of chips, Kaz remembered all of the reasons he couldn’t.

It was too dangerous. 

Mighty Med…Superheroes…Himself…All of it was too fragile. Too confidential. The world wasn’t prepared for it. Not at all. Just the same as people weren’t prepared for Adam, Bree, and Chase.

And deep down, Kaz knew that. Kaz understood.  

His arm reached out before he could stop it, extending toward Leo’s left shoulder. To spin him around and hug him tight. Tell him he understood and that he was sorry.  

But he never got there. 

Dangling on the mid-way point, all thoughts were cut off when the front door banged open and a rather frazzled Mr. Davenport hurried through the living room and completely bypassed the two boys standing alone in the middle of the kitchen.

He clearly hadn’t noticed either of them, much too stuck in his own world (as he was the majority of the time), and the boys watched in silence as he pressed the hidden button for the elevator and stepped inside.

Once the doors were shut, all Leo said was, “Hm. Must have forgotten something,” he shrugged, “Want a PB&J?”

Kaz grinned, the beginnings of a smirk etching his features, “You know it, big boy. I’m a growing man,” he patted his stomach thrice.

Leo chuckled and got to work.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

It wasn’t long before Mr. Davenport reemerged from the elevator looking much more relaxed than he had previously. It was just now that he noticed the two boys for the first time. 

“Oh, hey, guys.”

“You okay, Big ‘D’? You marched through here like you were on standby for Project Runway,” Leo eyed him. Mr. Davenport shot Leo a look like he was somewhat astonished Leo even watched that show but made no further comment.

“Oh. Yeah, it was nothing. Just forgot I left my million dollar painting in the hands of the four—er, five,” he glanced at Kaz fleetingly, “most destructive teenagers in the world.”

Leo dropped his jaw in offense, “Hey—!”

“Anyway, I gotta get to the sculptor’s by 1:00 pm. Of course, all this was Chase’s idea. He really does have an eye for perfection.” He pointed his two thumbs at himself and cocked one side of his mouth up in a self-pleasing smile. “Just six feet of stone-cold me.”

Leo’s eyes roved up and down his figure, clearly not buying it. “Six feet—?”

“There’s a pedestal!”

It took everything Kaz had to not snigger at the defensiveness of the short fifty-something-year-old. 

As soon as Mr. Davenport was gone — and before either Leo or Kaz could touch on what just happened — the elevator doors slid open for the second time. 

But this time, the entrance was anything but relaxed.

“Adam—Stop! I said don’t touch it!”

“I’m not touching it! Holding it under my arm isn’t touching it!”

“That’s literally the definition of touching it!” Bree shot right back.

“It’s my arm, not my hands!”

“Oh, my God,” Bree rolled her eyes just as the three siblings walked into their fields of vision.

“Will you two shut up? We need to figure out what the fuck to do about the mess that Adam created.” Chase's eyes rolled so hard Kaz was sure they'd gone into the back of his head. Then, his voice dropped as he said the second part more to himself than anything, “Something that happens every five minutes.”

Kaz covered up his snicker with a cough. 

“Well, I think I better get going,” he glanced at Leo, who gave him an approving nod. “This was…really something with the whole painting thing, and it looks like you have a lot on your hands already…” he trailed his gaze to Adam, who was now sniffing the fucking paint as if it would do anything of any use to anyone.

Yeah, maybe it was better if he left…

He shook his head in something that mimicked, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m witnessing this,'  but also knowing damn well that that was totally something he would do. 

He liked Adam like that.

But, he also knew he should probably skedaddle before he had to witness Mr. Davenport’s half-constructed statue (trust him, he did not want to see Mr. Davenport’s pasty-ass legs on display for all to see).

“Already?” Chase asked.

Taken aback by the abruptness of the question — much less that it was Chase of all people asking — he sighed, pretending as if he truly was devastated he had to leave. “Yeah. Unfortunately, my sibs got into some trouble with Mom. You know how it goes.” He paused for a moment to allow an awkward round of blinks from Adam, Bree, and Chase to pass before he added on hastily, “Anyway, toodles! See ya guys tomorrow! Probably.”

“Bye, Kaz!” Leo called out solely from the kitchen, now chowing down on a bowl of cereal.

No one else said anything, Bree and Adam going back to bickering and Chase opting to stare at him blankly, the beginnings of a frown dawning on his features.

As he shut the door behind him, he couldn’t stop the immense sigh of relief that escaped him. It felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders, despite not having revealed anything nor revealed anything he did know. 

Perhaps Leo was right, though. Maybe this was all for the best…

As much as he would like to be honest with them — allow them to feel as if they could trust him — he knew it wouldn’t be fair, to him or Mighty Med. Especially Mighty Med. 

Kaz waited for a few minutes before his mom pulled up. He slid into the passenger side and they drove away, leaving both the Davenport mansion and the Davenports behind.

Chapter Text

“Kev, I’m not trying to tattle on you!” Kaz groaned, feeling sanity slipping through his fingers like grains of sand by the second.

This was the second time in the past two days Kevin had stirred up an argument between them — an argument that was completely and utterly stupid in every sense of the word. 

Yesterday, it had been when Kevin was yelled at for having Kaz wash his dirty clothes and was under the assumption that Kaz had broken the news to Mom.

Then, later that night, Kevin proceeded to break into the liquor cabinet and try to leave the house undetected to go hang out with his idiotic jerks of people he called “friends.” 

It hadn’t worked. 

Well, not entirely. Kaz — who’d been up because he couldn’t sleep and decided to get a late-late-midnight snack in hopes of doing something to ease his boredom — was out and about roaming the kitchen when he heard the rattling noise of the glass door of the liquor cabinet open.

Kevin had shot him a look so cold it was clear as ever that he meant he was going to kill Kaz if a single peep got out about this. 

And knowing his brother, Kaz knew he needed to listen. So he’d gone straight back to his room, not a peep of this to his mother or otherwise…

But apparently, somehow in some way, Kevin had gotten caught slipping back in through the front door he’d left ajar. This of course sparked a massive yelling hysteria between mother and son and Kaz just threw on his headset and blasted the screaming away into the world of video games…

Again.

But, of course, from Kevin’s perspective, apparently everything that didn’t go his way in life was Kaz’s fault. Especially recently. The fights were getting more and more erratic, and more and more pathetic. Every argument was more pointless than the last, and they were draining, too.

His mom never did anything. She never had when they were younger, and still didn’t now. 

Honestly, despite how used to this Kaz was at this point in his life (complete seventeen years of it and all) he sometimes found himself longing for a mom who actually gave a damn about protecting her children from each other. It would be nice to have someone who defended you when called “worthless” or “a self-absorbed brat” — which Kaz assumed stemmed from Kevin’s undying fury toward Kaz, which the latter still had no idea the science behind.

And here it was full-throttle, completely unbridled, shouting at Kaz in the empty house like it was no one’s business. 

“You’re such a dick, Kaz! What the fuck? What the fuck!”

“Did you not just hear me say I’m not trying to tattle on you?”

“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean, huh?! That you did but you tried your oh-so-very-best not to? You’re full of shit,” he spat.

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Oh, sure it isn’t. It never is, is it?” He scoffed, crossing his arms with an icy glare. 

“I didn’t. Tattle. On you,” Kaz muttered through gritted teeth. He was really starting to get fed up with all of this BS Kevin was spitting about him. Like he had some made-up fantasy playing in his head and was trying to make it come true. Like speaking it into existence would.

But somehow, deep down, Kaz knew they both were aware Kaz was innocent. At least in this regard. 

“Yeah, keep saying that, champ. I believe it less every time it leaves your mouth.”

“Why do you even give a crap about what I do with my life, huh? You’ve been on my ass ever since the move and it’s not fair—”

“Oh, so now you’re suddenly being all introspective and shit? What? You actually care about paying attention in classes and not being a miserable human and lousy student for once?”

Kaz tried so freaking hard to keep the tears threatening to spill at bay. But the glistening in his eyes was shining through against his will. 

“Jesus, look at you. Now you’re crying? Fucking fantastic.”

“Would you just stop? Why are you like this? You didn’t used to be like this back—”

“Home?” Kaz swallowed, and Kevin licked over his lips as he nodded something sinister in his head. “Yeah, you can call it that. That’s what it was, after all. Not this hellhole we’ve been dropped into by no choice of our own.” He laughed out something vile and malicious, sarcastic and wrong. “I mean, come on, Kaz, I know you’re dense, but are you really this dumb to not see how Mom fucked our lives over on the flip of a switch? All she had to do was list the names of her favorite children — or at least the ones she could put up with most — and bam. Whisked us away off into the sunset. Happily ever after, right?”

Kaz shook his head, not at all understanding where this was coming from or why. Why here? Why now? With Kaz, of all people? The one who moments ago he was screaming at like some freaking banshee?

Kevin took one dangerous step forward, slotting himself into Kaz’s personal space now, and lowered his voice to just high enough to be slightly over a whisper. 

“But that didn’t happen, did it, Kaz?” He inhaled sharply, then angled his head to drop his lips to beside Kaz’s ear. Kaz could feel his body tremble and begged with all his might for his fingers or arms or whatever to not ignite. “No…It didn’t. And we both know why that was, huh, Kazzy?”

Kaz’s breath hitched heavily in his throat. 

“You wanna know why I hate you so much?” Kaz swallowed, a singular tear tracing a path down his cheek, “Because like everything else in this fucked up world, it’s your fault for putting us in this even shittier life.”

Kevin’s face slowly backtracked from Kaz’s own, which was stained red from emotions even he himself couldn’t quite determine, and Kaz watched as his brother then turned away and up the stairs to his room as if he hadn’t just destroyed the last shred of…Well, anything, inside Kaz. 

Kaz quickly scrubbed a hand down his face and crossed over to the sink to balance himself on something — anything — in reality. 

The words kept racing and repeating through his mind:

“Like everything else in this fucked up world, it’s your fault for putting us in this even shittier life.”

His resolve broke and the tears came flowing down freely now. One after another, for what seemed like eternity. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Lunch the following day was no different. The seconds dragged by at a pace slower than a snail and still, all the clogged Kaz’s mind were Kevin’s new words to live by.

“It’s your fault for putting us in this even shittier life.”

But…Kevin was right, wasn’t he? Kaz had fucked everything up, hadn’t he? His parent’s marriage wasn’t exactly stellar before by any means, but when they found out? It resolved to complete fucking shambles. It was a miracle to Kaz — and his father, for that matter — that his mother chose him to live with after everything he forced onto the family. 

So in a way…maybe he deserved it.

And they echoed like the pulse of his steadily rising heartbeat.

“It’s your fault for putting us in this even shittier life.”

“It’s your fault for putting us in this even shittier life.”

“It’s your fault for putting us in—”

“-Kaz. Bro. You alright?”

Kaz blinked away from his thoughts at Leo’s sudden intrusion.

“Huh? What? Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. Just got sidetracked by something.”

“Uh-huh,” Leo said disbelievingly before refocusing back on their previous train of dialogue. “Right, so, as I was saying—” But that was as far as Kaz got before he felt the penetrating gaze of someone across from him get a tad too intimate for his liking. He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat and tried to focus on taking a particularly delightful bite of the less-than-satisfactory cafeteria celery stick. But even the annoying crunching of his food couldn’t deter Chase’s insistent stare. 

So Kaz dared a glance. 

But Chase looked away as soon as he was caught, pretending to be over-invested in Leo’s tiresome rant about how he was invited to Caroline Davis’s party and no one else was.

As shown: 

“Oh, did I tell you I was invited to the par—”

“Yes!” The three of them exclaimed in unison with equally synchronized eye rolls. 

“There’s my little boy,” a way too enthused voice for a school cafeteria said behind them…

And a much too old one, too. Though, given Trent’s track record at graduating, maybe it wasn’t as absurd as it sounded.

Still, Kaz raised his brows as Tasha rounded the table and took a seat next to Leo, who was looking as if his life had just flashed before his eyes. 

Bree was the first to step in, “What’re you doing here, Tasha?” Voice sounding exactly as Kaz felt.

“I’m here because I decided to run for President of the PTA!”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Leo countered cutesily, “What school? ‘Cause I know it’s not this one!”

“Well, with Adam getting his license and you going to parties,” she squeezed his cheek, “It made me realize that you’re all growing up. So I’m going to get a lot more involved in your school lives.”

And before Kaz could get a word in, Chase took care of that for him, “Well, Leo could definitely use a chaperone for the party this weekend.”

Leo’s eyes widened to the size of saucers and Kaz couldn’t help but to try and hide his snicker with an awkward cough.

“No! No, no, no!” His chair flung out from beneath him and suddenly, Leo was practically on his hands and knees begging, “Mom, why are you doing this! What is missing in your life? I can pay for art classes!”

“Oh, Leo, this will be fun!” She stood up and steadied Leo with her hands on his shoulders. “If I get elected, I will be here all the time. We’ll eat lunch, gossip, I can talk you up with the gals…”

“‘The gals’?” Leo nearly gagged. He turned his head over his mom’s shoulder, “Get her out, get her out!”

None of them did absolutely anything, though. He’d been blabbing about said party for hours, purposefully doing everything under the sun to rub it in their faces, and now, Kaz was finally starting to have a little fun. He crossed his arms with a simper and locked eyes with Leo, who shot him a betrayed look. Kaz just cackled.

“Don’t worry. Once the ladies see how mom rocks it — Ooo! You are going to be so popular.”

And all he, Bree, and Chase could do was mimic the same sarcastically supportive face and say, “You really are.”

After that, while Tasha dragged Leo over to a table of girls, Kaz let out a sigh and turned back to his food. He took another bite as Bree began packing her things. 

“Um, where are you going? We have another fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, Chase,” she started in that voice she always used when she knew she was about to one-up him, and Kaz already knew exactly where this was going, “You’ll understand one day when you have a boyfriend pillow to kiss at night.” He shot her a deadpan expression and a glare as she walked away with a self-righteous grin on her face. 

“Well, hey look, on the bright side at least you and your pillow won’t be as grotesquely PDA as she and Owen are.”

Chase chuckled, “Right!”

Something warmed in Kaz’s chest at the knowledge he’d just made Chase feel better. 

“Speaking of,” Chase cleared his throat, “Where is your so-called boyfriend?”

Kaz shrugged, “Could ask you the same.”

Something in Chase’s expression faltered, and Kaz didn’t know if he should press on it, or let it be. But considering how blink-and-you’ll-miss-it it was, Kaz decided it best to not push and instead listen to whatever else Chase was to say.

“I don’t know. He’s been kind of…M.I.A recently. Well, ‘recently’ meaning the past few days.” Chase sighed, “It’s probably nothing but…I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship before so I don’t know if this is strange behavior or just…typical.”

Kaz nodded, more to himself than Chase, and after a moment added on his own thoughts. “Yeah, I have the same issue with Liam.”

“Are you two fighting?”

Kaz shook his head, “That’s kind of why I feel sorta stupid for even admitting it.”

“It’s not stupid if they’re your feelings. It’s how you feel,” Chase shrugged.

With a hesitant swallow and nervous bite of his lip, Kaz continued, “I like him, I really do…And I want him to understand that…”

“But…?”

Kaz nibbled the inside of his cheek. “But…Sometimes I don’t know if what we have — what he does — is normal. Should I be worried? Or…should I let it go?”

Liam was someone who Kaz did care for. Despite the person he portrayed himself as, despite how over-the-top and maybe even a bit rude he could be…Kaz did care for him. For better or worse. He knew it probably wouldn’t last long and that Liam was probably someone not to be trusted…But Kaz fell too hard too easily. He let people lie and manipulate to get their way and Kaz above all else was a people-pleaser. 

Perhaps that was why he wanted to shout across that table at Chase and tell him everything he needed to know about Marcus. How he was no good and was using Chase for his own benefits…

Perhaps he wanted to yell because he saw something of himself in Chase. Someone who fell so fast and so easy it was almost comical. Someone who was so quick to trust despite the dangers their lives posed to it. Despite how careful they needed to be when it came down to it.

Perhaps he wanted Chase to escape before it was too late. Something Kaz knew he could never do in his own relationship. 

He was too much of a coward. 

He felt Chase watching him again and this time he met him halfway. 

“Did you get any sleep last night? You look exhausted.”

Kaz was slightly taken aback by Chase’s quick perception (then remembered his bionics and all made sense again) but his face relaxed.

“I—...Something like that,” he settled on, not daring to mention the nasty fight between him and his brother. There was something in Chase’s eyes that hinted he didn’t quite believe him, but he said nothing else and instead chose to move on in a different direction. 

“Well, look, the PTA meeting is tonight and I know you said you wanted to come to support us, but, honestly, your health is a thousand times more important.”

Kaz scoffed, “Chase—”

“I’m serious, Kaz. You should go home and rest. I mean, Jesus, even I don’t wanna be there and I live for that speech-giving type shit. I by no means want to force you to come, especially in the state you appear to be in.”

Kaz narrowed his eyes, “I can’t tell if that’s an insult or not.”

Chase chuckled again and leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “Just take it as me being overly observant when it comes to others’ well-being.”

Kaz smiled goofily and nodded his head enthusiastically, “Right, well, now that you’ve given me the night off from hanging out with you four, I’m outta here.” He snatched his bag off the ground and headed out of the cafeteria just as Chase yelled out after him:

“Hey! We’re not that bad, Peterson!”

And although Chase couldn’t see it, Kaz was shaking his head, grinning from ear to ear.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz had just shut his locker to leave for the day when a voice sounded from beside him.

"'Sup, baby."

Kaz found himself forcing a smile. He really didn't want to be bothered right now with no sleep and especially after last night with Kevin. But somehow Liam always seemed to show up precisely when Kaz didn't want him to. 

Kaz accepted the kiss to his lips, which then turned deeper as Liam's hands snaked down his waist and grasped at his butt.

Kaz pulled away with an awkward little laugh, "Uh...No—Not here, Li. Rain check?"

Liam pulled back with an unreadable expression before it finally melted into something akin to a scowl. 

"Oh, yeah? And when's that gonna be, huh? You're always busy now. With Lin, Bailey, and Chad—"

"Leo, Bree, and Chase."

But Liam completely ignored him. "Why? Why spend all of your time with them and not me, your boyfriend? Or have you forgotten already?"

"Liam, it's not like that—"

"So you don't like any of them?"

Kaz froze.

What on earth was he insinuating? That Kaz was cheating? 

But apparently, the two-second pause was enough of an answer for Liam.

"So you do. You like one of them."

Kaz crossed his arms defensively, "What are you talking about, Liam? Of course, I don't like any of them, I like you!"

"But you prefer to spend all of your time and energy with them—"

"Because they're my friends, Li. Friends. Can I not have those anymore?"

Liam shook his head with a disbelieving laugh, "Okay, this is ridiculous, you're not even listening to me—"

"Li, of course, I'm listening to you, it's just I feel like you're not listening to me!"

"This is completely pointless. I don't even know why I bothered to try and have a real conversation with you. Everything is always just about you, you, you," Liam rolled his eyes. "Listen, if you don't wanna do anything — physical or otherwise — I'll see you tomorrow."

When Kaz could do nothing but stare in half-awe, half-rage as his boyfriend marched away toward the exit, not sparing him a glance as he slammed the door open and it banged shut behind him.

Freaking hell. 

Chapter Text

Kaz was the last one up. Though, he usually was so that was no surprise. Groaning out a “How is it only Tuesday?” he threw on whatever articles of clothing he laid eyes on first (a red and gray raglan and gray skinny jeans to match) and bounced down the stairs and into the kitchen. 

Well, kitchen-adjacent. He never actually stepped into the kitchen, but rather hovered outside it as his mom plopped a container of bacon and toast into his hands with a, “You snooze, you lose. Bus is outside.” He grabbed his backpack and ripped off a piece of toast as he shouldered past where Kevin was blocking the doorway as he stuffed something into his bag. 

…They still hadn’t talked. Barely looked at each other since what happened. 

Not that Kaz wanted to. He would be perfectly fine never speaking to his brother again if that was all that was going to come out of his mouth. The more hours passed, the more Kaz became pissed off with everything that had gone down. Where did Kevin get the idea he could speak to him like that? What was Kevin to tell him what he did or didn’t do with his life? What mistakes he may or may not have made? 

It wasn’t fair that Kevin got to dictate the past like that. Like anything, actually. The only person who should be given that burden is Kaz. Not his mom, not his dad, and certainly not Kevin.

He hopped down the front steps with a loud scoff. Un-freaking-believable. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

And just like it was his luck that he slept through his alarm and barely made the bus, he was also the last person in line for locker-reassignment day. 

Well, except for Trent. But everyone knew Trent was Principal Perry’s favorite, so Kaz had drawn the short end of the stick, hadn’t he.

But, finally, he did make it up to the front, where Perry was currently rifling through someone’s lunch bag she must have “confiscated.” That term being used in the loosest way imaginable.

“Alright, sewer maggot, you have the choice between the janitor’s closet and the boiler room. What will it be?”

Kaz grimaced. He couldn’t believe he actually had to make this choice, but in all honesty, his worst nightmares came from the boiler room, so it looked like it was the janitor’s closet. Come on? Clowns emerging from the darkness? Those awful hissing noises? God knows what went on down there. 

Yeah. The janitor’s closet was definitely the better choice. 

As soon as the keys were handed over, he made a beeline for the Davenports, who were residing near the “corner locker”  Leo had prayed for ever since Perry announced reassignment day. 

“-Who the heck even is that guy? I mean, who does he think he is, buying Perry off like that!” Leo exclaimed. 

“Are you actually that surprised?” Bree deadpanned with crossed arms.

Leo shrugged just as Chase’s eyes landed on Kaz.

“Hey, man! Oh boy, what’s that look for? What did ya get?”

“Janitor’s closet,” he raised his brows and dangled the keys where they could see them. 

“Hey, well, if it makes you feel any better, Leo got the boiler room.”

Kaz shot a confused look his way, “She just offered it to me, though?”

“Probably doesn’t mind stashing away all the kids she dislikes together somewhere.”

Okay, that did make sense, actually. 

“This was all I needed to be the icing on the cake this morning,” Leo rolled his eyes and began to walk off to class. The remainder of the Davenports split down their respective hallways for their own classes, while Kaz followed along after Dooley. They shared the same wing of the school for first-period Tuesdays.

“Why, what happened this morning?”

“More like last night,” Leo groaned and tipped his head back for extra dramatic effect. Kaz smirked in amusement. “Some new rich douchebag has been streaking across our lawn every night at, like, 2:00 am.”

Kaz shot him a look of disgust and Leo immediately explained himself, “Sorry— in his car.”

Kaz’s lips formed an “O” and Leo continued. “Anyway, it’s been driving us all off the walls. Even Adam, Bree, and Chase down in the lab can hear it.”

“Dang. That’s pretty bad.”

“No kidding.”

“Anyway, the dude is supposed to come by later to ‘talk it out’ with Big ‘D’, but you know how he gets when things don’t go his way, so we’ll see what happens.”

“Right…” Kaz cleared his throat, “Well, I’ll talk to you guys later, or text if you need anything.” He smirked, “You know how good I am at pranks. My favorite hobby.”

Leo chuckled, “You and me both, buddy.” His face suddenly fell and he glanced down somewhere that appeared to be Kaz’s chest. Then, he directed his eyes back to Kaz’s with a skeptical smile. 

“What?” Kaz asked, sensing there was something else Leo wished to get off his chest.

And right he was, indeed. 

“Listen, Kaz— Can we talk later? After school sometime, maybe?”

Kaz blinked, “Uhhh, I mean, sure? I have to check with my mom first, but—”

“Okay, cool. How ‘bout I just text you when I get home and try and work something out.”

Kaz nodded twice with a slight cock of his head, “Um, sure, okay—”

“Alright, see you. Later, dude.”

And Leo was off.

“Later,” Kaz returned his wave. He shrugged, a hint of confusion fleeting across his features before he moved on and headed into class. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

But the text that day never came. Kaz even reached out with a “hey, u still wanna chat?” but to no avail. Leo never responded. 

Usually, Kaz wouldn’t have been too worried. Oliver was often bugging him on how terrible of a texter he was, even with emergencies. So, really, Kaz had no right to be annoyed with Leo. 

But still. Something about this was different. 

What if Marcus had done something? Something more serious than last time? What if Leo was hurt? What if all of them were hurt?

Kaz chucked his phone across the room onto his bed and resumed his current level. But even through the sounds of squelching flesh and angry grunts, Kaz couldn’t find his focus. 

But then — as if the universe had read his thoughts word-for-word — his 70s Superman theme ring-tone bursting from the sheets — slightly muffled.

With a sigh, he discarded his headset and snatched the phone, frowning when he read Leo’s name across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey…Quick question. Are you free this weekend?”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Well, apparently by “this weekend” Leo had actually meant “skip Friday’s classes to help make sure Big ‘D’ doesn’t screw up the only thing worth fighting for because of his massive, insufferable ego.”

…And, no, Kaz had not expected to be standing beside a racetrack at 9:00 am on a Friday.

Not that he was complaining. He fucking hated school, so any chance he got to miss it was a win in his book.

Plus, it meant time away from Liam’s prying eyes. 

It was getting out of hand now. Every time he so much as looked in either one of Leo, Bree, or Chase’s direction, Liam would storm off, complaining about how “if he liked them that much more, then just dump him already.”

He would be gone before Kaz could even begin to think up a reply, so he’d just sigh and make a mental note to touch it later when Liam had (hopefully) calmed down a bit.

Needless to say, he found himself enjoying his time with the Davenports more and more. More than the time he spent with his own boyfriend, which honestly kind of scared him a bit because…Well, he should like spending time with Liam, right? It was normal to. But nowadays it felt more like a chore than anything.

Plus, maybe this was the time he could investigate more about what Leo wanted to chat about earlier.

“-Are you sure you’re going to be able to beat Pierce? I mean, you have no stock car experience, not to mention you get car sick going to the store. ” Kaz scoffed out a laugh beneath his breath.

“Please. Look at this track. Even Adam can drive in a circle.”

“But this is an oval and those terrify me," Adam said, eyes wide with fear.

Kaz raised his brows just as Chase butted in with another round of facts, “Driving in an oval gets exponentially harder at 200 miles per hour—”

“Plus, no bathroom breaks,” Adam interjected. And Kaz couldn’t help but agree with him. He wouldn’t be able to survive, either. “You’re gonna need this,” he lifted a ginormous black bucket.

But Davenport didn’t seem much too worried…yet. Kaz had a sneaking suspicion the crying was gonna come at some point, and he was spending the seconds ticking by to mentally prepare himself for that catastrophe.

“Guys, don’t worry about this." Yeah, no, much like with Adam, Kaz didn’t have faith enough in Davenport as far as he could throw him…Which, given, wasn’t far (or at all), but you got the point. “I have spent hundreds of hours training in a stock car simulator, I hired the best pit crew in town…I got this.”

Just then, his competitor — who Kaz had been filled in by the name of “Pierce Harrington” and of course was the father of that bonehead Clayton — sauntered up to the scene. 

“Well, Davenport, we just wanted to wish you luck.”

“You’ll need it against our driver,” Clayton smirked.

“Driver?”

“I said we’d race, I never said I’d be the one driving. Joey,” he called out with an extended summoning finger. Kaz watched as from out of the Harrington stock car slid —

Ah, shit. 

Davenport was screwed.

Kenny had been obsessed with NASCAR since he was six. When Kaz was born, he had immediately been subjugated to watching it whenever and wherever. Every Xfinity, Craftsman, Menards, and Cup, you best believe he was sat right there alongside Kenny and every other member of his larger-than-life family in front of that TV watching, tracking.

He’d come to know every big-shot who’d passed through those series. 

Including this one.

Of course, he knew this one.

Davenport clearly didn’t. Because the moment he laid eyes on the young boy, he sputtered out an amused laugh. Because he didn’t know who the hell that was, or what on God’s green earth that meant for him. 

“That’s your driver? When does he get his learner’s permit?”

Still staring in half-awe half-horror at the all-too-familiar driver, Kaz replied without sparing Davenport so much as a glance.

“That’s Joey Logano. He’s been racing since he was six. He’s the youngest NASCAR driver to win on the pro circuit. Ever. He’s insane.”

Chase shot him a look with crossed arms, “And how do you know this?”

Kaz returned it with a pointed smile, “Because my brother has been obsessed with racing since he was born, pretty much? And forced me to watch it the minute I was brought home?”

Chase shrugged and nodded as if a tad impressed by this newfound information.

“Hey, Kaz,” Leo stepped over to him, “Can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure,” Kaz followed him. He had a sneaking suspicion this was about what they didn’t talk about before, but he couldn’t be sure. 

Leo pulled him away from the pit crews and behind the pits. 

“We need to talk.”

“O—Kay…—?”

“About Marcus.”

Kaz blinked, the joke working his way to his mouth dying in his throat.

“What…about him? Did something else happen?”

“That’s just it. He knows we found all of that. I mean, we literally bust his plan wide open. And, nothing. Don’t you think it’s a bit weird?”

“I mean, kind of? I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it that much, to be honest.”

Leo smirked, “Liar. I can tell by your face.”

Kaz rolled his eyes playfully, “Whatever, man. But, seriously, was that all? Just to tell me that?”

Leo stared at him a moment. Like he was debating something in his head. Then, he stepped toward him and leaned forward to whisper closer to his face.

“I’m scared, Kaz. And I don't know who else to talk to.” He breathed out as steadily as he could muster, then continued, “I just…I can’t help but think that he’s waiting for something. Something I—... We,” he remedied, “can’t know. It’s just this feeling. Marcus is smart. That’s the one thing I’ll give him credit for, and…” Kaz locked eyes with him as Leo leaned back slightly, “I feel like something’s coming.”

Kaz licked his lips, “Look, I totally get it, but I mean he hasn’t done anything yet, and…who knows, maybe he won’t? It’s like you said, we bust him wide open, so maybe he’s crawled back into hiding from embarrassment or something, you know?”

Leo nodded but didn’t seem completely on-board with that idea. “Yeah. Yeah, maybe.” He cleared his throat, “Let’s just get back.”

And suddenly, it hit Kaz all at once that that was not what Leo had wanted to hear from him. “Wait, Leo—”

But it was of no use. 

“It’s fine, you’re right. Let’s go,” he gestured with his head and disappeared around the corner back to the front of the pits, leaving Kaz groaning to himself and thinking why on earth he chose those words to “support” Leo with. 

With a shake of his head, he scuffed the ground with the base of his sneaker and followed Leo’s trail.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“You’re doing great, Mr. Davenport,” Chase said into the microphone of the headset as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes. Even Kaz could hear the high-pitched, “Really?” exclaimed into Chase’s ear. “No,” Chase straight-faced, “you’re twenty-eight laps behind.”

“So. Where are you guys thinking about moving?” Clayton jeered as he approached them all holier-than-thou.

“Well, my gut says Cleveland, but I’m an Indiana man at heart,” Adam clicked his tongue. 

“We’re not gonna lose, Clayton,” Leo snapped back.

“Keep telling yourself that, Junior.”

“I’m the same age as you—”

“Your wallet’s not!” Clayton pouted comically fussily. 

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“My wallet makes sense. It talks to me all the time, and right now it’s saying, ‘Can I have Leo’s bedroom?’ ‘Yes, you can!’” Clayton cackled in response as he placed an eerily intimate kiss on the wallet’s nonexistent head. Kaz fake-gagged in disgust from where he stood behind Leo and Adam.

“Oh, yeah? Well, just for the record, your wallet and your money have the same voice!” Leo snapped back with desperation, but Clayton was already back over on his side of the pits.

“Well, that was something,” Kaz raised his brows. Leo shot him an unamused look. 

At this moment, Davenport’s car pulled up to the pits, and the crew immediately got to work.

“I can’t believe I’m losing so badly.”

“You do know that stepping on the gas pedal makes it go faster, right?” Bree stated like she was speaking to a toddler. 

It was now that Kaz found his eyes roaming over the surrounding area, squinting in the bright sun. 

Hm…That was weird. Where was the pit crew?

And speaking of…Where was the crew chief?

Then, his eyes landed on Pierce.

“There must be something wrong with the car—”

“Mr. Davenport?” Kaz interrupted. 

“What’s up, Kaz?” He spoke from where he was wiping his visor inside the car. 

“Your crew chief is talking to Pierce.”

“What?” He snapped his gaze over to his competitor, who was now handing over what looked like a stack of cash. Though, admittedly, not very sneakily.

Kaz licked over his lips, instantaneously understanding what the hell was going on. His usually carefree brain sobered in a second and he snatched the nearby impact wrench, “And your crew should’ve been done by now,” he dropped to a crouch and started re-adjusting lug nuts.

The four other kids stared at their dad a minute before Mr. Davenport exclaimed, “Well, what are you waiting for? Help!”

And then Chase was spitting off orders. “Alright. Bree, grab the air gun, Adam, there’s another air ratchet in the tool kit. Grab it and attach the air chuck to the inlet.”

And before they knew it, they were ready to roll again. 

In the time between this pit stop and the following one, they’d managed to wrangle some discarded black versions of the Davenports’ ex-pit crew’s uniforms, which were strangely a near-perfect fit. And honestly, when Kaz stood directly in front of the shined hood of the Davenport car and saw how freaking good he looked in that black and red uniform and baseball cap…He suddenly understood why hunky dudes loved making out with their biceps so much. He looked damn straight outta a magazine!

He clicked his tongue, shot some finger guns, and winked at his reflection.

“Hey, Peterson,” Chase interrupted, “When you’re done sucking face with yourself, you mind getting over here and actually lending a hand?”

Kaz shot Chase that same flirty wink, only for the other boy to roll his eyes and subtly flip him the bird. Kaz threw his head back to laugh and sunk to a squat to re-torque the tires.

It was only now that his attention zeroed in on something happening — again — across the pits. Pierce was seemingly yelling into his microphone. And knowing Joey was on the receiving end of it, Kaz knew it couldn’t be good news. 

“Joey! What’s going on? How is that clown catching up?!”

There were a few beats in which Joey must have responded before Kaz stopped what he was doing altogether and tried to as sneakily as possible glance over his shoulder at what the Harringtons were doing.

As soon as Davenport had sped away again, Kaz rounded on Leo, who was the one currently holding the clipboard, though he dragged Chase over, too, since he was the one with the headset. 

“Guys, I think Joey’s figured it out.”

“Figured…?”

“That Pierce is cheating.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“I overheard Pierce on the mic, he sounded super upset. And given by the way he was responding to Joey’s responses…it didn’t sound too good.”

“Well, hey, if he forfeits, that’s great news for us, and pretty terrible news for…Well, everyone else,” Leo grinned.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Kaz smirked. 

When Chase went to open his mouth to no doubt add on some other quip, he didn’t get far before Kaz’s pocket vibrated. 

Quickly, Kaz stepped aside and ducked behind the pits to where he and Leo had chatted earlier and answered the call.

“Babe, I’m so sorry, I actually can’t really talk right now—”

“Kaz, where are you?”

“Uhhh—” Shit! In the chaos of trying to coordinate with the Davenport's car this morning, he’d completely forgotten to tell Liam he wouldn’t be in school… “N—Nowhere,” he rushed, already feeling his cheeks heat for absolutely no reason whatsoever. 

“What—Why is it so loud? Are you outside?”

“No…”

“Jesus Christ, Kaz, what have you done this time?”

“I’m nowhere, okay! Just…helping my mom out with something.”

“Your mom? Did something happen—?”

“Nope! All good! Look, I gotta go, Li, I’ll fill you in later, ‘kay—?”

“Kaz, don’t you dare hang up on me—”

Kaz glanced around desperately before his eyes landed back on his phone…

He could think of exactly one way to solve this predicament…He squished his eyes shut, not quite believing he was about to do this…

Knowing very well he was leaving Liam hanging, he quickly typed into the search bar, pulling up the first video that came up and putting himself on speaker.

“Kaz—What the hell is happening? Why aren’t you answering—?”

He was cut off when Kaz pressed the “play” button and the air was filled with the squelching sounds of a woman vomiting.

“Kaz—?”

Kaz pulled on his best acting voice he could muster and said, “O—Oh, shit, Li…Um…My mom is really throwing up now. I gotta go—”

“Kaz, wait—”

“Bye, babe, talk to you later!”

“Wait, wait—!”

But Kaz had already pressed the “End Call” button. 

He exhaled the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and sagged against the nearby wall. 

Jesus. Thank God that was over…

For now, at least. Eh, he’d deal with coming up with a cover story later. 

Allowing himself a few short moments to catch his breath, he pushed off the wall and spun around to head back to the front of the pits, when—

“AAH!” He shrieked (a tad too high-pitched to be normal) and slapped a hand over his rapidly spiking heart. “Freaking Christ, Chase, you scared the shit outta me!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Chase scoffed out a small chuckle. “You’d disappeared for a bit and Leo wanted someone to come check on you.”

“Why didn’t he?” Kaz panted through a puzzled look.

“He’s working comms,” Chase shrugged and stepped forward a step-and-a-half. “Everything good?”

Kaz swallowed, fighting back the annoyance in his tone directed solely at his boyfriend who couldn’t seem to ever leave him be for more than an hour or so. But instead of expressing as such to Chase, he pulled on a massive grin in its stead and nodded enthusiastically (...probably a bit too enthusiastically…). “Oh, me? Yeah, yeah, no, everything’s good. Really good. Like, seriously, nobody has to worry about anything. I am completely fine. So fine.”

Chase narrowed his gaze and nodded slowly and Kaz immediately knew Chase didn’t believe him one bit.

“Yeah, like, you’re so good, right?” Chase teased and Kaz swatted at him.

“Shuddup, you know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t think I do,” Chase spluttered another laugh.

“Chase!”

“No, like, seriously, Kaz, you are making zero sense. Like, actually.”

With a humorous shake of his head, Kaz patted Chase amicably on the shoulder, “Let’s just head back, bud.”

By the time they’d returned, the chaos had apparently only gotten more out of control. Pierce was now screaming at Joey as the latter stomped away with his helmet, Clayton seemed to have lost it as he shouted at his father, and Perry was still waggling her eyebrows seductively — or at least what Kaz could only assume was her goal — at Joey…and yes. It was still as disturbing as ever. 

And before Kaz knew it, Joey was beelining for their team as Pierce now clambered into his own car.

“So it looks like my afternoon just freed up. You guys need any help?”

“Uhhh…” the Davenports all gawked, completely star-struck. “Please say yes,” Joey begged, “I want to hide from that flag lady.” 

As if on cue, Perry called out from her referee stand: “Yoo-hoo! Hey, Joey! Wanna go halfsies on a hoagie?” Joey groaned. 

Kaz snickered and answered for them. “On second thought, you might wanna just pass out down there,” he gestured with his head to the ground behind the fencing. Joey shivered at the thought of what Perry might continue to do to him, so he followed Kaz’s advice and sprawled out on the concrete.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

As the final stretch of the race commenced, Perry was still as “at it” as ever when it came to letting Joey know exactly what her thoughts were about him.

For example:

“Two laps to go in the Rich Jerk 500. Davenport and Pierce are neck and neck — It’s anybody’s race. And I think we’re all wondering the same question: Is there a Mrs. Logano?”

Kaz and Chase glanced at each other as their faces shriveled in disgust.

But as Davenport began to slow down behind Pierce, they were all certainly wondering the same question.

Well, everyone except for Kaz and Joey. 

“What is Mr. Davenport doing?” Chase exclaimed, “Why is he slowing down?”

“He’s gonna lose!” Bree added.

“No. He’s obviously giving up, it’s the honorable thing to do,” Adam stated, hands on his hips. Yeah, his comments weren’t helping anyone.

Kaz spoke up, “No, he’s just drafting. Pierce’s car blocks airflow and creates low pressure behind it. It creates a vacuum and pulls him forward while reducing Pierce’s speed. It’s completely awesome,” Kaz remarked giddily. As annoying as Kevin had been at hogging the television, all of those hours spent did kinda force Kaz to like it, at least to some extent. And he remembered a fair good deal about it, too, which always helped. Especially, it seemed, in situations like these. 

And just as Kaz suspected, on the straightaway, Davenport slid out from behind Pierce and bolted right past him, crossing the finish line just mere milliseconds before Harrington. 

They all cheered, Kaz bumping chests with Leo and Adam as they banged their fists against their rib cages like gorillas. 

In the whooping, Adam chucked his cap to the ground and Kaz and Leo did their victory dance, shaking their booties and flailing their arms above their head in synced rhythm. 

“Great job, guys,” Joey removed the headset, “Now, it’s time for the real race — Getting away from that flag lady.”

He checked over his shoulder just as Perry chased after him waving her ginormous flag maniacally like a rabid baboon, “YOU FORGOT YOUR CALENDARS!”

After the short time Mr. Davenport spent mocking Pierce for losing (which, of course, Kaz had to join in with) Kaz knew that he had a whole other storm coming with this Liam debacle. 

With a sigh, he did a salute in Davenport’s direction, “Well, thanks, Mr. Davenport. It’s been a great day.”

“You’re leaving already?” The entire family blinked in an eerily harmonious manner, to which Kaz hesitated momentarily before laughing a tad awkwardly. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s early, but my mom just—...She gets kinda stressed when we’re not back exactly when we say.”

“Eh, well, you should come have dinner with us,” Davenport offered.

“What? N—No, I couldn’t do that, I—”

“No, no, I insist.”

Kaz gnawed at his lower lip, honest-to-God debating it for a minute…

But then screwed his eyes shut and mentally cursed Liam out for having to deal with his whining first. 

“Uhh, as nice as that offer is, I—...I can’t. My mom, just…” he trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with that train of thought or what even his excuse was (or what he could tell them).

Davenport sent a half-baked smile his way and nodded, hands on hips, “Ah, no, we get it. Another time, then.”

Kaz smiled, “...Yeah. Another time.”

“Well, thanks again for all your great work, Kaz. You, uh, clearly know quite a bit about all this—”

“Better than Adam and Bree, at least—” Chase interjected.

“Hey!” The offended parties both exclaimed.

Kaz grinned, feeling quite proud of that compliment (if not also amused by Chase’s jab), “See ya later, guys!”

With that, he headed off in the direction of Davenport’s chauffeur, which he’d told Kaz would take him home if he so chose. 

When he slid into the back seat, he couldn’t help but feel more than a bit guilty, but he knew Liam had to be dealt with first. 

He was his boyfriend, after all, and somewhere inside Kaz, he did want to work on things with him. Hopefully, sort some of their ongoing issues out. 

But who knew what tomorrow would bring?

Kaz would have to wait and see.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, alright? I should have told you.”

“I just wanted you to be honest with me, but instead you lied about where you were and who you were with, and for what? Because you didn’t want me to know you were with them?”

“I—I don’t know, Liam,” Kaz sighed, “Every time I so much as bring them up you get all annoyed with me. They needed help, so that was what I did. Nothing else.”

“Yet you still lied about it. How am I supposed to trust you when you do something like that?”

Kaz shook his head in disbelief, hands on his hips, “How is that fair? I’ve told you a hundred times they’re just friends.”

“And I’ve told you a hundred times that I don’t. Believe you,” he scowled. “You spend all of your free time with them, not to mention how all you seem to do is lie about it.”

Kaz shut his eyes, trying so hard not to completely lose it. “Liam. Listen to me. I like you, not them. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that—”

“Then prove it to me.”

Kaz’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? I—...You don’t think I do that already?” Something in his heart sank at Liam’s words. 

A smirk stretched across his features, and Kaz knew all too well what was coming.

Without another word, Liam mashed their mouths together in a heated kiss, gripping Kaz’s lower back as he shuffled them toward the bed. They toppled onto the mattress, Liam atop Kaz, and Kaz felt as if no oxygen was actually making it to his lungs. 

With a relatively hard shove, Kaz managed to put some distance between their bodies.

“Liam, I really don’t want to—”

Nostrils flaring and muscles going rigid, Liam shot up.

“Really, Kaz? Again?” He scoffed loudly, “God, why are you always like this? Always some excuse with you why you can’t do this, or you can’t do that. It’s aggravating and exhausting.”

Kaz bit his lower lip. Shit. He hadn’t wanted to start another fight with him…Much less make him pissed…

“Li—Liam, wait—!”

“No, whatever, Kaz. How ‘bout instead of leading me on or playing with me, you figure out what the hell you want and get your shit together before you actually come talk to me again.”

Liam stomped out of Kaz’s bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Falling back onto his bed with a slight bounce, Kaz scrubbed a hand down his face and muttered a “Fuck” to absolutely no one.

Apparently, he couldn’t do anything right.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

School the next day wasn’t any better. Liam barely said hello (meaning, all Kaz got was a half-assed smile in his general direction) and Kevin was still not speaking to him, so it seemed as if everyone had something against Kaz at this point. 

The Davenports were his only saving grace. Now that Oliver was busier than ever with his recent job promotion and Skylar was out helping citizens on the daily, Leo was pretty much his stand-in best friend. 

“Kaz!” Leo called as he hopped up to his side, “How are you? Haven’t seen you since Friday.”

“Why, you worried about me or something?” Kaz teased. 

“Nah, you can handle yourself. Just wondering.”

Kaz shrugged, “Yeah, I’m all good. You?”

“Same. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and watch a movie tonight?”

“At the theater?”

“No, at our house, dummy,” he flicked Kaz’s shoulder.

Kaz grinned, “Depends on what you’ve picked out.” He paused, then added as he leaned closer, “You have picked something out, right?”

Leo pursed his lips, as if hesitant to say anything. “...Yeah…”

Kaz’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What does that mean?”

Leo’s head turned away as he said in the most obnoxiously innocent-sounding voice known to humankind, “Well, Bree has…”

Oh, boy, Kaz inhaled sharply. “Oh, boy. Just spit it out, what’d she pick?” He deadpanned.

“Let’s just say…you’ll find out later.”

Kaz blinked. 

“Leo!”

“I’m sorry, okay! But I will actually die if I don’t have decent company helping me make it through this film—!”

“What film—?!”

“I can’t tell you!”

“Why?!”

“Because then you won’t wanna come!”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock! There’s probably a reason you want to torture me, too!”

“I’m sorry! Just please, come. Please, Kaz, you have no idea what Bree’s like when she gets to pick for family movie night,” he said, eyes as wide as saucers, filled with the past trauma as he shook Kaz by the shoulders.

Kaz rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Leo’s hands off.

“You’re lucky I don’t despise you.”

This time it was Leo’s turn to grin. “Wow. That’s a high-class compliment coming from you.”

“Now, scram before I beat your butt, Leo,” Kaz pushed him in the direction of his classroom. 

Leo cackled but waved goodbye and headed off. 

This evening was certainly going to be something…

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Leo hadn’t told him a time, but Kaz was at least expecting a text. He usually kept his phone on silent, but given that this was the only thing he was actually looking forward to the entire day, he switched the ringer on. 

But the text never came.

Neither did a call, for that matter. 

By seven o’clock, Kaz was starting to get antsy. Super Smash Bros became boring after the second hour of playing, none of his online friends were on, and he absolutely did not want to clean his room like his mom had been insisting for three weeks, or even look at one of the few books that had never been touched on his bookshelf. 

He debated texting Liam to apologize but quickly concluded that he didn’t really think he owed him an apology. If anything, Liam needed to apologize to him.

With nothing else to do of any interest in his room, Kaz sprung down the staircase and raided the fridge. 

Eventually, he pulled out the cold cuts and stuffed some into his mouth.

“Ugh! Can’t you at least get a plate?” Kyle exclaimed with an exaggerated grimace.

“Put a sock in it” Kaz snapped back with a harsh roll of his eyes and shoveled three more pieces of turkey into his mouth.

Kyle stuck his tongue out to mock him and scoffed in repulsion before skulking off somewhere (probably to the television). 

And of course, because it was just his luck, as Kaz exited the kitchen, the packet of turkey open and one piece dangling from his mouth, he nearly rammed right into Kevin.

“Watch where you’re going,” Kevin spat. Kaz rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time as Kevin shouldered past him. 

He ignored Kevin’s behavior knowing it would get him absolutely nowhere, and instead pulled out his phone as he flopped onto the couch. 

He pulled up Oliver’s chain and punched in: “hey! How’s mm?”

Because of confidentiality purposes, Kaz was kinda forced to use abbreviations like this, and he hoped Oliver would get it. 

It took a few minutes, but he did eventually get a response.

“Hey, kazzy! Busy rn, talk later this week?”

Kaz hesitated, then replied, “sure, when u free?”

A moment passed, the three dots appeared, then disappeared, then re-appeared before finally a response popped up: 

“Free tonight if u r,” then the winky face emoji followed by the cheesy smile emoji. 

Kaz smirked and replied with a thumbs-up, then a salute.

He clicked off his phone and dropped his head to the cushion behind him.

Inadvertently, his eyes began to droop shut as his phone slipped from his grasp and landed next to him on the sofa. 

And before he could stop himself, he was passed out.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz’s eyes slowly blinked open.

The buzzing of his phone had awoken him from where it lay abandoned parallel to him.

…It was Leo. 

His eyes roved over the time… 8:30 pm…

Crap!

Quickly answering the call, he pressed the phone to his ear.

“Well, look who finally decided to call,” he simpered. 

“Kaz, you need to come over right now.”

Though Leo definitely couldn’t see him, Kaz’s teasing smile slowly fell away at the seriousness in Leo’s tone. 

“Bro, chill, I was just joking—”

“No, I’m serious, Kaz. Get over here. Now,” there were several beats of tense silence before a sigh on the other end and the addition of, “...I need your help.”

Chapter Text

Hmm, that was weird, the door was open.

Tentatively, with an innocent-as-humanly-possible purse of his lips and raise of the eyebrows, Kaz pressed the door open further with the tips of his index and middle fingers. 

The living room was empty, though nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The cushions were all lined perfectly against the sofa, the chairs of the table were all pushed in, and nothing in the kitchen seemed to have caught fire. 

But just as reassuring as that was, Kaz also recognized the lack of noise coming from….well, anywhere. Usually — at least the times Kaz had been there — Davenport would be shouting something from one end of the house, or Adam would be chucking something at or through the nearest wall (usually Chase), or Bree would be bickering about something or other with one of her brothers. 

Now there was nothing. 

And it was very off-putting. 

Even though Leo had been the one to call him over, he, too, was nowhere to be found. 

Kaz tried to think back to what Leo had told him on their extremely brief phone call that lasted all of ten seconds before Leo was announcing that, “Oh crap, I gotta go. Get your butt over here now, Kaz!” and then it was the dial tone. 

However, Kaz did remember one thing Leo had mentioned…

Button, button, button…

His mind repeated as he skimmed over the surfaces in the kitchen. But despite the what felt like hundreds of buttons for the oven, microwave, toaster, etc. that were lying about, none gave the feel of a “secret elevator summoning” one.

As his eyes scanned over the surrounding walls, they landed on an oddly lone painting hung at a rather peculiar distance from the kitchen. It almost seemed as if they hadn’t quite known what to do with it when putting it up…

Which was exactly why Kaz approached it. 

“Well, if there were ever a painting to put a secret elevator button behind, this would be it,” he said to no one but himself. He carefully removed the painting and…

He smirked, “Hell, yeah.”

He pushed the button and suddenly, there was a whirring sound from the opposing wall. After a moment, something on the wall flashed and before Kaz knew it, the two metal doors of an elevator were sliding open, breaking apart a strange red symbol that Kaz could only assume identified Davenport’s team.

Without overthinking it, he stepped on, pressing the button that seemed most plausible — “B.”

Just as quickly as the elevator had appeared, it closed and slipped farther and farther down the shaft, until…

Ploink!

The elevator stuttered to a halt at the lowest level, waited a moment, then parted its doors to allow Kaz through.

And immediately, he was bombarded by…

Stuff.

Cool stuff.

“Woah…” he spoke, dumbfounded, instantly racing over to get his hands on whatever the heck that thing was (a small metal contraption in the shape of a “U” with a red ball-tip).

“Sweet!” He laughed in awe.

His eyes trailed away from the device in his hands to another one on the nearby desk (he noticed the “Donald Davenport” nameplate but chose to ignore it over the vast display of trinkets scattered about) and grabbed it. 

This one was a small but hefty metal rod. On one end it seemed to have a small zapper sort of thingy, while on the other it had a tiny plate that Kaz couldn’t really tell what it was…

“Wo-oh-oah,” he sputtered giddily as he flipped it over in his hand several times, liking the weight of it almost as much as its sleek appearance.

He was just about to lay it down to pick up a funny looking third item when —

“Kaz, Big ‘D’s’ gonna flip if he finds out you touched his stuff—!”

“AH!” Kaz shrieked with a violent jolt at the sudden intrusion of Leo’s voice.

Said person snatched the device from his hands and replaced it on the desk. 

Kaz cleared his throat, interlocking his hands behind his back and innocently rocking on his heels. “So…What’s up? And what is this pla–AYYCE—!”

Leo had gripped Kaz by the wrist and yanked him into the adjacent room.

“Jesus, man, chill out, you could have given me a clothing rash,” Kaz complained as he inspected his wrist for any damage.

Leo shot him an ‘are you serious?’ look, “A clothing rash? Really?”

Kaz shrugged and went to start moseying around this room instead, already seeing a thousand things he wanted to touch, but—

“Kaz, this is serious! Stop messing around!”

“Hey, look, dude, you know me! You can’t just ask me to come down to your secret experiment lab and not expect me touch everything—” he reached out to slide a hand over a black screen with glowing green specks cascading down it, when—

WHACK!

Leo slapped Kaz’s hand away with raised eyebrows. 

“Just, come look over here.”

With a reluctant sigh, Kaz padded over to what he assumed to be Leo’s desk and stared at the screen Leo was currently gesturing to.

Then, his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed when he realized what Leo was actually pointing at…

“Wait…is that—?”

“Adam, Bree, Chase, and Big ‘D’? Yes. Yes, it is.”

Kaz swallowed, “So that’s why…”

“Yup.”

Kaz exhaled through his nostrils, hands on his hips as his gaze turned to Leo.

“So…Why did you call me over? To help?”

Leo sighed. “Look, I—...I didn’t plan on telling you. Any of it. I was hoping I could go the next few years of my life without endangering anyone else with the information. Especially someone who I now consider one of my best friends.”

Kaz met his eyes, a creeping of a smile appearing on his lips. “Yeah?”

Leo returned it, “Yeah. Of course, Kaz. I love ya, man.”

Kaz grinned. For the first time since he moved to Mission Creek, he felt wanted. Like he belonged…

It was a nice feeling. One he hoped would last but knew reality would play a part in destroying it one way or another.

But still. For now, it was nice. 

Leo shook his head, as if shaking himself from his own thoughts, “Anyway…Then the whole Marcus debacle happened and I knew I had to tell you.” He paused, looked sincerely into Kaz’s eyes, and said, “I’m sorry, Kaz. Really, I am. For everything. But I need you now more than ever because my family is stuck there with him and I have no freaking idea what Douglas is going to do to them next—”

Kaz frowned in confusion, “Wait, Douglas? Who’s Douglas?”

Leo scoffed out a small laugh, “Right…You don’t know. Um…Long story short, Douglas is Big ‘D’s’ younger brother, evil uncle, Adam, Bree, and Chase’s real father, blah blah blah—”

Kaz’s eyes widened, “Wait, what?”

“Yeah…I’ll explain more later. If it makes you feel any better, none of them — including me — had any idea except for Big ‘D’ until, like, twenty minutes before you came.”

“Daay- umm,” Kaz huffed out in shock.

“Yeah.” Leo cleared his throat, “Anyway, as I was saying…Please, Kaz. I really, really need your help, or else…I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again.”

The first thing to cross Kaz’s mind was, of course, Mighty Med. He’d lived with that secret for almost two years now and every day was even harder than the last. But he’d gotten used to it. Most of his life, now, was a lie. In one way or another. From Mighty Med, to the supervillains he’d come across, to acquiring his powers…Everything simultaneously seemed like a never-ending fever dream and one of the most painful realities he could possibly live in. 

Hearing Leo talk about this big bionic secret was something that rang eerily true for Kaz, and he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming wave of empathy for the dude. He understood how much it probably ate him up inside not being able to share it with anyone — especially that Janelle girl he talked about constantly. 

There were aspects of their lives that still were different, though. Leo never had and never would come to understand the burden of hiding powers from the world. Hiding a part of yourself from the world. 

And maybe that was why Kaz felt his throat tighten and palms grow sweaty as he thought up the answer he already knew deep down to Leo’s request. 

Of course he was going to help him. That was who he was, after all. Even away from Mighty Med and Oliver, and Skylar, and Diaz, and weird Gus, and crazy Jordan, being a superhero — or superhero-adjacent — was who he was. 

And Leo was one of his best friends now. 

So he didn’t even think twice. He knew what he was going to do. 

With the most solemn expression he’d probably ever mustered in his life — because this was a pretty serious situation — Kaz flicked his gaze over to Leo’s again.

“Tell me what you need me to do.”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Well, wasn’t this just all fine and dandy, Kaz let out a small yelp as his right foot nearly toppled over the edge of the eave.

He groaned. Why did Leo have to assign him this task?  

He’d like to say that as a doctor and superhero-adjacent he wasn’t scared of heights… 

But that would be a complete lie.

He’d hoped that the whole flying thing would help him get over that fear, but so far it had been to no avail.

He still didn’t even understand what, exactly, this would do to help anything. But he trusted Leo (somewhat) and just went with what he was saying. 

Leo had told him to meet him in the garden — well, kind of. Kaz was supposed to stay out of sight on the eaves above the garden, and wait for Leo there. This way, if Marcus showed, he could avoid thermal scans and not be detected. 

Since, he’d slowly made his way around the outer edge of the house from the front door toward the back. After what felt likes hours of unimaginable torture, he finally rounded on the corner of the garden. He crouched down and leaned back to rest his weight on his elbows. He needed the ab workout, anyway.

After the two-minute mark, though, Kaz began to get restless. He started scuffing the bottom of his shoe against the shingles because why not, picking at loose pieces of roofing, and even passionately drumming out tunes against his thighs like he was some rockstar or drummer in a boy band.

…And then he heard it.

SQUEEEEEEEAK—

And sure enough, it was the little red wagon. Leo attached to its handle. 

“Kaz!” He whisper-shouted.

Kaz peeked his head out from over the gutter, “Yes?”

“You remember the plan?”

Kaz nodded affirmatively and saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!” He blurted out a tad too loud…

“SHHH!”

Kaz cringed, piping back down, “Sorry, sorry.”

Leo stepped closer to the wall, “There’s gotta be some sort of trigger mechanism to make the hidden entryway appear.”

A beeping noise emitted from a small watch and Kaz knew immediately what that meant…

Oh, boy, he groaned to himself. 

“Why don’t you try banging your little wagon against it?”

“ENOUGH with the wagon!” Leo shouted at Eddie. Clearly the little robot demon had already riled him up. Kaz didn’t blame him. He’d known Eddie for less than a month and even he found himself having fantasies of decapitating him.

But Leo nor Eddie got any further than that, because another sound — this time something Kaz would define as “droning” — erupted from the wall and the doorway opened all on its own.

Kaz lurched backward so he was out of sight once more and tried his best to hear every word.

“Hello, Leo—”

“AAH!” Leo shrieked exactly as high-pitched as Kaz expected. He had to physically cover his mouth to stop the splutter of laughter threatening to escape. 

Marcus didn’t seem fazed, though, as all he did was continue as nonchalant as ever, “Sorry you came all this way, but, uh, we're kinda busy.”

“Oh, yeah? Well I’ve got this,” Kaz peered over just enough to see Leo extracting one of the specialized guns from the large black pouch of weapons.

The smug smirk on his face, though, was wiped right off when Marcus effortlessly swiped the gun from Leo’s grasp with a wave of his molecular kinesis. 

“No. You had that.”

“Oh, yeah? Well I still got aaaall of these,” Leo waved his hands dramatically around the black bag.

Then, with a surprisingly quick hit of laser vision, Marcus poofed those weapons right into in-existence. 

“NO!” Leo screeched, feeling around in the air for what he prayed was still the little wagon.

Nope. Nothing. It was freaking gone.

“Goodbyes are tough, Leo, so I’ll make this easy.”

Before Kaz even had time to blink, Marcus blasted Leo in the chest, sending him hurtling backward into the nearby shrubbery. Kaz slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the gasp and dared himself to only think positive thoughts and not about the fact Leo could have just died.

He’d made a promise to Leo: get his family out no matter what. 

And that was exactly what he was planning to do. 

The whole rest of Leo’s “genius mastermind plan” (as he’d called it) was that Kaz would sneak in and create a distraction while Leo utilized Mr. Davenport’s prototype Exoskeleton to break in and free his family…

Though with Leo out of commission now…It looked like Kaz would have to improvise…

And yes, he was as bad at doing that as you might think.

He watched Marcus slip back inside the house, so the minute he was out of sight, Kaz took the golden opportunity to make his move.

Using his hands to steady himself, he tipped over the eaves and floated to the ground (nearly resulting in a disastrous crash-landing into the grill because he had yet to learn how to control that part of flight dynamics, but he’d just managed to skate by unscathed).

“Phew,” he laughed out breathily in relief, happy he wasn’t sporting any jagged limbs. Wasting no time, he rushed over to the wall and dipped inside the house just as the hidden entrance molded back into the siding.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

It wasn’t long following the winding maze of dark corridors (thank gosh Kaz had a decent memory when it came to this kind of thing) that Kaz heard a faint clamoring of voices.

“-He was trying to save us.” That was definitely Bree. And she didn’t sound too happy.

“He tried to warn us about Marcus and we ignored him,” Chase added. 

Now that he thought of it, none of them seemed too happy.

“When I get out of here, I’m taking you and Marcus down.” That was the most serious Kaz had ever heard Adam. He paused outside the door. He had no idea where Marcus had scurried off to, but wherever it was, he had a bad feeling about it. 

Then, in response to Adam, a much deeper, more gravelly voice spoke, and Kaz had a gut feeling it was that “evil uncle” dude Leo had warned him about. What was his name? David? Dennis? Dustin?

“Good luck with that. Once I press this, it’ll activate your Triton apps. And I’ll control you. Permanently.”

“No—!”

“Stop—!”

“Do Chase first!”

Kaz had no idea what this “Triton” app referred to, but if the way they all reacted to it was any giveaway, it wasn’t anything good.

He heard the loud click of a button, some groaning…Then nothing. Then another click…then nothing…And then even a third click…

Still nothing. 

Even the grunting of the siblings died down after that one. 

“MARCUS, DID YOU PUT BATTERIES IN THIS THING?!” Dean shouted. 

“HA!” It was the first time Mr. Davenport had spoken up, and Kaz would be lying if a small pang of relief didn’t wash through him at the sound of his voice. “I went into their chips and put a block on your app a long time ago. OOH, it is so good watching you eat it!” Kaz sneaked a glance around the corner to see Davenport doing a cocky little prideful dance…

It was as embarrassing as it sounded. Kaz cringed and shook his head as he ducked behind the door frame again.

“Very clever, Donny,” Declan stormed over to the vast array of computers and button pads beside whatever-the-hell-type-of-cell he’d created for the Davenports. “But I’ll get around it. I’ve always been a better programmer than you. There, see? Only eight minutes till my cypher key decrypts your amateur block and activates the Triton app. Heh-heh. What’re you gonna do? Call Mommy?” He jeered mockingly, then thought better of that last comment and added, “If you do, don’t tell her I’m alive.”

Kaz’s eyes widened the minute he realized Daniel was now stomping over to his doorway. He cursed out a “shit” under his breath and scanned the very dark surroundings before just saying “fuck it” and ducked into the deepest part of the shadows and looked up to the heavens and prayed Dallas wouldn’t notice him.

And by some miracle, through all of his rageful irritation at his brother, it seemed Diego was too focused on literally everything else to care much about checking his surroundings more carefully, because he marched by without so much as a glance in Kaz’s direction. 

Phew, he internally exhaled.

He waited several moments to make sure the spiky-haired dude was gone before creeping out of his hiding spot. 

“Guys,” Bree spoke up, sounding way more concerned than she had a minute ago, “There’s only four minutes left until the block is decrypted. We have to get out of here.”

“If we could find a way to deflect one of these beams, we could take out the control console and deactivate the laser source,” Davenport ranted. “I don’t suppose anybody has a mirror on them…”

“If any of us had a mirror on them, it’d be you,” Bree said and Kaz could hear the eye roll paired with it.

“There must be something we can use,” Chase sighed. 

That was the exact moment Kaz decided to make his grand entrance. 

Leaning casually against the doorframe, hands stuffed into his jeans’ pockets, he grinned slyly. “I can think of something.”

All four heads whipped toward him, and it was actually hilarious how harmoniously their jaws dropped and eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“K— Kaz?!” Chase nearly shouted.

“Kaz, what are you doing here?!” Mr. Davenport added, equally as shocked-slash-horrified. 

Kaz shrugged easily. “Leo asked for help. So here I am. You, are welcome,” he did a little bow, remembering Owen’s self-righteous little quip. 

Chase shook his head as if to clear it, “No, Kaz, you can’t be here.”

Kaz pressed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes. He pushed himself off the doorframe and headed over to the console. “Actually, I can. And I already have. You just don’t know it.”

“Wait, what? I’m so confused right now, is this that short dude from school who got sent to detention for microwaving a hotdog?” Adam asked rather dumbly. 

Chase sighed exasperatedly, “Yes, Adam. He’s been over to our house several times. You’ve spoken to him several times.”

“Now, what do you want me to do, Mr. Davenport?” Kaz scanned over the console, ignoring Adam’s comments. 

“Okay, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but…Just freaking rip that stupid piece of junk apart…” He cleared his throat, “Or, ya know, help us find a reflective surface.”

“Why not the wrapper of that granola bar Adam’s eating?” Kaz shrugged again.

Chase blinked at him, then processed what he’d said correctly. “Damn. Didn’t even see that.”

“And you can use Mr. Davenport’s belt as a flat surface.” 

Even though a bit reluctant to part with his custom silver face-engraved belt, Mr. Davenport did hand it over and through a few scuffles of who got to aim the contraption, Bree managed to direct the ray at the console and successfully deactivate the lasers.

As soon as they were out, they were all over Kaz…

Verbally, that was.

“How did you even get here?”

“Does Leo know about this?”

“What do you mean you’ve been here before?”

“Wait, does that mean you knew about Marcus? How about Douglas?”

Douglas! That was his name! Damn, he was bad at that.

“Did you come with Leo—?”

“Did you see Marcus zap him?”

“Why aren’t you more surprised by all this?”

There were a million questions bombarding him at once, and he had no idea where the hell to start. Was now the time to reveal he’d known about them for weeks? Or that he and Leo had nearly died at the hands of said bionic miniature-fella Marcus?

Luckily (but very unluckily), Kaz didn’t need to answer the questions bombing through his head, because at that very moment—

“Bravo,” Douglas slow-clapped sarcastically as he and Marcus rounded the corner — Kaz narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Had they just been standing there, waiting, that entire time? “But just because a dog gets out of his cage doesn’t mean he’s going for a walk—”

“Wait, you have a dog? Where, where, where, where?” Adam was practically panting like one as he got all giddily wound-up. Kaz saw Chase roll his eyes in his peripheral.

Mr. Davenport sighed exhaustedly. “Douglas. You’re not getting these kids.”

“Wrong again, Donny. Look, the decryption is complete. Now I’ll have total control of their—”

With a sweeping high kick, Mr. Davenport knocked the remote out of Douglas’s outstretched hand and Kaz watched in awe as it glided through the air and landed high up on the raised walkways on the opposite side of the room.

Before Kaz knew it, there was the disturbing sound of middle-aged men grunting and, as abruptly as anything, a high-speed fight for the seizing of said remote had breaking out.

Everything was a bit of a blur to Kaz, to be honest. There was a lot — and he means a lot — of wrestling — literal wrestling — between Douglas and Mr. Davenport, to the point where Kaz had to force his eyes away in case one of them burst open and their guts came squishing out. 

At some point Chase was suspended over an old sausage factory meat-churning machine? That was simultaneously apparently also a flamethrower? Kaz had no idea how the heck that happened, but he was just reporting stuff as he saw it. 

Then, you had Bree and Marcus basically manhandling each other on top of the elevated walkways, but after a pretty easy fight on Marcus’ part, Marcus ended up knocking Bree out. 

From across the room as Adam fiddled with different buttons on the panel to try and help close the machine unveiled on the floor, Kaz watched from where he’d backed into a wall as Marcus approached Chase…That same sinfully smug smirk twitching at the corners of his lips.

Kaz couldn’t see Chase’s face from this angle, but he sure as hell could see Marcus’. Marcus crouched in front of Chase, making sure they could see one another properly. Eye-to-eye, practically nose-to-nose. 

With little effort, Marcus knocked off one of Chase’s hands that gripped the railing, leaving him dangling by only one.

Kaz could see Marcus’ mouth moving, but couldn’t hear any of it. Whatever it was…Kaz could only imagine the horrible words he was spewing. 

Marcus had had the audacity to date Chase knowing everything he would eventually do to him and his family…And clearly nothing had changed in that respect or any other.

He’d never cared for him. 

And it became crystal clear in that moment as Kaz watched Marcus reach for Chase’s other hand still wrapped around the railing pole. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl, reality mutating to slow-motion as Marcus' fingers slipped between Chase’s and pried them off. 

Kaz’s eyes widened. He found his feet moving before his consciousness as he propelled himself across the floor, speed-walking morphing to a sprint as Chase’s body plummeted toward the ground…

Something in Kaz’s mind mocked, you won’t make it, you won’t make it, but Kaz was determined — more determined than he’d ever thought he’d be — and he yelped, “Chase—!”

“Got it!”

But by the time Adam had slammed the button and the floor panels had slid shut again, it was too late…Kaz was already dropping to his knees to do that freaking awesome “rockstar knee slide” thingy he’d seen on one of Kyle’s Guitar Hero run-throughs. 

And even more unfortunately for him than the definite rash he was going to have afterward, Chase’s body landed in his outstretched arms and slammed into his thighs and chest with a loud thud and a resounding, “Oof,” from them both.

Kaz was heaving by the time he’d managed to refocus on what the hell had just happened. 

When his gaze snapped downward, he found Chase already staring up at him. He couldn’t quite decipher the look on his face, something that seemed to be between surprise and bewilderment, but even that couldn’t fool Kaz. He’d become quite good at reading people’s emotions over the years working at Mighty Med, and this was no different.

It was clear Chase was trying to cover up a serious wound that Kaz made a mental note to ask about later. 

And for a moment, it was as if time faded into nothingness. Just the two of them, locked on each other’s eyes, with nothing but chaos unfolding around them.

But it lasted no longer than an elongated second or two, because just as quickly as it had started, Chase cleared his throat with a wincing groan and Adam was by his side in a second, extending a hand.

Yeah, that was a first, too.

So much so, in fact, that Kaz could see the gears churning in Chase’s head as he processed what his brother was offering.

Kaz hopped up straight after, patting Chase awkwardly on the shoulder (pretending as if what had just happened hadn’t happened) (because, honestly, he very well could have simply imagined it all), “You good, man?”

“Yeah,” Chase exhaled breathily, “Thanks.”

“As much as I love this little reunion, you mind helping, Chasey?” Adam said with about as much genuity as Kaz being a normal human with no superpowers whatsoever. Chase scoffed but indulged in his brother’s request and faced Marcus once more. 

The three siblings stood in a tight circle around Marcus, closing in on him by the second.

“You may be strong, but let’s see you take on all three of us,” Adam growled out through gritted teeth. 

Damn! Kaz felt like he needed a bowl of popcorn or something!

“Go ahead, creep. Take your best shot,” Bree spat.

“Gladly.”

All Kaz could do was watch in unadulterated horror as Marcus concocted a ball of energy out of thin air and zapped the three of them in one go, sending their bodies tumbling to the floor in motionless heaps. 

That was it, Kaz thought, nostrils flaring. It was one thing if they had each other to back one another up, but with all three down, Marcus had crossed a line… 

Okay, he’d crossed the line way earlier, but you get what Kaz meant. 

Kaz had promised himself, Oliver, and Mighty Med he wouldn’t reveal his secret unless absolutely necessary — for the sake of the entire superhero world —...But now seemed as desperate a time as any. 

Not only was Kaz in shock, he was pissed.

“Hey, Robo-Freak! Over here!” He shouted mockingly.

With green-glinting eyes of bionic activation, Marcus rolled his shoulders back and set his glaring sights on Kaz.

Thrusting his two fists into a boxing stance, he finally let his guard come down enough to allow his knuckles to catch flame. 

And suddenly…

Kaz knew he’d caught him off-guard. With a quick glance up to where Douglas and Davenport were still squabbling about with the remote, he knew he was good to go. 

“Wasn’t expecting that, were ya, big boy?” He smirked. 

But Marcus shook off any hint of startlement and within an instant his ever-present simper was back.

The remote dropped from the overhead walkways only moments before Douglas smacked to the floor a few feet beside it. 

Marcus cocked his head at Kaz, “You’re going to have to do better than that, Kazzy-bear.”

Kaz growled at the horrendous nickname and lurched forward, about to swing with every fiber in his being, when—

CRAAAAASH!

With the most Olympic-worthy dive Kaz had never known his wimpy body was capable of, he just narrowly avoided the collision of several tons of rubble and roofing as it smashed to the floor with a near ear-drum-shattering sound. 

“What the—” Kaz and Douglas spoke in synchrony. 

“EXOSKELETON IN THE HOUSE!...Or whatever you call this funky place.”

A grin spread across Kaz’s features. 

He couldn’t believe it, that devious little prankster had made it.

“Leo!” Kaz exclaimed.

“Leo, you’re alive!” Davenport shrieked from where he now, too, practically dangled over the ledges of the walkways.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me. Seriously, I’m fine.”

“I ask you to do one thing!” Douglas screamed at Marcus from where he was still sprawled on the ground.

Kaz took this moment of distraction to dash over and give the biggest, most powerful stomp he’d ever given in his entire life to that remote. 

And it worked. By the time he’d removed his shoe, the reveal of the hundreds of shards of shattered metal did definitely not sit well with Hedgehog Hair.

“You broke it! Everyone always breaks my toys!” He shrieked like a toddler throwing a tantrum. If Douglas hadn’t tried to kill all of them at least once already, Kaz might have actually thought it was funny.

While Davenport quickly descended the staircase to the first floor, he and Douglas wasted no time getting yet another brawl, this time noogying each other to see who folded first.

Kaz didn’t envy them at all. He shot them a disgusted grimace and averted his gaze away from whatever that was.

But by the time he’d looked back at Leo, the dude was already spitting lasers out of his arms (well, the Exoskeleton’s arms).

“How do you like me now, Marcus?”

“Still not a fan.”

Using his super-speed, he jolted forward and shoved the Exoskeleton onto the debris pile. 

“Oh, shit,” Kaz blurted without realizing he’d spoken aloud.

Marcus turned to him, “What? You want some of this, too?”

And before Kaz could put up any sort of defense, Marcus was hauling him off of his feet and chucking him onto the ground beside Leo.

“Owwww,” Kaz groaned, gripping the left side of his ribcage.

The electric crackling noises coming from beside him didn’t sound too good, either…

“So this thing can bust through walls and shoot lasers but it can’t get back up?”

“Well, it’s a prototype…” Davenport tried to explain, which Kaz just ignored because he couldn’t fixate on much else aside from the searing pain in his left side.

“You two just don’t seem to go away. This time I’m going to finish you guys for good,” Marcus towered above them.

…And when Marcus whipped out those three knuckle razors… Well, let’s just say all of Kaz’s resolve dissipated in an instant.

He shrieked. He shrieked like a freaking schoolgirl when her crush caught her ogling him. 

I mean, he shriek- shrieked. And so did Leo. Leo shrieked at pretty much the same pitch as him and they both used every fiber of energy left in their bodies to try and heave themselves up — or at least scramble out of the way — but everything was pointless. Kaz’s ribs he was sure were broken, at least some, and every time he moved a sharp pain shot up his left side. 

Here it was. It was over. Oliver would never know what truly happened to him. Skylar, too. And Jordan, and Gus, and, hell, even his whole family. Even Kevin. 

Kaz screwed his eyes shut as tight as they could possibly go, hoping that by some miracle that would work in numbing at least some of the pain…

“Get. Away from them,” a gravelly — almost electronic — voice reverberated off the walls. 

But still, Kaz didn’t dare take a peek.

All he knew was that a moment later, he felt some sort of powerful magnetic force crash over him.

Peeking one eye open, he saw Marcus blacked out on the floor. His wide eyes trailed to Adam, who still seemed to be coming down from whatever the hell he’d just done. 

“That was awesome! Wow. All that from one granola bar,” he beamed.

Kaz blinked at the bionic dude. 

Okay, he’d clearly expected too much of him.

“What’s going on? Are we winning?”

Right. Leo. 

“We gotta get out of here. The whole place is coming down,” Chase panicked.

“I got Leo,” Bree announced, rushing over to grab her brother. 

“Slow your roll, girlie, I got him,” Adam clicked his tongue and assisted her. 

No more than a moment later, Chase was at Kaz’s side, dropping to his knees with a concerned look. 

“Are you okay? What hurts?”

“My side,” he winced, “I think he broke some ribs.”

“Shit. Okay, um…” Chase surveyed the area, perhaps looking for something to help support Kaz with, but must have come up negative because he then added, “Alright, just—” he licked over his lips, “I’m gonna help you up and you’re going to lean against me, okay?”

Kaz didn’t say anything and groaned again, a little out of it.

“Kaz!” Chase snapped, “Pay attention, keep your eyes on me, okay? Don’t you dare close them.”

Kaz nodded distantly, already feeling as if his soul was leaving his body, but willed himself to at least try and listen to Chase’s words. 

With much effort — painful effort, no less — they managed to get him semi-upright on his feet. Chase was careful to avoid any areas that might be bruised or injured, and successfully hauled Kaz out of the house. 

It wasn’t long before the other four followed, the six now secured somewhat safely in the same backyard where everything had started. 

They all knew they each had a million questions (except for maybe Adam), but they also all knew they would have to wait. There were more important matters at hand.

And even though at this moment they knew their priority tasks included the tedious peeling of Leo out of the Exoskeleton, tending to Kaz’s wounds, and checking everyone else for others…

They also each knew that this night had changed everything. For better or worse.

Shit was about to get more real than any of them could have ever imagined.

Chapter Text

“Owowowowowowow,” Kaz threw his head back and hissed, recoiling at a particularly intense shockwave of pain.

Chase gave a flustered apology, stumbling over his words as he tried to make amends for the accidental affliction, “Sorry, sorry!”

Kaz cringed at the stabbing sensation in his left side and bit the inside of his cheek to try and redirect his focus. Despite having been bandaged for several days now, the bruises and slow recovery of the injuries were as agonizing as ever.

Kaz winced as Chase carefully re-wrapped him. Each twist of the bandage sent a sharp pang of discomfort through him, and he gritted his teeth, trying to keep still. 

Again, Chase muttered a, “Sorry, sorry,” glancing up with a look of concern. The soreness in Kaz’s ribs was undeniable, and every adjustment seemed to amplify the throbbing pain. Despite the carefulness of Chase’s fingers, Kaz couldn’t suppress a soft groan, expression strained.

Once finished, Chase pulled back with a sharp sigh of relief. “Done,” he admired his handiwork and hastily pressed his hand across the lower edge of Kaz’s eighth, ninth, and tenth ribs to re-smooth the tape.

Kaz, too, was more content now that his injuries weren’t being constantly pawed at.

“Thanks,” he breathed out through a pant.

“No problem,” Chase grinned, “Glad to know my human anatomy is still up to par.”

Kaz rolled his eyes, “Dude, everything in that brain is up to par, and you know it, you little jerk,” he poked Chase's stomach playfully while Chase simply giggled.

“You know it,” he winked right back. 

Kaz held his gaze, an indecipherable expression etched over his face.

But the light-heartedness of the moment dissipated soon after, replaced by an uneasy silence.

They hadn’t exactly… talked since it all went down. Everyone had been too busy trying to figure out where the hell Douglas scampered off to and making sure people’s health was all up to snuff…No one had really had time to speak to Kaz about all of this.

And unfortunately for him, this time seemed as good as any.

Which is why he knew even before Chase opened his mouth precisely what was going to come out of it. 

“Kaz, are you…” he trailed off, seeming to rethink everything he was about to say. Then, he licked his lips, refocused on Kaz, and opened his mouth again, “Do you…think differently of me?”

Kaz’s gaze dropped to the floor as he processed the question, the weight of it pressing heavily on him. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of some wacky Davenport Industries invention off in the corner, amplifying the rawness of the moment. He could feel the intensity of Chase’s scrutiny, the vulnerability in the air thickening with every second.

His fingers twitched slightly at his sides. The question seemed to hang there, echoing louder than the silence that followed. Kaz shifted his weight away from his left side — again wincing slightly — struggling to find the right words. His heart pounded, and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. It wasn’t just about what he thought now, but about the friendship Kaz would like to think they’d built and how it might shift in this fragile space.

Finally, he looked up, meeting Chase’s eyes with a mix of apprehension and earnestness. 

“I don’t think differently of you,” Kaz said, his voice steady but soft. “If anything, I—” He hesitated, worrying his bottom lip as if it would do something. “I see you more clearly now. You’re...more human to me. We’re both human. And that doesn’t change how I feel toward you.”

Kaz swallowed hard, a touch of vulnerability breaking through his facade as thoughts of Mighty Med and his own secrets swirled in his eyes. He couldn’t let Chase see nor question it, though. 

“I know this is hard, but...I hope you know that what’s important to me is the friendships I’ve built with all of you, not whatever chip might be stuffed into your bodies,” Kaz and Chase both let out relieved laughter. 

Then Chase’s expression faltered a moment, something much more raw shifting onto his features. There was a hint of a nervous anxiety Kaz could tell stemmed from past wounds, like he didn’t quite trust Kaz at his first word. 

He glanced down at the floor of the lab before back at Kaz’s eyes, wide and hopeful.

Something in Kaz’s chase fluttered at the rare moment of emotional intimacy. Something that just four weeks ago Kaz would not have ever imagined could be a reality. 

“So…You’re positive you don’t hate me?”

Kaz didn’t waste any time in beaming right back at him, returning his wink from earlier, “Not at all. I promise.”

Chase’s eyes gleamed and he smiled brightly, lurching forward in his giddiness and tossing his arms around Kaz’s torso.

“Ahh,” Kaz winced, “Be careful, please,” he choked out a chuckle.

Animated expression instantly dampened, Chase jumped back, apologizing profusely, “Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry. Got a little too excited, I guess,” he tittered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Eh, we all do it,” Kaz smirked, for once without sarcasm.

Chase sighed, rising to his feet and extending a hand for Kaz to steady himself on, “Ready to get back? I’m sure people are already getting into trouble without us there.”

Kaz simpered, “Bold of you to assume I’m not trouble myself. Which, spoiler alert,” he dropped his voice an octave, “I am.”

Chase huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Alright, Ferris Bueller, c’mon.”

Kaz’s jaw dropped as Chase helped him up, “You’ve seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?!”

Chase shot him a look like that was the most ridiculous question anyone had ever asked him. He extended the hand he wasn’t using to assist Kaz in a handshake, “Hi, I’m Chase Davenport, unfortunate younger brother of that dumbass Adam Davenport, I don’t think we’ve met.”

Kaz raised his brows, unamused, and shooed his hand away. Chase cackled, carefully leading Kaz out of the room.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Friday evening rolled around at the pace of a crawl. Kaz’s ribs were slowly healing, but the dull pain that would occasionally spike up his side — even on the painkillers — was as annoying as ever. 

Earlier, after the last class of the day, he’d agreed to join the Davenport siblings on their late night excursion to the nearby theater’s re-release of The Goonies. Adam had wanted to go for the treasure hunt, Leo for the weird face prosthetics, Bree to get out of the house and break curfew, and Kaz decided to join because he would do anything to avoid seeing Kevin a little longer.

And as expected, Chase was the only one who wanted to go for the plot and because it was, “an 80s masterpiece.”

No surprise there.

But, the movie ended at 10:30 pm, which was over an hour past the Davenports’ curfew. They’d invited Kaz over for a sleepover, Leo inviting him to stay in his bedroom with him, and Kaz had happily agreed. 

But now it was nearing 11:00pm, and they had just arrived at the front patio. 

“We’re gonna be in so much trouble with Mr. Davenport. We’re two hours past curfew, and lights are already off,” Chase stressed as he approached the door.

Bree stepped forward to interject her own opinion on the situation, “We are bionic teenagers who go on top secret missions. I’m pretty sure we can sneak past an out-of-shape, middle-aged man.”

“Alright, well, just to be safe, I’ll use my bionic vision to scan inside.”

Chase pressed two fingers to his temple, there was a light trilling sound before a beeping noise, and then Chase lowered them. “All clear. They must be asleep.”

“Good. But we’ve gotta be super quiet,” Leo glanced at Kaz, who nodded in affirmation.

Chase nodded his head with a smirk, “Sneakin’ in after curfew. This’ll totally boost my bad boy cred.” Kaz blinked at him with an “Are you serious?” face, “Tippy toes, people, tippy toes.”

Bree rolled her eyes, “Spoken like a true bad boy.”

Chase looped his arms under Kaz’s to act as a support structure which Kaz was eternally grateful for. Having to half-crouch as he “sneaked” inside the now-opened door was still quite painful for his ribs. 

Once they were all inside and Leo had successfully shut the door with a surprising lack of noise, they deemed it safe enough to straighten their postures and relax a tad…

“BUSTED!”

“AHHHH!” They shrieked in unison as the lights burst to life and Davenport was suddenly emerging from the red lounge chair across the way from some sort of cape.

“HA!”

“I don’t get it! I scanned the room!”

“Mm-hmm, and I foiled you with my invisibility cloak. Again, I say: HA!”

Leo thinned his lips into a line, “Well, you got us…Good night!”

The five of them turned on their heels to scurry away again—

“Freeze! You are all grounded, three weeks. Kaz, I’m calling your mother in the morning. Does she even know you’re here?”

Kaz pursed his lips and rocked awkwardly on the balls of his feet, “No…”

“What I thought. You can stay here tonight because of how late it is, but you’re going home tomorrow. Got it?”

Kaz nodded, a bit sheepish. 

“Look, you guys have no idea what it’s like raising teenagers.”

“He can’t ground me if he can’t see me!” Adam announced, all macho. He raced for the couch and grabbed a blanket, throwing it haphazardly over his head before racing for the door…And banging straight into it. “Aaahh!” He grunted. “I didn’t grab the invisibility cloak, did I?”

Oh, boy, Kaz thought. Tonight was going to be one long-ass night…

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

The following morning was as uneventful as “being grounded for three weeks” sounded. Kaz didn’t know what his own punishment was, but if he knew anything about his mother, it was that she was brutal when it came to situations like this.

Or, as she liked to call them, “life lessons.”

“Ughh,” Kaz groaned as he entered the lab for the first time that morning, he and Leo walking in on Adam, Bree, and Chase playing some card game. “Being grounded sucks.”

Chase glanced up at him, “Kaz, you haven’t even been given a punishment yet.”

“Yeah, but I could feel it in the air this morning. It’s not gonna be good.”

Chase chuckled to himself and slapped down a card.

“I hate being grounded. Is the three weeks over yet?” Adam whined.

“It hasn’t even been a day,” Bree slouched forward on her stool.

“Guys! Guys! I did it! I finally did it!” Davenport came busting into the lab, seemingly forgetting all about how angry he was the night prior.

“Graduated to big boy shoes?” Leo feigned excitement.

“No. I have finally achieved something I have wanted my whole life. I won the Presidential Medal for Scientific Achievement!”

No one was anywhere near as impressed as he was. 

“Mm. That’s great,” Chase pretended to act intrigued. 

“Yeah, I think I got one of those for doing pull-ups in gym class.”

Mr. Davenport eyed Adam, “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. It was push-ups.”

“This is the highest honor a scientist can receive. My picture’s gonna be plastered online and offline — if there’s a line, my face is gonna be on it.”

After the disgusted grimaces Kaz and Adam shot him, Chase decided it best to just roll with it, “What did you win it for?”

Mr. Davenport reached into his back pocket and extracted a small metal device with a large red ball on one end. 

Kaz eyed it suspiciously, “The heck is that?”

“This is my Neural Scrambler. This thing is going to revolutionize the field of neurology.”

“Huh?”

“The brain,” Chase explained to a completely lost Adam.

“Ohh!”

“How does it work?” Leo asked.

“It can erase specified time increments of neural associations in the cerebral cortex.”

“Huh?”

“The brain!” Chase exclaimed exasperatedly.

“Ohh!”

“Basically, it helps doctors erase bad memories.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Bree interrupted, “Does it erase all memories, or can it just zero in on… that?” She, too, grimaced, as she gestured to Adam and Chase.

“-Congrats, Donald!” Tasha hurried off the elevator and into the lab. “I got your text about the Presidential award! Gosh, this is so exciting. What a big break for us!”

Davenport nodded along in utter puzzlement, “‘Us’?”

“I was thinking I could interview you for my TV station. ‘Local Reporter Lands Presidential Award Winner,’ A Tasha Davenport Exclusive. This could be a really big break.”

“Well, it would be a really big break for you.”

Tasha’s face fell. Mr. Davenport hastily tried to fix his mistake. “I mean, it would really help your faltering career—”

Tasha’s jaw dropped. 

“No, I mean you’d really get to cover something that finally matters—”

Tasha scoffed, hands on her hips.

“You know what? You have got yourself an interview.”

She was still not amused. 

“And a new pair of shoes?”

Nope. Still nothing.

At that, he defeatedly dug into his pant's pocket.

“Just take my wallet. Just take that.”

With a snatch of the wallet from his hand, she marched off again, seemingly to depart on a major shopping spree.

As soon as she’d disappeared, Mr. Davenport turned back to the group, eyeing Kaz in particular. 

“Well, I couldn’t reach your mother earlier, so I’m assuming she’s out at work. I don’t want to send you home alone because gosh knows what you’ll get into there. I’ll call again in a few hours. For now…You’re under the same rules as these four. Got it?”

Kaz nodded stiffly, face hot, “Yes, Mr. Davenport.”

“Good. And remember, I’ve got eyes everywhere. Eddy’s on alert,” he said with raised brows. A part of Kaz was expecting the snarky little robot demon to pop up and make some quip about it, but nothing of the sort happened. 

With that, Davenport returned upstairs, leaving them alone once more.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“Has it been three weeks yet?” Adam yawned again. This was the sixteenth time he’d asked that. And even Kaz was starting to get fed up with it.

They’d migrated to the kitchen area. Bree and Adam were staring off into space, Leo was eating an apple with the most bored expression Kaz had ever seen in his life, and he himself was busy swiveling around on one of those office spinny chairs.

“Stop!” Bree groaned, Adam having finally crossed the line into Bree’s “pissed off” territory, “I hate being grounded! I am missing Stella Jordan’s birthday party, and I so wanted to be there when she doesn’t get a car!”

“Wow, I’m so sorry you’re missing out on that,” Kaz deadpanned sarcastically, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

But before she could retort, Chase bounded into the kitchen. “Guys! I have an idea!” Instantaneously, all of them were out of their seats and gathered around Chase…who held that contraption. Yes, the one Mr. Davenport had just won the award for. “We can use the Neural Scrambler to erase twenty-four hours of Mr. Davenport’s memory.”

“Wait. Sneaking in past curfew, disobeying authority—” Bree questioned suspiciously, “Who are you and what have you done with Chase?”

“No, I see where he’s going with this—”

Kaz highly doubted Adam had any idea where he was going with this—

“Mr. Davenport will forget he bought groceries yesterday, he’ll go again today, and we’ll have double the food!”

Chase raised his brows, “Or…He’ll totally forget he grounded us.”

“We’ll see which one pans out.”

“Look, I think this is really risky,” Bree said, “If Davenport catches us we will be grounded for life.”

“But if he doesn’t, we’ll never get grounded again,” Chase argued and Kaz had to agree…Sounded pretty good to him.

“Hey, if this gets me out of him calling my mom, count me in.”

He and Chase high-fived.

“Plus…Double the groceries!”

“Wait, so we’re just gonna zap the guy?” Leo asked, still dubious about this whole plan.

“Don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe.”

“How do you know?”

“Bree, please. I’m the smartest guy in the world—”

“You have no idea, do you,” Kaz butted in.

“Nope. Just wanna get outta the house.”

Chase lifted the device, calibrating it to the 24-hour mark, then rushed over to where Mr. Davenport was sitting at his desk reading.

The four of them followed.

“Hey, there, whatcha readin’?” Chase hid the Scrambler behind his back.

Kaz raised his brows like there was no way this was gonna work.

He met Leo’s eyes…

Apparently, they had the same train of thought.

“Oh, um, I’m almost finished with this biography on the guy who was born I guess the cousin of the queen of Spain—”

“Fascinating,” and then Chase was whipping out the Scrambler and zapping him.

There was a big, flashy blue light, then a pause. Davenport glanced around like he’d lost every sane bone in his body, then said, “That’s weird. Just lost my train of thought.”

Bree jumped in for the save, “Oh, um, I—I…just asked you if I could go to Stella Jordan’s birthday party.”

Davenport spurted out a laugh. “Of course you can.”

“Yes, it worked!” Leo exclaimed.

“What worked?”

…And of course, Adam just had to ruin it…

“We just zapped your brain with your thing and erased your memory!”

“Erased my memory?! Have you guys been messing with my Neural Scrambler?

“No…!” Bree snatched the Scrambler off where Chase had left it on the desk, “Set to sixty seconds…”

“That thing is not a toy. You guys are grounded for—”

She zapped him again.

Davenport blinked and Kaz had to laugh.

“That’s weird. Lost my train of thought.”

Leo cleared his throat, “Hey, can Kaz, Chase, and I go to the movies?”

“Of course you can.”

Adam grabbed the zapper, wanting to join in the fun. “Hey, I wanna try this—”

“Try what?” Davenport furrowed his brows, confused. 

“Mmm, hummus!” Adam proceeded to revoltingly swipe his fingers through the tray of hummus, shoveling it into his mouth.

Kaz smirked. Ah…That was so something he would do.

“Adam, don’t eat that! Now, no one can eat…!”

Adam zapped him a third time.

“Ooh, hummus!” Davenport plucked up a carrot, dragged it through the hummus, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Chase simpered, “And just like that, we’re free!”

“Later, Big ‘D’, we’re going to the movies.”

“Okay, be back by nine,” Davenport called out as they fled the scene for the front door.

“Yeah, nine. Right.”

“Ooh! I’ve always wanted to read this! Page one, let’s do this,” Kaz heard him blurt out from behind them, and the trio of them just had to cackle.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“God, that movie was so bad,” Kaz groaned as the three of them entered the house later that afternoon.

“I know, right? Like, who thought it was a good idea to use a shark sent by the Devil as a metaphor for climate change?” Chase scoffed, entering the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of lemonade.

“To be fair,” Leo started, “Companies green-light this type of shit all the time.”

Kaz shot him a bored expression, “Not an excuse, bud. I mean, seriously, what has happened to the movie industry? You used to go and get decent type shit like mafia and superheroes, and now we get gross love stories and ghost sharks sent down from God to ‘rid the world of evil oil barons.’”

“Hey, how ‘bout Chase write one,” Leo grinned at the bionic hero.

Kaz played along teasingly, “Yeah, I mean, you are the smartest guy in the world…At least you claim to be.”

Chase shot him a fake smile. “Ha ha. Very funny. Can you recite the entire first 300,000 digits of pi?”

Kaz pursed his lips and went quiet. 

Chase quirked his lips, “That’s what I thought.”

Kaz rolled his eyes, about to retaliate, when Leo burst their little bubble, “Well, as fun as it is watching you two bicker about nothing, I’mma go find Big ‘D’. Gotta get him to sign this damn progress report,” he snatched a piece of paper off the edge of the counter with an exaggerated eye roll. “Later, losers.”

Kaz and Chase watched him go. 

As soon as he was gone, they turned to each other and burst into a fit of laughter.

“He’s hopeless,” Chase chuckled, downing the rest of his lemonade and rinsing it in the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. 

“Eh, I can’t really say much. I’m practically known for being terrible at school.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed, suspicious. “What’s the highest grade you’ve received?”

“On anything?” Chase nodded. “Uhhh…” Kaz paused, racking his brain for the answer, thumbing through his memories to try and remember. “I think…” he pressed his lips in a thin line, thinking hard. “I think maybe a B?”

Chase blinked, jaw dropping slightly. “Just a B? Not a B-plus, or anything?”

Kaz rolled his eyes but dropped his gaze to fiddle with the hem of his t-shirt, suddenly feeling very subconscious. His face heated and he mumbled out a, “Well, not all of us can have bionic smarty chips jammed into our necks.”

Chase instantly shut his mouth once more, realizing his mistake. His voice lowered to something more apologetic. “...Sorry. I didn’t mean it as an insult.”

Kaz lifted his brows, slightly agitated at Chase’s ignorance. “Yeah. Well.”

Chase sighed, hesitated, then stepped closer. 

Kaz snapped his head up, a bit startled by the abrupt approach. “Seriously. I am sorry. I didn’t mean it in that way.”

Chase bowed his head — a bit sheepishly — then met Kaz’s expectant stare again. “I actually think you’re quite smart. Just maybe not in the way you’re thinking of.”

He shot Kaz an assuring smile. It took a moment, but eventually, Kaz returned it, a warmer glint in his eye.

Something about those words did things to Kaz…

Things he didn’t quite understand and things he perhaps didn’t want to understand, out of fear of what they might mean.

With a clearing of his throat, he took a step back (because God knew what would start happening to him if they remained that close) and glanced off to the side, smirking when his eyes landed on the TV remote.

“Wanna play Mortal Kombat and beat Davenport’s high score?”

“Oh, he’s gonna absolutely kill us,” Chase laughed. 

Kaz grinned wickedly, “Exactly.”

Chase matched his grimace, “Oh, hell yeah. Let’s do it.”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Thirty minutes later, Kaz and Chase had easily succeeded in their goal. 

By this point, Bree had returned from Stella’s party, Adam from…Wherever the hell he’d gone…And Leo…

Actually, Kaz had no idea where Leo was.

After disappearing with his progress report, no one had seen him since. 

But they couldn’t care less. Adam and Bree just pulled out their phones. 

“Nonononononono!”

“Oh, yes yes yes,” Chase grinned, all malicious. 

“Nooo!” Kaz shrieked as Chase delivered a devastating final blow, effectively defeating Kaz’s character. “Frick you!”

“And that, my friends, is how you do it,” Chase said cockily, doing a little bow.

Kaz chucked the controller to the cushion beside him, crossing his arms with a pout.

But he couldn’t even respond before Leo burst into the room like he’d just witnessed the entirety of his life flash before his eyes.

“-Guys! Uh, guys, we have a problem!”

“What is it?” Bree looked up from her phone.

“-ROCKET CHAIR!”

And suddenly, there was a middle-aged man blasting through the room on a chair powered by two massive…things. 

Kaz didn’t know what to call them.

And while the five of them looked on in horror…

Mr. Davenport was having the freaking time of his life.

Kaz’s face pointed at Leo, who looked more petrified than any of the rest of them, and all Kaz said was, “And to think I was going to get grounded and sent home and miss out on all of this fun,” a toothy smile blossomed across his face.

He couldn’t be more amused by the situation, personally.

“So, what’s the problem?” Adam shrugged as unvexed as ever.

Chase rolled his eyes with a haughty sigh. “Oh, I don’t know, Adam, maybe the fact that Leo ‘Leo’d’ this up!”

“Hey!”

Bree stood up, walking over to Leo with a dubious head nod. “Leo, what’s going on?”

“You know that neural thing we were all playing with?” Oh boy, Kaz chuckled, arms crossing over his chest.

“Can’t wait to hear this one,” he simpered.

“Yes,” Chase spoke, clearly as concerned as he was agitated.

“I tried to erase 24 hours and accidentally erased 24 years, he’s fifteen!”

“WHOO!” Davenport said as he finally lifted himself from where he was spinning wildly in the rocket seat or whatever you called it. “This place is sick! And now I’m gonna be sick!” He gagged, rushing over to the nearest planter and vomiting into it.

Kaz cringed with an “ooh.”

To the four of them, Leo said, “I don’t know why they gave him that Presidential Medal. This thing is fault-y!” Leo dropped the Scrambler to the sofa.

“The device is fine. You’re the problem! Like I said, you 'Leo’ed' this up!”

“Hey, don’t you turn my name into a verb!”

Davenport clambered to where they were huddled, “Okay. Who are you people, and how did I get here?”

Chase jumped right in, “Look, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but your brain lost 24 years of its memory because of a device you created.”

Davenport’s mouth dropped open, “Whoa…!” He noticed Chase’s phone on the coffee table. He snatched it. “What’s that?” 

“That’s my phone.”

“Whoa…” he flipped it over in his palms a few times, then stepped to the side to continue fiddling with it.

“What are we going to do? Mr. Davenport is the only person who knows how the Neural Scrambler works!”

“Guys, relax. Mr. Davenport can help us.”

Kaz blinked at Adam’s nonchalant comment quizzically. “How?”

“Easy. We just have to wait 24 years,” he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Bree threw her head back and groaned. “Okay, look, we need to figure out how to get our father back.”

“Yeah…” Kaz trailed off, “Considering how he doesn’t even know what a phone is, I don’t think he’s in the running for…” he blinked at the bumbling fifteen-year-old idiot pressing random buttons on the phone screen over in the corner, “...Anything.”

Just as the words came out, though, that “bumbling idiot” returned to the scene, extending Chase’s phone to him as his ringtone played. 

“I think you got a phone call,” he said innocently. 

And no, Kaz did absolutely not trust him.

Chase grabbed it from him, lifting it to his ear and pressing the “answer call” button…

Only to be freaking zapped to all holy hell, spasming in place.

Kaz giggled in amusement. 

Maybe this dude wasn’t so bad, he thought wickedly as he stole a glance over at Davenport, who was cackling.

“Burn! I’m a total tech whiz! I took that thing apart and rewired it and turned it into a zapper!”

“That’s not funny! Turn it back!” Chase huffed, thrusting it out in front of him.

Davenport’s face fell solemn, “I’m sorry. Just push ‘3’ and it’ll turn back into a regular phone.”

Chase did so…And got zapped again.

Kaz couldn’t help himself. He guffawed along with the others. Chase, however, looked more furious than Kaz had ever seen him.

“Double burn! This one, not too bright,” he pointed before heading for the kitchen of all places like he’d been offered to move in.

“Man,” Adam interjected, “I like him much better this way. Can we keep him?” He gasped excitedly at the prospect.

“I second that!” Kaz shot his hand up. He was more than happy to have a fifteen-year-old Davenport as long as it meant more pranks. He smirked at the thought. "What? I love dogs," he shrugged nonchalantly.

“Guys, but he’s not a dog,” Chase countered. Though, Adam didn’t seem to care.

Then, from over in the kitchen—

“Ooh! Peanut butter,” Davenport exclaimed before proceeding to eat it straight out of the container with his mouth.

“He’s pretty much a dog,” Adam beamed.

“We still can’t keep him like this!”

“Yeah,” Leo chimed in, “When my mom finds out she’s married to an idiotic teenager—” he stopped himself there, thought about it for a moment, then furrowed his brows, “Okay, maybe she’s prepared for that.”

“Hey, guys!” Tasha walked in just then because of course she did.

Oh, this was gonna be a doozy, Kaz sighed to himself. 

“Kaz! You’re still here.”

“Hi, Mrs. Davenport,” he smiled as innocently as his face could allow.

“Please, honey, I told you, call me ‘Tasha’.”

“Sorry…” Kaz paused, then added, “Tasha,” he cringed a little, but decided to try not and think too hard on it.

Which would be easy considering he tended to not think hard on most things.

“Hey, who’s that? You’re grandma?” 

They rushed over to shush Davenport before he said anything that could destroy their marriage entirely.

“What’s going on?” Tasha asked questioningly.

“Nothing much, Nana, what’s up with you?” Davenport continued on in his path of destruction.

Bree and Leo rushed back over to her for damage control.

“What did you say, Donald?”

“You know me? Who are you?”

Bree and Leo released exaggerated chuckles. 

“He’s…kidding,” Bree explained, as awkward as Kaz had ever seen her. “We’re playing a game, and it’s called, uh… ‘Who Are You’? And what I would like to know is…Who are you?” She touched a hand to her shoulder.

“Yeah, Mom…Who are you?” Leo played along, his eyes begging her to buy into it.

She gave them a look that said everything they needed to know about how unamused she was. “A person with no patience for stupid games.”

“Sarcasm. Let’s add that to her list! Am I right?”

Leo and Bree burst out into forceful overblown laughter, knocking each other with their elbows. Thank gosh the rest of them caught on and stiffly joined in.

As everyone else was distracted by the horrendous joke Leo had just made, Chase turned to Adam and Kaz and whisper-shouted, “Quick! Get him out of here before we get busted!”

“What? Well, where do you expect us to take him?” Kaz whisper-shouted right back.

“I don’t know! Just take him for a walk!”

Adam sputtered, “Oh, he’s totally a dog!”

Kaz rolled his eyes and grabbed Davenport by the shoulders, “Just come on, Adam!” 

With that, they led him out of the scene of the crime.

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Some time later, Kaz had had no idea how they’d gotten to this point. 

The lab was a mess, various power tools scattered across the cyber desk, random mechanical parts and stray wires covering the vast majority of its surface. 

Currently, he was drilling into some sheet of metal because it was fun and looked cool. He wasn’t sure what used-to-be Davenport Industries device he was destroying, but he honestly didn’t really care because he liked destroying things almost as much as he liked food. 

“Hey, bro, look at this,” he held up the flimsy sheet of metal he’d just drilled a buffalo-wing pattern into. He smirked boastfully. 

“Whoa-oah!” Adam responded impressively, “Wanna see what I made?”

Kaz grinned as Adam held up his own sheet…

And his immediate reaction of excitement instantly turned into one of what the fuck was that when Adam revealed his masterpiece…

Some very poorly drill-drawn—

“Is that a pile of poop?”

Adam beamed, “Yeah! It’s Chase!”

Kaz nodded slowly, eyebrows raising as his response sank in.

Interesting.

At that moment, the other three walked in…

And took in the scene around them. 

“Guys, what are you doing?!” Chase stepped over to Mr. Davenport, who was currently using a metal cutter to saw off half of some large titanium instrument. “You’re ruining your million-dollar technology!”

“If by ‘ruining’ you mean ‘making awe-some’!”

“Yeah, unlike the other Davenport this one invents cool stuff,” Adam butted in to be of absolutely no help.

“Yeah, huh, check this out!” Davenport dashed over to their newly-invented kebab machine. Kaz had wanted to make it a wing maker, but they shot him down.

“I took this useless thingy—” he started, but was cut off by Chase.

“Useless? That’s an oxygen vacuum fire hose. It was going to revolutionize firefighting.”

“Well, now it’s going to revolutionize grilled meat.”

“Kebab me, teen ‘D’!” Adam stuck out a kebab stick as everyone's eyes watched in awe as the kebab machine worked its magic, spitting out perfectly grilled pieces of chicken onto the metal stick.

“See? I finally get science. This is saving lives!”

“So is this!” Davenport clicked the button for the wedgie machine. Kaz watched as it hooked into Chase’s underwear and lifted him five feet off the ground. 

Okay, maybe this had gotten a bit too out of hand…

“Woah! Hey! Aaahhh!”

Adam and Davenport were just too amused with themselves, though.

“Why create an artificial arm when you can create a real-life wedgie machine?” Davenport said, turning to Adam to high-five him.

“Science!”

“Science!” Davenport agreed.

…And then Bree clocked what they’d put in the capsules…

“Uh, what’s in our capsules?”

“Capsules? You mean gigantic smoothie makers!”

“I finally get to use my gigantic straw!”

Walking over to grab said item, Adam stuck it through the top of Chase’s and sucked the entire thing in the span of five seconds.

“Hello? Can someone please get me down from here?!”

Right. Chase. 

“Yeah—” Kaz started, lurching for the controls, but Davenport beat him to it.

“Sorry. Just press that little button on the back.”

Kaz’s eyes widened, knowing all too well what that would do, and things were already getting out of hand.

“No…Wait, don’t press that—!”

Too late. Chase had pressed it, entire body going rigid as he was zapped for the third time. Kaz screwed his eyes shut. Crap.

“-Button…” he finished, groaning. “Okay, seriously, can we get him down?”

“Yes, thank you, Kaz—”

“But it’s so much fun,” Davenport whined. 

Kaz headed over and helped unhook Chase from the machine. 

When the bionic teen landed on his feet beside him, he breathed out in relief, “Thank you.”

Kaz patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Sorry, bud.”

Unfortunately for everyone else, it was at that exact moment when — again — Tasha decided to walk in.

And she was not pleased.

As her eyes roved over the scene, Kaz could literally see all ounces of sanity drain from her body.

“What is going on?” She demanded more than asked. “Donald, why aren’t you dressed for your interview? We go live at five.”

“Live at five? Live at five?!” He shouted, then broke into an easy smile, “Dude, that totally rhymes.”

“Wait, the interview’s today?” Bree sounded horrified. And to be honest…Everyone else was, too.

Well, except for maybe Adam. Kaz was sure he’d love to see Davenport continue on with his antics.

“Yeah! I was hoping for national coverage but get this…We’re going worldwide! A rep from the White House is flying out to present you with the medal during the interview. We go live one hour from now.”

Her giddiness was only matched by Adam’s horrified gasp as he checked the time on his phone, “That’s one hour from now!”

“It’s gonna be the highlight of my career,” Tasha practically broke down in tears on-site.

Leaning his head toward Kaz’s ear, Leo muttered, “It’s definitely gonna go viral.”

“I’m gonna be on TV?! Sweet! Kebab me!” Adam obeyed Davenport’s instructions and pressed the button, meat flying out of what used to be the fire hose…Only for the pieces to miss Davenport’s awaiting mouth every time and hit Tasha in the side of the face instead.

“Science!”

“Science!”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“This is so exciting. You flew all the way from the White House to present this award!”

The impassive representative shot Tasha back an, “Yes, who would want to be with the most powerful man in the world when they can be… here,” she finished with a shudder.

Kaz groaned and turned back to the other four. Leo and Adam were trying to mediate the wrath of Teen Davenport while Bree was looking exactly how Kaz was feeling: that she wanted to be anywhere but here. “Guys, where the heck is Chase? What the hell could he be doing down there?”

“How could we know? You know him, he pretends like he knows everything, pushes us out so he can ‘deal with it’, then comes up with some plan five minutes later that nearly gets us all killed.” Bree rolled her eyes for emphasis before adding on, “Meaning, he’ll be up in—”

“Guys, guys! I figured out how to get his memories back! See, if we recalibrate the aperture—” Chase explained on cue, only for Bree to do what she did best and interrupt him—

“Blah blah blah! You’re smart! Just do it!”

With an offended jaw drop, Chase lifted the Scrambler and zapped Davenport. 

Kaz blinked. “Well…did it work?”

Chase shrugged and Leo stepped forward deliberately. “Are you still 15 years old?”

“No…” Davenport spoke, but Kaz’s eyes narrowed. Something about it was off. Distant…Like Davenport didn’t quite understand what he was being asked…

“Guys, I don’t know if—”

“Shh!” Leo exclaimed, hushing Kaz’s concerns, “It worked—!”

And then Davenport — or whoever the hell he was — lifted four spread fingers in front of his face and in the babiest of baby voices, practically a squeak, he said: “I’m this many,” and then waved his hand about in all their faces.

Kaz shot Chase a deadpan look, “Great. Now we have a four-year-old to deal with—”

“Four and a half!” Baby Davenport shrieked insistently in retaliation. Kaz’s hands flew up in defense. 

“Okay, to be fair…” Chase started, head nodding as if he was lamely racking his brain for a plausible excuse…But it never came. Kaz raised his brows expectantly, only for Chase to purse his lips. Nope. He had nothing.

“Great going, Chasey,” Kaz said, him and Adam slow-clapping. Chase shot him an unamused glare before turning back to the issue at hand. 

“Cool! We have a new little brother!” Adam beamed in complete amusement. Clearly, none of this was fazing him whatsoever. 

“Toys! It’s toys,” Baby Davenport spun in the bar stool and grabbed the nearest piece of gigantic plastic fruit, “Apple,” he pronounced through baby-talk before attempting to eat it. 

Leo rounded on Chase with a furious glare, latching onto his shoulders and shaking him, “Fix this, nerd! Fix it!”

“Man! I totally ‘Leo’ed’ this up!” 

Leo’s mouth hung agape in complete offense. Chase stalked back to Baby Davenport, but didn’t even manage to reach him before Tasha’s voice was cutting through the air and Kaz’s eyes widened to the size of golfballs when he realized precisely what was about to happen—

“We’re live in five…four…three…”

“Get him up there,” Chase whisper-shouted through gritted teeth. “Kaz! Whaddya doin’? Help!”

Kaz snapped from his trance of terrified shock and grabbed Davenport’s shoulders as he shoved him in front of the camera.

“Three…two…” she plastered on her widest of wide smiles just as Davenport crashed to the seat beside her…only to immediately stand himself up again to announce:

“I have to pee—” Kaz lurched his arms in to push him back down.

This time he stayed there, at least for the moment. 

“Good evening, I’m Tasha Davenport—”

Baby Davenport gasped, “That’s my name!” Kaz cringed, face contorted in a grimace, biting on one of his knuckles as Davenport’s arms flailed about the couch uncontrollably. 

Tasha did her best to ignore his comment and just kept going. “Welcome to an exclusive interview with Mr. Donald Davenport, winner of the Presidential Medal for Scientific Achievement—”

“I also won a tee-ball trophy with a guy on it who goes like this,” the five of them watched on in horror as Davenport stood up bent down into a batter’s position, then stuck his butt out with extra emphasis. Kaz face-palmed himself, Chase crossing his arms and averting his gaze to the ceiling like he was praying to the gods.

Tasha awkwardly chuckled, pulling him back into his seat, “Right. We’ll get to your childhood shortly. Now what most people would like to know is—Um—” 

Oh, Jesus Christ, Kaz internally groaned as Baby Davenport was now sucking his lips rather audibly in front of the camera… Directly in front of it. As in, he'd practically crawled across the room to stick his face right in front of the lens. 

“Is he all right, or do I need to scramble a couple of fighter jets?” The representative commented from the side. 

Kaz looked at Chase, “Dude, you have to do something.”

“What? Why me? I’ve already tried!”

“Well, try again. Clearly, it didn’t work last time so—”

“He’s in the middle of an interview!”

“Yeah, an interview he is going to blow even more than he already has if you don’t do something,” Kaz spoke irritatedly, needing Chase to just freaking listen for once and stop being so stubborn.

“Okay, okay! Just—figure out how to get him away from… that,” he gestured to the general area of disaster happening a few feet away. 

Lucky for them, they didn’t have to work too hard. By the five-minute mark of the interview, Baby Davenport had successfully managed to destroy one of the cameras with little to no effort. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“Am I in a spaceship? Are those space bathrooms?” Was the first thing out of Baby Davenport’s mouth when they exited through the doors of the elevator into the lab. 

Adam raised his brows, “Sometimes.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Kaz sighed, crossing his arms as he followed Chase over to where the Scrambler lay on the cyber desk. 

“Got anything?”

“Nope. And considering my track record of this thing…” their gazes trailed to where Baby Davenport was now fighting with Leo over possession of his superhero figurines. “He might be like this for a while…”

“Fantastic,” Kaz delivered with a straight face. 

“Okay, would you like to try, smart-aleck?”

“Mm, no thanks,” he smiled fakely. 

“What is going on?!” Tasha paraded into the lab, hands clenched to fists at her sides, hair a mess, and face rigid with fury. “I want answers and do not lie to me, I’ll know. Leo!”

“She’ll know!” Leo echoed now from between Chase and Bree’s capsules where he was attempting to wrestle the figurines from Baby Davenport’s grasp. 

With a haughty exhale, Chase fiddled with the Scrambler a moment before stepping forward toward Tasha. “Okay. The Neural Scrambler erased 33 years of Mr. Davenport’s memory. However, I think I can get it all back.”

“You think?” Tasha squawked, nostrils flared. “That White House rep is waking out of here with that medal if we don’t get it together— Not to mention I am blowing the biggest interview of my career! Fix Donald! Leo!”

Chasing after Baby Davenport who darted behind Bree, Chase, and himself, Leo shouted back, “Fix Donald!”

Turning on-heel, Tasha marched right back out of the lab. Probably to see if she could salvage any part of the train wreck they’d left upstairs.

“I got it,” Chase announced as soon as she was out of sight. “I reverse the Neural Scrambler by taking it apart and repurposing it, just the same way that Mr. Davenport did with his inventions. Which means you’ll all get to sit down tonight, ‘cause I just saved your butts!”

“Okay, how ‘bout instead of bragging about your amazing, out-of-this-world brain that only seems to work half the time, you stop blabbing and just do it,” Kaz quipped loudly. 

"I'm with Kaz," Bree piped up from the sidelines.

Chase shot him an unimpressed look as Kaz raised his brows. “I’m getting there, I’m getting there, jeez.”

“JUST DO IT!” Leo screamed from where he was trying to pull Baby Davenport out of the metal basin his entire top half was currently stuck down.

“Echo! Echo, echo, echo! This is my new fort!”

Kaz and Leo yanked him — just barely. “Alright, just freaking hold him down!” Kaz said as if that would do anything. 

Without another word, they spun him around and Chase zapped him.

Davenport blinked. “That’s weird. I just lost my train of thought.”

With bated breath, Chase asked, “How old are you?”

Davenport’s stoic expression morphed into one of anger, his lips pressing into a thin line, “Old enough to know that you numskulls have ‘Leo’ed’ up my lab!”

“Okay, that stops now!” Leo shouted, stamping his foot and putting his finger down.

“Hey,” Bree started, “We didn’t make any of this mess, that was all you.”

Kaz shrugged, “Well, technically it was Baby Davenport—”

“Well, technically, it was Teen Davenport,” Chase corrected.

Mr. Davenport blinked as if trying to process all of this but failing miserably. “Baby?! Teen?! Have you guys been messing with my Neural Scrambler?”

“Kaz pursed his lips, “No…”

But Leo clearly had a different approach, “Yes. Yes, we have. But, uh, in the end, Big ‘D’,” he slung an arm around Davenport's shoulders with an innocent sigh, “I think we all learned a very valuable lesson…You were right. It is not easy raising teenagers...Are we good?”

“No! You are grounded, for-ever!”

Adam leaned in toward them with a smirk, “I got this.”

Kaz rolled his eyes in time with Chase, both of them undoubtedly thinking the same thing. 

Adam absolutely did not get this.

“Mr. Davenport,” he walked over and grabbed the Scrambler out of his hands, “Would you say you got angry about 30 seconds ago?”

“Oh, give me that!”

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

The debacle in the basement ended and the six headed back upstairs where Davenport concluded his interview, apologizing profusely for the havoc. Somehow he’d managed to win over the rep in the last two minutes and she handed over the medal, albeit with a disgraced scowlish-sneer on her face. But, hey! He got the medal, so that at least was something.

As Davenport and Tasha said their goodbyes to the rep, Kaz joined the group in the kitchen.

“Well, this has certainly been something.”

“No kidding,” Chase groaned. 

“I can’t believe all of this ended with us getting grounded for even longer,” Bree whined with a pout.

“Well, look at it this way, at least we all know who to listen to now... Me,” Chase scoffed, “I can’t believe you managed to talk me into this mess.”

Leo glared at Chase, to which Bree responded, “Chase, you were the one who talked us into it.”

Chase waved her off, “We’re not playing the Blame Game, Bree,” he snapped back. 

“Hey, at least you’re grounded together. I have to deal with no video games or social interaction for three weeks,” Kaz grimaced. 

Chase rested a hand on his shoulder in mock sympathy. “Aw, that sucks for you. It really does.”

“Yeah, that’s what you get for hanging out with us. Sorry not sorry, bud,” Leo sent an apathetic smile his way. 

Kaz rolled his eyes and gave Chase a playful shove in the shoulder, “Oh, frick all of you.”

The four siblings cackled before dispersing in separate directions. Leo and Adam to the fridge, Bree to the lounge chair with a magazine, and Chase…

Well, Chase hung back with Kaz and took a slight step closer. 

“For what it’s worth, and despite their teasing, we enjoyed having you around.”

Kaz nodded, not sure if he should believe him or not. “Thanks,” he replied, a tad uncertain.

“No, I’m serious. Adam, Bree, and I, you know, grew up without really any friends. And no one at school wants to talk to the ‘weirdo transfer students’ so…Despite what they say to your face, I know they appreciate you. I mean, I know I do.”

Kaz’s breath caught in his throat. Was Chase...What was he trying to say?

“Yeah?”

Chase nodded with a grin. “Obviously.”

A moment passed where all that seemed to exist was the little space between them and the oxygen entering their lungs. 

With a clearing of his throat, Chase broke eye contact and diverted it to Kaz’s torso. “How’s the, uh—” another deliberate cough, “How’re your ribs?”

“They’re okay. Honestly, I, uh, kinda forgot about them when Adam started carving you as poop scrap.”

Chase blinked. “...I’m sorry, he did what?”

Kaz laughed. “Right. You don’t know. Yeah, um, we were playing around with Teen Davenport in the lab—”

“When you destroyed the oxygen vacuum firehouse?”

“Yep, you know it,” he simpered with another pause, “Anyway, I drilled a blotched image of a buffalo wing—”

“‘Botched’—”

Kaz ignored his correction, “And he, um…” he stuttered out a cackle as the bizarre words left his mouth, “He drilled you into a piece of scrapnall—”

“‘Shrapnel,’ Kaz —”

“As a piece of poop,” Kaz couldn’t hold back his fit of laughter as it burst from behind his closed fist from where he was trying his best to hold back.

Chase’s eyebrows raised, his arms crossed, and his expression shifted to one of utter unamusement. “Oh, you think this is funny, do you?”

It was Kaz’s turn to hack nervously into his hand. “No, no, definitely not,” his face sobered. 

Chase’s face remained solemn, beginning to scare Kaz a bit into thinking he had seriously pissed him off…

Only for a moment later for Chase’s face to light up in a broad grin. “I’m just messing with you, Kazzy,” he giggled, reaching up to ruffle a hand through Kaz's already unholy-mess-of-a-rat’s-nest hair. Chase seemed to get lost in his own thoughts for a brief second or two as he announced, “Damn, your hair is really freaking soft. How often do you wash it?”

Kaz’s face heated, but he hid it behind his sassy comeback, “What, do you not wash yours?”

Chase rolled his eyes and removed his hand from Kaz, “See? I told you. You’re definitely a smart-aleck.”

“Well, you are the smartest person in the world.”

Chase clicked his tongue and shot him a round of finger guns, “You know it.”

“Pew-pew!” Kaz raised his own in retaliation, “You’re a dead man, now!”

“Oh, really? You wanna test that theory?”

“Theory? Sweetheart, it’s freaking reality.”

“Oh, yeah? Yeah? You wanna go?” Chase lunged forward and stuck his hands beneath Kaz’s armpits, tickling him violently.

Kaz broke out into fits of laughter as the bionic boy giggled. 

“Chase! Chase, stop!” He laughed. But as Chase moved his hands downward, seemingly forgetting about his injuries, Kaz’s face instantly fell solemn as he winced, “Ah! Chase, wait, seriously stop!” But Chase hadn’t caught on yet. “Ow! Chase, wait, ow—”

Realizing what he’d done, Chase yanked his hands away with an empathetic showcase of worry across his features. “Shit, Kaz, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“It’s okay. Really, just—...Maybe next week, instead.”

Chase beamed.

“Yeah. Next week.”

Chapter Text

Morning peeked out from behind Kaz’s blinds. The sun was bright, its rays shining down like a beacon onto Kaz’s sleeping form. He’d had a great night. No nightmares, no weird dreams where Oliver scolded him for abandoning Mighty Med, and no accidentally setting fire to his covers, either! Like he said, all in all, great night.

…Until his phone buzzed. 

And buzzed. And buzzed. And it kept buzzing until Kaz realized that someone wasn't texting him, they were calling.

When his eyes landed on the caller ID, his entire world dropped into the pit of his stomach. 

Shit. 

“Hey, babe.”

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve called you twenty-three times!”

Kaz’s torso recoiled subconsciously, an automatic shock of pain spiking up his upper abdomen. 

“Uhhh…”

There was a scoff on the other end of the line, followed by an: “Of course. No answer. Per usual. You know, I’m really starting to wonder how much of a crap you give about me or our relationship, Kaz. I mean, honestly. It’s like I’m the last thing on your mind—”

Kaz couldn’t take it anymore. He blurted it out before he could stop himself:

“I’ll come over right now!”

What followed was silence. And Kaz didn’t know whether to call it uneasy or unnerving. Maybe both. Either way, it was uncomfortable. Though, maybe that was only on his end. 

“What? Now you want to come over?”

Kaz’s face heated, and he felt guilty in every sense of the word as he thought carefully about the words he would utter next. He knew he shouldn’t be pushing himself in this way…But he couldn’t lose Liam. He didn’t know why he couldn’t…He just couldn’t.

“Yeah…” He shrugged despite Liam not being able to see him. “We could… do stuff. If you…want.”

Kaz could practically hear the slow blinks Liam was reeling with at his words. Then there was a chuckle followed by what Kaz knew was a smirk. 

“Be over in ten. And I don’t want you wearing any underwear.”

With that, he hung up. Kaz’s phone fell to the mattress, its owner letting out a deep sigh. Kaz rolled onto his side to glance briefly at his clock, which read 8:13 AM. It wasn’t even 9:00 AM and Kaz was heading over to his boyfriend’s for sex. 

God. Sometimes he hated his life. 

He released another heavy exhale and padded toward his closet for a fresh change of day clothes and the abandonment of his undergarments. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz hadn’t even been standing there two seconds after he climbed up the trellis and onto the second floor landing outside his bedroom window when he was yanked inside and practically thrown onto the bed, a pair of lips nipping at his a short moment later.

“I can’t believe” *kiss* “you think this constitutes a practical apology,” *kiss.*

And all Kaz could think was, “‘Plausible’.”

Liam paused a moment, pulled back a few inches, and stared down at his boyfriend. Kaz hadn’t even registered what had spilled from his mouth until Liam was glaring at him slightly and pressing his crotch harder down against his. “What did you say?”

Kaz stumbled over his reply. “Uh—You said ‘practical’ but I think you meant—meant ‘plausible.’ A ‘plausible’ apology.”

Liam blinked at him with a frown. 

Kaz shied his head away, wanting to end this moment more than anything. “Sorry.”

God, he shouldn’t have even said anything. Chase must be really getting in his head about this whole “grammar” thing.

At that thought, he screwed his eyes shut and cussed beneath his breath. God, he shouldn’t even be thinking about that name! Nothing good would come of it. He was with Liam. Literally underneath him…

His mind refocused as he felt the sudden intrusion of Liam’s finger inside of him. It…felt slicked…but not nearly enough. There was a moment he thought about saying something…

“Li—Liam…More…” he croaked solemnly.

…But all Liam did was smirk down at him and start moving faster…Mistaking Kaz’s words to mean more rhythm. Kaz cringed at the feeling, but his vocal cords weren’t working so he stayed silent. 

Eventually, shirts and pants were removed somewhere in the process and Kaz felt more barren than ever. 

And when the thrusts started, all Kaz could muster was the energy to lie there and take it. 

God, he was pathetic. Sleeping with his boyfriend because, what, he didn’t want to risk losing him? Most of the time he was just yelled at. It didn’t even make sense to him. But here he was. Submitting himself again. 

Kaz didn’t know how long it lasted. What felt like hours was in reality probably less than ten minutes, but the seconds started melding together ages ago, so nothing made sense anymore. 

But finally, it was over. 

Liam collapsed beside him, his weight dipping the mattress so far Kaz accidentally lolled half-onto Liam’s chest. 

A flimsy arm smacked itself around his waist, holding him there in a death grip.

“I hope that makes it clear enough for you, Kaz,” his voice lowered two octaves in a growl, straight into his ear, “You’re mine.”

Kaz swallowed, then forced a smile and nodded. “I—I know. Um…I—I hope you know how much I…love you.”

Liam’s simper spread across his face like wildfire, a wicked hand coming up to rub across his v-line, near the sprinkling of his happy trail on his otherwise hairless stomach. “Trust me, I know, baby. You proved yourself,” he sighed happily as if everything wrong with this situation was precisely what turned Liam on the most. A nauseating feeling infected Kaz’s stomach as he was left there, locked in his boyfriend’s embrace, covered in drying sweat and come, and completely bare as Liam hogged the majority of the covers. 

The snoring didn’t help either. 

Like he said. 

Pathetic. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Kaz practically staggered into school the next day. Now, on top of the rib injury, he had this one, too. The soreness was definitely not helping. 

He sometimes wished Liam would just go a tad softer with him. 

But he knew that would only lead to an argument, so it was best he kept quiet. 

Kaz was kinda hoping to make it through the day without anyone he knew noticing any of this…Unfortunately for him, Leo had other plans. 

“‘Sup, Kaz! You okay? You’re walkin’ kinda funny.”

Kaz grinned fakely, “Yeah! Yeah, of course, I’m so okay. Just…hurt myself on the…mirror…this morning.”

Leo quirked a brow, “You’re limping because you hurt yourself…on a mirror?” Kaz nodded enthusiastically, “Okay, I am about as clumsy as you can get, and even I haven’t done anything close to banging myself into a mirror,” he cackled, head thrown back.

Kaz shrugged distantly, “Well, it was more of a slam than a bang…”

“Whatever it was…how did it even happen?” Leo rolled his eyes. 

“Oh…I was…uh…” Leo shot him an expectant look and Kaz’s face began to heat, “Brushing my teeth, and, um…practicing my new…” he squinted, thinking as hard as his brain could, “...dance routine.”

“You dance?”

“Yeah, and apparently my sweeping high kicks decided to be a bit too on-point…”

Leo gagged. Kaz frowned. Leo raised an apologetic arm, “Sorry, force of habit.”

After an awkward beat, Kaz glanced around and for the first time realized the lack of everyone else surrounding them.

“Uhhh, where are Adam, Bree, and Chase?”

“Oh…Uh…They’re…Out.”

“‘Out’?”

With a quick side glance, Leo yanked Kaz by the sleeve and ducked them into the nearest supply closet…Which considering the stench of musk and rodent-flavored Ax-body spray, it was definitely the one Perry’s cousins stayed in when they crashed.

“Yeah, okay, obviously they’re not ‘out’, Kaz! They’re on a mission! But I couldn’t just say that out in the open where the likes of Principal Perry’s security cameras could see us!”

Kaz raised a brow, crossing his arms and staring dead-set into Leo’s. “Are you okay, bro? You seem a bit…tense.”

“Me? Tense? I am not tense. Why would I be tense? Do I look tense? This is my calm face! Brought to you by the enhancement of Baby Soft Skin Sealment,” he said with a dramatic flare of his hands. 

Kaz cringed, “‘Sealment’? Ugh, no wonder your face looks glue-stained.” Leo’s jaw dropped open. Kaz was quick to jump in in an attempt to save himself, “I—I mean, youthful and full of life!”

Leo’s face deadpanned and Kaz sighed. “Okay, whatever. Point is, you look tense. You know you can tell me this kind of stuff, right? I mean, seriously, who the heck am I gonna tell?”

Leo blinked, then lowered his gaze to the floor…Or whatever you called this funky place.

“It’s not—…They’re not really on a mission…Well, they are, but…”

“Okay, no offense, Leo, but you are making zero sense right now.”

With a groan, Leo continued, “What I’m saying is that…Their original mission got called off because of a storm, but…”

“But…?” Kaz pressed, leaning so far forward he was practically pressing against Leo.

“But Chase — ever the stubborn know-it-all prick that he is — decided to go anyway.”

“Wait…Chase is on a mission alone? But isn’t that dangerous? What if he’s hurt—!”

“That’s exactly why Adam and Bree are out trying to find him…In Antarctica,” he added in as high-pitched a voice as his vocal cords would humanely allow.

“ANTARCTICA?!”

“SHHH!” Leo slapped a hand over his mouth. Kaz struggled through several muffled screams before finally deciding the best strategy was to lick his palm — which worked instantly.

“Chase is in ANTARCTICA by HIMSELF?! Are you INSANE?! Where the hell is Mr. Davenport in all this, too busy pestering people about how to adjust his chest hairs on his iron mold?!”

Leo pursed his lips, not responding and the answer being crystal clear. 

Kaz groaned, “Okay, what the heck is going on here? I mean, why would he go alone? He’s smarter than that!”

“Is he?”

“Oh, shush, like you’re any better!”

“Oh, really? Coming from you?” Leo crossed his arms. Kaz stuck his tongue out at him. 

“Okay, okay, we have to figure out a way to get him back before that storm hits…Jesus Christ, you guys are idiots.”

Leo plastered on a fake smile, “Again…Coming from you?”

“Just—Come on, please just take me to the lab so I can do some damage control. Or at least try to…”

“Wait, how do you know—”

“Mighty Med had a lot of shit happening…Trust me. They got desperate.”

Upon glancing over and seeing Leo’s completely bewildered expression…Only then did Kaz realize his mistake. 

“I—I mean Mighty Med’s completely make-believe doctors in the comic book universe that I only ever read about and dreamed of doing damage control…in my dreams…” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“O—Kay?” He seemed to buy it enough, though, because not soon after he was forgetting all about that to inform Kaz of yet another disaster that had taken place. “But, um…Well, something else has happened. Well, about to happen.”

“Yes?”

“You know that girl I like? You know, the one with the voice as dreamy as the angels she was sent by? The one whose love is sweeter than ice cream and richer than strawberries when dipped in hot fudge? The girl who—”

“Alright, I get it. Janelle is your soulmate. Just shut up and tell me where tragedy struck this time.”

Placing his hands carefully on either one of Kaz’s shoulders, Leo spoke steadily. “She’s coming over to my house in twenty minutes, Chase is missing, Adam and Bree are gone, and I am losing my SHIT. Since I have to deal with Antarctica and make sure Chase doesn’t come back a frozen fish stick, you’re gonna have to entertain her until I can make it upstairs. Got it?”

“Um…No. You want me to entertain your crush? No way. She’s your problem, sorry bro.”

“Pleeeeeeeease? For meeee? I have tried so many times to bring her over and I always get interrupted by something. She’s starting to think I’m weird.”

“Trust me. She’s been thinking that for a long time.” 

“Whatever. Just please? Do me this one favor?”

“I don’t know, Leo…”

“Would you rather be stuck in the lab listening to Big “D” go on and on about--

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll do it!" Kaz groaned. Leo grinned.

"Great! Let's go." And with that, he was hastily dragging Kaz through the doors of the school and out to the parking lot. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

“Wait a second…Was the entire reason for you coming to school in the first place just to recruit me into this little circle of chaos that is your failure of a dating life?”

“...Yeah, pretty much,” he shrugged, “That, and the chaos that is Chase Davenport, too. You don’t seem to mind much, though,” he grinned. “Something you wanna tell me, Kazzy?”

Despite the blush rapidly rising the height of his cheeks, Kaz shook his head violently — almost too violently — and covered his tracks by blurting out his next answer way too emphatically.

“What? No! I have a boyfriend, Leo.”

“Yes, an asshole who doesn’t let you see the light of day unless it’s in school or with him.”

Kaz’s face dropped and something in his chest sank. Leo quickly clocked his mistake and took a step toward him.

“Sorry. That was harsh. I just…I don’t like seeing you with someone like that. Someone who treats you like that. It’s…not right, Kaz. You know that, don’t you? You have to know that.”

“Pssh. Of course, I know that. I’m not as big of an idiot as everyone thinks, you know.” He sighed, “It’s just…It’s complicated, you know?”

“No. It’s really not. Break up with that bastard and find someone who actually gives a damn about you. See? Easy.”

Kaz shook his head, almost amused at Leo’s ease. “It’s not that easy, Leo. I’m sorry. I just…can’t. At least, not now…”

“Alright, so when?”

“I don’t know,” Kaz huffed. 

The silence that followed seemed endless. Kaz knew Leo was only trying to be a good friend. All concerned and whatnot. But he just didn’t get it. No one did. What Liam was to him…it was far beyond a boyfriend. And he didn’t even really know himself how deep it went. All he knew was…It was more than what the word meant. 

And Kaz didn’t know how to change that. It just was.

“Alright, we’ll deal with this later. Just…go upstairs and make sure Janelle is at least somewhat entertained. My mom’s making hot chocolate.”

Kaz groaned, “Okay, but why do I have to do this? Why can’t you?”

Leo deadpanned him, “Just go.”

With a pout and a haughty huff, Kaz made way for the elevator. 

✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

Sometime later, Janelle arrived, bag in hand (or, you know, on back), and looking entirely confused as to why Kaz was opening the door and not Leo.