Title: Across The Universe(s)
Rating: T
Genre: Family, drama, adventure, angst, tragedy… everything really.
Characters: Leo, Adam, Bree, Chase, Daniel, Taylor, Kira, and a few others
Pairing(s): None. There's one sort-of-implied pairing in one part, but it can either be read as that or just friendship.
Summary: "Of all of the universes... there's one where we fall apart. Maybe that universe is this one." The multiverse. The idea that an infinite number of parallel lives coexist in our exact spot in the universe, vibrating at different frequencies so they never meet. Your life is different in those universes. So are theirs.
Warnings: There's some character death, but it's not exactly permanent.
Notes: This happened when my sister and I were talking about the multiverse and AU story ideas. Then I thought, "Hey, let's just mush it all together!" and this was the result. Fair warning, though, I'm horrible at writing with an old-fashioned "voice", so excuse that, please. Also, I messed with the multiverse theory a little, because it's never explicitly stated that they have to live in this time period. Finally, I'm not the biggest history fanatic, so please excuse any inaccuracies there probably are.
(Oh, and please enjoy a bunch of references for the bits taking place in the future! I had tons of fun with that!)
I won't say too much more, just… enjoy, everyone!
Davenport Bionic Academy, California
2016
"Hi."
"Hey."
The four of them regarded each other cautiously, and Leo would be lying if he said his heart didn't break a little at the distance that showed in all their eyes. Like they didn't want to be there. Except for Bree, of course, who had been the one to call the meeting.
"Thanks for coming," she began softly. "I… wanted to talk to you all."
"Can we get a move on?" Chase snapped. "I have a meeting to attend at school."
"You can always use the geoleaping device Douglas and I built to get back in no time," Leo reminded him calmly.
Chase glared at him, and Leo was startled by the angry fire in his eyes. "I have more important things to do than talk to you moro—" He cut himself off, realizing what exactly he'd said as a stricken look passed over Leo's face and he took a step back. "Sorry," he murmured. "That was uncalled for."
"This is why I called you," Bree started again. "I… didn't like how we ended things last time. Didn't want this going on any longer."
"But how can we fix this, Bree?" Adam spoke up for the first time, eyes looking older and more mature than they ever had before. "Words got us into this mess. They can't get us out."
Leo shook his head. "You don't know that."
"Adam's right, Leo," Chase said, surprising everyone. When was the last time they agreed on anything? "We have things to do. Lives to live. We can't just keep coming back here. It'll only hold us back."
"For almost fifteen years of my life, you two were all I knew," Bree said, voice shaking—in anger or in nervousness, Leo wasn't sure. "And then Leo came along, and a void we didn't know we had was filled. We were finally a real family. We lived our lives together, Chase. Don't say that you don't want that back."
"Bree, those years of all of us together were the best of my life," Chase assured her. "But it's over now. We're growing up. We need to move on."
"From family?" Leo asked. "Because I can't do that. I won't do that."
"Oh, yeah? Where have you been the past few months?" Chase demanded, mood swinging back to angry.
"I've been here," Leo replied simply. "Helping Bree handle the students, becoming Douglas's assistant. He couldn't come up with the replacement chips for all the ex-soldiers or the geoleaping bracelets by himself, you know."
Chase's eyebrows rose. Skeptical. "And you, Adam?"
The oldest Davenport child studied the suddenly interesting floor of the mentor's quarters. "I left, too." He took a breath. "I don't know why. But after you ran… when you went to college, I couldn't stay. I don't know why," he repeated. "I took a geoleaping bracelet. Went to New York. I've been looking for a job."
"Well, good for you," Chase said sarcastically. "I'm glad to know that after our major family blowup, you felt right enough to leave, even though you knew I already had. You should have stayed to help them!"
"You're a hypocrite," Adam said calmly, obviously startling Chase by using the right word. "I may be the strong one, here to hold everyone else, but you're the brain. You're the one who keeps everyone sane, keeps everything together. You shouldn't have left, either. You're as much at fault as I am."
"You knew how much this meant to me!" Chase yelled. "You knew that I had to leave, that I couldn't stay or I would lose myself completely. I thought I could count on you to keep the family together. I was obviously wrong."
"Chase, I break things! I don't keep them together. If you think I do, you're nuts." Adam's voice had steadily risen in volume until it matched Chase's. "Do you know what happened? I tried to help. I really did. But Mr. Davenport was destroyed. Tasha freaked out, didn't let go of Leo for days. Douglas spent weeks searching for your chip. Daniel was brokenhearted that you had left us. And Bree and Leo tried to keep everything running smoothly here at the Academy. And they did fine. I was the only one messing up. So I followed you. Tried to find you. When I failed, I couldn't bear going back without you. So I ran, too. And that's on you."
"You left," Bree said, catching your attention and holding their gazes. "Both of you. That's both of your faults. You left Leo and I here. We looked for you, but the GPS was turned off on both your chips. We had no idea what happened to you! You could have died, for all we knew. When we finally found you, you have no clue how relieved we were."
"You thought we might be dead?" Chase suddenly looked so much smaller. "You looked for us?"
"Yeah, we did," Bree said softly—not out of calm, but out of anger. Fury burned in her next words. "And now I wish we never had."
"Do you know the theory of the multiverse?" Leo asked his brothers abruptly. Chase nodded, but Adam shook his head. "Okay, well, the theory of the multiverse is the idea that an infinite number of parallel lives coexist in our exact spot in the universe, vibrating at different frequencies so they never meet."
"What does the multiverse have to do with anything?" Chase asked.
"We might live in the past, or the future. Of all of the universes, there are tons where we meet and become friends. But there's at least one where we never meet. There's at least one where we do, but never become friends—we're destined to stay distant acquaintances forever. There's at least one where we know each other well, but we're enemies. There are many where we're not bionic. And there's at least one where we're all dead. Those aren't this Earth. But then, if the theory holds, there's also one where we all meet and come together. We're more than friends, we're family." He took a breath. "But we don't last. We fall apart in the end."
"What's your point, Leo?" Adam asked.
Leo closed his eyes and took a breath before turning and walking out, taking Bree with him. "Maybe that universe is this one."
London, England
2020
There's an earth where they all meet in friendly terms, despite the horrible circumstances.
"Down, get down!"
Leo threw himself behind a fallen column, narrowly outrunning the blast. "Thanks, Chase," he breathed, drawing closer to his small amount of cover. "That could've been bad."
"It's bad already," Chase replied, sitting next to him behind the chunk of marble and risking a glance at the incoming enemies. "They're almost here, we don't have much time."
"I can get us out," Leo said immediately, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few random metal bits, a small screwdriver, and a steel bracelet.
"Thought you said it was broken!" Chase cried, lobbing a few electricity grenades at the waves of enemies rolling in. Thank God for Douglas, Leo thought distractedly, piecing together the stuff from his pocket. We'd be long dead if he didn't make such great weapons.
"It is," Leo replied to Chase's yell. "But hopefully, I can fix it."
"Hopefully," Chase mumbled, running a hand through his already messy brown hair before reverting back to shouting. "Remind me why we're here again?"
"Because we're trying to stop London from getting overrun by killer androids," Leo responded simply.
"And why's that?"
"Because this is our home, of course," Leo replied, furiously unscrewing a small panel on the bracelet. "We're local freedom fighters, and we're not just going to let Vickers and her robots take us, like Marcus did." He snarled unpleasantly at Marcus's name.
"Can you stop being so mad at that?" Chase demanded, watching in satisfaction as a few more of his electricity grenades made contact with the metal menaces, sending them tumbling to the ground. "Marcus was my cousin, and he made a choice to go down peacefully. You're my stepbrother, so by extent, Marcus was your cousin, too. Respect him being a pacifist."
"As we're fighting for our city's freedom?" Leo replied. "Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged," a metallic and familiar voice sounded from behind them. Whipping around, they let out twin yelps as they saw a familiar face, as well.
"Speak of the devil," Leo said.
Marcus's face was staring at them. It wasn't just that, though, it was Marcus in his entirety. But the voice was wrong. All wrong. Too echoey. Too much like nails on a chalkboard. Too cold. Even if Leo never liked him and vice versa, Marcus was always warm and at least semi-friendly.
"What did she do?" Chase finally managed to choke out. "What did Vickers do to you?"
"She made me better," 'Marcus' replied. "As a human, I was weak. Now, I'm better."
"Was, past tense?" Leo noted. "You're not human anymore?"
'Marcus' smirked. "Bingo." He raised a hand, a ball of pure energy forming in his palm.
"Marcus, don't!" Chase shouted, eyes widening as he looked at his cousin's glowing hand.
"Why should I?" came the cruel reply.
Leo stood, still crouching low to avoid being spotted. "Marcus, I never liked you. You know that. But I knew you, and this isn't you. You're not a killer. You're peaceful. You're better than this."
'Marcus' paused, and for a second, Leo thought it worked. Then, the energy crackled back to life in his hand. "Giselle taught me who I really am. I'm stronger than you ever will be. You don't have bionics like androids, don't have them like I do." He flung his hand forward, and Leo managed to leap out of the way. He was a little too slow, however, and the ball of energy clipped him, burning his shoulder and sending him crashing into the pillar. He crumpled to the ground, body completely numb, though he could still hear and see everything.
"Leo!" Chase shouted, rooted to the spot.
'Marcus' laughed. "You just have your pathetic electricity grenades and a few stun guns. How's that going to stop me?"
"It won't," a female voice with an accent called. "But we will." There was a sudden cracking sound, and then frost began to spread over 'Marcus', starting from his shoulder and working its way up. His mouth opened in a silent scream as the ice covered his face. There was a flash of red light, and then 'Marcus' crumbled to dust.
As the remains of whatever that was drifted away, two people—one boy, one girl—became visible through the ash that permanently hung in the air. The girl's hand was still raised, glowing a cold blue, while the boy's eyes glimmered red. They were both dressed in some type of a uniform, like what Imperial Officers wore in the Star Wars movies—the ninth of which would never be released, stupid android war!
Leo was still numb, but Chase managed to open his mouth. "You're—you—"
"Don't worry. We're bionic, but we're not androids," the girl assured him as she constructed a dome of ice around them—evidently working to keep the androids out.
Chase cleared his throat. "I was actually going to say that you're a bloody American." Leo would have rolled his eyes at his brother's idiocy if he could move.
"And you're a freaking Brit. What's your point?" the girl's companion asked—yes, that was definitely an American accent—as he moved over to Leo and propped him up.
Chase seemed to collect himself. "Sorry, I wasn't making myself clear. I mean, why are you here, if you're American? I hear things are much more war-free over there. AKA completely war-free."
"You haven't heard the news, I suppose," she said. "The US created an army. A bionic one, to counter the abilities the androids have. My brother and I are from the California division."
"You're a little young to be in the army, aren't you?" Chase asked.
The boy rolled his eyes. "You're a little young to be a freedom fighter, aren't you?" he mocked. "Judging by my scans, I'm two years older than you." His expression turned a little guilty. "I was two years older than that android, too."
"Androids don't have ages," Chase pointed out.
"Don't you see?" the girl demanded. "He was aware of who he was. He knew. He was real. That's not what the Vickers androids do. That boy, your friend, he died, right?"
Chase nodded.
"Scans revealed he had an android infrastructure implanted into him," the girl said, eye glowing blue and projecting said scan. A metal skeleton stretched inside Marcus's body, a bright spot glowing just above his neck.
"A bionic chip and android skeleton. Vickers turned my cousin into an android," Chase said, a look of burning anger sweeping across his face.
"They did the same to our little brother, Daniel," the boy said, the red gone from his eyes but the hate not yet. "We couldn't kill him. He's locked up." He met Chase's eyes, then glanced over at Leo. "Trust me, your cousin is better dead than stuck one of those… monsters."
There was a sudden cracking sound, and shards of ice began to splinter from the dome, showering down on them.
The girl cursed. "It won't hold, and I can't speed all of you out of here."
Leo managed to pull himself into a fully sitting position, though his right arm and left leg still felt numb. "You don't have to," he said, holding out the metal bracelet. "Chase's uncle makes weapons and devices. This geoleaping bracelet broke, but I think I fixed it."
"That just might work," the girl said, taking the bracelet and pulling Leo to his feet. "Also, you're lucky the bolt just clipped you, or it could've done some serious damage."
"I can't feel my leg or arm, actually," Leo said.
"We'll take you to the med station we have," the boy said, "but right now, we really have to go."
"Wait," Chase said as more ice rained from above. "We don't know your names."
The girl smiled. "I'm Bree. This is Adam." Bree looked at Adam as the four of them formed a circle and she pushed the button on the bracelet. "Let's go home."
Mars
Earth Year 2338
There's an earth where they meet in a time and place far from the one most familiar.
Bree was out of her seat in the bus the second they reached the rocket dock stop. Leo laughed and followed her, knowing her fascination with the metal machines. They were half siblings through their father, and both had been born on Mars, outside the Dome. Bree had a total obsession with those from Earth.
He watched as his sister transformed into a blur and streaked over to the rocket, startling a number of people. There were only few with powers on Mars, all of whom had been born outside the Dome, the protective bubble encompassing every city and town and built by the first Earthling settlers to mimic the Earth's atmosphere. Whenever one of those which abilities showed up, it caused quite the commotion.
Bree, he messaged to his sister through their telepathic link, slow down. You're freaking some people out.
She skidded to a stop and threw him an affectionate grin, slowing to a simple walk as she approached the ship. He shook his head teasingly and ran at his normal human speed to catch up.
"I almost don't understand why we come here every time anymore," he joked as he took his place beside Bree, looking up at the rocket descending from above.
"I want to go to Earth," she said, sounding slightly breathless—not from the running, that was easy for her, but from awe. "You know Mom and Dad won't let us, so the best I can do is watch the rockets and befriend the Earthlings."
Leo chuckled remembering the time where she'd given one of the earth boys, Marcus, a thorough honest-to-gods interview about the planet. "We could have at least brought Daniel, you know," he said, referring to their adopted in-Dome-born brother.
"He'd never stop dragging us around to buy chilifreñas," she laughed, pointing at one of the carts selling the purple biscuits.
"Exactly!" Leo said, grinning at her. Bree waved him off, suddenly tilting her head as though listening. She grabbed her brother's hand and snuck around the corner.
What're you doing? he asked her.
I heard something, she replied.
Suddenly, the hatch on the side of the rocket swung open and two boys crept out. Arguing, from the sound of it. "I still can't believe that the reason you made me sneak on a rocket to come to Mars was to do research," the taller boy scoffed as the rocket finally settled.
"You just don't understand the potential this planet has," the shorter one retorted.
Without thinking, Leo stepped out of the shadows and spoke. "What do you think you're doing?"
Their reaction was immediate—they bolted. Unfortunately for them, Bree was faster. In a flash, she was cutting off their only way out.
"What the—?" the shorter boy stumbled back, an absolutely shell-shocked look on his face.
"Leo, would you mind cutting off the exits? I'm about to step away, I don't want them to run," Bree requested.
He smirked. "Sure thing, dearest sister." As soon as she stepped back, he lifted a hand and molecularkinetically pulled the bay doors closed.
"What is this?" the older boy demanded.
"I don't suppose they advertise it on Earth, especially not to illegal travelers," Bree mused, "but we were born outside the Dome, causing us to have mutations in our DNA that lets us do this impossible stuff."
"So—so not all Martians are like that?" the shorter boy stuttered.
"Nope," Leo grinned. "Of course, you'd have to read the fine print on the official forms to know that. Oh, wait…"
"You're going to turn us in, aren't you?" the older one asked, dejected.
"Well, that depends," Bree replied. "Let's start with some introductions: I'm Bree, this is my half brother, Leo. We're mutant Martians."
"I'm Adam," the taller boy said, holding out a hand. "This is my brother, Chase. We're stowaway Earthlings."
"Nice to meet you, Adam and Chase," Bree said, shaking their hands. "Now, let's go. I'd like to get you home before one of the customs officials spots the two of us talking to some stowaways."
Sharpsburg, Maryland
September 17, 1862
There's an earth where they meet—as enemies on the battlefield.
Leo shuddered as he clutched his firearm close. He knew what was at stake. Or, maybe he did. No one told him much. He hadn't exactly volunteered for this. His master had volunteered him up. So… that was bad.
But there were some good things. He'd become friends with one of the nurses, a young woman named Bree. And he was going to get his freedom, if he survived. So he kept that in mind.
Some soldiers claimed that battle was like being totally in control, being hyper aware of everything. For Leo, not so much. He didn't even realize when he started fighting. It was all just a blur, him ducking and hiding and shooting in random directions—toward enemy lines, of course.
And it was all just a blur.
Until he hit something. Someone.
There was a shout, and he froze. A young man, not much older than Leo, keeled over, blood staining the chest of his gray Confederate uniform.
"Holy…" He almost dropped his weapon, but managed to keep a hold on it. "I…"
Hazel eyes glared up at him, hazed with pain and anger and pure hate. Leo stumbled back, unaccustomed to such vehement glares. His eyes were wide as he took in the slowly stilling body.
"I'll… kill you," the bleeding boy rasped, which would have been convincing if he'd been able to stand.
"Chase!" someone yelled, and a dark-haired boy burst from the trees, kneeling beside the bleeding—dying—boy. "Chase…"
"Adam," the boy replied haltingly. "Kill them all. Win." Then he stilled.
The other Confederate—Adam—unceremoniously dropped Chase (must've been a nickname for something, that name wasn't common at all) onto the ground, straightening and glaring at Leo. "You killed my brother," he said simply, raising his gun.
Bang!
Leo stumbled again, expecting to feel pain, but there wasn't any. Then, his opponent—Adam—suddenly slumped to the ground. Leo spun around, faced with—
"Bree? How—?"
Indeed, the sweet, innocent nurse was holding up a gun of her own, a fierce expression on her face. "Couldn't stand waiting any longer for you to get back," she said simply. "Let's get out of here."
The angry, twisted faces of the two dead boys haunted Leo for the rest of his life.
New York City, New York
September 11, 2001
There's an earth where their paths collide in the wake of a disaster.
Leo coughed as he stumbled away from the World Trade Center, where smoke was already clogging the air. "Taylor!" he shouted, voice raspy. "Taylor!"
"Leo!" a voice shouted, but it wasn't Taylor's, he knew. It was a different familiar person.
"Adam," he coughed, facing his friend. "Adam, have you seen Taylor?"
"No," he replied, worry evident on his face. "I haven't."
"She's blind, Adam!" Leo shouted. "She's somewhere in that tower, I know it! I can't leave her there!"
"She's twenty-five, Leo, she can handle herself," Adam reassured him.
"I'm twenty-five, and I can barely cope!" Leo retorted. "We don't even know what's going on, how this is happening, and Taylor is stuck inside!"
"Call her. Her phone still works, right?" Adam suggested.
Leo immediately cursed himself for not thinking of that earlier. Pulling out his phone, he scrambled to dial her number on the tiny keyboard. It rang a few times, and then a female voice blared out of his phone.
"Hello?"
"Taylor!" he cried, relief flooding him. "Taylor, are you okay?"
"I'm not Taylor," the voice said. "I'm Bree, one of her co-workers."
Leo recognized the name—Taylor had mentioned her a few times—but then dread replaced the relief again. "Is she okay? How'd you get this phone?"
"I recognized it as hers," Bree said. "She dropped it. I just saw her run out."
"So she's okay?" He nearly cried as another wave of relief swept over him.
"Yeah, she's fine. I—" Suddenly, Bree's voice cut off, and a rumbling noise flooded the little speaker.
"Leo, back up!" Adam yelled, pulling him back. Leo didn't quite understand until he looked up and saw the tower shaking slightly. Rubble crashed to the ground, but not enough to seriously injure anyone.
"Bree?" he called as soon as the shaking stopped.
"No, this is Chase, Bree's brother." This new voice was tight with carefully controlled panic. "A bit of rubble hit her head and she's unconscious, but she should be okay in the long run." There was a shuffling noise, and a muffled voice said, "Here, Daniel, carry her for a minute, okay?" Chase returned, saying, "Bree mentioned Taylor. You're Leo, I take it?"
"Yeah. Is Taylor okay? Can you see her?"
"No, we saw her in the staircase. By my calculations, she's just a floor below us."
"How far up are you?"
"Not far, thankfully. She's on the third floor, we're on the fourth."
"Oh, thank goodness," he muttered, pacing. Adam glanced quizzically at him, but said nothing.
A scream suddenly rose up from the crowd that had gathered. People pointed at the sky. "Oh, my God," Adam gasped as a plane roared overhead and smashed right into one of the upper floors of the remaining until-then undamaged tower.
"Is that what happened to the first tower?" Leo shouted, and got a few scattered affirmative responses. "Chase, you have to get out of there now!" he screamed into the phone.
"Why? What happened?"
Despite not even knowing the guy, Leo knew that he had to let them know. "Planes! Planes are hitting the towers!"
"This could not get any worse," Chase sighed, but then said, "Daniel, you know that thing on the rails I said never to do? Well, do it. We need to get everyone out." He chuckled slightly, which was crazy considering the circumstances, but then he sobered. "Leo, if we survive, we'll see you in a minute. We'll bring Taylor." Then there was a click, and the line went dead.
Pocketing his device, Leo anxiously watched the stream of people running from the building. "They're coming, Adam."
Just moments later, Leo spotted the familiar bright red of Taylor's headband, which she wore for better visibility in a crowd. "Taylor!" he screamed, rushing forward.
"Leo!" She smiled even though she couldn't see him. A big smile, relieved. He crashed into her and enveloped her in a hug, convincing himself he was never going to let her go. Over Taylor's shoulder, he saw Bree (who he recognized from a few pictures Taylor had shown him), supported by two guys. Chase and Daniel, he guessed.
Thank you, he mouthed at them. Thank you for keeping her safe.
Central City, Missouri
2024
There's an earth where their paths stay separate, and someone realizes they're destined never to converge.
Dr. Leo Dooley sighed, frustrated. In a fit of anger, he swept everything off his desk.
Everything was gone. Everything.
Staring across the room at the cork board set up, he fought the urge to cry as he read the headlines of the newspapers pinned up. All about his failure. His particle accelerator and the resulting dark matter explosion.
No one had died, thankfully, and the explosion contained to his building, but the sponsors pulled out. No one trusted him anymore. In mere days, he would be reduced to absolutely nothing.
Not to mention the weird dreams, the visions he'd been having…
He shook it off. It was nothing. He was a scientist, he put no faith in dreams.
—
He watched the news that night, and then suddenly that feeling welled up again full force. The face of a pretty brunette woman appeared on the screen, and the newscaster droned on about how the girl, Bree Henderson, was an Olympic athlete. Gold medalist. Track and field. Did something nice for cancer research something-or-other.
And Leo knew her. At the same time, he didn't. He was sure that he'd never met her before in his life. But something was so familiar about her.
Somehow, after that, those impressions come more and more frequently.
—
It next happened as he walked down the street, and he'd seen a phone fall from a young man's pocket.
"Excuse me!" he called, scooping it up and running after him. The man turned around, fixing him with a hazel-eyed gaze, and Leo handed him his phone. "You dropped this."
The man smiled, running a hand through his spiky brown hair. "Oh, thanks." He took the phone. And then he left.
And it was absolutely ridiculous, but Leo almost felt a loss at his leaving. He didn't even know the man's name, but he felt like he knew him. Just like what he'd thought about… Bree Henderson. He didn't know what was happening.
He vowed to figure it out.
—
It kept happening, the rush of dizziness that left him standing paralyzed. It was with the woman—just about old enough to be his mother—he locked eyes with on the bus. It was with Douglas, the depressed man who worked at his local coffee shop. It was with Donald Davenport, the CEO of Mercury Labs, when he saw him on TV. It was with Adam Green, an old classmate he spoke briefly to at one of their reunions. It was with Kira Danvers, one of the teenagers who lived in his new apartment building.
It took him a while to remember.
But he realized who they were, eventually. He could see them. Or… other thems. He knew that his particle accelerator explosion changed him, allowed him to see other possibilities. Other realities.
Realities that weren't his. They would never be his.
He didn't go to seek out Bree, or Kira, or Adam. He understood that he couldn't mess with the fabric of the universe.
He let them go.
He consoled himself with the reminder that it proved the theory of the multiverse correct, if anything.
Or maybe he was just crazy.
Somme, France
September, 1918
There's an earth where their paths never cross—but only because their fates are predetermined.
Leo Dooley never met the three others. He never met Adam, Bree, and Chase. Adam, Bree, and Chase never met, either. Their paths never had a chance to cross. They might have been friends, if time permitted. But it didn't.
They weren't even part of the war. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a dangerous time to travel, but being young and foolish, they decided to go.
They could have met on the journey there. They were on the same train. But they didn't meet. Because destiny had other plans.
They were caught in the line of fire as they passed the river. It was a war, after all. A simple little flip of the train off the tracks. Boom.
Dead.
So Leo Dooley was put six feet under, before he could meet the people who could have changed his life for the better.
He slept, cold and still, instead of living his life.
The worst thing? The war was almost over. They could have made it. But they didn't.
Because destiny had a hold on them, and didn't let them go.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
December 7, 1941
There's an earth where they are already friends, and tragedies just strengthen their bond.
Leo ran, faster than he ever had in his life. Bree was at the head of their little group—of course, she was the 'lovely track star', wasn't she?—and Adam and Chase were trailing slightly behind.
"Hurry, hurry!" Bree screamed. "They're getting closer!"
'They' undoubtedly were. 'They' being planes. Japanese bomb-dropping planes. Pretty much right on top of them.
"Split up, we'll meet at my house in ten!" Chase huffed, and they immediately complied. He was the genius, after all.
Leo peeled off to the right, heading to his house. "Mom!" he yelled as he barreled through the unlocked door. "Mom!"
His mother walked around the corner with Kira following her. "Leo, what is it?"
"There are planes!" Leo shouted, scooping his five-year-old sister up. "They're bombing Pearl Harbor! We were right there, and… Adam, Bree, Chase, and I made a rendezvous point. Let's go, we have to go!"
Once Tasha realized that her son wasn't completely bonkers, she followed him immediately. He lead her and Kira through the streets, away from the harbor, to Chase's house. It was the furthest and by far the sturdiest.
Every once in a while, Leo threw a glance over his shoulder, half-expecting the planes to switch directions and head right for them. His stomach twisted at the sight of the Japanese flag on all of the planes, worrying for some of his Japanese classmates. They might get some backlash for this.
By the time they reached Chase's house, the other three were already there, as were their parents and Daniel, Adam's brother. "You guys got here okay," Adam breathed in relief when Leo and his family entered.
Leo smiled. "Yeah. We're all okay."
The Pentagon
Arlington, Virginia
2027
There's an earth where one with the capabilities to do so does the impossible. The other three, however, are on the other side.
"This is insane," Leo breathed as he peered at the computer screen.
"What is it?" Bree asked, sliding into a chair next to him.
"This… this is bad," Leo continued, fingers flying over the keyboard. "Get everyone on high alert, now!"
Bree looked taken aback, but she nodded across the room to her brother, Adam, who typed a few commands into his own computer. The alarms began to blare.
"Turn the sound off!" Leo commanded. "I need quiet!"
Bree looked at Adam again, who shrugged and muted the alert. "What's happening, Leo?"
"A hacker," Leo replied. "A hacker is tearing down our firewalls. The virus is heavily encrypted. This is insane! It was pure luck I caught them, they almost got through completely undetected."
"Let me help," Bree offered immediately, pulling her glasses out of her pocket.
Leo spared a moment to briefly nod at her before going back to countering the attack. I'm better than you at eliminating this stuff, but you're better at finding its source. Trace it while I destroy it."
Bree nodded, adjusting her glasses once before cracking her knuckles and setting to work. Within thirty seconds, she had located the server and was working her way back. "Almost got it," she announced.
"Me too," Leo burst out, still typing away. He paused for a second, tracing something with his eyes, before clicking it. A small burst of light—dramatic, much?—appeared on the screen, and then… "Okay, got it!"
Across the room, Adam nodded and sent out an all-clear signal.
"I got an address," Bree said proudly.
"Wait," Leo said suddenly. "Can you… pretend you didn't? Say that we're definitely going to get it, but we don't have it yet?"
"Why?" Bree narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"I…" Leo shifted in his chair. "I kinda want to meet the guy before he gets arrested."
"Are you crazy?" Bree shouted, startling some of their co-workers.
"Shh!" Leo hushed her. "Bree, that person, whoever they are, almost got past me. That's never happened before. I just want to know who they are. I'll pretend to be a fellow hacker who tried to get into the Pentagon, too. But he beat me to it. Then, I promise, we'll get Adam to call in the army or something. Whatever you want. I promise."
She bit her lip, considering. "Fine," she finally sighed, resigned. "I'll get Daniel to cover for me tomorrow, maybe get a name from the address or something."
Leo nodded. "I'll get Kira to cover for me, she and Adam can supervise us over comms. Tomorrow it is."
"The sooner I get this over with, the better."
—
"Seriously?" Bree said as they approached the house. "This is where our hacker lives? Some nerve."
They hadn't even gone out of the state to find the house, and it turned out that the house looked exactly like all the others on the block.
"So, I guess…" Leo walked up onto the porch and touched the doorbell.
Bree hung back, obviously paranoid their might be booby traps or something, but the door was answered within a minute by a fairly unassuming guy. Spiky brown hair, hazel eyes, glasses, average height. Shorter than Leo, actually.
"Hi," the guy said uncertainly, nervously adjusting his glasses.
"His name is Chase Davenport," Kira informed Leo through the tiny earpiece he had on. "Certified genius. Be careful, Leo."
Leo plastered a grin on his face. "You're Chase Davenport?" he asked, holding out his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bree press the button on her watch to signal Adam to call in some backup. Quickly reminding himself of the cover he thought up to distract the guy before the real force could get there, he spoke confidently. "I'm Leo Dooley. I'm a hacker like you, and I'd like to talk to you about something you did that cut me off from virtually breaking into the Pentagon yesterday."
San Francisco, California
1926
There's an earth where they meet on friendly terms, but that doesn't last very long at all.
Leo sighed, admittedly getting a little bored. He had been waiting for Adam to get to the bank for an hour, and in true Adam fashion, he was late. Leo knew that his half-brother had swiss-cheese brain, but he couldn't possibly forget something this important!
His thoughts were interrupted when a young woman slid onto the bench beside him. "Hi, is it okay if I sit here?" she asked cheerfully.
Leo faked a grin, masking his annoyance at Adam. "Of course."
She didn't really stop talking. "You waiting for someone?"
"Yup," Leo said. "My brother."
"Oh, me too!" she said, smiling. "Well, he's up there, in the line." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, toward the line in front of the counter. "Our cousin, Daniel, his birthday is coming up, and we know exactly what he wants, and…"
Leo tuned her voice out and searched the crowd through the doors for Adam, at least until she said, "I'm Bree Davenport. What's your name?"
Startling himself from his stupor, he flashed another grin. "I'm Leo Dooley."
After a few moments of awkward silence, he engaged her in a conversation, glancing at the doors every now and then. He had to admit, Bree was pretty fun to talk to. A little outspoken, but fun. Finally, Adam walked in, meeting Leo's eyes and mouthing sorry at him.
Leo rolled his eyes, but knew that it was time for the show. Abruptly cutting off his conversation with Bree, he stood. Her face morphed into confusion.
He smiled guiltily at her, eyes sliding away from her, but holding no apology. If anything, he had never felt better.
"I'm really sorry about this," he told her, giving her one more sheepish smile and plunging a hand into his pocket. In moments, he had pulled out a pistol and fired a couple rounds at the ceiling. "This is a robbery! Everyone on the ground! Now!"
Everyone immediately dropped to the floor like stones, cowering away. But Bree, face changing from confused to shocked, just slowly slid from the bench and sat on the floor. "What…?"
Holding his own gun up, Adam advanced and threw a bag at the lady at the counter, practically shoving his weapon in her face. "Fill 'er up, darling. I want it all."
—
He and Adam threw some banter around, but Leo found his eyes slipping back to Bree. Her eyes held no fear, instead they burned with anger. It interested him. Why wasn't she afraid? Or, maybe, why was she just not showing her fear?
"Nobody moves until we leave, got it?" Adam announced, picking up the now-full bag.
"Hey, hey, we can't just take their word for it," Leo smirked, sauntering over to Bree. Pointing his pistol at her, he grinned. "Sorry about this… again. Now come on, be a good hostage and keep nice and calm."
Her eyes flared with rage, but she nodded and slowly stood up. No use arguing with someone holding a gun to your face, right? "Lead the way."
"Bree!" someone shouted, closer to the counter.
Leo spun, a pleased smile adorning his face. Locating the source of the yell—a young man with brown hair and hazel eyes—he walked over and pulled him up. "Is this the brother, then?" he asked. Neither answered, of course, but the looks in their eyes told him everything.
"Okay, then, two hostages!" he announced. "Even better."
"Chase, what were you thinking?" Bree demanded.
"In my defense… I wasn't thinking!" Chase admitted, glancing at the two bank robbers out of the corner of his eye.
"Let's go, Leo," Adam said, looking slightly antsy. "Cops'll be here any minute. Plus, we left Taylor alone at the hideout."
"Alright, alright," Leo rolled his eyes, pushing the two sibling hostages toward their getaway car. "Come on, Davenports."
"I can't believe you'd do that. Why?" Bree demanded as Leo pushed them into the back of the car and Adam slid into the driver's seat.
"Well, y'know, it's not exactly easy for me to get a job," Leo pointed out, gesturing at himself. "You'd think, after all this time… but no. Too much prejudice. Same for our cousin, Taylor. Her parents are dead; we have to support her, too."
Bree's eyes softened for just a moment before hardening again. "What about your brother?"
"We're half siblings," Adam pointed out. "Different moms, same dad. Our dad had… a few affairs… and stuff. I'm illegitimate. So no, it's not exactly easy for me, either."
"So you rob banks?" Chase asked incredulously. "I don't think that's a good way to solve your problems."
"Shut them up, would you?" Adam demanded angrily, glancing at Leo.
With a shrug, Leo pulled back a fist and grinned once more. "Sorry about this. Again. For the third time."
Canamericas Alliance Property
2116
There's an earth where they're pushed together by sheer luck, in the worst possible sense. It works out okay, though.
Leo stared at that map in his book for such a long time. It was like his eyes literally couldn't look away. The hundred-year-old map was fascinating.
Look at how much land there is, he thought idly. Hasn't been that way in a while.
That was definitely an understatement. There was a reason he lived on a city-sized boat that literally had a whole city on top of it.
"Leo!" a young voice called, and Leo finally looked up from the book.
"Hi, sis," he smiled, scooping Kira up as she ran into their porch, setting the seven-year-old in his lap. "What's up?"
"Look at my new friend, Daniel!" she exclaimed, waving a hand excitedly.
Leo smiled at the little blond boy Kira had dragged along with her. "Hi, Daniel," he said pleasantly. "I'm Leo, Kira's brother."
"Hi," the child said, clambering onto the bench beside Leo. "What're you reading?"
"Just a history book," Leo replied, absentmindedly tapping the map.
"Daniel!" a female voice suddenly called, and then three teens were standing at the steps of the porch. The girl rushed forward, setting Daniel on the floor. "I hope he wasn't bothering you."
"Oh, no, not at all!" Leo assured her, holding out a hand. "I'm Leo, by the way. This is my sister, Kira."
Kira and Daniel, giving the older children bored looks, ran down the porch steps and began to play on the swing set set up in the artificial grass.
"I'm Bree," she smiled, "that's my little brother, Daniel. And then my cousins, Adam and Chase."
"Nice to meet you," Leo said. "Kira, Mom, and I only moved to this Floater a year ago, but I wonder why we haven't met before."
"We live in the Third District," Chase said. "So we're a ways away. Daniel heard about the new park over at the Fourth District, though, and all our parents decided we should all go."
"Then he ran off, so we ended up… what District is this?" Adam asked.
"Sixth."
"Okay, right. Huh. That's far."
"So, what's that?" Bree asked, pointing at the map.
"It's a map of the old world," Leo said.
"I've never seen one of those," Chase gasped, peering at it. Leo felt the urge to close the book—like the map was his and only his—but he refrained.
"Our Floater is limited to The Canamericas Alliance Property," Leo informed them. "Where Canada, North America, and South America used to be. Right now, I think we're over California, in North America."
"There's so little water on that map," Adam noticed.
"Actually, that's still a lot," Leo said. "About seventy-one percent of the earth's surface was covered in water back then."
"Now it's ninety-eight percent, right?" Bree checked.
"Yup. Closer to ninety-nine, actually."
"Whoa."
"I know, right? The only stuff still above water is the very tops of mountains and stuff. It's crazy." Leo sighed. "I wish I could see real earth, not this fake stuff." He cast a dark look at the false plants adorning the streets. "At least they came up with an oxygen filter. With all the real plants dead, we'd have died a while ago."
"Is all of the water on the map salt?" Bree tapped Lake Superior.
"No, some of it's freshwater. That's gone now, too," Leo explained. "All our water is salt. We're lucky we have filters for that, too." He paused, then asked, "Have you ever been to another Floater?"
"No," they chorused.
"Oh, that's sad," Leo said. "Maybe the next time my old Floater passes by, we can Float-Hop and I'll show you around."
Bree smiled. "That would be great."
Earth
All throughout time
There's an earth where they never meet each other for one very simple reason.
Leo Dooley died three hundred years ago. For that one reason, he never met the boy named Chase, who died yesterday at the age of seventeen. Because of that, he never met the girl Bree, who was born today and will die in exactly eighty-nine years. And since he died, he never will meet the young man called Adam, because he hasn't even been born yet, he won't be in existence for another hundred years or so.
He never knew there were people he should have met, who would have changed him. He never knew, because his lifetime never had the chance to overlap with theirs.
Houston, Texas
2097
There's an earth where they already know each other, but stay close in the middle of a world of terror. Plus, they may pick up a few more for their little group.
Leo picked his way through the rubble, wearily deploying his rescue teams in all directions.
He missed home.
He belonged in sunny, mostly peaceful California, not war-torn Texas. He wanted to leave. But it was his duty to stick with it.
World War III had ruined them all. One bad move from their government had destroyed their country from the inside out, poisoning it with lies and fear and spreading like a virus. It wasn't long before their enemies had realized and taken advantage of it.
"Bree, how's your sector looking?" he called through his comm.
"Fine," she said. "Or not, depending on how you look at it. It's completely obliterated, but it doesn't look like people lived here."
"Chase?" he tried next.
The other boy's voice came in breathless bursts. "Leo, can I call you back? We found an ATOM Bot—not sure what type, but it's definitely from the Northeastern Hemisphere—in my sector, and we'll take care of it. Adam's not far anyway, he's coming over. He completed his check, by the way, no one was there."
"Copy that. Good luck with the Bot, Chase," Leo said before clicking back to Bree's channel. "Bree, Adam and Chase have some type of a Northeastern Hemisphere ATOM Bot situation on their hands, but they can handle it. Finish your check and then come back to my sector."
"Got it. See you in a bit, Leo."
Keeping an eye out for any more enemy Bots, lest they jump out from behind the rubble and attempt to turn him to a smudge on the broken concrete, he made his way through the old war zone, shifting rubble with the help of some technology from their supervisor, Douglas.
Every time he saw a scorch mark, he winced and added to the tally mark on his arm. That was the best way to keep track. Just from that day, his arm was covered in marks of permanent marker.
It appeared the ATOM Bots had left nothing unscorched. Leo was about to turn and leave when he heard a tapping noise. Freezing, he tilted his head, focusing. Tap. Tap.
Scrambling to where the noise was coming from, he noticed that he was standing in what was left of a burned house. Tap. Tap. Looking at the ground, he saw a trapdoor. Running a nail inside the crack, he gripped the edge and pulled up, revealing a basement of sorts.
"Hello?" he called. There was a moment of silence, and then a pair of eyes slid into the shaft of light beaming down and blinked up at him. "The ATOM Bots are gone," he said. "You're safe now."
The eyes disappeared for a moment, only to reappear with two other sets. There was a scraping noise as a ladder was pulled up to the gap, and then the three below him began to climb.
The first one up was a young girl, about nine years old. Following her was a blond boy, about nineteen or twenty. The last one was a girl around Leo's age, twenty-six or twenty-seven.
"Bree, I found some survivors," he called into his comm. "I could use some help."
"I finished my rounds, I'm heading over now. ETA is five minutes," came the reply.
He smiled. "Right, thanks, Bree." Changing over to Adam's channel, he said, "I've got a few survivors, when you and Chase are done we'll meet back at the base."
"Got it," was the terse response.
Switching his attention to the three facing him, he smiled. "My name's Leo. I'm part of the rescue teams who look for survivors after Bots show up."
"I'm Taylor," the girl his age said. "This is Daniel, and this is Kira. Is everyone…?"
He lowered his eyes. "Yeah. They're all gone. I'm sorry."
At his empty words, Taylor's eyes had filled with tears, though she was doing a valiant attempt to refrain from crying. Daniel patted her shoulder comfortingly, and Leo watched uncomfortably. He never really liked dealing with the survivors who were upset, demoralized, traumatized, etc. He had no idea how to handle them.
Why do I do this again? he asked himself—somewhat cruelly, he admitted.
He suddenly felt a small finger poke his shoulder, and he looked up to see little Kira smiling at him. "Thank you for helping us," she said.
He grinned back at her. Oh, yeah. That's why.
Mission Creek, California
2023
There's an earth where they're all on the same side, and they couldn't be happier about it. It's a little odd, though, because they don't even know each others' names.
"Hi, there. I knew I'd seen a blur on my way here," Leo smirked behind his mask.
The blue-clad woman on the other end of the teasing just shot him a grin. "You're late."
"Not all of us have super speed, Bluebell," another voice snarked from behind Leo.
Turning, he grinned at the sight of the familiar man dressed in black. "Hey, Cerebellum."
"Speaking of names, Bluebell," yet another voice called, "You picked one yet?" Another man, clad in gray and whom the voice belonged to, dropped down from the rafters.
"Always so dramatic, Gray," Leo laughed.
"For the record, I haven't picked one yet," the woman said. "All I can think of is 'Bluebell' thanks to that stupid nickname you've given me. To be fair, though, Red over there hasn't."
Leo rolled his eyes at the nickname, which she'd come up with based on his fully red attire. Real original. "I at least have options, though. Phoenix has been suggested a few times, though I am partial to Crash."
"If we're going to talk about names, maybe we could do it later?" Cerebellum suggested. "We really should focus on the disaster."
"Right!" Gray nodded, running to the crumbling building and picking a weak-looking section. Without hesitating, he raised his arms and held up the failing support beam. "It's actually kinda heavy, so if you could hurry this up…"
Cerebellum's eyes turned blue as he gazed at the building, analyzing its workings and passages. "Bluebell, run through the building and get everyone out, yeah? Red, I'll locate what's causing the collapse and then we'll figure it out from there."
"On it," Bluebell nodded, disappearing in an instant. Within moments, a slowly growing crowd of people was swept onto the sidewalk across the street.
"Okay, a power generator is overheating, and it's having a domino effect," Cerebellum told Leo. "You need to absorb the excess energy from the first generator, and then it should all shut down."
"Got it," Leo nodded, sprinting into the building. "Hey, Bluebell!" he called, and the streak halted next to him. "I need a quick ride to the power generators." She nodded, and with a gust of wind, he was standing next to the crackling machine. "Whoa," he breathed. "I've never absorbed that much before." Holding up his hand, he focused on the sparks flying off the generator. Slowly but surely, the sparks reversed course and traveled up his arm, sinking into his skin. He gritted his teeth and stood firm.
That was when something odd happened. There was a snapping noise, then a pop, and then the power went out. And suddenly, his arm felt perfectly fine. "What the—"
There was a flash of blue, and then he was standing outside with Bluebell holding his arm beside Gray (who'd released the building after the shaking stopped) and Cerebellum. "You just crashed all the tech in the building!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Leo looked at his hand. Then he grinned. "Huh. Crash it is, then." He glanced at the speedster next to him. "Oh, by the way—Bluebell suits you."
"That it does, Bluebell," Gray teased.
She smiled, slightly nervously. "My name's Bree. My real name."
He felt his eyebrows go up. Heroes rarely revealed their true names. But the fact that Bluebell—that Bree had trusted them enough… he was proud of her. "Nice to really meet you, Bree. I'm Leo."
Gray chuckled. "I'm Adam."
Cerebellum, ever the logical one, hesitated. Then, he cracked a grin. "My name's Chase. I think we have a promising future ahead of us."
Davenport Bionic Academy, California
2016
But finally, there's an earth where they find that it's all worth it in the end.
Leo was startled when someone knocked on the door of the mentor's quarters. The students never passed by, and Daniel, Mr. Davenport, Douglas, and his mom knew they could just waltz in at any time.
Bree, reading a magazine, distractedly called, "Come in!" before Leo could stop her. The door hissed open, and…
Adam and Chase were standing there.
"What're you doing here?" Leo managed to ask.
"I've been thinking about what you said last week," Chase said, shifting awkwardly on the balls of his feet. "A lot. And I talked to Adam."
"What was it you were thinking about, what I said?" Leo frowned.
"The alternate universes," Adam said. "How there are some where we meet, and we're friends and we're happy. But also how there are some where we never meet. Or how we do, but we fall apart."
Leo bit his lip. "And I said that…"
"That earth might be this one," Bree finished.
"Yeah," Chase said. "I've been thinking about that. And I say… no. There might be a universe where we fall apart, but that earth isn't this one. I won't let it be this one."
"We missed you," Adam continued. "I can't imagine a world where we don't end up being friends. I know there must be some, but I… if there's a world where we aren't all together, then I don't want to see it. I don't want to know what it's like."
"Probably the only universes we don't know each other is one where we're all dead or some other horrible thing happens," Chase insists. "So what we're trying to say is that if you think there's an earth where we fall apart, then I don't want it to be this one." He exhaled slowly. "That's what I think." He looked hopefully at Leo and Bree. "What about you?"
"No," Leo said, and their faces fell. He continued. "No, I don't want it to be this one, either."
The relieved smiles on their faces—all three of theirs—told him all he needed to know.
Maybe they still had some issues to work out. Maybe there was still a long road to travel down until they became the people, the family, they wanted to be. And maybe, in the time ahead, they might still have troubles heading for them. But they also would stay together. Maybe it was a reconciliation, but maybe it was a new start.
And either way, Leo was certain that it was the best he could hope for.
Reviews are appreciated.
(Also, I one again apologize for my horrible old-fashioned "voice".)