Title: Of Their Own Accord
Rating: T for a battle
Genre: Friendship, adventure, drama
Characters: Oliver, Bree, Kaz, Chase, Skylar
Pairing(s): None, strong Bree/Oliver and Kaz/Oliver friendship
Summary: "He only had one hope left: Bree. Incredibly fast Bree, who was intelligent and strong and had a heart of steel. If anyone could help him, it was her. If Roman and Riker were telling the truth, then Bree was still out there. She wasn't under their control, she still could save them all." When things couldn't get any worse, she was the one to be the hero. (For the EF wiki contest)
Warnings: None.
Notes: Well, this is in the near future. So, maybe, after the season 1 finale? It's pretty self-explanatory. Anyway, enjoy, everyone!
"Move it," Riker demanded, prodding Oliver in the back with something sharp—Oliver was afraid to look and see exactly what it was—as Roman lead the way down a long hallway.
"Where are you taking me?" Oliver asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. (He kinda failed at that.)
Roman chuckled, throwing Oliver a glance over his shoulder. "Somewhere were we can inflict the damage that you did on our father upon you. It is vengeance. You deserve it."
"The others will know what you've done," Oliver told them. "They'll go after you."
"Yet, you haven't heard from them in days, have you?" Roman countered.
"Well, no," Oliver admitted. "But that's because we had to split up, trying to evade you."
Riker rolled his eyes. "And what a fabulous job you've done."
"My friends will come for me," Oliver replied confidently, ignoring all of the insults.
"You mean the liars, thieves, traitors, and murderers?" Riker spat. "With friends like those, who needs enemies?"
"Besides," Roman said, "we have… taken three of your four friends. It's only a matter of time before the last one is ours, too."
"What?" Oliver shrieked. "What do you mean? Who do you have? Who's still free? How did you even capture any of them?"
Roman laughed. "Oh, we didn't capture them. They're here of their own accord."
"What does that mean?" Oliver insisted.
The villainous brothers exchanged glances. "You'll find out soon enough."
Oliver stumbled and fell as the brothers shoved him into a cell. "Ow," he grumbled, clambering back to his feet.
"Have fun with your friends," Riker laughed, and then the brothers vanished in a cloud of black dust.
"What does that mean?" Oliver mumbled to himself.
"I believe they were referring to us," a voice said from behind him. He spun around and came face-to-face with—
"Kaz?" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"
Kaz's eyes were emotionless and blank as he responded. "I do not know what you are talking about. This is where I belong, I am always here. And I do not know who you are, either."
Oliver's eyes widened as he looked past Kaz—his best friend who no longer recognized him—to the two sitting side by side against the wall. "Skylar? Chase? Why are you just sitting there?"
They just stared back listlessly.
"Only one of us may speak at a time," Kaz informed him. "I am in charge here, so I have the most time to talk."
"You're in charge?" Oliver repeated, dumbfounded. "Why?"
Kaz's blank expression twisted into something different—anger. It was vague, but it was there. "Because I have seniority. I have been here the longest. Not only that, I am an excellent tactician. Do you doubt my ability to lead my small crew?"
"No, no, of course not," Oliver backtracked, trying to salvage the conversation.
"Good." Kaz's anger seemed to vanish, only to be replaced with an ugly sneer. "Because you will be joining our ranks tomorrow. It is ten-thirty in the evening," he didn't check a watch or clock or anything, "I would suggest a full night of sleep. The process, though I cannot remember it, is supposedly quite unpleasant."
Apparently, the 'process' included a lesson on how to sleep standing up—Chase, Skylar, and Kaz were all standing in different corners, eyes closed, sleeping absolutely still and silent.
On the other hand, Oliver tossed and turned on the cold and hard floor, tormented by memories of his childhood. Judging by what had happened to Kaz, his entire life would be erased. He only had one hope left:
Bree.
Incredibly fast Bree, who was intelligent and strong and had a heart of steel. If anyone could help him, it was her.
If Roman and Riker were telling the truth, then Bree was still out there. She wasn't under their control, she still could save them all.
But Oliver knew in his heart that no matter how powerful Bree was, she wouldn't be able to take on the whole facility of brainwashed superheroes. So he closed his eyes and reluctantly forced himself into sleep.
"Psst."
Oliver groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. Is it a school day? Do I have to get up?
"Oliver, wake up!"
He rolled over.
"Oliver, it's me, Bree! You have to get up!"
He suddenly remembered where he was and bolted upright, his own deep blue eyes locking on to Bree's dark brown ones. "Bree, I can't believe it. You're here!"
She shushed him, peering through the bars of the cage-like cell. "Yeah, but you don't want to wake up my brother and the others."
"You should really be worried about Kaz waking up," Oliver informed her. "He's apparently the one in charge."
She raised an eyebrow. "Huh. But we have to get them out of the facility without waking them up. The reason they're brainwashed is because this entire building is emitting a frequency that's reacting to something they've been injected with."
"Mr. Davenport figure that out? Did you contact him?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I've been monitoring them for weeks. Once I saw them taking you in, I knew I had to make a move."
"You figured all this out, by yourself?" Oliver asked, incredulous—not in a bad way, just astounded by Bree's capabilities.
She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. This is where invisibility comes in handy." Digging through the pockets of her beaten-up mission suit, she held out three little sensors. "Oliver, attach these to each of them. It's a device that keeps a person in the same stage of brain activity as when the sensor was attached."
"So they'll stay sleeping—"
"Until we detach them, yes," she finished his sentence. "Now go!"
He quickly turned and strode over to Skylar, quickly attaching the sensor to her neck. She didn't even stir. He stepped over to Chase and did the same thing, with similar results. But as he stepped over to Kaz, his best friend's eyes snapped open, literally fiery.
"Good thing I am a light sleeper," he snarled before hitting Oliver's wrist and knocking the sensor out of his hands. "Guards!" he screamed. "We have a rebel in cell six!"
Feeling a deep stab of regret, Oliver backhanded the boy, knocking him out instantly. He scooped up the device and attached it to Kaz's neck. "Alright, I got him," he told Bree. Before they could move, however, a voice came from the end of the hallway.
"Cell six, is everything alright?"
Before Oliver could panic, Bree spoke calmly—in Kaz's voice. "No, sir. False alarm, we are all good here."
"Copy that, cell six." The footsteps receded.
"How did you do that?" Oliver asked, in awe.
"Vocal manipulation," Bree replied in her normal voice. "Very handy at times."
"Wait," Oliver realized. "How are you going to open the cell? It's controlled by that keypad."
She gave him a sly grin. "This system is old. You can input the wrong code as many times as you want, and it won't set off an alarm." She raised her hands, and then her fingers were blurring, skirting over the keyboard as a series of beeps sounded. Then, a click, and the door swung open. "Get the others," she said. "We're busting out."
Oddly enough, it was pretty easy. Bree knocked out the guards faster than you could say "Rodissius". Oliver set down their three unconscious teammates to pry open the steel doors, and then they were outside.
As Oliver closed the doors behind them, Kaz, Skylar, and Chase all blinked in unison, and then that blank look faded from their eyes, replaced with confusion.
"What happened?" Skylar asked, glancing around.
"Long story," Oliver chose to say. "We'll fill you in later."
Chase's faced morphed into a look of astonishment, then fear. "If we have a later. I hear something. Take cover!"
Without a second thought, Oliver jumped back, shielding himself with a rock outcropping. Just in time, too: the doors to the facility exploded in a fiery ball. Kaz held out a hand and absorbed most of the heat, but it still felt like they'd been been baked in an oven.
"It's Roman and Riker!" someone yelled—Oliver couldn't quite tell who. But it was true. The evil brothers were racing across the open space, murderous looks on their faces.
"We can't win this," Skylar said softly.
"So we go down fighting," Chase insisted.
"No," Bree said sharply. "You guys, go back home. I have an idea, I'll catch up."
Oliver and Chase protested at the same moment. "But Bree—"
"Go!" she shouted, her voice laced with such authority that Oliver immediately did what she said. Chase latched on to his arm, and they rose into the air, far away from the battle, from the yells and screams and blasts… far away from Bree.
"I can't believe we left her," Oliver said hollowly, poking his meal with his fork before sighing and sinking deeper into the couch.
"I know," Chase agreed, barely moving his mouth.
"She'll be fine." Kaz took the optimistic route. "Bree's the toughest person I know. She'll be alright."
"Kaz is right," Skylar agreed. "If anyone can make it out of a fight with Roman and Riker, it's Bree."
They sat in silence until Skylar stood. "I'm going to bed," she announced abruptly before walking up the stairs.
Chase nodded a moment later. "Me too."
After he left, Kaz joined Oliver on the couch, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "It'll be okay, Oliver."
Oliver nodded, looking at his best friend. "I hope so. I'm just really worried about her."
Kaz didn't reply, so they just sat there with their arms around each other's shoulders as the minutes dragged on into hours and the dawn approached.
Oliver was still sitting there long after Kaz had gone to bed. Staring listlessly at the reflection of the fireplace in the windows, random thoughts flitting through his head, none staying for long enough to be discernable.
Eventually, he groaned in frustration and stood, turning to go upstairs to get a few hours of shut-eye. As he did, however, there was a thump out on the balcony. Hardly daring to hope, Oliver turned, slowly, slowly…
And it was exactly what he wanted to see.
"Bree."
I hope you enjoyed, everyone! I really loved writing this, and let's see how the contest goes!