A/N: It seriously bothers me how Adam treats Chase. I mean, brothers messing around is one thing, but this is borderline abuse. Chase is genuinely /excited/ about not having bruises in Bro Down, and Adam /literally throws Chase across the room/ in the same episode. I'm not sure how Davenport doesn't seem to have a problem with this, but he doesn't do anything about it, and seeks actually to restore this "balance of power" in Brother Battle. So, I got to thinking about how this might impact their missions and teamwork, and this popped up. I hope y'all enjoy it, and that the characters sound (mostly) like themselves. That being said, I refuse to believe Adam is actually as stupid as the show tries so hard to portray him, so I guess he could be considered being OOC here. Reviews are like cookies, remember, so if you have a minute, I'd love to hear what you think. :)

It should have been a straightforward mission.

A major rockslide in a nearby mountain range buried both unsuspecting tourists and hikers, and then the rescue crews with another a half hour later. Other rescue crews could be called in, but their transport and the equipment they would need would take at least an hour to get there. The people buried and injured might not have an hour, so Donald decided to send Adam, Bree, and Chase to do what they could, as quickly as possible. Adam lifted heavy things. Bree sped people to medical aid. Chase coordinated the rescue effort, putting all the personal where they would be able to do the most. He also helped scan for survivors and was basically a genius. In short, everyone did what they did best.

It was a little thing, as it usually was, that was the cause of everything going wrong. Also as usual, it happened while the mission was winding down, just when everyone was off their guard.

Bree was rushing a little girl to the nearest medical base. Chase and Adam were both helping a scientist down the research center up the slope. She's been partially shielded by the building, so the worst of her injuries was a cut on her head that was painful, but not dangerous, and a badly bruised arm and knee. She was calm and amiable, however, a welcome change from the other panicking victims. She'd lived on that mountain nearly her whole life, and this was by no means her first natural disaster.

Chase was having an animated discussion with her about the geology of the area, and what she thought had caused the slide when it happened. He stepped on the outside of the path, not watching how close to the edge he was as he punctuated his words with gestures, and the already shaky ground moved beneath his feet. Without thinking, Adam reached out of arm to steady his younger brother.

Chase flinched back from his grasp, tipping his weight even further onto the slippery falling rock. He only had time to call a warning before he was completely caught in the stampede of stone. Adam, reaching out swiftly after him, managed to just barely grab his arm, but had overbalanced after his brother, and fell with him.

They both bounced painfully, Chase curling into a ball to protect his head and organs, Adam attempting eventually to do the same. For what felt like an hour, the world was a dizzying swirl of stone and sky, rocks cracking sharply on others as they fell. Then, an instant on free fall, and the two hit the ground hard. They'd found a shaft into the ground, and, by luck or misfortune, had fallen in together. Behind them, a group of larger rocks and trees jammed into the mouth of the cave above the boys' heads, cutting them off from the world above. A low light filtered through, but it took Chase sitting up, and snapping on his flashlight before anything could really be made out.

Adam braced himself against the ground with one arm and heaved his aching body off the rocky floor. He stared at Chase in speechless shock. The younger boy was already up off the floor where they'd fallen, shining his light around, and looking at his sensors.

"It looks like we fell a fair ways down the slope, and landed in either a natural cave, or an old mine. The cave is more likely, considering how shallow this room is. There's an entrance right over there, obviously, we fell in through that. I don't really see any other way out, but the rubble is out of your reach, and I don't want to try to shift it right now, because we have no idea how much stuff is on top of it. I'd rather not have escaped that slide only to be crushed by our own incompetence, would you?" Chase laughed slightly uneasily, interrupting his own tirade as he came down from an adrenaline rush. He looked alright, upon just a cursory overview, without an actual examination. Adam could see a trickle of blood oozing sluggishly down from a cut over Chase's ear, and of course he was probably pretty banged up from the fall, but his little brother seemed fairly unharmed. Good. Then Adam could get back to the real issue at hand.

By then, Chase was talking again. It was his response to any stressful situation, and Adam had long been developing the ability to tune him out. "Chase," he said quietly, cutting into whatever he was talking about, still propped up against the cave wall.

Chase nearly jumped, turning quickly with a ready, though slightly forced, smile on his face. "Yeah?" He rushed on before Adam could reply, real concern flashing onto his face. "You're hurt. Why didn't you say something?"

Adam nodded to the ground beside him. "Sit."

Chase furrowed his brows. "What? No way, we need to be finding a way out of here. I can't just sit around."

Adam sighed. Yes, he acted goofy a lot of the time, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Chase was trying to avoid talking to him. "Chase, by now Mr. Davenport will know about the accident. He can't call us, because our communicators are pretty banged up, but he can track our GPS. The blockage looks pretty solid, and it's likely that even if it falls in, it won't fill the entire cave. The slide was small, and I'm surprised there's enough debris to even fill up the entrance. People are looking for us, there's nothing we can do that won't do more harm than good, and my ankle hurts enough that I don't want to come over there to drag you over here. So, sit."

This time, after staring up at the blocked exit for a moment, Chase slowly complied. He walked over to Adam, crouched, and without meeting his eyes, pulled out his first aid kit. "Which one?"

"Right," Adam replied, "but that's really not the point. It can wait."

Chase shook his head. "It'll get worse if it isn't treated. I got it."

Adam fell silent, sensing that Chase needed to be doing something. He preferred not to have any distractions while having a conversation, but Chase always preferred to keep busy during confrontation. Adam let a couple minutes go by, and Chase slowly relaxed, his focus on cleaning and wrapping Adam's injury.

"Chase?"

Instantly, all the tension that had left Chase's shoulders came flooding back. "Yes?" He asked, nervously, still refusing to make eye contact with his older brother.

"Are you okay?"

This wasn't the question Chase had been expecting, judging by how he dropped the bandage he'd been holding. "What?"

"Are you alright? You took a beating too, coming down that hill the hard way. That cut on your head looks pretty nasty."

Chase almost smiled. "I'm fine, Adam. I made sure to learn how to react in a variety of natural disasters after the avalanche. I was unprepared for that one, and I almost died because of it. I think you're worse off than I am with that ankle. It might make getting out a little more difficult."

Adam nodded. "Good. I'm glad. Now, you wanna tell me exactly what that was up there?"

Chase stiffened a little more. "Not really, no."

"Why not?"

"Because it's stupid."

"So?" Adam asked, shrugging a little. "I say stupid things all the time, and no one minds. No one even asks me, and I talk. But I am asking you. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Chase nearly whispered, "nothing new at all."

Adam wasn't the genius his brother was, but he could put two and two together. "So it's something that been going on for a while."

Chase nearly wrapped his hand up with Adam's ankle, jerking back in surprise. Muttering something in irritation, he rewrapped the last loop of bandage. But he still didn't say anything about what was wrong, despite something very clearly being so. Adam frowned; was someone at school picking on Chase, and he hadn't noticed? Or was he and Davenport fighting about something? Both geniuses ended up touchy and on edge during their (thankfully rare) explosions.

And yet Adam thought not. His instinct, honed after so many years of being an older sibling, told him that it was something else. Something to do with him.

"What did I do?" He asked bluntly, as Chase sat back on his heels, having finished tying off the last of the bandage.

"Nothing," Chase said, but his words were instantly contradicted by the expression that followed them.

"Seriously," Adam demanded, really worried now that he'd done something terrible without remembering it somehow. "What did I do?"

Something in Chase broke, and he deflated. He sighed, dragging a hand across his face. Then he sat by Adam, facing him. His cross-legged pose made him look younger than his confidence usually let him.

"What do you do every day, Adam?" Chase asked quietly, almost bitterly. "Almost every time you and I cross paths, what happens?"

Adam thought about it for a moment, and almost immediately found an answer. "I mess with you."

"Yeah, you could call it that," Chase replied quietly. "But I walk away from you 'messing with me' with bruises. Every time. Almost every time I come in contact with you, I end up hurt. So, by now, it's not really surprising that I'm developed a safety instinct to move away from you if you're making sudden movements." He paused for a moment. "I'm just sorry it got us into this mess."

Adam sat, flabbergasted. "I... hurt you?" He asked, as if he'd never really considered the point before. "I mean, I know you complain about it, but I thought that's how we work. I hit you, you complain, and life goes on."

Chase snorted quietly in disbelief. "Adam, bruised is my perpetual state. I know our bionics make us more durable, but yeah, I get hurt. I can barely ever wear short sleeved shirts, because I don't want to have to explain the bruises. And I know it's our normal, that's why I didn't think much of it for so long." He sighed. "But recently, I've been thinking that normal doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing."

Adam thought about that too. Was that why Chase had been so reserved lately? He hadn't cracked a joke at Adam's expense for weeks, Adam realized dully, thinking back. He hadn't initiated or participated in any conflict, not even their usual quips. Chase hadn't been himself. And Adam hadn't even really noticed. He'd never even questioned the rhythm the two of them had settled into over the years. He knew he went a little too far sometimes, and so did Chase, but he'd never meant to hurt his brother. Not really. Yet he'd done just that, had been doing it for years, and Chase hadn't seen it as a thing to stop. Why was that? Could it be that, as Adam, and Bree, Davenport, and even Leo broke down Chase's confidence, making jokes that belittled him, that Chase had started to believe what they said about him? That he was weak? Pathetic? Worthless? Cowardly? Useless?

Adam sincerely hoped not. But, just is case...

"Chase?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Chase's eyes shot over to meet Adam's, shocked. "What?"

"I'm sorry. You'll probably find it hard to believe, but I never wanted to hurt you. I thought we were having fun." Adam felt oddly juvenile as he added the last sentence, but it was the truth, so he went with it. "I'm sorry I didn't notice. Or rather, I'm sorry that I sort of did, but ignored it anyway, because just continuing the way we usually did was easier. And I'm sorry I pick on you so much, just in general. I don't really think you're weak, you know, or useless, and you're braver than I or anyone else gives you credit for. I'll try to cut down on it all."

Chase looked stunned. He probably hadn't even expected an apology, just to be jeered at and called a weakling or some such name. "I- thank you. And I'm sorry too, because I know you're not stupid, you just like a good time, and are more positive than I am. I'll stop giving you so much grief, too."

"So, we're good?" Adam asked, with uncharacteristic shyness.

Chase smiled. "Perfectly."

And even though they were both trapped there for another hour while Davenport figured out the best way to not collapse the cave on top of them, neither really seemed to mind. Bree had expected to find them both bouncing off the walls after being cooped up together so long, but to her surprise, they came out of the cave with their arms over each other's shoulders, grinning. After that, the names and quips didn't stop flying between them, but they were softened, not intended to really hit home. Adam still mess with Chase, and Chase still plotted revenge, but Adam let up, and was incredibly careful about exactly how hard he hit Chase. No one else ever heard about their heart to heart in a cave, but everyone wondered what had brought about the change. And the boys just smiled.

It should have been a straightforward mission, but for the rest of their days, Adam and Chase were sincerely glad it wasn't.