Title: I'm Here and I'm Listening
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance, little bit of friendship
Characters: Skylar, Chase, someone who will remain a secret for now…
Pairing(s): Skase (Skylar/Chase), mentions of Bree/Kaz, Skylar/Oliver and strong Skylar/Kaz friendship
Summary: "I never properly thanked you," she said. - He immediately understood. "Really, it was nothing." - She shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Chase Davenport. Yes, even you can be wrong. And in this case, you're wrong, because it wasn't nothing. It means everything to me."
Warnings: None
Notes: Blame Power Play for making me ship them. And Stardust16. Thanks a lot, Star! XD Also, the title is shamelessly stolen from the song Superman by Rachel Platten XD
This story will be moved to the EF archive once said archive is established.
Enjoy, everyone!
Skylar could hardly remember how the whole evening started—not much had happened, but she was so focused in the moment. Currently, she was sitting under the stars, talking to a boy who she hadn't realized she had fallen quite hard for until that very moment.
But if she tried hard, she could remember.
"Hi."
Chase looked over towards the doorway of the living room as someone spoke. "Hey, Skylar. What are you doing up?"
The recently restored superhero grimaced slightly. "Your sister kicked me out. I was spitting acid again." Ignoring the odd look he gave her, she crossed the room and sat down on the couch beside him. "Why are you up?"
"Couldn't sleep," Chase replied. "It's hard to when you get angry looks from an unstable superhero. Oliver was pretty steamed at me, and Kaz was trying to calm him down. I didn't want to rub salt in the wound—multiple wounds, apparently. That's what Kaz told me, anyway." He looked over at the girl, feeling a little bad for Oliver—it couldn't be easy, having someone else succeed in doing the one thing he'd been trying to do for years. "I take it he's tried to get your powers back multiple times before?"
Skylar nodded. "Yeah. Many, many times. All ended badly." She could sense his curiosity but hesitated—she didn't want this boy to have any reason to fear her. But trust—trust was essential to the team, right? He needed to know what had happened to her in order for anything to work. "I had a nemesis once. His name was the Annihilator." Ignoring Chase's bemused smile at the name, she forged on. "He stole my powers about two years ago. I… I had never felt so alone. I was always powerful, but then… I just… I was so weak." She didn't look at him, but Skylar could sense his mood darkening. Not in a pitying way—and she hated when people pitied her, so that was appreciated—but in a sympathetic way. Like he understood. And was there something else? "I went to Mighty Med hospital and met Kaz and Oliver. They helped me fit into the normal world, go to school and stuff—even though I was still living in the hospital. They both promised to help me get my powers back, but Oliver was the one really fixated on it. I almost died at one point, a side effect of not having my powers, so he tried to make an antidote. He blew up three simulation-Skylars that time." She chuckled.
Chase laughed along with her, and Skylar couldn't help but notice how easy it was being around him. It wasn't awkward like with Oliver, or easily-aggravated like with Kaz. With Chase, it felt natural.
After a minute or so, their laughter faded, though their smiles did not. "So there were other times?"
Skylar's pleasant expression immediately dropped, remembering what happened after that. Chase noticed and opened his mouth—undoubtedly to tell her that she didn't have to talk about it—but she didn't give him a chance to speak. Because she needed to tell someone. She needed to talk about it, or the truth would destroy her from the inside out. "He and Kaz broke into the Annihilator's lair, where the villain was keeping my powers. They stole it and brought it back to Mighty Med. Unfortunately, some villains broke out and a fight ensued. In that time, the Annihilator managed to taint my powers, so when I reabsorbed them, I became his evil slave." She took a shaky breath. "It was terrible. I'll never remember that feeling, the feeling of wanting to destroy everything I valued before. I wanted to kill Kaz and Oliver. I almost succeeded. It was so crazy… I didn't know what I wanted. On one hand, I wanted to help my friends. I wanted to be a hero—because that's what I'd been created to do, right? But on the other hand, every vein in my body was filled with a serum that poisoned my brain and made me a ruthless killing machine." She looked down, the memories and that feeling of loneliness overwhelming her.
"I understand," Chase suddenly told her.
She bit her lip, trying to suppress that vaguely familiar sting in her eyes. She didn't want to seem weak in front of this boy, she wanted him to know her as the powerful hero she was by day. For some reason, she so badly wanted him to see her as a steel-hearted girl. "How?"
He leaned back, sinking further into the couch. "I don't suppose anyone's told you—no, of course they haven't." In answer to her unspoken question, he grabbed his phone and opened up his photos. Scrolling through, he selected one. He held it out to Skylar, and she saw the face of Leo Dooley—Chase's stepbrother—fill the screen. There was something obviously wrong, however—his eyes were glowing an eerie green.
"What is that?" she whispered, fingers hovering above the screen.
"It's the one picture we have of the Triton App in action," he replied. "We got it off of security cameras in Mr. Davenport's space shuttle."
Skylar felt oddly quieted. "What happens if it gets used on you?"
"I was put under it once," Chase replied, shutting down his phone and returning it to his pocket. "It was horrible. I couldn't move, speak, do anything. And I almost hurt my family. The app takes over your brain and forces you to do whatever your new master wants." He held her gaze. "So I understand."
"How did you free yourself?"
He shrugged. "I didn't. Leo did. He reminded me of who I was, and he told me that I was stronger than the app. He was the one who freed me from my own mind."
"Must be nice," Skylar mused, "to have siblings who'll do anything for you like that."
"You don't have any siblings?" Chase asked, surprised. "I thought I heard Oliver mention something…"
She shook her head slowly. "Sort of. I'm genetically engineered, like you, so everyone on my planet is, effectively, me. But we're very different, and we don't see each other as family. I never had many friends—except for one who ended up betraying me—except for Kaz and Oliver."
"And Bree and I now, too," Chase reminded her.
She smiled at him. "Yeah. You and Bree." Feeling even more comfortable than before, she looped an arm through his as they kept talking.
"And at least you had Kaz and Oliver before now, right?"
Skylar chuckled. "It was not the perfect friendship, no matter what they might tell you: Kaz and I agreed on being just acquaintances for the longest time—honestly, it was only about a year ago we finally admitted we were friends. Oliver's crush on me was—still is, actually—really annoying. There was a time I thought I might like him back, but… unfortunately for Oliver, I just don't feel the same way."
"Oh?" Chase prompted, raising an eyebrow.
She shook her head. "No. I love him, of course, but only as a friend." She suddenly let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. "Huh, I don't think I've ever told that to anyone."
"Why not?"
"Oliver's crush on me was so obvious, almost everyone at school shipped it. I didn't have the heart to destroy him like that, I guess," she admitted.
"Too late," a voice spoke from behind them.
They both whipped around. "Oliver!" Skylar yelped guiltily—which was stupid, what was she supposed to feel guilty about? "You… I didn't hear you coming."
The tall boy sighed, looking miserable. "I know you didn't. But I heard what you said."
"Oliver, I'm sorry—"
"No," he cut her off. "You don't need to be sorry. You've done nothing wrong. I just…" He cast a glance at Chase. Without finishing his sentence, he turned and went back up the stairs.
Skylar's eyes were wide as she looked at Chase. "Oh, no, I just ruined everything! I think I just destroyed our entire friendship!"
"No, you didn't," Chase reassured her. "He's just hurt, I'm sure. He'll get over it."
She sighed. "You don't know Oliver like I do."
Chase smiled slightly. "No, but I think I know you. And it's impossible to not be your friend."
"I thought you said I was a freak you couldn't understand," Skylar pointed out—half joking, half not.
"Well, you'll find that my perspective on people tends to change once I almost kill them but in the end help them regain their powers," he quipped.
"Fair, fair," she replied. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment until, without thinking, she turned and hugged him. "I never properly thanked you," she said.
He immediately understood. "Really, it was nothing."
She shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Chase Davenport. Yes, even you can be wrong. And in this case, you're wrong, because it wasn't nothing. It means everything to me." She stood. "So thank you. You got my powers back when no one else could—I can never repay you."
"You don't have to," Chase immediately protested. "Anything for a friend!"
Skylar smirked at him. "That's what Oliver said once."
He understood her implication and reddened slightly. "Okay, fine. You're welcome."
"You do know why Oliver was mad, right? Like, the actual reason."
The bionic boy frowned. "I thought it was because he was jealous I figured out how to get your powers back first."
She shook her head again, smiling. "No. He was jealous of you, but that's not why. It's because he realized he lost any chances he might've had. And I'm sorry I let him continue on like that, but I swear to myself that I'll never do that to anyone ever again."
"You can stop implying things, Skylar." Chase's emotional barriers finally broke down, leaving his feelings all scattered in the open. "Look. I don't know you very well, but I'll tell you this: I do like you. I'm not quite sure how, yet, but I'll figure it out. I'm the smartest person alive, after all."
"Smarts won't do you much good when dealing with emotions."
He groaned, frustrated. "Well, that's the only way I know how to handle things—work them out logically!"
"I know," she said simply. "I'm just pointing it out that logic doesn't help too much when it comes to feelings. Not that I have much expertise, but still." She sat back down, suddenly not feeling like leaving again. "Chase… can we maybe just talk like we're getting to know each other? As brand-new friends? I want to get to know you better. I really do. Let's forget superpowers and bionics and villains and feelings. Let's just talk."
He smiled at her. "I'm here and I'm listening."
Her eyes brightened. "Thank you, Chase."
So that was how she had gotten herself in that situation. And hours later, they were still talking. They had moved outside, and were sitting side by side, staring at the stars.
"Before I left Caldera, I never saw any stars," Skylar told Chase. "The sky was always red and filled with ash from the volcanos. I remember… the first time I truly ever saw the stars was when my powers were stolen from me. I woke up outside, staring at the sky. It was night, and I remember… before the fear and panic set in, all I could think is how could I have never noticed this?"
"I can relate," Chase said. "I was in a basement for the first fourteen years of my life. I never saw the driveway of my house, let alone the night sky. When I finally did… it was incredible. Bree, especially, hated the confinement—she watched too many TV shows and desperately wanted to see the outside world."
"She's happy now, though," Skylar pointed out.
He nodded. "Yeah, she is. Kaz… Kaz seems to calm her down and steady her in a way no other guy has been able to do. She's had a few boyfriends, but none like him."
"They're good together," Skylar agreed.
They stayed silent for a moment before Chase spoke. "Look, Skylar… the truth is, I've never had any serious relationships. I don't know what I'm doing!"
"Does it look like I do?"
Chase chuckled slightly, but immediately turned serious once more. "You're a great girl, but a drawback is that Oliver likes you, too."
"I thought I made it clear," Skylar said. "I don't like Oliver like that. You said it before, and since it's the truth, I'll say it, too: I like you. Talking to you… I feel so much better. I let it all out—to you. Not Oliver, you." With just a second of hesitation, she leaned over and pressed a brief kiss to his lips, feeling grateful that he did, in fact, kiss her back. "Thank you. Really." She looked at him. "Can we… talk? Like this? Only, well, more often?"
It was dark, but in the lights from the penthouse, Skylar detected a sparkle in his eyes. "Well, I'm here and I'm listening."
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