It's been about a week since Bree had overheard Kaz and Oliver's private conversation about her. Bree wouldn't call it eavesdropping because technically it wasn't. She had meant to walk in and continue to nag Oliver. After all, it was the lack of control of his powers again that resulted in another thing of hers being broken; her phone.
Instead, however, the bionic brunette had overheard Kaz share with Oliver that although she could aggravate him, she was worth waiting for. And Bree honestly didn't know how to feel about that at all. Since then she's been trying to deny the huge smile that lit up her face after he said those words. Bree brushed it off as just feeling flattered though because there was no way that she reciprocated Kaz's feelings.
Kaz was irresponsible, a complete prankster, a button-pressing clown, a pig-sitting idiot, and he probably couldn't even be serious if someone was aiming a gun at him.
Bree still remembered when Roman and Riker captured them a few months ago.
"Well, well, well…"
"Look who showed up to play hero."
Bree remembered Oliver letting out a grow that intimidated even her. And she didn't think that was possible. Let's just say that Bree respected Oliver a lot more after that…
"Where's my brother, Roman!"
This happened after Kaz had been missing for a couple of hours. Skylar, Oliver, Chase and herself had desperately tried searching for him. However, since Mr. Davenport had installed a tracking chip in both Kaz and Oliver, tracking him wasn't a problem. It seemed like that was exactly what Roman and Riker were hoping for though. When they arrived, they were all ambushed by his "helpers"; about eight of them, before they could even shake their heads. It was a fight that was unexpected, and a fight that they had lost…big time.
After they were pushed into the cell, the next thing she noticed was Kaz being led into the room by Riker, none to gently either. His hands were tied in front of him, and Bree knew right then that something had to be weakening his powers. Yellow sparks were continuously lighting up his wrists, and she watched as the residue kept falling to the floor.
"Look…look guys," His labored breathing was clearly noticeable. "I'm…I'm releasing fireworks now." He groaned, closing his tightly before opening then again, "Aren't I the coolest?"
Bree remember thinking, "Is now really the right time to make even the slightest joke, Kaz?"
It seemed like to Kaz anytime was the right time to crack a joke though. It didn't matter if you were about to get killed….apparently as long as you died laughing. That stupid brave idiot!
"What's happening to him?" Bree demanded, running up to the metal bars.
She tried shaking them, "What are you doing to Kaz?"
Oliver followed suit, trying to rip off the bars with his super-strength. This was about the twentieth time he tried, but his powers seemed to not be working. Realizing it was useless, he kicked the bars in anger, "Dang it, Roman! Stop playing games! What are you doing with Kaz?"
Roman sneered, "It's probably just the serum we jabbed in his arm!"
Chase slowly rose off the ground, "What serum?"
"Yeah, Roman!" Bree snarled. "What serum?"
Roman circled Kaz with a taunting grin, "Oh, it's just a serum that's supposed to—"
They were suddenly interrupted by a startled gasp from Kaz.
Alarmed, Bree quickly turned towards Kaz and Riker.
Her eyes immediately darkened after meeting Riker's eyes, "God, what are you doing to him!" She shouted.
The team heard him release a few loud groans.
Then Riker shoved him forward.
Kaz fell on the floor, still groaning uncontrollably. It was clear that Roman and Riker weren't going to spill, so Bree and the others were forced to watch as their teammate suffered.
Bree stared at the ground for a good while, just thinking, trying to ride herself of the painful memories. She couldn't understand why Kaz thought making a joke while his life was in jeopardy would be a good thing.
Running a hand through her raven-colored beach-waves, Bree asked aloud, "Why does Kaz joke around like that anyways?"
"Maybe because it's the only way he knows how to cope." Oliver piped up from behind her.
Bree raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean, Oliver?" She asked, confused.
Oliver shrugged. "Kaz is a weird guy so he does things differently then most of us do." He said simply, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl beside her. He bit into it, slightly sneering, "Besides, shouldn't you be with Liam?"
Bree frowned. "No."
"We broke up a few days ago." She sighed.
Suddenly, her eyes widened when Oliver turned around, "Hey, don't change the subject on me, Mr."
Oliver sighed, throwing his apple core in the trash. "Do we really need to get into this?" Oliver turned back around to face her. "Like I told you, Kaz just does things differently alright!" He rolled his eyes, trying to leave again.
"No," Bree snapped, "it's not alright"
And like the 'mother duck' she constantly acted like, Bree pointed to the stool across from her. "Now sit!" She demanded.
Oliver grit his teeth at her. "No."
Bree arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me."
"I said no," Oliver responded promptly, "and if you think that you can just command me to do something like I'm some trained animal, then you've got another thing coming sister." He finished off with a hard glare.
And considering how awful my best friend has been feeling because of you, why in the hell would I tell you anything? Oliver added silently to himself.
"God," Bree shouted. "I just want to know why Kaz jokes around all the time!"
"Because he can!" Oliver yelled straight back at her. Then shooting her a clipped icy-glare, he snipped roughly, "And like you would even care anyways?"
Bree's jaw dropped, offended.
Of course I care about him….
Kaz…he's my…he's my friend; my teammate. Of course I care about him!
Bree's eyes darkened. "And what do you mean by that, Oliver?
Oliver's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh, like you don't know!" He responded sarcastically, his jaw tightening.
"I don't, Oliver!" Bree retorted, all the while thinking that maybe she did know, but she couldn't tell Oliver that.
"Oh, you don't huh," Oliver laughed dryly, his hands gesturing around erratically, "then why don't I paint you an extremely visual picture!" He shouted, hopping onto the stool. Oliver roughly grabbed at the other stool, moving it closer to him, before kicking his feet up.
Oliver then looked straight at Bree, seething with anger. He used two of his fingers to create the symbol of phone, putting it up to his ear. "Oh Liam," Oliver mocked her in his best love sick voice. "You're such a British Cutie!" He continued to squeal, crossing one of his legs over the other.
"Oh, yeah I'm crushing Kaz with my legs both physically and emotionally, but I don't care!" He tried to mock her nauseating peppy voice, letting out girlish laughs in between his words, but his rage was getting harder to subside. "I mean as long as I have my British Cutie, it doesn't matter how Kaz feels!" The last part Oliver yelled out in his own voice, no longer able to contain himself.
After a few seconds of trying to control his ragged breathing, Oliver set his feet back down on the floor. Bree just blinked once and sat down on the now empty stool. All she could think about was how pitiful he had looked, and it stung her because…because apparently he was just acting out what she does.
Bree swallowed, closing her eyes. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling self-conscious. And if she was being honest with herself, she was feeling a little pathetic too.
Do…do I really act like that?
"Bree, I'm sorry," Oliver spoke up after she opened her eyes, "but you had to see how you act sometimes," He mumbled to her gently, touching her shoulder, "especially when what you do can affect others…like my best friend."
Judging by her dejected facial expression, Oliver could tell that maybe he was a bit too harsh. Still though, he didn't regret it all. Yeah, maybe Bree was a little hurt, but he had to show her. After all, what if no one had given her the reality check? Could she have still been acting like this at twenty-five years old? Oliver shuttered just thinking about the idea.
You see, Oliver wouldn't let that happen. Bree was one of his close friends. It was kind of in the job description to watch her back. The team watched each other's back. That's just what they all did for each other. And just like she had given him a brutal reality check after he kept constantly losing control of his powers, Oliver felt like he needed to give her one.
"Bree, are you ok?" Oliver asked.
Bree let out a sigh. "Yeah." She mumbled.
"I just...I," Her voice cracked slightly, "didn't know I acted like that." She finished off in a whisper.
Looking at him with ashamed eyes, Bree murmured in a weak voice, "I'm sorry, Oliver."
Oliver cracked a smile. "It's ok, Bree."
He patted her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "You're just a very vibrant girl." He chuckled, locking eyes with her. "And I'm not saying that it's bad thing, but it can be if you're not careful about who you're being vibrant about," Oliver shot her a pointed look, "or around who for that matter."
Bree stared at him for a few more seconds with a look that he couldn't quite decipher. Then she hopped off the stool. "I know about Kaz." She admitted mumbling, crossing her arms.
Oliver raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"
Certainly she can't be talking about Kaz's feelings for her. She wouldn't know anything about that, right?
Bree looked up at him with weary eyes. "I said I know that Kaz has feelings for me."
Or she certainly can be.
Oliver slowly got off his stool, narrowing his eyes. "What are you talking about, Bree?"
Bree groaned. "I overheard you guys talking on the couch last week!"
Oliver looked down, cursing himself mentally, which was weird because it wasn't even his fault at all. Still though, he knew his best friend could end up hurt since Bree listened in.
Why would she even listen in on us? That was private!
"Bree," Oliver snapped, "why would you listen in on us?"
Bree's jaw tensed.
I wasn't." She stressed on the last word. "I just overheard Kaz when I was coming back down to continue to drill you for ruining my phone," She paused, glaring at him, "which I know you destroyed on purpose by the way!"
Oliver mouth dropped open in shock.
He stuttered, "Uh…uh…how do you know abo-"
"I overheard you too!" Bree quickly cut him off, rolling her eyes.
Oliver looked back up at her with apologetic blue eyes. "Err…I'm sorry."
Bree waved him off, sighing. "You know, it's whatever." She shrugged. "I bought a new one the day after anyways."
Bree walked over to the couch and plopped down. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand in frustration, "I mean I can't date him just because he has feel—"
"I know." Oliver interrupted, sitting down next to her.
He touched her back, looking down at her seriously, "I would never ask you to play with Kaz's feelings like that, or anyone else's for that matter."
Oliver glared down at the carpet, his jaw tightening. "I know what that feels like and it's not exactly the best feeling in the world ok!" He responded sharply, obviously thinking about his own experiences. "It's definitely a feeling that I wouldn't wish on anyone; not even my worst enemies, but especially not the brother I've had since pre-school!"
Oliver looked back up, staring at the blank tv. "But look, whatever you choose to do with this new revelation is fine ok." He turned his head around to look at her. "Just don't hurt him," Oliver paused to give her a slight glare, "any more than you already have."
Bree nodded, biting her lip like she was thinking hard about something. Finally, she looked over her shoulder at him. "How did you and Kaz even become best friends anyways?" She shook her head, chuckling. "I mean you're so different from each other."
Oliver's face lit up with an amused smile. "It's a weird story."
Bree shrugged, smiling too. "Go on."
Oliver laughed, "Well, it all started in Mrs. Henderson's pre-school class…"
A tiny boy with walnut-colored hair sat alone playing with his action figure quietly, trying to block out the laughter that filled the class room.
Nobody wanted to play with the scrawny kid. At least, that's what the boy in the black beanie had said to him. And it seemed like he was right, as he had gotten no invitations to play so far.
"Hi!" A goofy voice piped up from across the round table. "I'm Kazimierz!"
The little boy set his action figure down, looking at the strange, chubby boy with a weird face. "I'm Oliver."
Oliver watched as the raven-haired boy titled his head at him, staring at him intensely. "Nah, I gonna call ya Ollie!" He laughed, sitting down on the tiny chair. "It easy to member better."
"Ok." Oliver shrugged his small shoulders, shooting Kaz a crooked grin. "Den ya Kaz fom now on."
Kaz grinned, "And we best friends."
Oliver's heart lifted, "Yeah we are!"
"Awe," Bree said in a teasing voice, "you were all scrawny even then!"
Oliver shot her a deadpan stare. "You know," He started off, mumbling, "out of all the things I thought you'd say after me sharing my most treasured memory with you," He paused, rolling his eyes, "it wouldn't be you making fun of my scrawniness!" He snipped at her.
Bree pushed Oliver's shoulder. "I'm kidding, Ollie." She grinned teasingly at him again. Then twisting her lips to the side in thought, Bree asked, "Speaking of the name Ollie, does Kaz even still call you that?"
Oliver chuckled, amused. "Nah," Rolling his eyes in adoration at his brother's antics, Oliver murmured, "Kaz kind of decided in 5th grade that it would be a good time to add the word "pop" at the end of Ollie."
Bree tried holding back her smirk. "So in other words, it's Olipop now?"
"Yes." He mumbled.
Bree snickered.
"Hey!" Oliver glared. "I wouldn't be talking, Ms. Decimal Point!"
Bree gasped in humiliation. "Who…who told you about that?"
Oliver only smirked at her deviously, "A little birdie."
Bree stood up with narrowed eyes. "It was my brother, wasn't I?" She growled, "Because it sure wasn't my ex Ethan."
Oliver swallowed, saying nothing.
Bree's eyes lit up with fire, "Oh, I'm gonna go slaughter a Chase." She hissed, before super-speeding out of the living room. She passed the kitchen counter as quick as lightening, making the fruit bowl crash to the floor.
"Sorry Chase." Oliver squeaked.
