One week earlier

Kaz

I walked in through the Penthouse door and frustratedly threw my 'mission bag' on the couch. Behind me the others in the team came in. I spun around, facing Chase.

"What on earth were you thinking, Chase?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe that I couldn't stand by and let someone die?" he defended himself. "The gas would have suffocated the man if I hadn't stepped in."

"You jeopardized the entire mission," I replied with a rising voice, "putting even more people in danger."

Skylar walked forward, with an annoyed expression.

"Oh come on, Kaz," she said. "Chase acted instinctively, and he's right: the man would have died without his aid."

"Also," Bree began, crossing her arms, "we completed the mission and saved everyone, didn't we? It's no big deal."

Oliver nodded by her side.

"I mean, we don't have to follow the plan every time. Sometimes the situation calls for improvisation," he stated.

I looked at the four unanimous faces and sighed in frustration. Here it was again. The third time in the last few days. Why did this keep happening?

Now I'd had enough.

"I see how it is," I spat out, the bitterness shining through maybe just a bit too much. But why should I care? "Well, don't come crawling to me when things start to go wrong, because they will."

I didn't give them a chance to answer, but turned on the spot and stormed out of the room. As I quickly glanced back I could see that they all looked confused and a little hurt. Except Oliver. His blue eyes were filled to the brim with sadness.

Honestly, it made me feel a bit bad, but I couldn't be bothered to care. I only took count on one thing, as I steered out onto the terrace in the gloomy daylight from the cloudy sky. I needed to fly. Somehow I found the wind brushing by me as I soared through the air soothing, and hopefully it would take my mind off things for a while. Let me forget the giant void that was almost constantly building in my chest.

Chase

I sighed deeply, fixing my eyes on the setting sun. I could feel the heat on my skin as I gazed out into the night, but it seemed as if it couldn't penetrate me as I felt cold and dull inside.

Normally, the sight of the sun's rays bathing Centium City in soft colours would cheer me up. Not today it seemed. There was too much on my mind.

I frowned. It didn't help at all that I couldn't for the world think of a solution. For the first time in a while, I had no idea what to do. Absolutely no clue. I had gone over the scenarios taken place over the last few days so many times (498 times to be exact), twisting and turning every single phrase and action, but still I had come no closer to an answer. I didn't even quite know what the issue was, to be honest, but I couldn't help but feel that I was responsible in some way. I had to be. Anything else would be illogical.

The steel railing of the terrace felt cool and smooth under my forearms as I leaned against it, taking a deep breath.

I guess super intelligence is useless when it comes to personal matters.

Just then, I felt a hand lightly clutch my shoulder.

"Chase."

Bree

My brother turned around towards me and gave a faint smile.

"Hey..."

"Hey."

His eyes focused on the city again as I leaned over the railing by his side.

"It's beautiful from up here," I commented, breaking the short silence that had formed between us.

"Yeah, I guess," he sighed.

"You guess?"

Silence fell again, the only sounds being cars driving in the distance and somebody playing music across the road. I couldn't hear which song, but I guessed it was jazz or blues because of the typical rhythm.

Eventually, he spoke.

"I feel like I can't really enjoy it, when there are so many… other things…" He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Other things?" I questioned innocently. Chase heaved a deep sigh.

"After the argument earlier… It got me thinking. About the past few days. There's been and still is so much friction between a few of us. And I don't… know or understand why," he admitted.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, not quite following his train of thought.

I could almost see his mind spinning wheels as he pondered over what and how much he should tell me.

He seemed to settle on part-truth, as he finally blurted out:

"Why is Kaz so mad at me?"

Before I had time to answer, he added:

"And don't tell me it isn't true, because both you and I know it is."

I didn't know what to answer, as those were the exact words I had meant to utter. Frowning, I thought hard.

"Why don't you ask him about it?" I said carefully. "Then you would get a direct answer and not need to dwell on it as you're doing now."

"I already tried. He wouldn't listen and just… walked away."

"Maybe we just have to give him some time," I suggested, trying to sound upbeat.

Chase didn't answer, but met my gaze with uncertainty. I let out a small sigh.

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? When Kaz is ready, he'll tell us."

"I hope you're right," he murmured. Lowering his voice so much I had to strain my ears to hear him, he added under his breath: "But I don't think it's going to be as simple as that."

He shifted his feet, eyes downcast. I knew immediately what he was thinking.

"Chase. This is not your fault," I said firmly, looking him strictly in the eye.

A second he seemed taken aback, but he recovered quickly.

"You don't know that," he retorted, though with a tone of hesitancy creeping in.

"No, I don't," I agreed patiently. "But I do know that it is never solely one person's fault. There are always other factors around contributing too. If anything, we could, and probably are all to blame. Secondly, if it is your fault - which I highly doubt - you never had the intention of hurting someone."

"What does that change?"

"Everything," I sighed again, hoping he would understand what I meant by it.

He did, nodding slowly. I could see that he didn't believe me, but I didn't say anything. If Chase didn't want to talk to me about it now, I wasn't going to force him to. He had to take it at his own pace. Even though every cell of me was screaming with overprotectiveness, he was the one who had to decide.

A few words came to mind, ringing through my ears.

"You can't help somebody if they don't whole-heartedly help themselves."

Adam of all people had told me that, and he was completely right. I couldn't help him if he didn't help himself. But I hated having to just stand by, watching him hurt, not knowing what was going on on the inside.

Eventually, I couldn't stop myself and gave in, just a little.

"Oh, come here," I said, holding out my arms. A shadow of a smile played on his lips.

"Only 'cause you insisted," he answered jokingly. I grinned back.

"Of course."

He walked towards me and I wrapped him in a tight hug. I could feel his body relax as he let out a deep sigh against my shoulder. Somehow, it felt like we were little kids all over again, when I used to comfort him. I specifically remembered this one time when Chase had fallen over and hurt his knee. It was so far back, but in this moment, it felt yet so recent. I couldn't help but feel glad. Feel glad that we hadn't lost that connection.

Kaz

The sun was setting over the city, casting a golden light over the many buildings. From where I was sitting on the roof of one of many skyscrapers I could see the ocean close to the horizon, covered in the same shining hue. Here and there the street and houses were being lit up, adding even more to the light show.

I sighed. Centium City was one of the most beautiful places on Earth at night, according to me. Nothing could ever beat that kind of view.

At the same time, I knew it was getting late, and that I should be thinking of heading back to the Penthouse. I swallowed hard. While restlessly flying around Centium City today, I had had time to think things through, and when the frustration had died down I had found myself feeling guilty. I had overreacted this morning, and it hadn't been fair of me taking it all out on everyone. Neither of them had done anything wrong, not intentionally at least. Even though it sometimes felt like it.

But I felt done with it. I didn't want to dwell on the problems anymore. If they even were problems to begin with.

You're just being stupid. Paranoid. And… what's that word again? Oh yeah. Over-obsessive.

I slowly rose to my feet, and took off into the air. Hopefully, this was something we could put behind us and forget it ever happened. I certainly felt ready to let go. Perhaps. It would be hard, but I would rather pretend it never happened than talk about it. I found it too embarrassing and too close at the moment.

Hopefully if I apologized, things could go back to normal. Whatever normal was.

Skylar

Bree and I had just closed the front door when the Hyper-lift whirred and Chase and Oliver came out. Both raised a hand as a greeting when they noticed us. Kaz didn't seem to be with them. Maybe he wasn't back yet. I frowned. I couldn't help but feel a little worried. He had been gone for… five hours now?

I was woken from my thoughts by Oliver speaking.

"How was it in town?" he asked.

I looked at Bree, who reciprocated the smile I sent her.

"It was great," I answered. "Quite a lot of people though."

Bree nodded in agreement.

"Also, the coffee at Downey's Cafe is amazing," she added."We should go there together sometime. All of us."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Chase replied.

Bree and I hung up our coats, while the boys made their way over to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. I looked down at my wrist-watch. It was 6:30. No wonder I was starving.

"So, what have you two been doing?" Bree asked as we walked over to them again, me opening a drawer to help take out utensils.

"Inventing. We're creating a device based on the simple photomultiplier tube, but more powerful," Chase said, surprisingly short-cut to be him. Normally he would give a lengthy explanation of every single detail - most of which I only understood a quarter of - but not today it seemed. I saw Bree quizzically raise an eyebrow towards him, which he answered with a shrug.

Oliver, oblivious to the silent exchange happening behind his back, said while opening the fridge:

"Yeah, who knew photon energy could be so interesting? Now," changing the topic as he placed tomatoes, lettuce and ham on the bench next to the cucumber, carrots and olive oil already there, "I don't really feel like cooking much, so I thought we could make a salad. Does that sound alright?"

"Sure," I responded. "What do you want us to do?"

"There's not much to do, all it is is cutting up and mixing the ingredients," he stated.

"Ooh, I can roast some sunflower seeds to top it off with," Bree said eagerly, reaching for a packet of them on the kitchen shelf.

"Wouldn't it be, um... better if someone else did that?" Oliver asked carefully.

"Why?" Bree inquired, seeming a little confused.

"Well, you're not exactly the best at cooking," Chase pointed out, smirking.

"What? Come on, I'm not that bad…" She trailed off when she saw our looks and raised her hands in surrender. "Okay fine. I'll take out the plates and cutlery, then."

She handed the packet of seeds to Oliver, who poured half of it and some oil in the frying pan he'd put on the stove.

Soon we were all occupied, me cutting the ingredients, Chase helping Bree set the table and Oliver stirring in the pan. We didn't speak, but it was a comfortable silence.

Eventually, I spoke the thought that had been gnawing in the back of my head ever since we came back home.

"Do you have any idea when Kaz will be back?"

The silence this time was a lot more tense, the only sound being the crackling from the pan.

"I don't know," Oliver said after a while, his voice sounding so small all of a sudden.

I nodded slowly, not really knowing what to say.

"Maybe you should talk to him when he comes back," Bree suggested quietly. "Find out if something's wrong."

Now it was Oliver's turn to nod, sighing as he did.

"I'll do that," he answered simply. "Not sure it'll work though; he's been ignoring me just as much as all of you."

The mood quickly changed when suddenly a bitter, prickling smell arose in the air. I sniffed, wrinkling my nose.

"Can you smell burnt?" I asked. "Where could it- Oliver the pan's on FIRE!"

Oliver cried out when he noticed the growing flames. He had been so lost in thought that the seeds had burnt, causing them to ignite. Quickly, he pulled it away from the hob and sent a stream of water from his free hand, extinguishing the fire immediately. A string of smoke trailed up from the now drenched dark lumps that once had been seeds.

I felt bad doing so, but I couldn't help but roar with laughter. The others soon followed. Oliver looked around sheepishly, scraping at the blackened mass burnt fast on the pan's bottom.

"Some of it's eatable, I think," he murmured, blushing hard.

By now I managed to recover enough to try and comfort him.

"It's okay, we can make more if there isn't enough," I said, patting his shoulder. "Also, I'm not that into sunflower seeds anyway."

He smiled at me, a little cheered up, but it didn't last long, as Bree didn't miss the opportunity of dramatic irony.

"Welcome to the bad cooking club!" Bree exclaimed, spreading her arms out in pretended excitement.

Oliver opened his mouth to defend himself, but when he saw Bree's teasing smile he just slowly shook his head. I bit my lip hard to quench another burst of laughter. Looking over to Chase, I could see he was grinning too.

Suddenly he tensed, listening intently. I glanced in the direction he was gazing just to see a quick glint of someone heading up the stairs.

Kaz.

The room went quiet, presumably because the others saw him too. I met Oliver's now serious eyes and gestured with my head in the direction Kaz had gone. Oliver nodded and, putting the frying pan down, walked quickly towards and up the stairs.

Oliver

"Hey, aren't you hungry?"

Kaz had just put his hand on the bedroom door knob, but turned around at my call and looked blankly back at me.

"Not really," he replied monotonously.

Even though he tried his best not to show it, he clearly was upset. After knowing him for so long I could tell at once by his slightly crouched posture and his ears being faintly red that something was really bothering him.

Though his usually soft brown eyes were cold, and his face motionless, which worried me. A lot. Normally Kaz was an open book, all his feelings being clearly expressed. Now it was as if a wall had come down that I couldn't get through. I didn't understand why, but I had to find out.

With Kaz, it was almost always best to cut to the chase immediately. Therefore I asked:

"Kaz, what is going on? Is something wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said in the same emotionless voice.

"Something's up, I know it," I persisted. "I - no, we - are worried about you."

"I said," he began, his voice cracking with anger all of a sudden, "I don't want to talk about it!"

I was starting to feel desperate. This wasn't going well at all.

"Kaz, please," I begged. "You're my best friend. I- I just want to help you. Why are you shutting me out?"

The question hung in the air in quiet tension. I could see how conflicted emotions flickered across his face as I stood there, waiting for an answer. I'd never felt this helpless before. We had always stuck together, no matter what was thrust on us, and confided in each other when we'd felt down. There hadn't been any secrets. Not many, anyway. But now... something had changed from our pre-teen years. Somehow, I had lost Kaz's trust along the way. It pained me that I didn't know why, but I was determined to make it up to him for whatever I had done. Nothing mattered, only that Kaz would trust me again. He had to. I couldn't - no, I refused to - imagine what I'd do if he didn't.

As all this whizzed through my mind, Kaz, still tormented, finally broke the silence.

"You won't understand," he whispered, so faintly I could hardly hear him.

"Then help me to."

He didn't answer, just met my gaze with sadness, his eyes now a hole into his soul. Even though the bottomless sorrow cut into me as swiftly as sharp knife, at least it was better than the blank emptiness he'd expressed earlier. Hopefully.

"You need to trust me, Kaz," I continued. "It's unlike you to build walls like this. Let me in and we can figure this out together. We can get help-"

I regretted the last words as soon as they left my mouth and tried to take them back, but it was too late.

"You think there's something wrong with me?" Kaz said, his voice rising with every syllable. "You think I'm some sorta' crazy case?!"

"No- no I didn't mean it that way-"

He didn't let me finish, but yelled:

"Have you seen yourself recently? It's not me who needs help, it's you. It's all of you. You know, before I thought you were really smart. The smartest person I knew, as a matter of fact. And I thought you actually cared…"

For a second his voice faltered, tears gleaming in his eyes, but soon his expression hardened again.

"I'm beginning to see that I was wrong, since you obviously can't take the consequences for your actions. Or even notice them, for that matter!"

"Kaz, what are you talking about?" I cried, totally bewildered.

"Just leave me alone!" he snapped.

And with that, he turned around and opened the bedroom door in one swift movement. I didn't even have the chance to open my mouth before it slammed shut, leaving me alone in the dimly lit hallway.

I sighed deeply, feeling my shoulders sag as the knot in my stomach grew tighter. I noticed I was exhausted, as if all my energy just had been sucked out. Slowly, I closed my burning eyes and shakily drew a few heavy breaths, because I knew I otherwise would lose the plot completely.

I… I just lost my best friend.

What was I supposed to do now?

I paced back and forth in my room, thinking hard about my next move. It had to be subtle. I didn't want him to suspect anything. At the same time, I wanted it to hurt, just as much as I did because of his actions.

I shuddered as I thought of him. He had stolen what I valued most from me, and I would make him pay for it.

Well, hopefully I would get my revenge soon. I smiled as an idea formed in my mind. Very soon indeed.

Now was the time to act.

I'm so sorry for the very long delay! There's been a lot going on lately, with national tests and final exams replacing each other. I'll try to update again in the next few weeks, but I can't promise anything since I'll probably have to limit my writing to weekends only. Studying is taking over my life...

Also, thank you so much for the support and Reviews! I'm really glad you liked my previous chapter, your comments literally made my day! :)

Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry if you found this chapter a little boring, but these events are really important to future events, so please bear with me if you find that the case.

Until next time!