TWO | 'YAWN-BOMB'

Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats: Elite Force but I do own Ventura 'Hex' Mallory and her original story-line and dialogue, as well as any other character who is a part of Ventura's family.

Chase finished using the fire-extinguisher on the table after a small fire debacle and a fuming Hex was being held back from attacking Kaz by Oliver. The water-manipulator had dragged a kicking and screaming Hex away from his best friend and the burning table and had pulled her quite a distance away from the other boy.

"KAZIMIERAS!" Hex yelled, making Kaz wince at his full name. He should've seen this coming – Hex had a fear of fire and his element had been way too close to her. If anyone asked, Hex would just mention the world 'Salem' and most people understood. But it hadn't been his fault – it was a new power that he couldn't control!

Hex's eyes full of anger, she was shaking with rage and if she had her powers, her hands would have been glowing with purple energy. The witch absolutely hated the inhibitor cuff around her wrist. Hex and Kaz were the best of friends but people who didn't know them personally, would assume that Hex wanted to seriously injure Kaz and vice versa.

"Why do you always threaten me when I use my powers? Why don't you threaten Oliver?"

"Because Ollie doesn't try to reenact the Salem Witch Trials with me!" Oliver had to physically hold his sister-figure back from killing their best friend as Chase looked on, worried for Kaz's safety. After a moment, Oliver let go of the snarling girl but stood in between his two friends just in case. Hex continued to glare at Kaz, "I swear, if you shoot one more fireball at me, I will hex it to shove itself back down your throat!"

"I heard an explosion. And angry screaming," Davenport cried, hurrying down the stairs. He was wearing a body-shaping shirt and Hex cringed at the sight. "Did we get attacked by shape-shifters again?"

Chase saw his father and let out a noise between disgust and fear, "No, but could you cover up? I'm seeing a few too many shapes shifting over there." The boy threw a shirt into the face of the man, which was followed by a throw blanket pitched at his face by Hex, who looked mentally scarred.

"What happened?"

"I'm guessing a combination of gravity and middle age," Kaz offered, eyeing Davenport in something similar to fear.

Davenport pointed at the ruined table and then to Hex, "To that. And her."

"Oh, well, um, Oliver and Chase were talking about science, I got bored," the fire-manipulator explained, "I yawned, something flew out of my mouth, and voila, I set the table on fire."

"And almost killed me!" Hex yelled. She'd been casually sitting on the table, having been comfortable there, and had just jumped out of the way in time to avoid being incinerated.

"He found another super power." Oliver added, "It's a fire grenade."

"Fire grenade? That's lame." Kaz smiled enthusiastically, "I'm calling it my 'yawn bomb.'"

"Yeah, 'cause that's much better," Oliver and Hex replied in unison, leaning closer to each other to fist-bump.

"Do you think if I cause bodily harm that the 'yawn bombs' will burn his insides?" It was an aggressive statement but Hex had her scientific moments and was genuinely interested as to what would happen. Without waiting for an answer, the currently-powerless witch casually took the fire extinguisher from Chase and hefted it over her shoulder, planning to smack Kaz with it. The bionic boy quickly took it back.

"So wait, you just discovered something you didn't even know you had?" Chase clarified. "How many powers were in that space rock?"

"That's tough to say," Kaz acknowledged.

"It didn't really come with a manual," Hex added sarcastically. "I wouldn't be almost dying every other day if it had. This whole situation would've been a lot easier."

Kaz nodded, "And even if it did, I probably wouldn't read it."

"Oh, didn't see that one coming," Hex quipped, rolling her eyes. She had tried multiple times to get Kaz to read a legitimate book but so far had failed every time.

"This is just like you guys when you unlocked new bionic abilities," Davenport mentioned to Chase and the boy frowned.

"Oh, yeah. Except that our abilities come from a highly advanced infrastructure, and theirs come from a magic witch pebble. Whoooo!"

"Uh, offensive." Hex walked over and slapped Chase over the head, correcting, "Witches have rune stones, not 'magic witch pebbles.' Besides, you have a glorified SIM card in your neck."

"Excuse me. It is not a—"

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Hex interrupted the bionic. She'd been listening to annoying science chatter for the past few hours and the near-constant exhaustion she felt was making her extremely riled up. "But you have a GPS locator, can tap into other 'SIM cards' and I'm pretty sure you can use your bionic brain—" she tapped his head "—to watch cat videos."

Chase huffed in annoyance, about to correct Hex but she stepped away with a wink, sensing that she had won that argument.

"Either way," Davenport said, hoping to intervene before the glare-off between the pair – which held an odd type of tension that made them move closer together as they fought – became a full-on fight, "this is a great opportunity for the team. We can teach them to hone their abilities the way I trained you."

"Like a school?"

Oliver corrected Hex, hoping to make her frown into a smile, "Superhero school. That sounds like fun."

"Gross," the witch whined, picking at the chipping black polish on her nails. "I'm eighteen, I've graduated. There is no way in Hell that I going back to school."

"School? Ugh, boring!" Kaz yawned again, one of his fire grenades shooting out of his mouth and Hex almost jumped into Chase's arm to avoid it. She let go almost immediately and Chase was quickly distracted. He yelped, running over to the umbrella stand in the corner of the room with the fire extinguisher.

The fire-manipulator tried to joke, "Well, that's the last time that umbrella stand attacks us."

"Kaz…" Hex's voice was dangerously low and a sneer twisted her lips. The powerless witch advanced on the boy sitting on the couch, towering over him. "You have five seconds to find a way to get yourself and your little 'fire grenades' off – this – planet." The last three words were punctuated with Hex poking Kaz roughly in the chest. "Or so help me—"

Hex was cut off by Chase walking back over and placing a hand over her mouth to stop her from finishing her threat. He chuckled lightly but regretted it as soon as he did because Hex's green eyes were attempting to burn a hole in the side of his head.

XXXXX

"Good news, ladies," Davenport announced to Bree and Skylar as soon as he, the boys and Hex stepped out of the lift. "I'm about to teach my first class of superhero school."

Bree stood up, "I'm out."

"Right behind you," Skylar followed Bree out of the lab.

Hex stayed behind, "I'm staying for at least a minute to see how badly this goes."

Davenport turned back to the others, "Okay, guys, I will be your instructor, and Chase will be my apprentice."

"What? Why am I the apprentice?"

"Because you don't know anything about superheroes," Davenport justified and Hex snorted lightly. He didn't know anything about superheroes either.

"Oh, and you do?" Chase questioned, frowning.

"Hello! I'm Donald Davenport."

Chase smirked, "Just because you wear disturbingly tight unitards does not make you a superhero."

"Ooh, nice," Hex smiled, patting Chase on the back for that comment. The witch cringed again, "But I'm out too, before he starts explaining how he manages to fit into them. That's something I don't need to hear."

The witch almost ran to the hyperlift, mouthed 'good luck' to Oliver and Kaz and mock-saluted Chase, before she stepped into the hyperlift and wandered out of the living room onto the terrace to look for Bree and Skylar.

"Hey," Hex greeted the two girls who were relaxing in some of the lounge chairs. The burgundy-haired girl pulled another chair over as the two girls chorused a 'hi' back. The Mallory girl looked out across the city, "I have never seen a view like this."

Bree put down her magazine, seeming to realise that they were all new to the city, "So, how do you like Centium City?"

Hex bit her lip, "It's different. A good different but it's taking some time to get used to."

"It's great, but it's kind of overwhelming," Skylar replied, agreeing with Hex and getting comfortable in her chair. She was an alien and everything was sort of new to her. "I mean, I'm just a small-town alien girl."

"Yeah, that's never gonna stop sounding weird."

"What I mean is," the brunette alien clarified. "We've been to school, but I haven't experienced much of the real world."

The witch threw back her head, nodding thoughtfully, "I was normally in Mighty Med and before that…my father was very controlling. I barely left the house and now, I can literally look out the window and see the world below us. The real world that we've never been a part of, that we've never experienced."

"Me neither," Bree replied enthusiastically, happy that she could connect to Skylar and Hex more. She'd spent most of her time with Skylar – Hex had seemed more comfortable around Oliver than anyone else – and Bree thought she was cool. Now, Bree could become closer with Hex, the not-so-villainous supervillain and maybe make Hex's current lack of power a little easier to bear. There was just something about Hex too that made Bree feel extremely trusting of her and like she had already known her for months, not a day. "I couldn't be more socially awkward. And I don't know why I'm so excited about that."

"This is gonna be so great," Bree continued, standing up along with Skylar. "I finally have another girl around – two, so it's going to be so much better! You're like the sisters I never had." She put down her drink, missing the way Skylar shifted. "Well, I mean, Chase acts like an old lady, but it's not the same."

"I bet it isn't," Hex mused, still in her seat. "But, uh, you really don't want to be Sky's sister. Her sisters have been known to be…" She searched for the right word, "vicious."

"Wait. You think of me as a sister? Both of us?" Skylar asked and Hex looked to the sky in worry for Bree.

"Of course I do." Bree opened her arms for a hug, "Bring it in."

Instead of hugging her, the alien knocked Bree's feet out from under her, making her land face-first on the ground and gripped her legs in a hold. Hex shook her head and got up. Skylar and her sisters always rough-housed, an alien thing, Hex assumed, but Skylar didn't seem to understand that it wasn't like that on Earth.

"What are you doing?" Bree demanded, squirming in her 'sister's' grip.

"Having fun with my new sis." Skylar ignored the bionic's 'ow' and pulled more on Bree's legs, making them pop, "Aw, your tiny bone pops are adorable."

"Ow, okay!"

Hex grabbed Skylar's wrists making her detach her hold on Bree and tossed her over her shoulder. Skylar landed on her stomach, face pressed into the stone floor. Without a second of hesitation, the witch calmly twisted Skylar's arm behind her back and sat on her friend's legs. "Sky, what have I told you? This is not how we do things here."

Skylar wiggled but the witch did not budge, "You don't even have your powers! How are you still better at this than me?"

Skylar had tried something similar when Hex had become her best friend and had described her as 'like a sister.' The alien had been surprised to find that Hex was an expert in mixed martial arts and could beat her in a fight. No matter how many time Skylar tried a sneak-attack, Hex was able to win the small fight and ended them by sitting on Skylar until she promised not to do it again. The alien had hoped that the witch girl had her magic helping her but that seemed to not be the case – even without her powers, Hex was still able to take Skylar down.

"Practice." The burgundy-haired girl looked over to the brunette bionic, "You okay?"

Bree answered Hex with a groan of pain and merely laid where she was, not even bothering to try to get up. The witch got up off Skylar and walked back inside, leaving the two girls to their own devices. She knew better than to interfere with their 'sisterly love' and hoped that Bree was smart enough to just tell Skylar to stop.

In the living room, Chase was sitting at a table on a small, white computer, typing away. Without a word, Hex sat down in the seat beside him and pressed her forehead onto the table, making her hair flop out over the keyboard.

Chase looked up from the screen and eyed the witch's hair for a moment, "Is this your natural hair color?"

It was an odd question but was designed for the two to get to know each other better. Hex knew Oliver, Kaz and Skylar inside and out and she learning more about Bree, but so far, Hex only knew a few things about Chase. He was the youngest and smartest of what was originally a trio of siblings, he didn't believe in anything if science couldn't prove it, he was willing to put people first and help out as much as he could, he sat back and planned before doing something and he was unnecessarily arrogant about his own intelligence. And easily jealous too, if people did things that made him look lesser than them. He also had an older brother that constantly overshadowed him that made Chase strive for perfection.

"No," Hex murmured, stopping her thoughts about Chase and answering his question. "My magic makes it this color. I'm a natural redhead and after maybe a day or two without my magic, it'll turn back to 'carrot-stick.'"

Hex wasn't a big fan of her natural hair color. It was too similar to her sister and father's hair color and she would've much preferred to be blonde. That would probably explain why, when she was fifteen, she'd dyed her hair to a pale blonde that was similar her mother and brother's hair shade. Overtime, constant use of her magic made her hair turn a burgundy color that matched the color of her magic.

The Mallory girl shook her head quickly – hair colour conversations should not bring up unwanted thoughts about her family that had practically dissolved into nothing years ago.

The young woman raised her arm, letting the flared sleeve of her burgundy top fall down to reveal the clunky metal cuff around her wrist, "The longer this is on, the more tired I get. The more tired I get means the less magic I have in my system after I get this stupid cuff off."

"We will get it off," Chase promised again and tilted his head. "How do you actually have, you know, magic?"

"I thought you didn't believe in magic," Hex sat up straight, wide awake now.

"I want to learn."

Chase was in for it now. This was a topic Hex was passionate about, something that she was willing to talk Chase's ear off about. She explained to the bionic boy, who listened intently, about how every single person in the universe had a magical affinity. A magical affinity was almost like the percentage a person had to manipulate magic, which could be determined in a magic aptitude test. Everyone was born with magic but even some people with high affinities could lose it if they were never taught properly or they didn't use it for a large amount of time; Hex had heard that a witch or warlock losing their magic was like losing a piece of themselves and left them empty.

Hex had a very high magical affinity and was in turn able to manifest her magic into the purple glow she always seemed to have. Some people had a high magical affinity, but couldn't manifest it, like Hex's sister. The witch also explained to Chase about the genetic luck manipulation that came with the Mallory name. Hex told Chase all about how Fortuna Mallory, better known as Tune, had enough affinity to cause good luck to be around her at all times but couldn't make an orb of magic appear in her hand. She also mentioned in passing the bad luck of her older brother whom she only called 'Mal' and slipped up in telling Chase that he was dead – that had ended her talk of her family and back to magic in general.

The witch girl determined that Chase's magical affinity must manifest with his bionics, possibly making some of them stronger than others. But neither he, nor Bree or any other bionic, had enough magical power to manifest it.

"Probably because you're science-based," Hex concluded and met Chase's eyes. He looked almost dazed and the girl's eyes widened, "Oh, crap. Did I fry your hard-drive with all that 'witch pebble, whoooo' talk?" She copied the same face and high-pitched tone he used when he said the words.

The bionic seemed to snap out of it, shaking his head, "No. That's just really interesting." He paused, almost conflicted. "I found a site about the Herculean-Inhibitor-Cuff-Mark-20 that might help you."

Chase turned back to his computer, typing and Hex moved closer. She was so immersed in the idea that she could have her magic back that she didn't notice how close she moved to the teenager beside her.

"So, your heart stops and the cuff lets go, right? What happens if—" Chase stopped abruptly. There was certainly a something between them – Hex refused to call it a 'spark.' They had turned to look at each other and their faces were now an inch apart. If they just moved—

"Hey, Chase." Oliver entering the room made Hex rocket away from Chase, leaning as far away as she could from him without falling out of her seat. Hex refused to look at either of the boys and there was a slight red tint to Chase's cheeks. Oliver frowned, wondering what he just walked into before he shook his head and continued, "Can we talk, smart guy to smart guy?"

"Well, we can talk smart guy to smartest guy," Chase pointed at himself, a cocky grin on his face.

"Is your head a balloon? Because I swear I can see it inflating."

"What's up?" Chase asked Oliver, seeing that the other boy didn't look amused, completely ignoring Hex.

"I'm just not getting this whole superhero thing."

"Oh, Ollie. Come here." Oliver looked really upset and Hex was immediately up and wrapping her arms around his waist. The boy sighed and tilted his head down to rest against Hex's, who was only about an inch shorter than him. One of his arms went around her shoulders and they stood silently, just hugging, for a few moments.

If the pair were asked how they came to be like siblings, they'd both say they didn't know. Hex was sarcastic and loud, while Oliver was precise and relaxed. Although they had their moments when Hex was extremely wise – mainly when helping her friends – and Oliver was extremely anxious – almost one-hundred-percent of the time he was around Skylar Storm. He planned before he acted but Hex acted before she planned. They were so different but worked together perfectly. Hex was always the one Oliver went to for help with his powers or Skylar and Hex always sought comfort in Oliver when her visions became too much or her empathic abilities took over. As an empath, Hex could feel the emotions – and thoughts connected to those emotions – of the people around her. Even without her powers, Hex was in tune with the sadness and disappointment Oliver felt in himself.

"Yeah, me neither," Chase replied, trying to play off the feeling in his chest at seeing the two hug. That feeling was weird and he was confused as to why it was there. "We've been over this. Magic witch pebble. Whoooo!"

Hex shot Chase a look and Oliver shook his head, "No. I mean, when I used my cryo-blast to freeze the black swarm, it worked perfectly. But earlier today, I was—"

"A dud?" Chase supplied, still grinning.

"I was gonna say—"

"A failure."

"No, I was thinking—"

"A disaster."

Disengaging her arms from Oliver, Hex calmly walked over to Chase and half-sat on his lap. She covered his mouth with one hand and slapped his arm with the other, "Would you let him finish?!"

Oliver sent her a thankful look and Hex smiled back, still not removing her hand from Chase's mouth in case he wanted to be 'helpful' and mention something else.

"It's weird. In school, I always picked up things quickly, but for some reason, I just I can't figure out these powers. Something's off."

Hex rolled her eyes, "Ollie, it's because it's Kaz. If it were me progressing with my powers faster than you, you'd be okay with it. It's because you're not used to being 'second-best,' especially to Kaz."

Chase peeled Hex's hand away from his mouth and tapped her leg, indicating for her to get off his lap so he could stand, "I think I know what's off. It's like Hex said. Your world is upside down 'cause you're usually the A student, and Kaz is the F student. It's psyching you out that he's better at this than you."

Hex pursed her lips, eyeing Chase as she headed over to lean against the couch. It was almost like he spoke from experience, maybe something with his brother, Adam. "Why do I get the feeling you've felt like this before?"

"What? No, that's crazy," Oliver denied. "He is not better than me, despite all the overwhelming evidence that says otherwise. I just need your help."

"Okay. Maybe you just need some practice," the Davenport boy proposed. "We can focus on one of your other powers. It might be easier for you."

Hex smiled lightly at Chase's willingness to help Oliver. The youngest Davenport had always been the leader of the three bionic siblings, making the plans, helping the others out. It was only right that he helped Oliver with his powers too.

"Yes, that's a great idea." Oliver's attitude perked up significantly. "Ooh, I have another super power that shoots a water vortex from my hand. I call it 'cyclone fingers.'"

"Wait. You dispense ice and water?" Chase tried to hold in his laughter, "Do you also have a vegetable crisper?"

Oliver's smile fell and Hex poked the bionic boy in annoyance. Hex wasn't going to miss this. Knowing Oliver, he was probably going to stuff up in some way, injure or endanger himself or someone else and in the end, he'd fix the situation and still be the dweeb that he always was.

XXXXX

About two hours later, saw Oliver still practicing with his cyclone fingers, Chase supervising and Hex throwing out comments along the way. She'd starting off reading a book but got bored with the typical 'happily ever after' ending and had thrown it away. Literally. The book had been thrown over the rail of the terrace, followed by a loud shout of 'BORED!' from the witch.

"You're doing great, Oliver," Chase praised. "Maybe I was wrong about Kaz getting into your head. Let's try it again." The water-manipulator created the cyclone again, bigger than the last time. Chase leant away, calling, "Okay, that's good. We're good. I said we're good!"

Oliver finally let the cyclone dissipate and Hex grinned, popping a piece of gum into her mouth, saying in a Yoda voice, "Become the master, the student has."

Her brother-figure smiled wider at the quote and turned to Chase, "This is amazing! Chase, I can't thank you enough."

"Well, there's always money," Chase suggested, making Hex roll her eyes.

"Hi, guys," Kaz greeted, walking onto the terrace with Davenport.

"Oh, hey, Kaz. What a coincidence. Chase and I were just not thinking about you," Oliver attempted to cover.

Hex pursed her lips, "Nice one, Ollie. So convincing."

"What are you guys doing out here?" Davenport asked casually and Oliver apparently saw a time to show off.

"Not much. Just perfecting this super cool new power. Check it out. Cyclone fingers." Oliver's hand was raised and the cyclone appeared in his palm but it seemed different: harder to control.

"Uh, Oliver?"

"Don't worry, I got this," the cyclone raged out of control, pushing Kaz and Chase over, throwing Hex into a glass window, which shattered over her, and Davenport was sent over the side of the building with a scream.

Kaz and Chase ran over to look over the side of the building. "That was really good, bud, up until that last part."

"Mr Davenport, are you okay?" Chase called down to his father, seeing the man barely hanging onto a piece of rock that jutted out from the side of the building.

"Help," Davenport cried. "I'm hanging on by a hair. My luscious, full-bodied hair. Help me!"

"Hang on, Mr Davenport." Kaz turned to Chase, "Speaking of which, what is he hanging on to?"

"Uh, that would be a Daven-head."

Oliver's brows were pinched together, "He put a giant bust of his own head on the building?"

"No," Chase scoffed. "The Daven-head came first. He built the tower to support it."

"I knew he had a big head, but I never thought it would save his life," Kaz stated making them laugh.

"I heard that, new guy."

"Hey, Oliver," Kaz turned to his best friend. "I'm thinking we should change the name of your cyclone fingers to 'irresponsible wind of doom.'"

"I thought it was perfected, and so did he," Oliver defended, gesturing to Chase.

Chase shook his head, "Whoa, don't rope me into this. I'm still trying to figure out you super freaks."

"I hate to interrupt," Davenport yelled up to the bickering trio, "but could one of you heroes get down here and save me?!"

"Can you pull yourself to the top of the head?" Chase yelled back.

"I can't get a foothold. It's too slippery. My face is too perfect."

"Okay, I'll be right down." Chase started to move before he realized something, "Wait. What am I saying? You two can fly. Get down there and save him." Chase pointed at Oliver and then turned to Kaz instead, "On second thought, why don't you go down there and save him?"

"Why not me?" Oliver asked, insulted that he wasn't picked to save Davenport.

"No offense," the bionic started, "but I don't trust you with your own life. If Mr Davenport needs a cold beverage, you'll be the first person I call."

"I got this," Kaz went to go over the railing but Oliver stopped him.

"No," he insisted. "I got this."

"Actually, I can still hear you, and my vote's for Kaz," Davenport retorted, tightening his grip. "Or Chase, even though he can't fly. Maybe even Ventura, who has no powers."

"Hex!" Chase suddenly realized, turning to see the girl brushing off glass from the window she's smashed into. She was up on her feet but still reasonably dizzy from being throw across the terrace. A long cut ran from her temple to her cheek but other than that, she looked okay. And immensely irritated.

"Oh, now you remember me?" The witch growled, stumbling over to Chase and shaking glass fragments from her hair. "I'm so honored. Now, Ollie. Do your thing – be positive, land slowly and have faith in yourself."

Oliver nodded, looking more positive after his pep talk, "Don't worry, Mr Davenport. I'm coming to save you." He tossed himself over the railing and after a few tense seconds of screaming, Oliver landed on the Daven-head.

"Why isn't Oliver saving him?" Kaz moved to climb off the terrace, "I better fly down and get 'em."

"No, don't," Chase gripped Kaz's arm, stopping him from going.

"Ah, you inherit the old man's building and bank account if he splats?" Kaz assumed. "Say no more."

"Kaz!"

"No," Chase scoffed. He seemed to do that a lot, Hex noticed. "Oliver needs to save Mr Davenport himself. The reason he's having trouble with his powers is because he's insecure. You're outshining him, and it's getting into his head."

"Wait, okay, so he's intimidated because I'm so good at it?"

"Yes," Chase confirmed.

"Oh," Kaz stated simply. "You know, I hate to say it, but I may need another superpower just to rein in all this awesome."

Hex raised a hand, "Do not make me slap you."

Chase forced Hex's hand back down to her side but even he looked slightly agitated by Kaz's comment, "The more you succeed, the more it shines a light on the fact that Oliver is struggling. The only way for him to get over that is to make him feel like he can do it. So we're gonna let him save Mr Davenport."

"Well, all righty then. Let's go make some popcorn and see how this train wreck turns out." Kaz clapped a hand to a frowning Chase's arm and Hex pointed at the retreating back of the boy.

"See!? This is what I have to deal with! Oliver is an insecure ice-cube, Kaz is a walking fire-hazard and Skylar is an alien who bashes people up to show that she loves them! I can't win!"

XXXXX

"Kaz, help!"

Oliver and Davenport seemed to only be hanging on and Hex was getting worried. Oliver's own insecurity was going to get him killed. Kaz, Chase and Hex were sitting on the railing between two pillars, sharing a bucket of popcorn. Hex was leaning against one, her legs over the side of the building, her head resting against the bionic boy's back as she popped some of the buttery snack into her mouth. She was only being supported by the pillar and Chase but she had enough faith that if she did fall, he'd at least do something to save her.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Kaz called back, mouth full. "There's no way I can carry both of you."

"Nice," Chase complimented. "That excuse sounds pretty believable."

Hex widened her eyes, realising that Chase didn't know the severity of the situation. That Oliver needed to save himself and Davenport or…splat. "That's because it wasn't an excuse."

"Yeah, actually, it's the truth," Kaz added calmly. "I just realized, Oliver's the only one with super strength. I couldn't save 'em if I wanted to."

"Idiot," Hex slapped a hand to her forehead. "You don't tell him that!" She pointed at Chase, the son of the man who could possibly fall to his death.

Chase sat up straight, jostling Hex, who latched onto the back of his shirt. "Wait. So Mr Davenport's life is really in Oliver's hands?"

"Yeah, his wet, slippery, ice cube-y hands," Kaz stated.

Hex jumped in, trying to reassure Chase. He had grabbed the bucket of popcorn, pressed himself closer to Hex and was now shoveling popcorn into his mouth. "Those same hands that will carry Mr Davenport to safety. Calm down, Chase, it's going to be okay." Leaning forward, Hex rested her chin on his shoulder and soothingly ran her fingers through his hair, something that someone had once done for her.

She believed in Oliver, he could save Davenport. He just needed more faith in himself.

That thought almost went out the window though, when the two people on the head fell and Hex almost had a heart-attack. Her hand flew to Chase's, scared for the life of her 'brother' and for Chase's father. The three teenagers hopped off the slight wall they were seated on and watched as Oliver and Davenport fell onto the terrace.

"Hey, I did it. I'm a hero!" Oliver exclaimed and dropping Chase's hand, Hex flew at the boy, wrapping him in a tight hug.

Her fingers tightly gripped Oliver's jumper as she told him, "You've always been a hero. I'm just so, so glad that you're okay." She pulled back to look at Davenport, "Both of you." The witch grew stern, "Never do that again!"

Davenport got up, adjusting his pants as he complained, "Yeah, but, uh, next time you save a guy, pick a better hand hold."

"Sorry. It was tough to get a grip with all your shifting shapes."

"I can't believe he came through," Kaz said to Chase, really surprised.

Oliver threw his hands up, "Hey!"

"Oh, sorry. I mean, uh," he paused. "Yeah, I can't believe you came through."

This comment earned him a slap over the head from Hex, who glared at the boy. Kaz lifted his hands in surrender.

"Just out of curiosity," Davenport wondered, "what was your back-up plan in case Oliver here didn't save me?"

"Preserve your real Daven-head in the name of science," Chase offered with a half-shrug.

Kaz hitched a thumb towards the kitchen, "I was gonna get a spatula, and meet you down at the sidewalk."

Hex shrugged, "I was going to tell Bree that she was your favourite and that she gets everything in the will."

"Hilarious!" Davenport laughed but pointed at Hex and then looked to Chase, "You're right. I'm leaving everything to Bree."

"I also broke one of your windows!" Hex yelled after the man stalking off the terrace and he grumbled even more, fixing his pants as he went.

"I'm proud of you, Oliver," Chase stepped closer to him.

Oliver smiled, "Thanks. Oh, and by the way, you were right. Once I stopped worrying about Kaz and started believing in myself, everything came together."

"Hey, you really stepped up when it mattered, and that's part of being a hero no one can teach." Hex thought that was really sweet, until Chase added arrogantly, "Well, except me."

Chase walked away with Hex beside him, the girl telling him off. "That was nice until the last part. You're gonna have a Daven-head in a few years, I can see it coming."

"I'm not that bad, am I?" Chase asked, genuinely curious.

Hex thought for a moment, biting her lip. "No," she finally decided. "I suppose you're not."

XXXXX

The teenagers had just gotten back from getting a sort of celebratory lunch.

"Hey, Mr Davenport," Skylar greeted once they stepped out of the elevator.

"Oh, hey, guys," Davenport spun around, a white molding mask on his face and wearing his 'shape-shifting' clothing. Hex pursed her lips, winced and looked away.

"Ew!" Skylar stated, "Okay, I'm from another planet, and I've never seen anything that weird."

"I'm gonna Daven-puke," Bree added, hurrying after Skylar to the kitchen.

Davenport stared at the remaining four teenagers, "All right."

"And to think we could've just let him fall." Hex couldn't help but nod at the comment, letting Davenport fall would've saved them from walking into the penthouse to see that.

"Ha ha!" Davenport's muffled, sarcastic laughter reached their ears.

"What's going on?" Chase demanded, creeped out by the mask and his father's choice in clothing.

"He's making a mold of my face to replace the broken Daven-head."

Oliver frowned, "But if they're only doing your head, why are you wearing that outfit?"

"Because I look great in it," the billionaire claimed.

Hex raised a brow, "Keep telling yourself that. Can't we just leave the head broken? I mean, one Daven-head to look at is enough. Especially when it's attached to that." The witch gestured at the rest of the older man's body.

"Do we have any super powers that can make me unsee this?" Kaz questioned and Davenport shook his masked face.

The three boys and Hex headed up the stairs. The burgundy-haired girl caught Chase's arm, making him stop and turn back to her.

"Hey," Hex tapped a black-painted nail to her inhibitor cuff. "You were saying before that there was maybe a way to remove this?"

Chase looked conflicted again like when he had brought it up hours ago. "There is a way," he admitted. "I could find something that could force your heart to stop and then something to restart it after the cuff has fallen off. But…" Hex cringed at the 'but' and Chase looked extremely serious. "There are so many things that go wrong. So just…think about it. We can always find another way to get that cuff off. It just might take some time."

The Mallory girl's eyes welled with tears but she held them back. She hadn't cried in years and she certainly wasn't going to cry in front of Chase. She was so tired, a bone-aching exhaustion and her healing was gone. Normally the cut on her face would've healed within minutes but it was still there, beginning to scab over slowly.

Hex tugged her hair to the side to reveal a thick strip of hair that was a bright red, her original hair color. It clashed with the burgundy, immediately drawing attention to it. Chase stiffened when he saw it, meeting Hex's eyes carefully.

"I don't think we have that much time."

"I promise," Chase repeated, grabbing her hands and his hazel eyes stared deep into her green ones. "We'll get that inhibitor cuff off."

XXXXX

Hi! New chapter up for anyone who reads this.

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~ Raven