Annoyance
All Bryce would have to do is call his brothers and go 'it's him' and Chuck would be pulled back into the world of capes and heroes. But he didn't.
Billy left for a reason. Bryce just didn't know what it was and it frustrated him.
"Are you alright?" Chuck asked him as they studied for their exam with Professor Flemming.
"It's just this exam tomorrow. Everyone who has done it, calls it 'the exam you can't study for'."
Chuck shook his head. "That can't be it. You've been acting strange around me for a while. I would say it was because of going back to see your family the other week but it started even before then."
The 'trip to see his family' had been nothing of the sort. It had been Bryce's first test as a CIA recruit. It had indeed soured his mood but it wasn't the cause of any rift between him and Chuck.
"I just don't understand," he said.
Chuck took the comment in the spirit Bryce had intended, that he was redirecting them to their study. In reality, Bryce just wanted to make a comment about how he didn't understand why the CIA was involved in Stanford, that he didn't understand why his brothers all thought he should work the CIA and he didn't understand why Billy quit to Chuck's face. Why did he give up?
Bryce sighed and closed his books. "I'm done for today. If it's as bad as they say, I'll just flunk it." He found himself caring less and less about his classes as days went by.
"Bryce? Hey!" Chuck scrambled to follow him.
Bryce was furious. The exam was a farce of a thing! He should have expected it from Professor Flemming by now but it still bugged him whenever the man did something to bring the CIA into the lives of regular people.
Tim was sitting across from him, drinking a soft drink and munching his way through a packet of chips.
"You know this sounds crazy right?" he said.
"Professor Flemming is testing his project on unsuspecting college students and hiding it as an 'exam'. Tell me what part of that is crazy and not a gross misuse of the power he's been given as a professor teaching here."
Tim snickered and reached for Bryce's water bottle. Bryce quickly snatched it out of his reach. If Tim wanted water, he could get his own.
"The part where his project is implanting information in his students' minds with the hopes of finding a subject to implant a whole computer in." After a pause, Tim added, "I bet such a subject will be Chuck."
A chill went through Bryce. "What?"
"That Orion guy wanted you to keep an eye on the CIA and protect Chuck. So Chuck's probably the perfect kind of subject for this. Otherwise, why would Orion be paying so much attention to him?"
"Because he's his son?" Bryce said with no conviction in his words. They both felt awkward about him saying it. Bryce shrugged. "Maybe he cares about Chuck?"
"Maybe," Tim mused. "Just keep an eye on Chuck. See if your Professor or anyone else affiliated with the CIA tries to contact him."
They did. Bryce intercepted the message and appeared at the meeting for deciding Chuck's future. The CIA wanted Chuck and there was nothing Professor Flemming could do.
Bryce didn't agree with that but he decided to come up with his own plan, since the Professor was as good as useless. He didn't have much time so the best option was to invalidate Chuck's results on the exam.
Orion contacted Bryce again, pleading with him to save Chuck from the CIA. Even if Orion hadn't told him to, he would have anyway. And so, Bryce framed Chuck for cheating.
Chuck asked him why and Bryce couldn't give him an answer. Answering the question would have exposed Chuck to the CIA and everything else. Everything that Bryce suspected Chuck was trying to run from.
Bryce didn't have any other friends aside from Chuck. Chuck had been well-liked among them and everyone knew that Bryce had been the one to get him kicked out and taken his girl. Bryce wondered where the second part of that rumour had come from but it served its purpose in keeping Chuck away.
It might be time to quit the charade. There wasn't much for him now that Chuck was gone.
Family
Bryce was in the middle of trying to decide whether he was going to leave Stanford and the CIA when he was cornered. Since he had ratted out Chuck, none of the other members of the fraternity bothered to warn him when Chuck's sister turned up.
"How dare you?" she said, standing in his doorway with her hands on her hips. Her long brown hair bore a striking resemblance to the young woman who had fought alongside Billy years ago. "Don't you know how hard Chuck worked for this? How dare you take it away from him!" She launched into a rant about how their parents were gone and how this had been Chuck's dream and how Bryce had destroyed it and wouldn't tell Chuck why. How the betrayal more than anything was hurting her brother, making it difficult for him to make friends.
"Ugh, shut up, Mary," Bryce spat. What did she know anyway? Chuck hadn't paid attention to the dangers around him and he had paid for it. At least he was alive.
The last subject roped into the Omaha project was deceased.
"My name is Ellie."
Bryce paused, silently cursing himself. This was just going to make her angrier.
"Why did you call me 'Mary'?"
It wasn't like the truth would be believed. "I once knew someone with that name. She also had a brother, named Billy."
Ellie frowned at him and then stormed out, muttering about how brother was going to get it for not warning her that Bryce knew about Billy.
Bryce didn't know what to do after she left. Did this mean he was right? Was she going to come back? Were Chuck and Ellie about to drop off the map the way Billy and Mary did?
It wasn't like any of it mattered but his mind couldn't help wondering about all the 'what ifs'. And then, later that very afternoon, a text appeared on his phone from an unknown number.
It was a time and an address. But it wasn't the CIA. Nor was it Tim, who had been hanging around this last disaster of a week for some reason.
Meeting
Chuck paced back and forth quickly. This was stupid. He should just go back to Burbank and not even bother with Bryce again. That had been the plan, hadn't it? Bryce had taken everything from him!
Bryce also knew too much. He had hinted to Ellie that he knew about Billy. Why had Chuck thought that letting Ellie confront Bryce was a good idea? Now his family might be in danger.
Chuck needed to know how and why. That's why he had to meet Bryce here, at a little coffee shop just outside of campus.
"Chuck?"
Chuck's heart stopped. Bryce's voice made his chest clench in a suppressed storm of emotions. He really had to hold back from punching the guy.
"Who are you?" he demanded to know. "Is your name even Bryce?" And wasn't that just another betrayal? He hadn't known Bryce at all. So stupid!
Bryce shook his head. "My name is Damian Wayne. We've met before."
That caused Chuck to pause. It also explained some of the warnings he had been given when he was younger to keep a distance from the Batman and his clan. "Wait, Robin?" he questioned in a pitch too high. They had met before! Bryce had been that little kid with the accent more British than American, who liked being a little too rough on criminals. "Holy moly, didn't I go to your birthday party once?"
"Before you disappeared without a word. Yeah."
Ouch. Maybe there had been betrayal on both sides. But still, "and getting me kicked out of my dream college and stealing my girlfriend is your revenge for that?"
"What? No!"
"Well, why did you do it?" This was not where Chuck had expected the conversation to go. He had thought that he could go the rest of his life without knowing why Bryce did what he did. However, he already had an answer to the question he arranged this meeting for; Bryce knew because he was Batman's kid. Chuck asked the other question which had been weighing on his mind. "Forget it, I don't need an answer. As long as you're not going to ask me to come back to the Justice League."
"I'm not involved with the Justice League," Bryce responded in a huff. "Is that all?"
"Oh no. I just wanted you to know that I'm still mad at you. Very much so." Chuck turned away so that he wouldn't have to look at Bryce's expression. He didn't know which would hurt more; indifference or pain.
