Chase could stay sprawled on the couch making out with Kaz forever. So he isn't really sure why he pulls himself away from Kaz's soft hands and softer lips to say, "You and I should go on a real first date."
Kaz smiles up at him. "I thought the carnival was our 'real' first date."
Chase scowls. "First of all, Oliver was there. Second of all, I almost died. We should go on a real first date, just the two of us, no Oliver, no near-death experiences."
Kaz leans up and catches Chase's mouth with his, kissing him softly in the morning light. "Sounds gay. I'm in."
Just then, Bree stomps past, dragging with her the metaphorical black cloud that's been hovering over her for the past week or so. "Morning, Bree," Kaz greets her brightly. And because he refuses to give up, he asks her, "Something wrong?"
"Nope," Bree says, grabbing a pack of instant oatmeal from the cabinet. "I'm fine." She tries to tear open the oatmeal packet but it gives her some trouble. Frustrated, she hurls it across the kitchen. "Totally, completely fine. And even if I weren't fine, I don't want to talk about it to anybody."
Chase frowns. He hates seeing Bree like this. Usually she's always buzzing around from one thing to the next, and even when she's upset, she's always pretty vocal about it. He doesn't know what could be bothering Bree so much that she won't even talk about it. He and Kaz exchange a look but don't press the issue.
"My personal life is my personal life," Bree continues, giving up on the instant oatmeal and grabbing an entire container of cottage cheese out of the refrigerator and digging into it. "I have nothing to say to anyone, ever."
Then the door opens and Tasha Davenport shows up in the penthouse. "Surprise."
"MOM oh my God I have so much to tell you," Bree babbles, dropping her cottage cheese on the counter and zooming across the room to hug Tasha, who looks surprised at the attention but not unhappy.
Chase jumps away from Kaz like he's been shocked. It's not like he's not out to Tasha, but there's a difference between knowing her stepson likes guys and seeing him practically lying on top of one. "Hey, Tasha," he says, cheeks turning pink.
"Hi, Chase," she says, and then gives Kaz a knowing look. "Hi, Kaz."
"Hey, Mrs. D," Kaz grins, completely unabashed. "What brings you to Centium City?" He jumps off the couch and bounds into the kitchen for an apple.
"What, I can't visit my favorite superhero team just because I felt like it?" Tasha asks, wrapping an arm around Bree's shoulders. Both Bree and Chase give her skeptical looks. "Okay, Donald's got some big new project he's unveiling at Davenport Industries and he's been running around like a stressed-out nightmare monster. Yesterday I put the milk on a different shelf in the refrigerator and I thought he was going to bite my head off. I needed a little vacation."
"And you didn't think to go to the tropical island your husband owns?" Bree says.
Tasha gives her a withering look. "No, because guess who's helping Donald with this big project?"
Bree and Chase make eye contact. "Leo."
"Apparently he's gotten so bad that Adam's taken to hiding in his capsule to get away from him," Tasha sighs, walking with Bree to join her stepson on the couch. "I just needed a break from all that. Please tell me everything's going alright here."
"Yep," Bree lies.
"Everything's fine," Chase says.
"Epffeft fuhfa fhapefhiffehs," Kaz says around a big bite of apple.
Tasha stares. "Wh… what?"
"He said, 'except for the shapeshifters,'" Chase says. "We've been fighting shapeshifters. It's a whole thing. Should be fine for a weekend, though."
"Oh," Tasha says, still looking tense for a moment. Then she shrugs and relaxes into the couch. "Well, I'm sure you kids can handle anything. You've been doing a good job so far. Donald and I are really proud of you." Bree and Chase both duck their hands, kind of abashed, kind of pleased. Tasha hastily glances over at Kaz in the kitchen. "Oh, and um, we're proud of you, too, Kaz."
"Aw, thanks, Mrs. D," he says.
"So what were you all up to today, anyway?" Tasha says, looking around the room. Chase and Kaz exchange a couple panicked glances that basically constitute an argument using only their eyebrows.
Finally Chase says, "I'm taking Kaz on a date."
Tasha looks delighted. "Fun! Where are you going?"
Kaz waggles his eyebrows in Chase's direction. "That's a good question."
Chase grouches under the added pressure of his boyfriend, his sister and his stepmother. "Well… just based on a preliminary scan of the business database I have downloaded, it looks like the most highly rated and most affordable places for lunch are—"
"Gah, I'm already bored," Kaz says, but he's smiling at Chase in kind of a dopey, smitten way. "Here's an idea, Genius. How about I pick the restaurant?"
Chase smiles, aware that Tasha and Bree are making faces at the back of his head, not really caring. "Sounds great."
Kaz and Chase head out for their date about half an hour after that, leaving Tasha and Bree alone. "Thought they'd never leave," Bree huffs dramatically, sprawling across the expanse of the couch after exiling Tasha to the easy chair across from her. It almost looks like she could be in a therapist's office. "I have so much to tell you."
"You do?" she says back. "My phone call history says otherwise."
Bree frowns. "There's stuff I can't talk about on the phone."
Tasha takes that seriously, her smirk dropping. "Why? Are you being bugged? Is somebody listening to us right now?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Bree assures her, wriggling around on the couch in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position. "Just… I'm embarrassed."
"Oh, honey," Tasha sighs, looking at her fondly. "I've been there, trust me. You can tell me anything. I promise I won't laugh or judge."
Bree opens her mouth, shuts it, frowns. She tries again to find a more comfortable position.
Tasha asks, "Is it about a boy?"
"Not… a boy," Bree says, and just saying the words feels like pulling teeth. It's not like she didn't just watch Tasha cheerfully send off Chase on his very gay date with his very gay boyfriend. And it's not like she hasn't confided in Tasha about crushes on girls at school.
Somehow this feels different. Maybe because she happens to feel exceptionally pathetic about her unrequited crush on a certain alien superhero.
Tasha sees right through her. "Is it Skylar?"
"How do you do that?" Bree scowls. Tasha had also picked up on her crush on Caitlin years ago.
"Mom senses," Tasha says with a grin. "So… you like Skylar? I don't know her that well, except from her comic books. She seems nice, though. I'll have to—"
"You don't have to bother getting to know her," Bree says sullenly. "She doesn't feel the same way. Like, at all. As of last week she was actually seeing someone else, but… I don't know if that's still a thing. All I know is she doesn't like me that way."
Tasha doesn't try to contradict her or make any false assurances. She just says, "Oh, sweetie," and holds out her arms for a hug. Bree sinks against her, tucking her face into Tasha's sweater and thinking about how she'll never outgrow her stepmother's hugs.
Chase and Kaz wind up heading toward a cute pizzeria across town. "They've got the greasiest pepperoni ever," Kaz declares, swinging Chase's hand in his. He's still new to having a boyfriend, to being able to walk around with him, and he's reveling in it. "Of course, you can get a Caesar salad if you want. I won't judge, I promise."
Chase smiles at him, eyes full of adoration. "You're the best."
"I know," Kaz smirks, but then he leans forward and kisses the corner of Chase's mouth. It's almost perfect.
And then they hear the person on the sidewalk in front of them cough. Chase sees him first and his face drains of color, and then Kaz whirls around to see who's there, expecting the worst— Roman, Reese, or just some homophobic dude.
It's a guy Kaz doesn't recognize. He's got thick eyebrows and a defined chin, and he's looking at Chase like a cat eyeing a koi pond. "You two look adorable together," the stranger says. "I'd hate to interrupt your little date, but… well, I came a long way."
Kaz waits for Chase to make a witty retort or at least explain who this asshole is, but Chase just gulps, eyes wide with horror. Kaz grimaces and turns back to the guy. "Look, dude, it's the weekend. Let's save this crap for business hours, mmkay?" Just to make the message clear, he lets his right hand flame up.
The stranger doesn't even react. He makes some kind of slashing-ripping motion with his hand and a burst of green light shoots out and hits the light post next to them, cutting it in half. The lamp falls, sparking, and nearly hits Chase.
Behind Kaz, Chase gasps. "How can you do that? They took away your bionic chip."
"Who the hell is this guy?" Kaz asks, looking wildly between Chase and the other guy.
The other guy laughs. "What, the new boyfriend doesn't know about the old boyfriend?" He looks at Kaz. "I'm Sebastian. Chasey's first boyfriend, first kiss, first… humiliating betrayal."
"Answer me," Chase says, and even though his hands are trembling, his voice is firm. He ignores Kaz's bewildered expression. "How do you have powers? How are you even here right now?"
In answer, a girl walks up from the shadows and stands at Sebastian's right side, leering at them. "I take credit for that," he says, winking. "Hi, boys. I'm Riley. Broke your boy here out of the bionic bighouse and gave him a little upgrade."
Chase eyes Riley and Sebastian warily and then, without even looking at Kaz, throws a forcefield around him and steps forward. "How?" he says, summoning his laser bo in what he hopes is a threatening gesture.
"I have superpowers now," Sebastian gloats. "You know, those things that your boyfriend, your sister and you ex-girlfriend all have that you don't?" He sends out another burst of green light. This time it makes a big crack in the sidewalk.
"I don't understand," Chase says, and Kaz can tell he's wincing internally. Chase hates not knowing stuff, and he hates admitting it even more.
"That's my gimmick," Riley explains. "I imbue non-powered people with superpowers. Comes in handy with stuff like this."
Chase scowls, about to say something, but Kaz waves his hands around. "Waitwaitwait. If you can give people superpowers, why didn't you just power your dad back up after he lost his abilities?"
Riley looks like she's actually going to kill him right there and then. Her gaze is terrifying. "It doesn't work like that, idiot. I can only give powers to people who never had them in the first place. Normos. I can't restore depowered superhumans."
"Enough exposition," Sebastian sighs. "I just wanted to see the look on his face. We can go now."
Riley takes his arm and hits a button on the complicated watch on her wrist. Chase shouts, but can't stop them as the glow from Riley's watch engulfs the two and whisks them away. "Aw man," Kaz complains, still trapped in the protective cocoon of Chase's forcefield. "How come they get superpowers and cool tech? You can't have both!"
"We have to go," Chase says, dropping his forcefield. His face is still as white as paper. "They're headed for the penthouse, I know it. Fly us there."
Kaz looks at him, thinks about cracking a joke or asking a question or doing anything to break up the heart-hammering, wrenching weirdness of the last few minutes. Instead he says, "Yeah, okay," and he scoops up his boyfriend and he takes for the skies.
Skylar finds Oliver in Mission Command, neurotically reorganizing and labeling a bunch of Douglas and Chase's research on the shapeshifters. "Hey," she says, hopping up to sit on the counter beside him. "How's it going?"
Oliver doesn't look up from the files he's skimming. "You here to mope some more?"
Skylar makes a face. "I'm an alien. I don't 'mope.'"
"Yeah, right, mopey," Oliver says, tearing his eyes away from the paper to give her a wry smile. "I don't know what it's about but you're definitely moping about something."
She scowls, casts around for something to retaliate. They've been friends for long enough that he can read her a little too well, but two can play at that game. "You wanna tell me where you keep sneaking off to?"
Oliver pales. "Sneaking off? I don't know what you're talking about," he says, avoiding her gaze. "I, uh, I mean, I've got, you know. Errands."
"Errands," Skylar repeats skeptically, but elects to drop the subject— for now. She huffs and runs a hand through her hair. "You ever miss the old days?" she says. "I mean, Chase and Bree have all these allies and enemies, this… huge background. Do you ever miss when it was just you, me and Kaz being dumb kids at Mighty Med?"
Oliver shrugs, setting down the file he's been looking at. "Our world got bigger," he tells her. "That's not a bad thing."
And then one of the rock walls gets pulverized and an unfamiliar young man and young woman step into Mission Command. The guy's hands crackle with residual energy giving off a green hue.
Oliver frowns. "Okay," he sighs. "Maybe it is a bad thing."
Tasha and Bree burst through the hyperlift doors into Mission Command. "We heard the intruder alarm," Bree gasps, trying to take in the a scene. For one thing, there are two Skylars looking back at her.
For another, an old enemy is smirking at her from the center of the room.
"Sebastian?" Bree says, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"Stuff like this," Sebastian says, sending a burst of green energy at Oliver, who gets knocked back and hits the floor.
Both Skylars yell his name. One of them is clearly just playing the part, but which one? "Bree," Tasha says, "which Skylar is real?"
Bree whooshes toward one of them and takes a big whiff. "This one," she says, avoiding eye contact with Skylar. "I know because she keeps stealing my shampoo."
Shapeshifter-Skylar morphs into her default form, a dark-haired girl with a sour expression. "Well, crap," she sighs, and then hightails it toward the hyperlift, shoving Tasha aside on her way up.
When Kaz and Chase get to the penthouse, Oliver is there waiting for them. "Thank God you guys are here," he says. "Some dude just showed up and kidnapped Skylar. We have to get down to the Centium City park."
"Sebastian," Chase grumbles. He grabs Kaz's arm. "Come on, let's go."
But Kaz shakes his head, narrowing his eyes at Oliver. "I don't think so." He stalks forward.
"Kaz? Buddy?" Oliver says, looking concerned. "Everything okay?"
"The real Oliver has a mole… right here!" Kaz yells, pointing a finger beneath Oliver's chin. He immediately follows the gesture up by putting "Oliver" in a headlock. The shapeshifter reveals herself.
"You're too late anyway," Riley says, wriggling in Kaz's arms. "Sebastian's got what he wants. And soon, so will my family."
"Yeah, yeah," Kaz says. "Chase? Can you bubble her?"
"They're not bubbles."
"Just do it."
Chase puts a forcefield around Riley, making sure it's impenetrable.
"That should hold her until the League gets here," Kaz says, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "Let's go see what we're dealing with."
Chase is usually the one to take charge in these kind of situations, despite giving up the title of Mission Leader awhile ago. Typically, it would be him telling Kaz what they should do, but seeing Sebastian has thrown him for a loop.
He's grateful to Kaz for stepping up.
"So," Chase says as they head for the door. "You know all of Oliver's moles by memory?"
"Uh, yeah," Kaz says. "Why?"
"Nothing," Chase says. "Do you know all of mine?"
"Don't be silly; you don't have any moles," Kaz says. "Your skin is smooth, like a dolphin."
Back in Mission Command, Sebastian's hand slices through the air and Bree collapses. "Bree!" Skylar yells, dropping to check on her teammate sprawled on the floor. Chase and Kaz arrive just in time to watch helplessly as Sebastian grabs Tasha and twists her arm, hard, causing her to cry out.
He thrusts his hand beneath her chin, and they've all seen the damage he can do from a distance. None of them even want to think about what he might be able to do at such a close range.
"You're going to order the release of every shapeshifter in Mighty Max," Sebastian sneers. Oliver opens his mouth to say something but Sebastian silences him with a glare. "And if you don't have the authority to do that, you're going to break them out yourself."
"We don't answer to you," Kaz says, ready to leap into action, but Chase holds out an arm. His face is as white as a sheet.
"Guys… guys, don't," he says weakly, eyes frozen on Sebastian and Tasha. "He's got my mom."
Bree's still out cold, with Skylar kneeling over her. Oliver, Chase and Kaz stand there stricken, unable to do anything. No one's willing to risk Tasha's life.
They're all staring at Sebastian's face, so no one sees Tasha jab her elbow into Sebastian's solar plexus. But everyone sees her stomp down on his foot and whip back to punch him in the face. She twists out of his grip and kicks him again in the crotch for good measure. Sebastian goes down like a sack of flour.
Kaz, Oliver, Skylar and Chase stare in awe as Tasha straightens her blouse. "What?" she says. "Four of my kids are bionic superheroes with a ton of powerful enemies. I've been taking krav maga for years."
Tasha goes to check on Bree while Chase crosses the room to stand above Sebastian, ready for him if he tries to get back up. "The League of Heroes are on their way," he says. "And this time when you get locked up, no one's going to come break you out."
"We'll see about that," Sebastian spits. His eyes fall on Kaz, and he smirks. Dropping his voice, he tells Chase, "He's just with you now until he finds somebody better."
Chase tightens his jaw. "I don't care," he says. Whether he means he doesn't care what Sebastian has to say or he doesn't care if it's the truth, Sebastian doesn't find out, because that's when two guys from the League get there.
That night, Tasha takes the girls out for dinner so they can unwind a little. Oliver disappears (he's been doing that more and more lately), and Kaz finds Chase standing on the balcony. "Hey," he says, taking Chase's hand and kissing his cheek. "You alright?"
"I…" he starts, prepared to lie, but he stops himself. This is Kaz. He can tell him the truth. "Seeing Sebastian again really messed me up," he admits.
"I can tell," Kaz says. "I heard what he said, by the way. About me only being with you until I find someone better?"
Chase's eyes widen, and he seems alarmed. "You heard that?"
"Yeah," he says, "and it's the biggest pile of manure I've ever heard. Chase, you're the best guy I know." He tangles their fingers together tighter. "You're who I want. And if I ever see Sebastian again, I… I'm gonna light his pants on fire, okay?"
Chase smiles. "Sounds good to me."
"Because he's a liar."
"Yeah I got that."
"Okay," Kaz says, smiling back, and he leans forward to kiss Chase. Maybe someday they'll get to go on a genuine date without it getting interrupted. But this moment right here, it's pretty perfect.
