Invisible Kid and Chemical King


Lyle checked the lab for Brainy before anything else. His old friend wasn't in there, but there were signs someone had been using it. There was a cot in the corner that hadn't been there the last time Lyle had been in HQ; and the remains of a meal were sitting out on the counter.

He smiled to himself and went to his room.


Condo woke slowly, swimming in and out of consciousness. The mid-morning sun was shining in through his window, and his room had all the pleasantness of an early summer day; despite the fact it was still mid-spring.

The weather never matched his mood.

His life had been turned upside-down so many times. Abandoned by his parents, 'kidnapped' by Invisible Kid, joining the Legion… he was never sure of what the future held. At least when he had been on Phlon in custody of the government, he knew how his day would go. Every single day, same as before.

He loved Lyle, and the Legion was the family he'd never had. But he wished his life was a little more secure.


Lyle opened the door to his rooms and sighed happily. It nice to be able to let his guard down after so long in enemy territory.

He opened his windows to let the spring breeze in and reveled in the skyscape of his city.

A note on the small table tucked into a corner of the room caught his eye. He picked it up.


Condo decided he should get up and eat something; and just try and avoid seeing much of anyone. He wasn't in a talking mood.

He wandered down to the pantry and made himself a brunch sandwich. He took a seat in the common room and downed his medicine, pulling a face at the taste. Water helped slightly, but didn't fully erase the memory. Curling up on the couch, he worked through his breakfast.


Lyle sat down heavily on the bed and read the note again.

Gone? Brainy was gone?

He pulled up the Legion roster on his ring and went to find his boyfriend.


Condo had just finished his breakfast when the door opened. He craned his head around to look over the back of the couch.

Lyle walked in, looking nothing like his usual cheerful self. He sat down heavily next to Condo.

"How long has he been gone?"

"Midmorning yesterday. There was a swearing-in and no one really had the heart to drag him out of the lab to come attend. He left while we were busy with that."

Lyle sighed and rested his head in his hands. "And I missed him. I missed by best and oldest friend in the Legion leaving after the worst experience of his life. I wasn't there to help him."

"You can't do everything, Lyle," Condo told him quietly.

"I should've been there for him." He looked over at Condo. "I was there for you."

"On accident. You wouldn't have ever heard of me if Phlon's government hadn't called you for help."

Lyle sighed. "So? I was there."

"And it's not like you didn't try." Condo took his hand and squeezed it. "You kidnapped me right out from under the scientist's noses. Straight out of government custody into Legion custody."

"Wasn't custody. It was… guestdom."

"I don't think that's a word."

Lyle shook his head. "'No use crying over spilled drink'. I heard that somewhere. He's gone. I'll find him."

"And kidnap him?"

"If I have to." Lyle smiled wanly. "So, who'd we swear in?"

Condo leaned back into the couch cushions. "Have you heard about Superman X yet?"

"Enlighten me."


"That must be the strangest story I've ever heard," Lyle said, shaking his head as the story finished. "But it explains why I hadn't heard about this Imperiex guy in all the time I've spent getting information on bad guys."

Worry crossed his face. "Is Lu okay?"

"I think so." Condo shrugged. "I haven't seen her today. But she's probably better."

Lyle sighed. "How much do you want to bet that I'll get pulled from field work to do lab work?"

"I was thinking that Shrinking Violet would get the lab assignment."

"Violet?" Lyle looked at him askance. "Well, yeah, I guess she has a science background; but Brainy's life was science and biology's what I've been doing since I could read. Violet started physics after she started school."

"But she's good. And she's already been off fieldwork since, um, awhile ago," Condo told him. "Eight months?"

"Eight months? Why wouldn't she get sent back to fieldwork? That's what she's been doing since, well, since forever."

"Nobody had the heart to send her back out. Not with everyone so… gloomy, with the war."

Lyle rolled his eyes. "So? We've lived through the White Triangle and the Fatal Five and the nightmare that was Zerox. She could handle fieldwork and spying with this guy."

Condo shifted uncomfortably. "This was different."

"What; did he attack her personally or something?"

"No." The more reserved man looked down. "She, um, well-"

Lyle looked at his boyfriend in exasperation. "Just say it, will you?"

"She and Brainy fell in love."

"With who?"

"With each other."

"NO." He sat straight up. "They did not."

"They never really said it to anyone or really admitted it to each other but we could all tell what had happened because of the way they kept looking at each other and the way they acted and everyone was so unhappy but it was so nice to see at least two people happy and no one could send them apart when, well, oh-"

Condo blushed as he realized where he was going with this. "It was a little like us, actually."

Lyle chuckled and kissed him. "Yeah, I wasn't really supposed to keep you there at the Outpost. But nobody had the heart to make you leave. Good thing, too. I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

"You would've made it," Condo mumbled.

"No, I wouldn't've. So just how in love are those two?"

He tried to explain.


Lyle shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just can't see that. Well, I mean, I can, but I can't imagine it really happening."

"It surprised us too."

"I bet."

"But they seem to love each other a lot. More than I think you could tell unless you were here." He looked at his newly-returned boyfriend imploringly. "Could you- could you not mention it to her? She doesn't know that Brainy liked her too and nobody told her and she's hurting right now."

"We're all hurting, Con." Lyle seemed to remember something, and laughed mirthlessly.

"We must be the unluckiest class ever."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Legionnaires are sworn in in groups, usually; remember?" Lyle asked him. "Third wave Legionnaires, that's us. 'Third time's the charm'. Hah! Shows how wise conventional wisdom is."

Condo looked at him, lost.

"Me and Brainy and Violet and Shady and Andromeda," he continued. "Third group of Legionnaires to be sworn in, after the founders and then everyone else. Turns out Andi was being manipulated by terrorists and cost the galaxy Trom, I've been unofficially disowned, Brainy got his mind stolen and destroyed most of everything, and Violet's heart went and broke."

"More like shattered," Condo murmured.

"So there's my point," Lyle said. "Now that's all that's left is what Shady's problem is going to be."

"Can we not find out?"

Lyle smiled at him and stood. "I'm sure it'll happen when we're not excepting it. Now-"

He offered Condo his hand. The other man took it.

"-It seems we have a new HQ. Show me around, since it looks like I'm going to be here awhile?"

Condo smiled. "I'm glad to have you back."

"Me too."


The tour wasn't all about the new building. There was more talking and more kissing, and, eventually; a dinner together.