*facepalm* I can't believe I failed y'all. I thought this story was updated with the latest chapter here, too...


VI: And In Time These Things Shall Be Revealed

Tasha doesn't think she can ever get used to this. She's heading down the lab, right where Donald said he and Douglas will be, and just the act of standing still makes her feel like she will explode. Her husband didn't give much information over the phone. All he said was that she needed to get back home, something happened, Chase was hurt, and Leo was kidnapped.

Her mind keeps zeroing in on those things: Leo kidnapped, Chase hurt.

She feels like she would pass out with how lit her nerves are with these alarming developments.

She thinks she might be a bad person for thinking it, but she's not as worried about Chase as she is with Leo. It's probably because Donald said that Chase has been taken to some superhero hospital, a place where many are trained to treat the kind of injuries he sustained.

There's some assurance that he's in good hands.

But her baby. Her baby…

She marches into the lab as soon as the doors open. The whole floor is electric with activity and overwhelming worry. When she gets in, she finds her brother-in-law hunched over the cyberdesk, frowning as he's lost in his own task.

Meanwhile, her husband looks at her from a conversation he's having with a man who comes across as strikingly familiar. "Tasha," says Donald, exhaustion heavy under his eyes. He smiles. "You're here."

"I came as fast as I can," she says, eyeing the tall blond in the red suit.

"Tasha, this is Tecton. Tecton, this is my wife Tasha. Leo's mother."

Tecton nods, smiling. "How are you doing?"

Tasha only watches him. "I've seen you before. You look familiar."

"Probably Leo's comic books. He's the same Tecton," Donald explains. "He's a superhero. Turns out, they're all real."

Tasha nods, still unconvinced. It's then she notices the teenage girl in magenta. "Kylie, right? Or is it Kayla? Thunderstorm or something like that?"

"Close enough. I'm Skylar Storm, Mrs. Davenport," Skylar says, holding out her hand. She frowns as Tasha shakes her hand. "You know who I am."

A small smile breaks through Tasha's features. "Leo got me one of those small plush toys of you from a comic con they went to last year. For my desk at work," she admits. "He says he got you because you're cool and cute."

It stuns Skylar for a second before a grateful smile comes to her face.

"Do we have any news yet about Leo?" Tasha asks her husband.

"No," says Donald. "We've tried several times to ping his location using his phone, but it's not working. My suspicion is that it got fried when he was attacked."

"He was attacked?"

Donald nods wearily. "A man came to the island pretending to be a representative, asking for the transponder. He found Chase, Chase led him to the transponder…" He sighs. "Chase shouldn't have trusted him. The man had superpowers. He wreaked havoc in the island and hurt a lot of people. Plus, he stole my invention."

"You're going to have to stop blaming the kid, Donnie," Douglas chimes in, still engaged in his hack. "If the security on the island had been tighter, he wouldn't have been able to come in."

"Chase should have known better than to let that guy in."

"He's 18."

"Exactly! He's 18!"

"Donald!" Tasha intervenes, fired up once again. "You can't just blame everything on the kids every time! You have as much to do about this!"

Donald blinks, bewildered. "Why are you blaming me?"

"Because if you had put as much work into protecting the kids in the island, in protecting Leo, as much as you'd protected Adam, Bree, and Chase from Krane? We wouldn't be in this mess."

"It wasn't just my fault!"

"Does it really matter whose it is? Chase is in the hospital, and my son is missing," Tasha heatedly points out. "What's pointing fingers going to do to undo those things?"

She sees that her husband's mind turns with more things to say, with things to justify himself with. However, exhaustion stops him from engaging in a fight.

That, and she thinks a small part of him agrees with her point.

It comes back to her then that they have company. She glances at them, sees the wary expression on their faces, and sighs. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen that," she tells the two. "I'm just scared, that's all."

"It's okay, Mrs. Davenport," Skylar says. "It's understandable."

"How many hours since?"

"17 and a half, on my last count," Douglas reports.

Tasha nods thoughtfully. They have just a little over 30 hours left—which feels like both long enough and too short a time.

"We've been doing our best to track the man who took him, too," Tecton says. "Unfortunately, he hasn't used his powers since we last saw him so there are no infrared trails to follow, but as soon as he does, we'll be able to locate him."

"What about that thing that he stole? Can't you track that?"

"We tried," says Douglas. He casts a loaded glance at his older brother before adding, "It's a prototype, so it didn't have any tracker on it. It hasn't been used either. This guy is laying low for some reason."

That only worsens the dread Tasha feels. She thinks about her son, thinks back on anything useful he could have told her, but nothing. She sighs, burying her face in her palms. "This guy," she starts but doesn't know if she has the strength to finish. "This guy, is he… Is he known for hurting children?"

Tecton and Skylar exchange glances, and Tasha feels like her heart has sunk. "We still don't know why he took your son," Tecton says. "If he sees use in him, it's very likely that he will keep him alive."

"Did he say anything why he took Leo?"

Skylar hesitates at first, looking at Donald for permission to continue.

"Say it."

"He…He said because he didn't kill Chase, Leo…was the payment."

The breath in her lungs leaves her. She's reminded of the time Krane took the two of them and used them to pressure her husband. This new enemy has what he needs from them; it doesn't make much sense for him to do what he did. Does he need him to keep them at bay, to stop them from coming any closer?

Maybe that's what it is. He's using Leo as pawn.

Still, it devastates her that she has no way of making sure her child is alright. She wants to cry, because thoughts of how he is and how horribly his captor must be treating him are scaring her. "Who's this guy? What do we know about him?"

"Not much. He goes by The Incapacitator," Tecton answers. "His abilities are all energy-based. Before this moment, all he'd done is antagonize superheroes so we don't know how he got his abilities." A frown furrows his brows. "Although, there was a rumor going around that what happened to Victor Krane was his handiwork."

Donald frowns. Even Douglas stops what he's doing out of intrigue. "What do you mean it's him?" Donald asks.

"The League caught wind about what happened, and we looked at the details of it," Tecton shares. "From the autopsy report, it seems like both he and his top soldier were offed by energy blasts. Those burns… We're still doing a follow-up, of course, but—"

"No, no. That was S-2. Those burns are from him," Douglas says. However, he's beginning to doubt it. "Leo told me that's who he saw."

"If he'd seen that Incapacitator guy before…" Donald's frown slowly clears as a thought occurs to him.

That makes Tasha even more nervous. "What?"

"Leo. He didn't look that scared when he saw him."

"Wait. You think they know each other?" Skylar asks as Donald hurries over to the cyberdesk.

"I don't know. But he didn't seem too scared."

"So, what, is this an inside job?" Tecton asks.

"Leo would never help a bad person do something wrong," Tasha tells the superhero.

"No, no. He won't," Donald says. "He wasn't scared, but he seemed very upset that he was there." After a few clicks, the surveillance from the quarters comes up on the screen. He points at it as the interaction between Leo and the supervillain plays. "Look. He doesn't feel the need to get away from him. Even when I told him to run, he didn't."

"He does seem really angry," Skylar observes.

"And disappointed," Tecton adds. He crosses his arms. "How do they know each other?"

"Incapacitator threatened to hurt me, but Leo asked him not to," Donald explains as the video plays further. He sighs, putting his hands on his hips. "He did offer to open up the case just so the guy won't burn my eye out."

"Maybe he did it to protect you," Skylar offers.

"Maybe."

"No, but look – he tried to hurt Leo, too," Douglas points. "Why would he do that if they're working with each other?"

"Yeah."

"It just doesn't make sense. Leo's a good kid. Why would he take part in a heist?"

"Has he been acting strangely lately?" Tecton asks. "It's not beyond Incapacitator to manipulate others, especially a teenager."

Donald sighs when the answer comes. "He's been very upset with me these past few months," he says. "He's angry that I didn't hire him on as a staff member for the bionic academy. He said he thinks he's earned the right to be one."

"Do you think he'd go as far as helping a supervillain just to get that point across?"

Donald thinks about it a moment. Then, he shakes his head. "He will complain and sulk, but he would never go that far."

Tasha gasps at the surveillance.

Seeing that they'd gotten to the part of Leo's abduction, Donald hurriedly pauses the video then minimizes it. "I'm sorry, Tasha," he says contritely. "You shouldn't have seen that."

"No, no, no. That guy…" She frowns. "Put it back up. I want to see his face."

Though confused, Donald does as she's asked.

Tasha stares at the image for a few more seconds. Then, she feels as if her legs had lost strength.

"What?"

It's been a while, but – is it really him? "Joel. That guy. His name is Joel Jones." She looks at her husband. "He's my ex-boyfriend."

For a moment, Donald only stares. Then, he chuckles. "And I thought my dating history was terrible," he comments. "Really, Tasha. I would have never pegged you to be the kind of person to date a man with superpowers. A terrible one at that. You could've done better."

"Mm," Douglas eyes Donald dryly. "The kids and I have always thought the same about you."

"No, no, you don't understand!" Tasha tells them. She huffs, feeling like her world is tilting upside down even more. "I didn't know any of these things about him. When I met him, I thought he was just some college student from a nearby university."

"He's been an active supervillain since he was a teenager," says Tecton.

"Well, I didn't know that," Tasha says defensively. She sighs. She should have listened to her mother. "If I had known that, I wouldn't have gone out with him."

Douglas shrugs. "I mean, you don't have to go out with him now."

Tasha glares. "Yeah," she says, "but he has our son."

"Wait," Donald says. "What?"

"You mean…"

Tasha nods. "This Incapacitator," she tells them. "He's Leo's father."

The room lies motionless for a painfully long moment. Then: "The guy who broke into my island is your ex?!" Donald shatters the silence.

"I didn't even know he's still around! Everything was going well with our relationship. We were going to get married during spring break in Las Vegas, and then he vanished," Tasha recounts, simmering. "I lost contact with him the same year, and he's never shown up since."

"But he knows you have a son together," Tecton asks.

"I told him the night before the wedding," Tasha says. "He looked shocked and conflicted, but I didn't think much of it because I was nervous about the whole thing, too."

"Maybe it was him that eliminated the two bionics, then," Skylar says to Tecton. "He probably knew Leo was in danger, so he took them out."

"But how could he know where we were then? We were hiding," Douglas says. The answer hits him immediately. "He was on his phone that afternoon. I told him several times to put it away because we might get tracked—"

"So he does have contact with Incapacitator," Tecton says.

"I mean, I didn't know he'd put out a hit on him like that."

"Leo would never do that," Tasha defends her son. "Look. I know it seems like he's in on these things that his father did, but he's a good kid. I worked hard to raise him as a good person. He would never be involved in murder or robbery willingly like you're suggesting!"

"We're not saying that he is," Donald says.

"Yes, you are! Donald, how could you—" Her shoulders fall as defeat presses on her heavier and her eyes sting. "How could you all even suggest that Leo's a bad guy? My son has risked his life so many times to protect his siblings and to protect our family. Even when other people are mean to him, he stayed a good kid."

She slowly collapses to the floor, Donald attempting to catch her by the arm. At that point, the tears come. "He just wants to help people," she says, wiping them with the back of her hand. "How could you just turn on him like this?"

For a second time, the room lies motionless—only this time, it's weighed with remorse and sympathy.

Donald sits beside her, putting an arm around her. "I'm sorry, Tasha," he says gently. "It did seem that way. I'm sorry. Leo's not a bad kid, I know he isn't."

"You know he's willing to die for any of us. How could you even agree that he's in on this?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Donald looks up at their guests, back at his brother, and then says, "We're going to find him. It's important to me that we bring him home. I believe you. Leo made that deal to save me."

"I apologize, too, Mrs. Davenport," Tecton says, sitting down to meet her eyes. "I didn't mean to make it sound like he assisted him. I got carried away."

Tasha frowns at Tecton, still offended by the things he insinuated. However, instead of becoming angrier the longer she looks at his face, she finds that a faded memory only becomes clearer. "I haveseen you before."

"Sorry?"

"Joel's car. He was dropping me off after a date one night. When he stepped out, I looked through his glove compartment for a tissue, and—I saw a planner with your picture on it."

"A planner?"

"It looked like a planner. There were dates in there, notes…" Tasha's watery eyes narrow. "I remember seeing information about you and four other people. One of them even upset me. He has a picture of a blonde girl."

"Blonde." Tecton looks at Skylar. "Solar Flare?"

"He's probably been keeping tabs on you guys since then," Skylar suggests. "Isn't it around that time that the League of Heroes was re-established?"

Tecton nods. "Is there anything else you remember, Mrs. Davenport?"

"Nothing much, except that he got upset when he saw I was looking through it."

Tecton sighs. "That's always been the way he operates. Most of the time, he tells us he's still around by leaving destroyed sites or dead bodies. He's very sneaky and really good at hiding."

"So, what is he, some sort of superhero assassin?" Tasha asks.

Tecton shrugs, unsure himself.

"You guys were able to follow him to the island," Donald notes.

"It's because he struck somewhere else first."

Donald nods, understanding. "One of my buildings."

"He wanted that transponder."

"There was something else," says Tasha, lost in thought. "There was a picture of something. It was like a pyramid, with this marble-looking thing in the middle. That stayed on my mind awhile."

"A pyramid?" Donald repeats.

Tasha nods.

Realization dawns on Skylar. "Oh no." She looks at Tecton with dread. "The Arcturion."

Tecton groans, getting up to his feet. "That power source has only ever been bad news."

"What's the Arcturion?" Douglas asks.

"Alien power source. Kills any human that touches it, drains any non-human of any abilities," Skylar answers.

"Except this time he doesn't have to touch it." When others turn to him, Tecton says, "The energy transponder. He can draw infinite amounts of power with it. If he finds the Arcturion, he can transform into a living nightmare and actually turn earth into a graveyard for superheroes."

"Great. Another guy bent on leveling all of us," Skylar laments. "Once we get our hands on that Arcturion, we should really just football toss it into the sun."

"That can be arranged."

"I still don't understand why he took Leo," Douglas muses. "If all he needs is the transponder, why would he take him?"

Donald shrugs. "Spend some time?"

"Yeah, but why would he go as far as hurting him?" Douglas stares thoughtfully at the cyberdesk, his mind at work.

"What are you thinking?" Donald prompts.

"Something sinister," Douglas says. He crosses his arms. "The good thing is, I don't think he's going to hurt the kid. The bad thing is, I think he's going to hurt the kid."

"What?" Tasha says.

"It's all just suspicion for now, but I just don't like the timing of everything," Douglas says. "It's mainly because of the transponder, but – everything's aligned. I think this is the perfect moment he might have been waiting for."

"Douglas, you're the only one who'd been an evil genius here. None of us are following," Donald says.

"Think about it," Douglas says. "This guy had been waiting to bring down the superheroes for the longest time. He's been collecting information regarding the top players in the business for as far back as, what, twenty or so years? But he's never attacked. He's also been keeping an eye on that, what is that, Arcturion?

"I think Tecton's right. When he hits, he wants all the superheroes gone. He's going big, and I think he's going all out."

"But like you said, Leo's got nothing to do with this," Tasha points out.

"Leo's got everything to do with this," Douglas says. "There's nothing scarier than a person who's got nothing to lose. If that's Incapacitator, if he's the kind who's willing to die for his cause, it's likely that he'll do everything to get it done. And between the kids and him…" He shrugs somberly. "The choice is obvious.

"Leo's not a bad person, Tasha. I believe that," Douglas continues. "But you're right: he loves us. He loves his family."

"Family, including his father," Tecton supplies as he starts to understand.

"Ever since the academy was founded, he's been feeling betrayed. If he's been talking to his dad, then his dad knows how much everything upsets him," Douglas tells Tasha.

He pauses for a moment, debating whether he should bring up the next point. "When...Marcus was still around, I gave him this one order, in case something happens to me while we were acting on our plan: get the job done, however way you can."

Tasha's frown clears. "You don't mean…"

"There might be a lot more to your ex's plan than we initially thought," Douglas confirms. "If he succeeds, the superheroes are wiped out. If he fails and dies by the superheroes' hands while Leo's watching—"

"We might force Leo to follow his footsteps," Skylar supplies.

Douglas nods in confirmation. "It's like that question, one versus the many. Who do we save?"

"This is not good. I hope you're wrong," Tecton tells Douglas. "Reports are that The Incapacitator turned into a villain after his parents were killed in front of him."

"You said yourself he was manipulative," says Douglas. "We have to get Leo out of there before he can plant any bad ideas into his head, before anything goes down."

Tasha lets out a shuddered breath. What upsets her more than the possibility of her son being emotionally manipulated is the fact that there's a base for her ex to build on.

Douglas said he's been feeling upset. How come she didn't know? She frequently asked how he was doing whenever she called, and all he had ever said was that things were fine. Had her focus been so off that she didn't recognize it? Her brother-in-law knows more about her child than she did. How did it get to that point?

"We'll do our best to gather more information," Tecton tells the family, getting back to his feet. "I'll see if the League has something on Incapacitator. I'll check the archives."

"I'll double check with Horace, too, and see if there's anything he remembers hearing from people who's encountered him," Skylar says.

Donald nods. "Please update us as soon as you hear something."

Tecton nods. "Mrs. Davenport, Mr. Davenport," he nods to Tasha then Douglas. After Skylar does the same, both of them exit through the garage.

Once they're gone, Tasha releases a weary breath.

"Are you okay? I know this isn't something to come home to," her husband asks her softly.

Tasha shakes her head. "I want to see the kids, Donald. I don't like them being so far away from us. Where are they?"

"In Philadelphia, but I've fixed the Davenporter. It's fully operational. If we head out to Davenport Industries now," Donald consults his watch, "we'd be at the hospital in probably 40 minutes."

"You guys should go. The kids need you," Douglas agrees. "Adam texted me not too long ago, told me Chase hasn't come to yet. I think he and Bree are getting a bit too shaken up by this."

"What about the search?"

"What about it? I'm here," Douglas says. As Donald helps Tasha up, he says, "There's only one thing we can do on our end, and I can do it alone. Tasha, I know you don't feel right about it, but I have to access the record of Leo's text messages. His phone is out, but I might be able to ping his dad's. All I need is a number."

Douglas is right: she doesn't feel right about it. If Leo finds out, he might think that none of them trusted him.

Still, it's the only way to save him from his father right now. "Fine. Do whatever you need to do," she says. "Just make sure Leo never finds out."

"Evil genius here. I know how to cover my tracks," Douglas says as he begins the work through the cyberdesk.

"You ready?" Donald asks.

"Wait. Maybe we should pack up some clothes for the children. Maybe bring some toiletries, too. Bree will only use one specific brand of toothbrush, and Chase needs his eye drops when he wakes up."

An appreciative smile slowly stretches across Donald's face. "I'll get clothes for Adam and Chase, and you get Bree's things and what you think the kids will also need."

"We should pack up things for us, too."

Donald nods.

"Meet you back here in 15?"

"Okay."

At that, Tasha parts from her husband.

"Hey, honey?" Donald smiles when she looks back at him. "It's all going to be okay. Chase and Leo will come home."

Tasha only stares a while, processing everything. Then, she forces a smile to her face – a form of thanks.

Once he goes, she leaves for the elevator.

It's all going to be okay. Chase and Leo will come home, the words ring in her head.

However, only one thing echoes back: Yes – but will they be the same?