XIV: By Any Means Necessary

Chase takes another glance at Leo's sleeping form. He's curled up in one of the guest lounges, a blanket wrapped restlessly around him.

It causes his brows to furrow noticing how his younger brother clutches the blanket desperately, as if he doesn't want it to be taken away from him.

It makes him feel a bit sorry, knowing that his sibling and closest friend had been going through something without anyone's knowing it.

Despite his protests after he woke up, the League of Heroes insisted that searching for The Incapacitator is now their case. He, Adam, and Bree had argued that this was something the three of them need to handle. After all, it happened in their turf first.

But the superheroes were insistent. Bigger enemy, they said.

As if the three of them are not as good as they are.

"Look, if we really can't do anything about it, let's just head home," Bree says, aged a few years under the light of exhaustion. "I doubt the guy will show up this soon anyway."

"No. We can't just hand this over to them," Chase says quietly, coming back into the semi-huddle the three of them had made. "This is ours, no matter what they say. We were the ones attacked, we were the ones who were wronged."

"And don't forget: you were the one who allowed Leo's dad into the island," Adam remarks with a supercilious grin.

Chase rolls his eyes. "I didn't know he was a bad guy. How many times am I to tell you that?" he says. "Plus, if you think about it, I wasn't entirely at fault. He's Leo's dad. That means there was something about him when I first talked to him that told me I could trust him."

Adam says nothing, only keeps smiling as he checks the halls for unwanted listeners.

"As much as I respect your want to put all of this to rest," Bree says, "Adam and I are tired. We've been up all night watching over you. Going into a mission when we're like this might result into someone getting hurt."

"This isn't our first overtime mission."

Bree throws her head back, whining. "Chase, you're not hearing me! Let's just leave this to the superheroes! They have more resources than we do!"

"That's not true. We have more than what they have."

"Fine! Whatever! We have more. But please, let's just go home."

Chase says nothing, but his frown speaks volumes of his displeasure.

However, when he thinks about what Bree has said, that they've been awake for longer, he realizes that there might be a bit of an error in his plan. He's had some fuel to go on, they don't. If they weren't able to defeat a superpowered madman when their tanks were full, how can they expect to win when they can barely focus?

Slowly, the frown lifts. "I'm sorry for insisting, but – I just don't like the idea that other people in our profession might think we're useless," he tells his older siblings. "We've been working hard since we were little. I made a mistake, I'll admit to that, but I don't want them thinking that just four years after we start, we're already making a mess we can't even clean."

"Nobody is accusing us of that," Bree points out reassuringly.

"Yeah," Adam chimes. "They probably just want this because Leo's dad is Tecton's archnemesis or whatever."

Chase frowns. "They're rivals?"

"Like Marcus and Leo."

"Where'd you hear that?" Bree asks.

"Where else? The only spot where you get the juiciest gossip from: the nurses' station."

"They let you hang out with them?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it took them about fifteen minutes to realize I was there, of course, but…"

"What else did you hear?" Chase prompts.

Adam shrugs. "Nothing much. I did hear talk about there being this weird thing going on between two of the girls in the hero club. Apparently, that Solar Flare girl? The one Bree and I have seen at the lobby? She'd been oddly cold towards this other female superhero called Sharp lately. There are lots of speculations on why the ladies are at odds with each other, but the most common guess is that there's a weird love triangle going on with the two and Tecton."

Chase narrows his eyes, confused.

"I mean, you asked about what I heard," Adam says.

"Yes, but about Tecton and The Incapacitator."

"Oh! Well, not much, only that apparently, The Incapacitator has a kid."

Chase and Bree stare at him. "Of course he has a kid," Chase points out, frustrated. "Leo is his kid."

Adam gasps. "No."

Chase sighs.

Meanwhile, Bree darts daggers at him. "Adam, seriously, I love you, but I will fight you," she threatens. "You knew about Leo. You were there when Mr. Davenport and Tasha told us."

"Oh."

"Oh," Bree mocks.

Adam frowns.

"I meant what else did they say about Tecton and The Incapacitator that we don't already know," Chase tries again.

Adam thinks about it. "Love triangle, we already went through that. The Incapacitator being a dad, we apparently knew about that," he says, shooting Bree a glare. "What else? Oh. What about the league looking into Leo?"

"Looking into Leo?"

"Yeah. Apparently, when they took Leo away earlier, they interrogated him."

"Interrogated?" Bree repeats, incredulous. "They told us they just wanted to ask questions."

Adam shrugs. "Well, they did. But they took him to a place where they usually take prisoners."

"They can't do that!" Chase screeches

Adam and Bree, surprised, shushes him.

"They can't do that," Chase repeats, much quieter than earlier but also a lot more heatedly. "Leo's 17. He's a minor. They can't question him without a guardian present."

"They're the big dogs. They can do whatever they want," Adam offers.

"No, they can't," Chase fumes. "Not on our watch."

"Did the nurse say what they asked him about?" Bree asks.

Adam shakes his head. "Restricted access. Only a few people were allowed in."

"How was he when they finished?" Chase asks his sister.

"I don't know," Bree answers. "We didn't really get to see him right after. He looked tired, for sure, when they told us he was here."

"No one saw him after the interrogation."

"Someone saw him with Skylar Storm right after," Adam supplies. He narrows his eyes at his siblings. "I'd tell you what they said about them, but you probably also already know it."

"Who's Skylar Storm?" Chase asks.

"Teenage superhero," Bree replies. "Also super annoying and stuck-up."

"What? Skylar's nice," Adam says. He smirks. "She's only annoying and stuck-up to you because she's a bit territorial over your doctor friend."

"She's not. Shut up."

"So we have to find her," Chase says, turning over a plan in his mind. "We have to ask and see what she knows."

"She's not going to tell us." Seeing the knowing smile on Adam's face, Bree rolls her eyes. "She's not going to tell us because she works with the league. She's loyal to them."

"We don't know that."

"We do know that. She had been with them since yesterday."

So a different method then, Chase thinks. He shakes his head. "We can't just let them take on The Incapacitator," he says. "This is a personal issue we need to solve on our own. The incident happened on our island, our home. Leo is involved. If we let them run the show, how will that make us look?"

"But we're not equipped for this," Bree points out. "This is different."

"No. I know it looks like what we have can't stack up against this big league, but I know what we can do." Chase's eyes soften as he thinks of their family. "We've rescued Mr. Davenport from Marcus and Douglas before. We've defeated Krane several times. We've defeated an army much stronger than us. The Incapacitator is powerful, but he's also just a man. We can take him on."

"Chase—"

"I know. You're tired," Chase says. "That's why I suggest that we take a few hours, sneak back into the island to recharge, and then search for Incapacitator ourselves. We can gather up a team to get him."

"You're not suggesting that we take the students, are you?" Bree says.

A look of unease comes over his face.

Bree lets out a breath. "Chase. This is dangerous. Incapacitator nearly killed you."

"I know. I know. That's why we have to find the best ones."

"You're also not quite clear yet to go on your own," Adam points out, smirking. "The doctor with the spiky hair said you need supervision, remember? If we leave, they'll blow the whistle on us."

"Then, let's take them with us, Oliver and Kaz," Chase says.

Adam chuckles in disbelief.

"Wow. First, we're taking students to this fight," Bree says. "Now civilians?"

"Do you have confidence in our abilities or not?" Chase looks at them, determination set in his heart. "We're as good as these superheroes. We saved and protected people even before we knew the heroes existed. We're all on the same level. Are you really afraid that we'd fail?"

"We kinda already did," Adam says.

"Yes, once – but now we know what to watch out for," Chase says. "We can prepare better because we know better. And push comes to shove, we have an ace up our sleeve."

"Which is?"

The same unease rolls back onto him like an ocean wave. "Leo," he answers.

Bree's eyes widen. "Are you insane? Do you want him to be kidnapped again?"

"Everything's out in the open now," Chase reasons. "Incapacitator won't do that anymore."

"What if he gets hurt?"

"He won't – more than the usual, I hope," Chase notes. Seeing the trepidation on their faces, he adds, "I know Leo. I know he'd want to help us. Plus, we're more likely to bring his dad back safe. We'll be more cautious; he's kind of a distant family member. Leo would want us to do this."

"What if the league gets involved?" Bree asks.

"That's why we have to move quickly. The faster we locate Incapacitator, the quicker we'll get this nightmare over with."

His older siblings still don't agree with him, that much he can tell from their expressions. But they're thinking about it, and he holds out the hope that his reasoning will win them over.

Bree's the first to cave. She sighs, scratching her eyebrow. "How are we going to convince Oliver and Kaz to come with us?"

Chase shrugs. "I don't know, offer them a tour? They don't need to know that we came back to do a search."

"Nice. We're getting them involved, and we're lying to them."

"What other choice do we have? We need to buy time."

Bree pauses, thinking. "What about Skylar? She never leaves Oliver's side. The two guys, we can count on to keep everything quiet. Her? Not so much."

"Trust me: she's not a problem," Adam says, smirking. "If we get Chase's doctors out of her sight, she'd forget about them long enough for us to do our search. The superheroes are keeping her busy, too."

"Are they looking for Incapacitator now?" Chase asks.

"Of course."

Chase takes a deep breath. "Then we really gotta get this show on the road," he says. "Do you guys know how to get both of them over here?"

"Wait. What about Leo?" Adam asks, gesturing to the lounge where their stepbrother still sleeps. "Should we wake him?"

Yes, Chase wants to say. However, when he peeks in and finds Leo, safe and sound away from the dangers of the world in slumber, pity washes over him.

Bree places a hand on his shoulder. "Let's just leave him for now," she says.

Chase nods. "Okay."

"Should we get Tasha and Mr. Davenport?" Adam asks.

"No. Someone needs to stay with Leo for the meantime," Chase says.

The three of them startle at the voices coming from down the hall. As they get closer, Chase realizes that his plan is all falling into place.

"So, we don't tell them that."

"No. Not if you—" They pause at the sight of the siblings. "Adam! Bree! Chase! What are you guys doing here?"

Adam smirks. "Just talking. About you guys, actually."

"Oh, about us?" Kaz asks as they draw closer. He chuckles nervously. "You guys didn't – You didn't happen to hear what we were talking about, did you?"

Bree shakes her head, smiling. "We didn't hear anything."

"Good! Good! That…" Kaz mutters, "That would have been a big problem."

"You guys are not thinking of leaving yet, are you?" Oliver asks. "Chase, you're not cleared yet. We still have a couple of things we need to, um, check."

Everything is working so well that Chase almost laughs. Was his plan really that brilliant? "I was actually hoping to go back to the island, yes," he answers slowly. "I wanted to get a change of clothes there. This mission suit – it's itchy."

"But your mom brought you clothes already," Oliver point out.

"I don't like those clothes. They're a little too...small on me."

"Well, we can't just let you go."

"Why don't you guys come with us?" Adam offers. "We can show you around the island while Chase grabs a few things. It'll only take us about, what, an hour? An hour and a half?"

"Why that long?" Oliver asks.

Adam leans closer to whisper. "Chase is a little high maintenance," he tells them as if revealing a secret. He chuckles. "He's just like our dad that way."

Kaz and Oliver exchange unsure glances.

Take the bait, take the bait, take the bait…Chase wishes.

"Can you add a food stop to that tour?" Kaz asks. "We're supposed to be on break, and we're both starving."

Yes! "I'm sure we got something decent to eat," Chase says, hiding his excitement behind a precise smile.

"Mmkay."

Oliver, however, hesitates. "You said you need an hour?"

"Yeah. The island's pretty big. Plus, the students will want to talk to me to check on me."

The more calculating of the two, Oliver contemplates over it.

Thankfully, Kaz nudges him, saying, "Come on, man. Would you rather spend your lunch break eating reheated soup underground or spend it on a beautiful tropical island where there's food and tech?"

"And me," Bree says, looping her arms around Oliver's. "We can hang out. We can talk about school and movies and stuff. Anything you want!"

Oliver's defenses stays up, but Chase can tell that it's not as strong anymore now that his sister is involved.

Eventually, the doctor sighs. "An hour. That's all we have."

Chase grins. "An hour, then." That's all we'll need for the search.

"Ooh!" says Kaz. "I should tell Skylar."

"No!" Adam and Bree say in unison. They look at each other, surprised.

"Uh…" Bree chuckles. "We were kind of hoping that it'd just be the two of you. We kinda don't want any more people in the island."

"Right," Chase assists. "You two have already seen what's in there, so you guys are cleared."

Kaz stares at them a while. Then, he shrugs. "'kay."

Oliver frowns. "Wait. How are we going to get there?"

Bree shoots a smirk at Chase. "You ever traveled at the speed of sound before?" she asks the doctors.

Chase chuckles. Everything is going perfectly according to plan.