It was busy in the downtown diner, the Tv playing the news in the corner and general chatter from people eating their dinner made it a very loud place. And it so happened that it was his shift, so yes he was very much getting a headache from the sheer noise, he thought grimacing slightly as he wiped a table down.

But it couldn't be helped, he needed the money this job gave him to live, so he just had to deal with it; it was fine. His wings were hidden under a glamour charm, making it seem like they weren't there at all.

But they very much were, he thought tensing up slightly as he barely missed hitting a customer with his invisible wings. It would be so much easier if he could always keep them flat against his back but he used them for balance, so they moved without him even realising it sometimes.

Which was really dangerous for him, he thought with a sigh, carrying a tray full of dirty cups and plates to the kitchen. He was just coming out of the kitchen when he heard it-

'Tracy'

And all his senses went on hyperdrive, preparing to get him out of there at a moments notice without anyone being the wiser. His eyes scanned the room but he didn't see any of his brothers, which caused the alarms in his head to quiet down a bit.

It had just been the TV, he thought with a slight sigh of relief as he made his way behind the counter/bar. He hated how scared he was at the mare idea of being spotted by one of his brothers or someone that knew him from before. He hated that one of his first reactions was to run as far away as he could, he hated it!

Even in the mask, and when international rescue and himself are in the same place; trying to do the same thing, save lives, he still feels uneasy being around them. He tries not to talk much or look at them for long in case they recognise him and well, if he looks or spends too much time with them; he knows he would not be able to stop himself from revealing all.

He shook his head, burying those thoughts deep within his mind. He did not need to go down that rabbit hole, get a hold of yourself Phoenix, he thought as he started to clean a couple of the cocktail glasses at the small sink behind the bar.

But why exactly were the news talking about his fam-

He stilled, his face going pale as he read the headline. 'Anniversary of youngest Tracy's disappearance'

Oh…Oh, he swallowed, turning his face down to look at the bubbly water of the sink. It was that day…

'Ten years ago to this day, Alan Tracy, son of billionaire astronaut Jeff Tracy, disappeared from his school, Wharton Academy, where he shared a dorm with his best friend, Fermat Hackenbacker, late one night. No one knows what exactly happened to the youngest Tracy-'

Except him, he thought with a frown, tuning out the rest of the news report as he tried to keep the memories at bay. He didn't need to hear anymore.

"You know, it's weird…" His work colleague, Frank muttered, starring up at the TV with a perplexed look. The news was still talking about his disappearance...

"What is?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, welcoming the distraction from his thoughts and memories.

Frank frowned at him, "The fact that you look almost exactly like that Tracy kid-"

He felt his eyes widen slightly as glanced at the TV where a photo of his past self was still front and centre; he was smiling, eyes bright with an innocent he no longer possessed. There were some differences between him and, well his past self.

For one their hair was slightly different, his hair was more platinum blond, not the dirty brown blond it used to be. The merging of his DNA with an alien's DNA hadn't just given him wings, his whole physiology was different. Hence his hair being lighter.

While on the topic, his hair was also more styled, up and out of his eyes then his part self, who had it more messily ruffled. He was sure there was four older brothers that could lay claim to creating that hairstyle.

But other than the slight hair different, and his face being slightly more defined and less baby fat, their faces looked near identical. Though he knew he was a lot thinner and more toned with subtle muscles than his past self, his body used to fighting and bending in ways that really shouldn't be possible.

(He wasn't going to think about the scars, he wasn't going to think about the scars, he wasn't going to think about the scars!)

"-you even have the same name.." Frank ended, looking at him suspiciously. He quickly switched gears, and prepared to get himself out of this situation. Good thing he was a good liar, he knew how to act to get people off his tail.

He faked a laugh, grinning at his colleague. "I do? That so Cool!" He grinned with excitement, making his eyes wide and innocent as he continued to work. "I always wanted a celebrity twin!"

"uh…" Frank blinked, visibly confused by his reaction, which was what he wanted. "But, ur isn't it, I don't know? Weird that you look exactly the same and share the same name?"

Frank was still giving him that suspicious look but he looked more unsure now.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow, letting a bit of disbelief and confusion show on his face "You don't think I'm actually Alan Tracy, do you?" He asked with a laugh, letting frank think that he was laughing at the sheer silliness of such a thing.

"Do I look 25 to you?" He laughed, laying his hand against his chest, making a show of raising his eyebrows in disbelief, letting a bit of mild offence colour his voice. "because um, ouch, that hurts.."

He knew he looked young, because physically and to an extent mentally, he was still a teenager of sixteen years. Partly because of his alien DNA and because the league of assassins figured that freezing their weapon in suspended animation while not in use was a good idea.

Frank laughed nervously, trying to save himself from embarrassment. "Haha, yeah, what was I thinking? You look more like you should be in diapers then anywhere near legal age, kid.."

He gasped dramatically, scrunching his nose up, "well, that's almost worse!" he pouted as he finished cleaning the glasses.

"ha, yeah…" Frank laughed slightly, a slight flush on his cheeks as he walked away to serve a customer. He felt his wings, which had been tensely held tight against his back, relax.

That had been…unpleasant, normally he didn't have to deal with stuff like that as people automatically dismissed him on the accent of him being too young, but Frank always been one to jump to conclusions without thinking if it was possible or not, so he really wasn't surprised.

He hanged his apron up and clocked out, heading out of the busy diner and into the chilly night air; the 'Tracy Industries' sign on his family's building glowing in the distance.

A part of him just wanted to be put out of his misery, he wanted to face them and just get their rejection over with because they didn't want him, they want a version of him that didn't exist anymore and he couldn't give that to them.

But a bigger part of him was just too scared, too terrified to face them, to face the truth. Even though he knew it was killing him, would kill him one day, he could not bring himself to face them.

Some brave Tracy he sure was, he thought with a scowl, lowing his face, unable to face the light of his family's sign.