LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I GIVE YOU THE DECADE, THE EVEN, DOUBLE DIGIT STAR, 10! Chapter 10 to be exact...
AzulaTano- That will all be officially confirmed soon! Thanks for you're review!
tvd1992- Thanks for your continued enthusiasm on my updates!
PurpleNicole531- Very gross, but yet, so villain-y. I loved adding little Leo-quirks, so keep watching for them. He's fun to write. Lexi will ... maybe be okay! We'll have to see. It might add to my story to make her *poof* disappear, muahaha. Sorry.
Casey Storm- Future, past, present, same thing, right? I often find myself having a hard time with those terms. I need to add a little humour, what's a story without a little comedy? ... A drama, yes, I know, but I like adding little things in. THE FLASH! I must admit, that show is probably prompting some story lines, among other movies and shows too. It's an awesome show and everyone should watch it, yes!
Dirtkid123- *sings* YOU WANT TO SEE, WANT TO SEE 'EM DANCING *stops singing* Chasey will -perhaps- be alright
HI, NEW FOLLOWER, YOU'RE OFFICIALLY WELCOMED!
Lexi hovered over the sleeping form of her father, nervously scratching her forearms. A murmur of words slurring from his mouth caused the girl to lean in closer. "What was that?" The future bionic's eyes had widened in hope, but when Chase said nothing else, she drooped onto the arm of the couch. "I thought it was just a tactic ..."
"What was a tactic?" Bree asked, walking into their lounging area with a cool, wet cloth for her brother. She gently placed it on his burning forehead, wincing when he groaned.
"Just something the ... bad guys," There was no possible way for someone to say that without sounding childish, "said before coming to the past. They threatened us with a serum, injected through the neck, that would be incureable." The last word slipped from Alexa's mouth unwillingly and sounded very defeated.
"That must have been what that green stuff in the syringe was," Leo moaned, thinking back to their losing battle at the tunnel.
"It's a virus," Lexi explained. "It controls and painfully shuts down not only the bionics, but also the human side." She looked down wearily at her unconscious father, who's lips were nearly the color of his skin.
"So there's no cure?" Davenport prodded, hoping that the answer would have changed somehow in a minute.
"If the leader's word can be trusted ... no, there isn't," Lexi commensed her lip chewing, fiddling with the woollen blanket draped over Chase.
"Take it from someone who's made many a deadly biological weapon," Douglas interrupted, coming into the room out of no where. They hadn't even realized the second Davenport brother had been listening. "One doesn't make a serum that slowly shuts down your system without providing a cure in case of 'mishaps'."
"This guy's too confident for that," Alexa insisted, not wanting to shoot down the first twinkle of hope she had had since discovering her father in this state.
Douglas noticed the future girl then, eyes trailing to her missing ear lobe and suspiciously gloved hands.
Lexi glared at him, taking this as an insult. It was going to take a while to adjust her thinking process to non-evil-Douglas. It was only when Bree subtly brought to her attention her missing body parts that Alexa threw her hair over her face to cover the reminder.
"Yes, well ..." Douglas took a final glance in the time-traveller's direction, before addressing the group again. "Confidence or not, I guarantee there's a cure. You just have to know where to look, the best villains are excellent at hiding things they don't want to be found."
"Does that mean these guys wanted us to find Chase?" Adam asked, his expression contorting over the question. The others paused for a moment, the usually 'Dumb One's inquiry throwing them off guard.
"Huh," Davenport mumbled, clearly still wondering.
"That's much ado about nothing," Lexi murmured. "The real problem lies in the fact that if Douglas is right and there is a cure, it's most likely in the future." Her eyes wandered to the time machine still planted in the middle of the living room space. "If only I knew where ..."
Bright flashing lights suddenly erupted in the room, followed by loud beeps and other assorted sounds.
"What the-" Leo fumbled over his words, then his feet.
"Lexi's coming to visit!" Adam exclaimed.
"Alexa's already here!" Bree growled, folding her hands over her eyes as the light shone into her face.
The unnaturally bright light vanished, the noises died off, and beside the time-travelling armchair was full-sized black couch. The three circle emblem and the techy-look was very deja vu. This time, however, a taller and older person was stretched out across the cushions, tied down very crudely by chains and ropes and zip-ties.
"Uncle Leo!" Alexa's tone was a mixture of surprise and pure joy. Her eyes lit up as if he was coming back from the dead.
The older looking Leo blinked, his corneas looking unfocused. Alexa didn't come to the past wearing sunglasses for fashion, the shimmering, bright lights of time-travel doesn't stop until your arrival, threatening to blind you unless you covered up. Lexi's uncle wasn't given the courtesy to block out the sun-like rays like she was.
Then, the memory and urgency kicked in, after the second Leo shook himself out of the heavy daze. His eyes widened, and he flipped his head to where he had heard his niece's voice. "Alexa! Thank god!" He squirmed under his boundings. "Get me out before the machine takes off on its own again!" Lexi bolted forward, yanking on the metal chains uselessly.
"Stand back!" Adam commanded, covering an eyeball with his hand and aiming the other at the chains. A red laser shot out, accurately hitting its target and melting the restraints. In three seconds, the heavily bound Leo was free and he staggered off of the couch quickly. Not a split second later, the beeps and boops sounded and the lights flashed in and out of the room, taking the empty black couch with them. The older Leo gasped in relief, bending down to get ahold of himself.
"That's what they did to you," Lexi sighed, wiping at the tears pooling in her eyes. She ran to her uncle, wrapping her two slim arms around his waist. Future Leo returned the embrace.
"A fate worse than death," older Leo heaved out, releasing Lexi. "I was supposedly doomed to travel farther and farther into the past, never stopping and only allowed a brief rest period for my burning eyes." The thought of the blinking lights made the second time-traveller squint and rub his sore eyes. "I would have ended up blind if I hadn't been so lucky." The taller version of Leo strutted over to Adam, and clapped him on the back in thanks. "So when am I?"
"When?" Bree scrunched up her nose.
"Yeah, I know where," older Leo smiled. "But what time-line did I land in and ..." he took a doubletake at his niece, "why are you here? I passed our present many stops ago."
"Grandpa sent me," Alexa replied, unable to drop her gaze on her uncle.
"Grandpa?" Douglas spoke up, reminding everyone of his presence. "I thought you sent her, Donnie?" He turned to his older brother.
"Yeah, well, I'll fill you in later," Davenport said, patting Douglas' shoulder, causing the younger brother to frown and growl. He was always kept in the dark, and then told last. It was something about him being an 'ex-villain' and a 'loud-mouth' or something.
"You're in 2015, me," Leo answered for himself, stepping forward to give his older version a high five. Future Leo knew exactly what was coming, and received the gesture excitedly.
"Cool ... I mean," future Leo shrugged, not knowing how to fix that inappropriately timed comment. "Why did Davenport send you?" A change of topic seemed like a good idea. He turned back to his niece.
"This is where they went," Alexa said slowly, emphasing the 'they' for effect.
"They came here?" older Leo appeared confused. "Why?"
"Tunnel ... cave-in," Alexa answered in annoyance towards the memory, knowing her uncle would understand.
"Oh," Leo's eyes shot open wider. "Oh!" Alexa nodded in agreement, tucking some wild strands of hair behind her ear, only to have it flop back again on the one side. "What's that?" Future Leo's voice raised in suspicion, lifting his niece's hair out of her face to peek at what he think he saw. He was correct. "Where's your ear?" Lexi snatched the loose pieces from her uncle and covered up again in an attempt to save him the worry. It was way beyond too late.
"Tunnel ... cave-in," she repeated sadly. "The very crucial moment for my origin." Her little prompts were enough for her fellow future-goer. It was nice not having to explain herself extensively. Older Leo grew serious, and he turned to face the others.
"How could you let this happen?" he asked angrily, trying to remain calm.
"Okay, first off, remember that if you yell at me, you yell at yourself," Leo said.
"Technicality," the taller Leo retorted, crossing his arms. He looked a lot like the time he visited from the future, just 11 years older than that, and more mature – at least in this moment.
"Secondly, we didn't exactly know how important that mission was to the future," Leo continued in his defense.
"I did try to go with you, and warn you," Lexi butt in.
"... Technicality," younger Leo murmured, pursing his lips. Alexa rolled her eyes. Same old uncle, past and future.
Knowing this argument was getting them know where, Davenport put Chase back on the brain and went to check on his son, Douglas following. "Donnie, you better have a good explanation for all of this, and for not filling me in." Davenport just shook his head, and lifted the passed out bionic's arm, searching for a pulse. A light sigh indicated there still was one.
"What happened to him?" Older Leo stepped over to the couch in a couple wide strides. The younger version of him looked on in high hopes. That would be him someday, he had an ending in sight.
"He was injected with a poison," Davenport mumbled, scanning Chase's bionics and discovering they were all either disabled or glitchy.
Future Leo lowered his hand to his jean pocket, fingering something tucked in it. He was silent for a minute, thinking, before drawing out the small, glass tube. A clear liquid sloshed inside when he gently shook the container. "What's that?" Bree questioned, eyeing the lab tube in curiousity.
"Don't know," Taller Leo admitted. "It was stuffed in my pocket before I was cast to the past." He chuckled a little at his rythme, but quickly switched back to sullen.
Alexa quietly took the bottle from her uncle, studying the contents for a – very brief – second. "Get me a syringe."
"Why?" Bree raised on eyebrow, clearly knowing the answer, but giving her niece a chance to change her mind.
"This could be the cure Chase needs."
"And if it's not?" Bree prodded, subconsciously sliding herself between her brother and Alexa.
Lexi glanced at her father in desperation. "He's lost anyway," she stated simply, tone dropping to barely audible. Bree opened her mouth again to object, but Davenport stopped her.
"Do it," he murmured to his granddaughter, giving Bree 'the look'. With an annoyed groan, the speedster took off to the medical room, flashing back with a sterile syringe in hand.
"You can't trust anything those guys give you," Bree spat, as if Lexi didn't already know that. She handed the tool over relucantly to the future girl. Alexa didn't reply or even acknowledge the last comment, she just bent down next to her father's face. Her uncle from the future placed a solid hand on her shoulder for support.
"Okay," she told herself. Raising a hand for the mystery serum, the girl felt Older Leo place it in her hand shakily. With deep, caculated breaths, she poured the liquid into the syringe, uncapped the needle, and squirt it out a little for a test. Alexa didn't want to think through the next part, just stuck Chase with the tip of the needle, and pressed the clear maybe-cure into his swollen neck. Nothing happened; whether that was a good sign or a bad one, nobody knew.
"I-" Bree was interrupted by her younger brother suddenly sitting up with a large gasp, eyes popped. "Chase!" The speedster flung herself on him, before thinking otherwise and releasing her weak sibling. "How do you feel?"
The now-awake Chase appeared unresponsive at first, staring at everyone blankly, before sucking in a heavy breath of air and having the weight of the virus lifted. "Better," he stumbled out, laying back down tiredly once more.
"It's good to see you, man," Future Leo laughed, smacking his step-brother from the past on his leg. Chase stared, recognizing the older face, but feeling his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Great, was I just imagining an older Adam the whole time too!" the once unconscious bionic hissed, covering his eyes and forehead with a sweaty hand. The serum was strong stuff, and now he was unsure what was even real about the whole captured ordeal.
"Uh ..." Adam was at a loss, not uncommon.
Lexi squirmed, knowing what Chase meant, but also knowing he wasn't crazy. Her skin grew sensitive then, warning her and reminding her about the issue she faced. A tiny tingle in the future bionic's ear had her unknowingly touching it. If she held on to it, maybe it wouldn't disappear. But as she rubbed at her slightly translucent ear, her baby toes vanished underneath boots and socks.
"Welcome back, Chase," she greeted with a forced smile. "There's a lot that we need to discuss with each other." Future Leo gave Lexi a concerned look as he noticed her clasping her ear, but he said nothing.
As you may have realized, Chase doesn't yet know about Alexa and her ... origin, so I'm thinking his reaction is coming next chapter, along with the search for his future wife and some Leo and Leo hang out time