Kihonne: Hello friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? To everyone who waited very patiently for a chapter that never came, I am so unbelievably sorry. I swore I'd never abandon this story and then that was exactly what happened. I know I owe a few of you at least a good explanation, but the truth is, life just…happened. Things got tough, and I stopped doing a few things that I loved. BUT – and this is the part that I'd rather focus on – I'm back now. Things are good and that means I can finally return to the fic that has been haunting me every day for the last 1171 days (seriously, this story has been on my mind the entire time and that in itself is a form of torture).
I don't know if anyone is still reading this, or interested, but just in case anyone is, I'll explain what the new gameplan is at the very bottom of the chapter. But in the meantime:
Calla: Kihonne doesn't own Lab Rats, Mighty Med, or Elite Force. She only owns this story, any and all OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
Xxx
Chase's POV
I sighed, rubbing my eyes as I made my way up the stairs. We'd landed in the Davenhanger late into the evening, late enough that finding enough Ubers had been enough of a challenge. When the only options were the self-driving ones, I hadn't even hesitated before agreeing.
The others were either down on the main floor of the penthouse, or in the lobby, waiting for the second elevator. I could hear Emily and Charlotte in the living room, talking quickly in low voices about the Venusian ship they'd stolen and how they wanted to take it apart and study it as soon as this was all over. Jaden was on the veranda, leaving a voicemail for his mother (he and Bree had both agreed to wait until morning to call Justine, not wanting to wake her in the middle of the night). Meanwhile, my sister was continuing to interrogate Noah about just where he got his bionics from in the first place (it had been four days now, and the eighteen-year-old seemed no closer to giving up the information than when we'd first learned of his new abilities).
I paused when I reached the second door on the right, then, as quietly as possible, pushed it open. Instantly, there was a burst of bright light as every light in the room switched on. I dropped my eyes and red echoes of the light burned into my retinas. "Jesus, Cal," I muttered, rubbing my eyes even as I felt Helix jumping up at me, whining in excitement before brushing past me to run out the door.
"Chase?" I opened my eyes at the sound of my wife's voice. She was sitting up at the head of the bed, hair askew and eyes, dark with bags underneath, wide in shock and disbelief. She was wearing a large tank top over a swollen belly (pregnant belly, I reminded myself, still processing the news Emily had told me our first night on the Venusian ship), along with a pair of loose-fitting leggings. She was holding her Paragun, a weapon I hadn't seen her use in years, loosely in her hands.
I didn't think I'd ever seen something so beautiful.
I opened my mouth, ready to make a bad joke about being home or an apology for scaring her, but the words just wouldn't come. Instead, all I managed, in a tone that sounded as rough as I felt, was, "Hey."
Calla gasped sharply, inhaling deeply as her eyes brimmed with tears. In one clumsy motion, she threw our comforter off her and stumbled off the bed towards me. I caught her arms as soon as she was within reach and pulled her close, dropping my forehead onto her shoulder. All at once, I could feel the weight of everything that had happened lift off my shoulders, the entire world feeling so much lighter. Only two words were running through my head: I'm home.
After a moment that felt far too short, Calla pulled back. She cupped the side of my face with one hand, rubbing her thumb across my cheek, the other hand still tightly holding my arm. "Emily." My wife murmured desperately, eyes searching mine for some understanding of what had happened.
"She's downstairs. She's safe." I promised instantly, and I saw Calla's shoulders drop in relief. "Everyone's okay."
"Okay. Okay." Calla breathed harshly, clearly fighting tears. I couldn't blame her; if I'd had any more energy left in me, I knew I'd be doing the same. "Chase, I thought-"
I nodded in understanding when she broke off, shaking her head. I pressed my forehead against hers. "I'm okay," I promised her, my eyes boring into hers. "I'm home."
She nodded, leaning into me before pulling back again. I didn't let her go far, still holding her hands gently. "What happened?"
"The Venusians," I told her grimly. Her expression darkened and I sighed. "We should talk, the whole team. It's not over."
"Oh god." She murmured, shaking her head. She was silent for a moment, processing, and then she looked back at me sharply. "The kids are okay, though? They're not hurt, they didn't get themselves killed?"
"Not this time," I promised her. The but they could have went unsaid. Calla nodded, her breathing slowing.
"Okay. They're okay." She nodded once to herself, collecting her thoughts for a moment. Then she gestured past me towards our dresser. "Hand me my robe; I'm going to kill them."
Kira's POV
"I'm so glad to be home." I practically whimpered in relief, dropping face down onto the couch in the middle of the Davenports' living room. The cushions were soft and inviting, a far cry from the stiffness of the only two beds on the Venusian ship we'd flown back here. While it had been thankfully a short trip - four days as opposed to the 4 months the Davenships would take - the journey had been uncomfortable and cramped.
I heard my mom chuckle above me. "You know we live in a completely different state, right?" She asked teasingly.
"This counts," I argued weakly, rolling over slightly to look at her. Mom shook her head fondly before heading to the kitchen to find something to eat. Sera was by the front door with her own mother, arguing quietly about something I couldn't quite catch. Uncle Oliver was watching from not too far away. I could hear Ben, Naomi, and my dad talking over by the fireplace, just out of my line of sight, trying to decide whether to call Aunt Alivia now or wait a few hours until morning. Kameron stretched out next to me, equally exhausted, just as Emily let out a happy squeal.
"Helix!" She cried in relief. I raised my head in time to see her envelope the Cavapoo in a tight hug, clearly having missed him dearly. For a moment, despite the imminent threat on the horizon, everything felt at peace. Unfortunately, that feeling only lasted a moment.
"Emily Bree Davenport! Charlotte Rose Dooley! Noah Patrick Parker!" Calla started shouting before she even made it to the main floor. We all shrank back instinctively as she called our names, clearly incredibly upset with us. "Seraphina Jaime Short-Storm! Kira Alivia Broadman! Kameron Oliver Broadman!" The CEO stormed down the stairs, face twisted in worry and fury equally. If I hadn't been one of the ones in trouble, I might have laughed at her demeanor; any other fairly pregnant woman wearing nothing but a tank top, leggings, and a dark blue robe would have been more amusing than threatening, but then again, this was Calla Davenport. "Naomi Wendy Davenport! Benjamin Horatio VanOver! Sit your asses down on that couch!"
"Yes, ma'am." Noah sat down quickly, looking incredibly nervous. I sat up as Sera and Charlotte sat down next to me, while Emily squeezed in between Noah and Kameron, clearly trying to use the two taller boys as human shields. The other adults spread out around the room, some (Chase, Bree, Uncle Oliver, and Aunt Skylar) standing behind Calla in support while others (like my parents and Jaden) were in the kitchen.
"We're absolving Ben and Naomi on account of our children kidnapping them," Dad interjected quickly from behind us before Calla could lay into them. Ben threw his hands up in relief.
"Finally, someone who is on my side about it!" He complained. Naomi gave him a look, even as she sat down on the edge of the couch.
"Your middle name is Horatio?" She teased. Before Ben could argue, Calla interrupted him.
"SO not the point!" She exclaimed, exasperated. She rubbed her face with her hands before looking up at the other adults. "Thank you all for not being dead." She turned back to us, hands clasped. "Do any of you understand how easily that could have happened to you? How easily you could have all been killed?"
"We already got the read the riot..." Seraphina tried to argue but trailed off as Calla's sharp glare turned onto her.
"Oh, feel free to continue it," Bree told Calla, giving us all a hard look. "We're not done ourselves."
"You're not?" Kameron gulped. Bree sent him a stern glare of her own.
"You really thought all you were getting was a five-minute lecture?" She questioned. He shrugged.
"I was hoping?" He admitted.
"No!" Oliver shook his head. "We were waiting until we had rooms to send you to!"
"Running away? To an alien planet we know nothing about aside from the fact that their people may have killed your parents? Are you kidding me? Did you even have a plan?" Calla demanded, staring at us. No one spoke up. She let out a harsh breath and rubbed her face again before continuing. "None of you are this stupid! You HAVE to make smarter choices! You just have to!"
"Calla..." Chase said softly. She turned to look at him and he mimed taking a breath. She rolled her eyes - although I could see the hint of a fond smile on her lips - before taking a deep breath and turning back to us.
"You can't just do whatever you want." She told us in a more controlled, yet still angry, tone. "Actions have consequences and you could have been killed."
"We couldn't sit by and do nothing!" I tried to argue, starting to stand. The looks I got from every adult in sight sent me straight back to the couch.
"Yes, you could have. We had a plan. One that wouldn't have endangered your lives." Calla insisted before taking a deep breath. "This was not your problem to solve. You need to let the adults handle these things. You are not prepared for them."
"I am an adult, for the record," Noah interjected.
"Are you?" Calla questioned before Bree or Jaden could speak up. "You may be eighteen, but you are certainly not acting like an adult." Calla glanced back at Bree, then over at Jaden behind us. "I take it he told you about school?"
"I...I was gonna wait until things cooled down?" Noah hunched his shoulders, looking sheepish. Jaden sighed and walked out of the kitchen.
"We can talk about school later. Unfortunately, there are more pressing matters than if he failed a class or something." He decided, sounding frustrated. Calla nodded.
"Sure, I mean, he didn't fail a class. It's kinda hard to do that when you're not enrolled in any." She mentioned passive-aggressively. Bree and Jaden both looked at her, confused, then turned to Noah.
"What does that mean?" Bree questioned. Noah flushed in embarrassment; this was clearly not how he wanted this conversation to go.
"There are more pressing matters?" He tried. Emily spoke up before Calla could ask what those were.
"Mom, I know we worried you, but we're all okay." She pointed out.
"Emily, I didn't even know where you were." Calla insisted, giving her daughter a tired look.
"We left a note!" Kameron protested. Behind us, I heard Dad clear his throat. I turned to see him looking at a piece of paper stuck to the fridge.
"'Gone to go save Moms and Dads. We'll be safe.'" He read out loud, shaking his head. "'Love you, Kam, Kira, Noah, Sera, Em, and Char.'"
"Not good enough," Calla informed him, much to Kameron's disappointment.
"Look, I know you're angry, and that's perfectly fair," Naomi spoke up for the first time. Calla glared at her. "That being said, Noah did have a point. There are more pressing matters to discuss right now."
"Such as?" Calla scoffed.
"Alien invasion?" Charlotte offered up. Calla looked at her in disbelief.
"An alien in-" Calla turned to look at Chase incredulously, stopping entirely when he gave her a frustrated nod of confirmation. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"Afraid not," Ben confirmed. Calla stopped and rubbed her eyes.
"Of course, aliens are invading. Of course, that's happening." She sounded incredibly stressed out, and I felt a pang of guilt. While I still firmly believed that we did the right thing in saving our parents, worrying Calla so much had been the last thing I think any of us wanted. I resisted the urge to go hug her, knowing that right now, it wouldn't be appreciated.
"Alright, go to your rooms, all of you. Go to bed." Chase stepped forward. Emily stared at him in confusion.
"No, Dad! We have to talk about this now, not tomorrow!" She protested. He nodded.
"I agree and we are going to discuss what we are going to do." He agreed. "But you are not a member of the Elite Force and this is beyond what you can safely handle."
"You're not superheroes yet." Skylar reminded us, walking into my line of sight, and passing an apple between her hands. "It's too dangerous for you to get any more involved."
"Also, if it wasn't clear, you are grounded," Bree added. We all started to argue.
"You can't leave us out of this!" "You need every hand you can get!" "We can handle this!" The adults let it continue for maybe 30 seconds before deciding that they were done.
"Enough!" To our surprise, it was Dad who shouted. We all turned around to see him leaning with both hands against the kitchen island. "Enough. Look, we are all tired and we are all a little on edge after being stuck together in such a small space for so long. Nothing is happening tonight anyway, so just go to bed."
"But Dad-" Kameron stood up. Dad pointed to the stairs, an unusually stern look on his face.
"We will talk about this in the morning. Now go." He insisted, his tone leaving no room for argument. We all exchanged looks, then sighed.
"Fine," Emily muttered, pushing past her mother on her way up the stairs. Sera and I followed shortly behind her, followed by Kameron, Charlotte, and Noah, the latter two muttering complaints under their breath as we filed up the stairs. Before anyone could actually go to their rooms, Emily held open her bedroom door and gestured for us to join her inside.
"Please tell me we're not actually sitting this one out?" Seraphina questioned hopefully, leading the way in. Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes as we all filed into the bedroom. Noah closed the door behind her.
"Hell no." The seventeen-year-old retorted, turning to her TV. She tapped a finger to her forehead and the TV on the far wall came to life. It showed the background of a streaming service for a second before the screen changed to show the living room below us. "MISS has security cameras everywhere. We're not sitting out of anything."
Ben's POV
As soon as the kids had gone upstairs and we heard the sound of a door closing (true, they probably were all bunking in a single bedroom out of some teenage rebellion, but I think the other adults were just happy they were back under the Davenport Tower roof), Skylar turned to Kaz. "You can't seriously be considering them get involved?"
"No!" He looked at her like she was crazy. "I was just tired of the arguing. We'll deal with them individually in the morning; it'll be easier and maybe they'll be more reasonable once they've had some sleep."
"Good." Skylar nodded in agreement. Calla looked around.
"Okay, now, what on Earth, or I guess Venusia, did I miss?" She questioned, giving us each a once over. "You all look terrible."
"The peace treaty was a trap. We were abducted." Skylar shook her head. Calla nodded before taking a seat on the couch.
"I got that much. But why?" She questioned, frowning. "They have a chance for peace, and they aren't even willing to come to the table? They could have demanded everything they wanted. The Calderans didn't even get a chance to hear their demands."
"Not everything they want," Jaden replied from where he had sat down at the kitchen table. We all looked at him. "Caldera's not the only planet on their hit list."
"Earth." Calla realized in horror. She looked around. "Okay, start at the beginning. I know your ship disappeared before it ever made it to Venusia."
"We were attacked maybe a week and a half into the trip. They separated us and brought us to Venusia to meet with their 'High Council'." Bree explained, sitting down on one of the poufs by the TV.
"I assume that's their group of political leaders?" Calla guessed.
"They're being led by two Venusians named Jax and Jaya. We never met anyone else from the Council." Oliver confirmed. I nodded.
"That's who spoke to me, Kira, and Noah," I mentioned. I frowned. "They took blood samples from us."
"Yeah, us too." Oliver frowned, glancing at the rest of us. "I can't be the only one who thinks that was weird, right?"
"Kaz and I have a theory about that," Chase commented, standing near the couch with crossed arms. "But let's get on the same page before we go into that. They didn't just take our blood; they interrogated us."
"They wanted to know about Earth," Dani commented, frowning in deep thought. "I remember they asked a lot of questions about the planet."
"If they're going to invade, they'd want intel on our defenses and military. That makes sense." Calla thought aloud. Dani shook her head.
"Yes, but that's not what I meant. They asked about our military, the NLH, and our weapon systems, but they also asked about our planet. The soil, the climate, types of foliage and biomes." She paused, eyes lighting up with understanding. She raised her head sharply to stare at Chase and Kaz. "I think I know why they took our blood."
Kaz nodded, while Chase's face hardened. Now that someone else had come to the same conclusion as them, it was clear that they hadn't wanted to be right. "You care to fill us in?" Naomi questioned, looking between the three of them.
"Venusia is dying," Kaz said simply. I nodded.
"Yeah, you mentioned that before. What exactly does that mean, dying?" I questioned, leaning against the back of the couch behind Naomi. I looked at the other heroes and superhumans. "How can a planet die?"
"I forget sometimes how young you are." Calla gave me a sympathetic smile. "Lots of things can kill a planet. Climate change nearly destroyed our home until we got our butts in gear a decade or so ago. I take it something similar is happening to Venusia?" She phrased the last sentence as a question, looking at her husband curiously. To her surprise, he shook his head.
"I don't think so. One of the stars that heat their planet is dying." He explained. He glanced at the others, most looking confused. "My bionics picked up on unusual activity with their star during our escape, so I scanned it and ran a diagnostic as soon as we were on the Venusian ship."
"So their star is dying?" I confirmed. He nodded. "I guess that would explain why it's so cold there."
"Actually, it's probably too warm. Stars expand when they're dying and increase the temperature." Skylar commented thoughtfully, thinking about it. She frowned and glanced at Kaz and Dani. "Okay, I get how Chase figured that out, but how did you two get there?"
"I mean, asking about Earth's biomes and climate and stuff? They were probably trying to see if our planet would be livable for them." The electrokinetic reasoned, cocking her head to the side as she thought it over. "I mean, those are some of the first questions that zoologists have to consider before releasing animals into the wild."
"You know, there are days I wonder what would have happened if we'd walked into Mighty Vet instead of Mighty Med." Oliver joked softly to Skylar. Dani rolled her eyes.
"Hey, you joke, but Liv will eventually agree to my side business idea." She warned. Kaz smiled briefly before continuing.
"The blood samples were probably to compare our two species. You can learn a lot from DNA." He reasoned. He glanced around at the rest of us. "Yes, believe it or not, Dee and I are good at our jobs."
"And thank goodness for that," Calla assured him with a small smile. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, how certain are we that they're going to attack Earth? Is it just a theory? Is it imminent? Do we even know where on Earth their point of first contact will be? Or when?"
"They have a hundred ships ready to attack. Or at least they were ready; Emily and Kameron disabled as many as they could before we rescued you guys." Naomi spoke up, nodding at the adults. "Em thought that it would take them the better part of a week just to get them up and running again."
"Emily and Kameron disabled the ships?" Jaden confirmed. Naomi nodded and Jaden looked down at his sister. "The kids know how to do that?"
"Yeah, can we talk about the kids for a minute?" Bree questioned. She shook her head. "What the hell happened while we were gone?"
Kira's POV
"What the hell happened while we were gone?" Bree demanded, looking sternly at Calla. MISS' security cameras gave us a full view of the living area and everyone inside of it, the audio crystal clear.
"Why on Earth were they going on missions? Why did you train them?" Jaden added, clearly annoyed with his sister. I grimaced. I hadn't realized that Calla would get in some trouble for that.
Calla, on her part, didn't seem apologetic. "The day after you guys left, the city was attacked. Some of our old friends decided to take advantage of your absence." She explained. She looked around. "At first, I forbade them from missions or acting as a team. I had no intention of training them."
"I'm guessing they didn't exactly like that answer?" Aunt Skylar guessed. She exchanged a look with Uncle Ollie. "Seraphina had a habit of trying to play hero behind our backs."
"Go Sera." Emily teased, nudging the half-Calderan girl with her elbow. The two of them were lying on their stomachs on Emily's bed, Helix snuggled in close to his owner while Noah was sitting next to Sera with his back against the wall. Charlotte and I were settled on Seraphina's bed, with Kameron sitting on the floor between our legs. His pet tarantula, Josh, was sitting on his lap, the pet's cage just a few feet away.
"They made it pretty clear that they weren't going to back down. I could ground them, lock them in their rooms, but they'd still try to take those risks." Calla shook her head, then looked pleadingly at the others. "I understand that it's not what you guys wanted for them. It's certainly not something Chase and I planned for Emily, but I'd way rather train them for the worst-case scenario than get a 3AM phone call from a hospital somewhere."
"I don't get it." Mom shook her head in disbelief. "That doesn't sound like our kids."
"It doesn't?" "It doesn't?" Both Dad and Kameron said at once. Mom gave Dad a look.
"They ask permission for everything, even though we've never forced them to. I mean, sure, Kira could spend more time working on her homework and less on video games, and Kameron does have a habit of getting himself into trouble more often than we'd like, but lying? Secrets? Outright defiance? That's not like them." Mom reasoned. I shrugged, not entirely disagreeing with her. We had a pretty open communication family - sometimes that meant we knew things we weren't supposed to, but it also meant there was a lot of trust. My stomach twisted as I remembered all the secrets they had apparently been keeping from us this whole time.
"Are you saying that it's like our kids to do that?" Chase questioned, immediately coming to Emily's defense.
"I mean, it's not unlike our daughter to do that," Calla mentioned. Emily scowled at her mother through the screen. "I'm sorry, guys, but it's all of them. They feed off of each other. It brings out the best in them, but it has also brought out their worst."
"I disagree with that assessment." Naomi chimed in. The other adults looked at her. "They make each other better. They're a good team."
Chase sighed and looked at Calla. "You said 'old friends'. Now Kira mentioned Lexi and someone named Darius?"
"Wait, you told them about Darius?" Emily stared at me, eyes wide. Behind her, I could see Darius' old sweater hanging off the back of her desk chair (Charlotte had swiped it when she and Kameron collected more supplies from the Davenship, much to the older girl's relief).
"I said that he wasn't a real bad guy," I assured her. "Nothing awful."
Emily looked at me for a long moment before turning her gaze back onto the screen.
"We will talk about Darius later, you and I," Calla told Chase before nodding. "But yes, Lexi reappeared. Along with Reese, Marcus, and some guy named Catastrophe? Apparently knew you guys?"
"Oh dang, Wallace and Clyde." Dad shook his head, glancing at Mom and Uncle Ollie. "That takes me back."
"Wait, Marcus? Actually Marcus?" Bree looked at Chase in shock. He shook his head in disbelief.
"He just won't stay dead." He muttered.
"Well, he better this time," Charlotte grumbled. I patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"There were a few others as well. The kids of your old enemies. Experion's son, Megahertz's, a few members of the Roddiseus family." Naomi added.
"Lovely. What did they want?" Mom questioned suspiciously.
"World domination, probably. But they started by trying to take out our tech companies. Davenport Industries, Blizzard Corp, Explority." Calla listed. "We thought that they were working with the Venusians. At least, that's what they claimed."
"They wanted Earth defenseless. That's why they lured us away." Jaden decided. Chase nodded.
"It seems so." He agreed. He sighed. "We need a plan. According to Emily, the Venusians had both Earth and Caldera in their systems. We don't know which one they're going after first."
"Can we force their hands? Make them attack a specific target so we're prepared to defend it?" Calla suggested. "It would be easier to mount a defense if we don't have to split up our forces."
"They had more targets on Earth than Caldera. Eight cities here, only one there." Emily spoke up, although the adults couldn't hear her.
"They have a specific target in mind for Caldera. Defending it would be easier than the various targets they have on Earth." Chase decided. Apparently, great minds did think alike.
"Okay, so we take the fight to Caldera. Then what?" Ben questioned.
"Take out their leadership." Skylar decided. "If we can get rid of Jax, Jaya, and whoever else is on that Council, we could destabilize things enough to drive them off."
"If you take out their leadership, they'll become martyrs. The war will never end." Naomi warned her. Skylar sighed.
"I don't think that's going to change, no matter what we do." She sounded so sad, so full of defeat. Seraphina seemed to deflate on the bed, hiding half her face behind her crossed arms. Her eyes were glassy, heartbroken. Emily glanced at the other girl, frowning. Then, not having a better idea for how to cheer our friend up, lifted Helix and placed him on top of Sera's back. The dog seemed briefly confused by the sudden relocation, but eventually lied back down and nuzzled into the half-alien's back. Sera, on her part, bit back a small smile.
"It'll at least give us a fighting chance." Mom had always said that Uncle Ollie was the optimist of their group, and today was no exception. "We can go to the League, and ask for help. We can call Liv tonight."
"And the Academy. They'll help, you know they will." Jaden added.
"I have a few thoughts on how we can handle the Venusians once we're on Caldera," Calla added. Emily perked up at that.
"She's going to Caldera, but we're not?" The genius protested.
"What do you want to do about the kids? We can't just leave them here." Oliver pointed out. "And we're not taking them to Caldera."
"You should," Noah grumbled. Bree turned to look at Jaden, as if hearing her son's complaint from the other floor.
"You know what I think? I think we should drop Noah off at your Mom's." She decided, raising her chin. "I'd like to see him get anything past her."
"Wait, what?" Noah stood up, staring at the screen with an unreadable look on his face. Jaden nodded in agreement.
"That's a good idea." He agreed. Calla glanced at Chase.
"I do think some time apart might do the kids some good. All of them." She told him. "Emily could stay with your parents."
"No!" Emily protested, sitting up fully. Mom and Dad looked at each other, thinking.
"Please not Alan or Jordan, please not Alan or Jordan." I found myself muttering under my breath.
"We'll bring the twins back to New York in the morning. We could maybe convince Jordan to watch them?" Dad suggested. Mom shrugged.
"Alan's also an option. We can't take everyone and leave the world defenseless anyway." She agreed.
"C'mon!" Kameron protested.
"Crossbow still owes me a couple of favors. I'm sure she'd be happy to keep an eye on Seraphina for us." Skylar said to Oliver.
I grabbed the TV remote off of Emily's desk and hit the pause button. The silence hung heavily in the room as we all processed just what our parents were planning.
"They're going to separate us?" I whispered, my heart dropping.
Chase's POV
"For the record, I don't think that separating the kids is the answer." Surprisingly, it was Ben who spoke up in the kids' defense. He shook his head. "They're headstrong, yes. Reckless, definitely. But they are good at this. Keeping them out of the fight and away from each other is not the way to handle this."
"I appreciate your opinion, Ben, but you're not a parent," Calla told him simply. "Keeping them safe is our biggest priority. Allowing them to form a team in the first place was a mistake, and I'm sorry."
"It sounds like you didn't have much of a choice. We understand." Skylar assured her. Dani nodded.
"It's not like the twins are that far off from starting their training anyway." She agreed.
"Okay, once the kids are safe and out of the way, what do we do then? Just head up to Caldera with every bit of backup we can find?" He questioned. I nodded.
"More or less." It wasn't the best plan - we'd have to narrow down the specifics once we looped Adam, Leo, and Alivia in - but it was a good start.
"Okay. Look, we're not going to save the world over the next few hours, and I wasn't kidding when I said you all look awful." Calla told us, only half-apologetically. Kaz frowned at her.
"Yeah, well, you look..." He trailed off. Calla turned to look at him. "I know better than to insult the pregnant lady. Congrats, by the way."
"Thank you, Kaz." Calla rolled her eyes fondly at the pyrokinetic. "What I meant though, is that you all look like you could benefit from a good shower, some decent food, and some sleep. So I will call Alivia and Leo and order some take-out. You guys go shower and get whatever you need. Beds, clothes, whatever you need. Nuestra case est su casa."
"Thanks." Kaz sniffed his shirt and grimaced. "Ooh, you are not wrong about that shower."
"Yeah, I think I'll join you." Dani agreed, stretching. She started to head for the stairs, only stopping when Calla called her back.
"Dani?" She questioned. The younger woman stopped at the bottom of the stairs, Kaz only a couple of steps ahead of her. Calla cocked her head to the side, eyebrows raised at her old friend. "Josh the Guinea Pig?"
Dani laughed softly and shrugged. "You love us." She replied before heading up the stairs. Calla shook her head as the others all followed suit, some heading for the two bathrooms upstairs, others off to find something to change into after having been stuck in our mission suits for months now. I, meanwhile, walked over to Calla. She pulled me towards her, resting her forehead against my abdomen. I ran my hands through her hair.
"You okay?" I murmured gently. She shook her head.
"They scared me. All of you did." She muttered. I sat down on the couch next to her, taking her hands into mine.
"I know. I'm sorry." I apologized, squeezing them gently. She shook her head.
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me. You did absolutely nothing wrong." She told me, analyzing my face with her eyes. "Chase, are you sure you're okay? Seven months in a cell...I can't even imagine."
"It wasn't the most restful place, that's for sure. But I'm okay." I assured her. She nodded, although she still looked skeptical. "I'm home, Calla. Back with you, and Emily...and Baby Number Two."
Calla smiled sweetly at that and pulled my hands onto her stomach. "I don't know if she'll kick for you. She does sometimes when she hears your voice, but she's not as active as Em was. But Horace checked and everything's normal."
"She?" I repeated, even as I made a mental note to double-check everything with Horace. I frowned. "Wait, when she hears my voice?"
Calla laughed slightly. "I had Tasha send me a bunch of my and Leo's old videotapes, the ones from when we were investigating Marcus the first time. I've been playing those, and some of the videos from when Emily was little for her. She seems to like them. And yes, it's a she." She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, I know this is a lot to come home to."
"No, it's..." I couldn't help the smile on my face. "This was a good surprise."
"Yeah?" She smiled at me hopefully. I nodded eagerly.
"Look, I know we're nearly...a certain age." Calla's eyebrows raised when I nearly admitted how old the two of us were. "But we spent years trying to have a second kid. How could I be anything other than happy about it?"
Calla nodded, smiling as she looked down at her belly. "Good. I'm happy too."
"I..." She looked up at me sharply when I trailed off. "I do have a concern, however. Caldera."
"I'm not staying behind." She said instantly. I gave her a look. "Absolutely not, Chase."
"A war zone is no place for a baby." I reasoned. She shook her head.
"A war zone is no place for you." She argued. She squeezed my hands tightly. "We are a team. We do not separate."
"We do if it's in everyone's best interest." I pointed out. "Calla, it's far dangerous for you to be out there."
"Hey." She cupped my chin with one hand, forcing me to look her in the eye. Her gaze was blazing. "I nearly lost you once. I'm not okay with you going back to Caldera. I'm not okay with you joining a war. I'm not okay with any of this, but it's the right thing to do. But I am not staying behind while you take all the risks."
"Calla-" I began, but her eyes started to tear up. "No, hey. Calla."
"What if you don't come home next time?" She dropped her hand and her gaze, even as the tears threatened to spill. I squeezed her arm gently, forcing her to look back at me.
"I will always come home to you," I promised her, staring into her eyes. "I swear it on our marriage, on our children, on everything, okay? I will always come home to you. But I need you safe so I have something to come home to."
Calla held my gaze for a long time. Then, finally, she nodded. "Alright. Fine."
I let out a relieved breath. Calla could be quite stubborn when she wanted to be, but the idea of her being on Caldera in the middle of this mess...it was too risky. She and Emily needed to be here, safe before I could ever focus on helping others. "Maybe Emily could help you out in Mission Command?" I suggested, trying to change the topic. "It'll give you a chance to keep an eye on her."
"Yeah." To my surprise, Calla scoffed at the idea. "I'm already the worst mother ever. I don't think she's gonna wanna help me too much."
I frowned. "You're not...she doesn't think that." I dismissed it. Calla gave me a look. "Because we're grounding her? Calla, all parents do that."
Calla pressed her lips together in a thin line. "What did she tell you about Darius?" She asked. I frowned; this was an odd change of topic, but okay.
"Uh, Kira mentioned him, actually. Said he was 'half a villain' whatever that means." I'd tried to get more details about that from Emily when she joined me in the cockpit on the flight home, but she hadn't wanted to talk about it. Every time I tried to ask about anything I'd missed, she changed the topic to the ship, or Venusia or Caldera. All the kids had been like that, avoiding any type of non-mission-related conversation. Hmm, maybe a break WOULD be a good idea for them.
"I don't even know about that part anymore. What I do know is that he was our daughter's boyfriend." I looked up at her in surprise. Emily wasn't the type to date often, and she hadn't been seeing anyone when I'd left. "And he lied about who he was and what he could do for a long time."
"What did he do?" Horrific theories of ways he could have hurt Emily flooded my mind. She had clearly changed a lot since September, and at first, I thought it was her growing up, or even being mad at the situation. But if that little punk had so much as laid a finger on-
"Nothing." I stopped short at Calla's response. I stared at her, not understanding. "He never hurt her, might have even helped her when we were dealing with Reese and Lexi. He might have just been a kid caught up in something he couldn't get out of."
I nodded, still not quite understanding. "Then what happened?"
Calla sighed and looked at me, shaking her head. "Emily trusted him, but I couldn't. I turned him away."
I frowned. That was not like Calla. She was warm and welcoming, always had been. "Why?" I asked, confused.
"Darius is Lexi and Sebastian's son, Chase." She told me, tone grim. I stared at her, processing. Of all the betrayals we'd experienced over the years, Sebastian had been one of the worst. I'd trusted him completely in the beginning, only for him to try and take us out. "He's Sebastian's son, and he lied, and things were getting too dangerous. Emily hasn't seen him since the attack and she blames me for it."
"That's not..." This was a lot to process in one night. I rubbed my face, thinking it over. "You were trying to protect her. You did the right thing."
"Unless he actually was just a kid with bad parents. I don't know if it was the best judgement call, or just old wounds re-opening themselves." She shook her head, sadly. "I don't know."
"Hey." I took her hand again, resting the back of mine against her stomach. She looked up, a worried look on her face. "You're a good mom. You did what you thought was best for our kid. That's all you can do."
"Mm-hmm." She nodded distractedly. "Emily will forgive you. She just needs time."
"I hope you're right." Calla agreed, glancing at the stairs. "Because she is none too pleased with me right now."
Kira's POV
"I can't believe they want to separate us!" Emily exclaimed, pacing her room in frustration. "How could they do this?"
"I can't believe this." I agreed, leaning back against the wall in shock. Every part of this was awful; we were all going to be separated, not able to see each other until who-knows-when, my parents were getting even more involved in the Calderan-Venusian war, and weren't able to do anything.
"I can't sit by and do nothing. Not if our parents are joining an intergalactic war!" Noah's voice was just barely below a shout.
"Stop!" Sera hissed suddenly. We looked to see her gesturing for us all to be quiet. Confused, we all stopped talking at once, just as the sound of footsteps hit our ears. My and Kameron's parents passed by our door, talking quietly about using the 'good shower' in Calla and Chase's private bathroom. We heard the bedroom door click open and closed, shortly followed by the bathroom at the end of the hall that the rest of us had been sharing. "We can't talk about this here," Seraphina whispered.
"We can't exactly wait. It sounds like we're on our way out of here in the morning." I hissed, trying to keep my voice low. Charlotte sighed.
"We're not okay with this, right?" She checked. Every single one of us shook our heads. "Alright, I have a plan, but if the parents find out..."
"We'll be grounded for the rest of our lives?" Kameron guessed. Seraphina shook her head.
"They'll never let us see each other again if we disobey them now." She pointed out in a hushed voice. Emily nodded.
"I'm not okay with our parents joining a war. And frankly, I think we have a better chance at stopping this than they do." She reasoned. She looked around. "I know it's risky, I know that there will be consequences, but we can deal with that when the time comes. Right now, I think we need to figure out a way to help."
"If anyone disagrees," Charlotte said after a long moment of quiet, "Speak now. You won't get another chance."
Ben's POV
"The kids have been awfully quiet," Naomi observed, sipping at her coffee. It was morning now, but still early. Naomi and I had been up all night with Calla and Chase, trying to organize as much backup and weaponry as possible. The two geniuses were on the couch, looking over something on Calla's holo-computer. It had been decided that Calla would stay behind and try to help from Mission Command, although it would limit her to only being able to send more support. She was frustrated by it, clearly, but somehow Chase had convinced her.
Bree and Jaden were in the kitchen, reheating some of the pizza Calla had ordered a few hours ago. Even just a couple of hours' sleep had done the two of them a lot of good. They had just gotten off the phone with Justine, Noah's younger sister, and after reassuring her many times that they were okay and safe, had finally convinced her to try and focus on her studies. A large family vacation had been promised to her in exchange, I was pretty sure.
Kaz and Dani were still out like lights, having claimed the two singles in Noah and Kameron's room fairly quickly after realizing that the kids were all going to sleep over in Emily and Sera's room. Oliver was nowhere to be seen, presumably having finally taken Calla's advice (orders) about taking that shower, while Skylar was on the phone with one of her friends from the NLH, trying to get as much backup ready as possible for the mission.
"Probably exhausted from the trip." I reasoned, taking a bite of cold pizza. Naomi made a face at the food and I shrugged. "Don't judge, Shutterbug. Cold pizza is a delicacy."
"You're such a weird guy." She teased lightly, putting her coffee down. "Okay, I'm going to go raid Calla's weapons' vault. There were a couple of toys that the kids neglected to grab that'll come in handy on Caldera."
"Good idea," I commented, just as the front door slid open. Leo and Katherine, looking about ten times more refreshed than anyone else in this entire apartment, burst in.
"Where's she?" Katherine demanded, forgoing any polite small talk.
"Emily's room. They've been there all night." Chase explained, giving his stepbrother a little wave in greeting. Leo let out a sigh of relief as his wife stormed up the stairs.
"Now I know how my Mom felt when you guys went on missions." He muttered, following her up. I made a mental note to give my mom a call in a couple of hours, once I knew she'd be up. She worried too much about me on a normal day, let alone after I'd been straight-up MIA for the past three weeks. Naomi chuckled, then walked up to the fireplace. She frowned when it didn't open immediately.
"Hyperlift, open." She announced. Nothing happened. That surprised even Calla and Chase.
"Hyperlift, open," Calla repeated. Again, nothing. "I was down there like 2 hours ago. It's not broken."
"MISS, open the hyperlift," Chase instructed. No response whatsoever. "MISS?"
"Why isn't MISS working?" Bree questioned, frowning. A moment later, Leo came walking down the stairs, a worried look on his face and a piece of scrap paper in his hands.
"'We had an idea. We'll be safe.'" He read the note aloud. "'Love you, Kam, Kira, Noah, Sera, Em, and Char.'"
Chase, Bree, and Jaden all stared at Leo. Calla, on the other hand, dropped her face into her hand. "You've got to be kidding me."
"There is no sign of the kids up there," Leo confirmed. He looked around. "They're gone."
Kihonne: I hope you all liked it! It was a bit heavy on the exposition, I admit, but given how long it's been, that may have been a good thing for everyone. For those wondering, this chapter was always going to be a cool-down, catch-up type of chapter before the real action began, so the HIATUS didn't actually end up changing that much for this particular chapter. As for the rest…well I wouldn't have posted again unless I had a real plan to stick around. I know it may take time to rebuild that trust with some of my old readers – perfectly reasonable – so I'm gonna be transparent with what's going on with the rest of the season.
Season 2 is now going to be 13-14 chapters long. The dates for the next few updates are as follows:
June 17th: Chapter 12 – Invasion Part 1
June 24th: Chapter 13 – Invasion Part 2
Now, I know I've made and broken promises in the past, so I want you to know that the next two chapters are fully written and uploaded into this site's doc manager. They are ready to go and will be posted ON TIME. I'm just giving it a week between updates to A, give readers a chance to catch-up or reread the story if they want and B, gauge what interest there still is in the series. If there appears to be enough interest, Season 3 is still on the table and I'd start posting that a couple of weeks after I finish Season 2. If there isn't enough interest, I'll finish the series off with a 14th chapter to Season 2 to wrap up any loose ends. If you have a preference, let me know in a review. Reviews are a much better way to gauge interest than just the view stats.
Anyway, folks, whether it's one person or 50 people reading this, I hope you liked it. I'll see you in a week!