HSM/Heroes: They Say That a Hero Can Save Us 3/5
Fandom: High School Musical/Heroes - yeah, I went there.
Pairing: Ryan/Chad, Troy/Gabriella
Rating: NC-17 total, this part PG-13
Word Count: ~ 32,000 total, this part 6,363
Warnings: Spoilers for the season finale of Heroes as well as major ideas/characters in season two. This fic contains slash, crass language, sexual content, plausible science, and hardcore crack.
Author's Note: This fic diverges from Heroes canon after Run! And takes place the fall semester after HSM2.
Chad is on the basketball, the baseball, and the track and field team according to HSM2. However, that makes no sense because both baseball and track are spring sports, unless it’s indoor track which is a winter sport - like basketball. So therefore, in this universe, Chad runs cross country, a fall sport (even if he isn’t built like a long-distance runner - I’d say his event would be the 400 or even the 800). And Ryan does have a rubber ducky key chain - check out the scene when Taylor and Gabriella pick him up to go to the baseball game. Adorable! Also, I really like Taylor… I have no idea why she’s not in this fic except for a few passing mentions. Huh.
Beta-ed by the ever amazing saekokato, so the remaining errors are my own because I couldn’t stop tinkering with this fic.
Disclaimer: HSM belongs to Ortega and Disney, and Heroes belongs to Kring and NBC. There are references to several other sources including Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Miss Congeniality, Finding Nemo, and fics written by other people. I take no credit for those ideas.
Disclaimer 2: I do not condone the use of any conjugation of the verb “to get” in place of any conjugation of the verb “to be.”
Summary: He couldn’t remember if he was indestructible because he was gay or gay because he was indestructible.
Part 1, Part 2
“Okay, when I said “we,” I meant you and me, not you, me, and her,” Chad bemoaned. He dramatically flopped face first onto Ryan’s disturbingly comfortable bed. It made him think of dirty things. Including the promise Ryan had made to him the other day.
“May I remind you that she is one of the people you called for when you were being kidnapped,” Sharpay sneered.
“Temporary insanity,” Chad grumbled to himself and the duvet.
“Or were you expecting some sort of romantic rendezvous?” Sharpay wheedled.
Chad sneered at her even if she couldn’t see it. He knew she would know it in her head at least, and that gave him some satisfaction. Of course, she would also know that he was blushing.
“Children,” Ryan said sternly.
Chad raised himself onto his forearms. “You guys ready to let me in on what’s going on?”
“Only if you behave like a normal human being,” Sharpay cut in.
Ryan stood up and stomped out of his room.
“Great going,” Chad sighed.
“I believe you played as much a part as I did,” she said snippily.
“Yeah, whatever, let’s go find him and apologize.”
Sharpay studied him carefully. “Oh god, please tell me you’re not in love with him!”
“Your brother is hot,” Chad responded as he left the room. There was no way in hell that he was going to explain everything that was going on in his jumbled mind to Sharpay. Especially when she probably knew his mind better than him. He didn’t want to know. He still hadn’t come to terms with the immortality thing, and he felt that the possibility of falling in love was ten times as terrifying. Besides, he wasn’t. He was just horny, and Ryan was doing nothing but teasing him.
Sharpay smirked at him knowingly but thankfully said nothing.
He and Sharpay found Ryan in the kitchen with a pint of Chunky Monkey.
The twins regarded each other pensively. Chad had a niggling suspicion they were communicating telepathically. It made him itch underneath his skin and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Feeling left out, Chad took the pint and helped himself to a couple of spoonfuls of ice cream. Hey, if they were going to ignore him, he might as well ignore them.
“Danforth, come with me,” Sharpay ordered.
Chad raised his eyebrows and looked to Ryan who nodded.
With a shrug, he followed Sharpay into the next room.
“We are playing a ridiculous game,” she told him. “Making Ryan choose between the two of us is hurting him.”
“Um… That’s really mature of you,” Chad said inanely.
“I do not wish to harm my brother,” she said resolutely.
“Neither do I.”
“Then we shall call a truce.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Also, I should point out that if you and he live forever, you will always be there for each other, so do not mess that up now. He’s feeling bad enough because be won’t be able to be there for me. He’ll see me grow old and, God forbid, wrinkly. He’ll see everyone he will ever love die. Except for you.” Sharpay looked Chad directly in the eyes. “And you made him that way.”
“Not on purpose,” Chad mumbled self-depreciatingly.
“Your intent doesn’t matter,” she breezed on, holding a hand to Chad’s face. “But do not make him choose when there is still a choice to make.”
Chad stared at her slack jawed. His mind was still stuck on the “except for you” part.
“Don’t think about it too intensely.” Sharpay waved her hand vaguely. “You need to think about you right now. You have to deal with Ryan for all eternity. Whatever decision you make is gonna last forever, you know? So take your time trying to figure out what you’re doing. Even if it’s a hundred years from now.”
“Um…” Chad said. His mind had ground to a halt. “Couldn’t you just tell me?”
“Where would the fun be in that?”
“Um… does this mean we’re cool?”
“No.”
“What?”
“You need to earn it.”
“Oh…kay…”
“Good. Now we have a truce and a very fragile boy in the kitchen to take care of.”
“Fragile?”
“He’s never had a friend before last summer.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“She means that I’m her shadow.”
Chad turned to see Ryan standing in the doorway stony-faced. Chad had no idea how to respond, but he assumed the twins were doing their freaky thing, so he didn’t interrupt.
“Come, Chad.” Sharpay grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him back into the kitchen.
Ryan followed silently. Maybe he was right; he did act like Sharpay’s shadow.
“I am my own person,” Ryan growled.
“Whoa.” Chad frowned at Ryan. “Chill out, man. And you’re breaking rule number three.”
“Ryan?” Sharpay asked.
“I didn’t say anything,” he defended himself with wide eyes.
“I heard you, though.”
“I didn’t say - Did you read my thoughts?”
“No!” Chad paused. “Did I?”
“I didn’t hear him,” Sharpay volunteered. “Which is very strange these days.”
“Did you put your thoughts in my head?” Chad was so confused. Of course, he was always in a state of perpetual confusion when he was around Ryan recently.
“You can project?” Sharpay asked. “Does that mean I can too?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryan said modestly.
“Oh, of course you do,” Sharpay snapped.
“Uh, guys, can we talk about what we came here to talk about? You know, before your parents come back?”
“They won’t be back for a while. There was some company emergency in Texas,” Ryan said helpfully. “Which is actually part of what we need to talk about.”
“Okay,” Chad said slowly.
Sharpay ushered both of the boys into the living room and coerced them onto a couch together.
“So,” she chirped. “Apparently Mommy and Daddy’s business doesn’t exist.”
“What?” Chad idly wondered if there was some cap to how many times he could be caught off guard in one day. “I thought they were CEOs of some weird paper company.”
“They’re not.”
“They run the company that kidnapped you and people like us.”
“What?!”
“Well, they don’t exactly run it. They helped to found it.”
“Are you guys fucking with me?”
Ryan looked Chad up and down, making his intentions very clear before Chad heard, “With, no. What I intend to do is - ”
Chad’s eyes were so wide that they threatened to dry out. “I thought you said you weren’t that flexible?”
“Ryan!” Sharpay scoffed and wrinkled her nose. “You can project! Couldn’t you have projected something else? I don’t wish to witness the gay porn wireless show.”
Ryan blushed spectacularly. Chad did likewise.
With a nervous cough, Ryan continued. “That’s the sketchy thing that’s been going on. Our parents know about everything. They know that Shar and I will eventually show signs of our abilities, and they’ll have to turn us in to be catalogued with everyone else.”
“That’s cruel, man. I’m sorry. Couldn’t you just persuade them not to?”
“It’s not that simple,” Ryan shook his head sadly. “If the company knew that our parents were keeping us from them, there would be a lot of trouble - and probably death.”
“Death?!”
“This company flies below all radar: they’re lawless,” Sharpay explained.
“Our parents love us but not that much.” Ryan’s voice was still sad, and Chad found himself reacting to it. He wanted to make that tone disappear forever. Ryan should always be happy, never sad. And where the fuck had that idea come from?!
The smile Sharpay, the little bitch, directed at Chad was sugary sweet.
“There is also something strange happening in New York,” Ryan went on.
“Define strange?”
“Some artist who can paint the future predicted that the city was going to explode.”
“What?!”
“The bomb is Peter Petrelli,” Sharpay added tonelessly. “Or that’s what everyone believes.”
“That’s the guy like Ryan,” Chad stated.
“Yes.”
“And everyone thinks Peter’s gonna blow up New York?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“That’s what’s causing most of the crisis.”
“We have to stop him!” Chad declared.
“How do you suppose we do that?” Sharpay asked wryly.
“Not you. Me and Ryan. Think about it. If we’re indestructible, then we can contain him when he explodes!” Chad enthused.
“Wow… that’s really selfless,” Ryan breathed. “But becoming involved in something like that would - ”
“It would give us something meaningful to do with these powers. We could be, like, heroes, man. You know, instead of, like, screwing with each other.”
“Aw, but, baby, that’s where the fun is,” Sharpay cooed sarcastically.
Ryan shot his sister a dangerous look. “How do you suppose we go to New York? We would need to remain under this company’s radar. I wouldn’t be able to take my car or jet. We would - ”
“You have a jet?!”
“That’s unimportant,” Ryan dismissed. “But we would have to miss school, and we couldn’t let anyone outside this room know where we were going.”
“You want me to lie to my mother?”
“These people have people who can read minds just like me and Shar,” Ryan nodded.
“Couldn’t you persuade my Mom to let us go?”
Ryan deliberated. “Possibly. If it would make it easier for us to leave.”
“You’re really considering this, Ryan?” Sharpay asked. “Think of the winter musical!”
“You’ll be fine, Shar. And there will be no Broadway if New York explodes.”
After a beat, Chad commented, “When should we leave?”
“It’s rude to interrupt!” Sharpay snapped.
“Sorry. I didn’t know I was interrupting anything.”
Ryan sighed. “How do you feel about skipping school?”
“What’s the point of going to school if we’re going to be around forever? Seems kinda small in comparison.”
“We’ll leave on Saturday,” Ryan announced resolutely.
“In two days?”
“Unless you can be packed by Friday night.”
“Depends on how much I need to pack.”
“Light. We can pay for things as we go. I have bottomless pockets. Are you gonna be okay, Shar?”
She looked at her brother with dead eyes.
Ryan nodded tightly.
“Uh,” Chad said awkwardly. “I’m gonna head home now.”
Ryan turned to Chad and stared at him intensely. “I’ll drive you.”
“Okay, um, that would be cool.”
* - * - *
The car ride was tense. Chad knew that Ryan could hear all of the turmoil milling around in his head. It wasn’t fair that Chad couldn’t pry Ryan’s head open and peer into his thoughts. He didn’t even know why he had proposed going to New York to Ryan. It seemed like a bogus idea sprung from no base. But they were going to do it. They were going to try to keep New York from exploding. Ryan apparently knew the bomb, so how difficult could it be? Chad never thought he would ever use the phrase “knew the bomb” in perfect seriousness. He giggled to himself.
That seemed to break the tension, because Ryan started to giggle as well.
“I can’t believe we’re going to do this,” Chad said. “It’s like we’re some kind of badass: skipping school, running away to New York - ”
“Saving the world.”
“Didn’t Dr. Suresh say something about a cheerleader? Do we have to save her before we save the world?”
“I think Peter will have that covered,” Ryan said with an indulgent smile.
“So he saves the cheerleader and celebrates by blowing up a huge city?”
“That’s what the clairvoyant painter painted, and that’s what my parents and their friends believe.”
“What can your parents do?”
“My mother is where the persuasion came from, and my father can control water - like he can take the moisture out of the air or freeze water, stuff like that.”
“That’s cool. Do you know where your other powers came from?”
“Yes. My parent’s friends - and coworkers.”
“And we’re really gonna go to New York on Friday night?”
“It’s not too late to back out.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to. If that city, like, blows up and there was something I could do to stop it, I’d feel really guilty. Probably for the rest of my life - which is a very long time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I feel like we’re Batman and Robin or something.”
“Neither of them could read minds or heal,” Ryan pointed out.
“Fine. We’re like Jean Grey and Wolverine. Ha! You’re the girl!”
“Clever, Danforth,” Ryan said blandly. “And who would my boyfriend be? As I recall, Jean Grey dated Cyclops not Wolverine.”
“She could totally date Wolverine. Besides, I’m not as gruff as Wolverine, and your boobs aren’t as big as Jean’s.”
Ryan looked down at his chest. “Good thing for that.”
“I can’t believe you even know who those people are.”
“I’m in your head, Chad.”
“Ugh, that’s creepy.”
They pulled into Chad’s driveway.
“Do you want to come inside?” Chad asked nervously.
“No, thanks. I need to make some arrangements with Sharpay so that she’s not blamed for my disappearance. I suggest you do similarly with your mother. You will not be taking your cell phone, because they can use it to track us.”
“Wouldn’t it be obvious that we’re going to New York?”
“No. My parents don’t know that Sharpay and I know anything about the company they work for.”
“Can we bring Gabby in on this? She’s really practical in situations like these.”
Ryan gave a longsuffering sigh. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“She wouldn’t tell anyone if we asked her not to - not even Troy.”
Ryan leaned over the gearshift and kissed Chad on the neck. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Okay,” Chad agreed happily, not remembering why he thought it would be a good idea in the first place. He entertained ideas of Ryan climbing over the gearshift and into his lap.
“Not in your driveway.”
“Man,” Chad whined.
“I’ll call you later tonight to let you know what plans Shar and I have made.”
“Alright,” Chad said sullenly. He awkwardly crawled out of the car.
Ryan waved goodbye as he left, and Chad had to bite his lip to keep the goofy smile off of his face. He didn’t want his mother to accidentally catch him beaming and come to the wrong conclusions.
“Mom! I’m home!” he called as he slammed the front door behind him.
“Hi, honey! How was cross country practice?”
Chad followed her voice and found her in the living room sorting through papers that were probably important.
“I - I skipped practice today,” he confessed. “I went to hang out with the Evans.”
“Really?” she intoned.
“Yeah. We had, like, stuff to talk about.”
“‘Like stuff’?” She repeated dryly.
“Yeah.”
“I hope it was more important than your future with a three-season athlete scholarship.”
Chad nodded vigorously, his curls obstructing his view. “Way more important. Plus, you’re gonna get me into UNM anyway.”
“My employment at the College of Pharmacy is not going to get you accepted. It will give you a free ride, but you need to get into a program on your own. And if you want to attend a college with a better basketball team, you’ll need those scholarships.”
“Relax, Ma. I’m applying to other schools. Like UCLA, Arizona, and North Carolina.”
“I don’t want you to throw away your future just because you think that you are going to live forever.”
“I won’t,” Chad lied.
“Good boy, now how about you help me sort through these essays.”
“I think I’ll pass on that, but thanks for the offer.”
“Chad, that wasn’t a request.”
“Fine,” he grumbled and sat down next to his mother on the couch.
“They need to be sorted by topic,” she explained. “Which should be listed in the title. If it’s not, put it in a separate pile.”
“Yeah,” Chad breathed.
“Is something wrong?” His mother leaned back to examine her son carefully.
“Mom, I’m going to do something really stupid, and I know that you are gong to hate me for a long time, but I feel like it’s the right thing to do. You said I should come to you with my problems, so don’t freak out on me, okay?”
“I’m not going to rescind my offer, honey. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“New York City is gonna explode.”
His mother pursed her lips. “How do you know this?”
“It’s a long story, but it is. I want to be there to make sure that it doesn’t. Ryan and I are indestructible, so I figured that we could help…”
“When are you going to do this?”
“As soon as possible.”
“That is very selfless of you, honey.”
“But?”
“But I can’t have you putting yourself and someone else in danger as well as skipping school for something that may not even happen.”
“It won’t happen if Ryan and I stop it.”
“No, Chad.”
“Ryan and I are going to do it.”
“Chad - ”
“Mom, I know you’re worried about me getting into college, but missing weeks of school isn’t going to do much in the scheme of things.”
“Tell me how you are so sure that New York is going to explode.”
“Ryan’s parents are involved in the company that kidnapped us,” Chad said softly. “They know that the city’s gonna go boom, and they’re just going to let it! The whole city would go. No more Phantom! Or Michal Crawford. Nothing.”
“Chad this is not about New York: this is about you.”
“Mom, I was not supposed to tell you all this. I was supposed to just go. I don’t want you to worry or go to the wrong people.”
“Do you feel the need to be a hero because you heal?” she asked seriously.
“No,” he stated, matching her tone. “I feel that I could actually help because I can heal.”
His mother exhaled abruptly and placed a hand over her mouth in helplessness. “This situation wasn’t exactly in the parenting handbook.”
“Ryan is gonna be really mad at me for telling you. He’s gonna want to mess with your mind so that you would forget or something. Hopefully he’ll leave the part where you know I’m safe… just not where I am.”
His mother gave him a distressed look.
“I’ll send out all of my applications tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about colleges, okay, Mom?”
“I’m not worried about colleges. I’m worried about you dying!” she shouted desperately.
“I can’t die, Ma,” Chad said, a little sadly.
Chad’s cell phone rang, and the display told him that it was Troy calling.
He stepped out of the room and opened his phone. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“Hey… Uh, Ryan just called me. And he said some weird things.”
Chad frowned. “Why would Ryan call you?”
“He kept babbling about his parents and his sister.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know, man, but you should call him. He seemed really out of it.”
“Okay. I’ll do it now.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Chad hung up on Troy and immediately called Ryan.
“This is Ryan,” he announced in a clipped tone.
“Ryan, it’s Chad. Are you okay, dude?”
“Yes.”
“Really? ‘Cause Troy just called me and said that you called him, and you babbled about your parents and sister.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ryan, c’mon. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“Then why did you call Troy?”
“I - I don’t know.”
“Um… maybe you’d better come over. You don’t sound like you should be by yourself.”
“Shar is here. I’m fine.” He sounded like he was trying to fight a panic attack.
“Ryan, you’re worrying me.”
“My parents just pulled into the driveway. I need to go.”
“Ryan!”
Chad was answered by a dial tone. He growled at it and went back to his mother.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“No. Ryan went all schizo on Troy and then on me.”
“Is he regretting your decision to go to New York?”
“I don’t think so. Lately it’s been like he has a spilt personality. One moment he’s one person - all poised and adult, and the next it’s like he’s a five-year-old hiding under his bed from the monsters - all insecure and stuff.”
“He’s a teenager, Chad. Just like you. That’s what teenagers do. I recall you doing that several times last year.”
“I mean lately like the past two weeks. That’s it. He’s never acted like this before.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine, honey. Now help me sort through these papers.”
* - * - *
Ryan called Chad back around 10:30. Chad had been throwing some clothes into an old duffle bag but was otherwise bored out of his mind, and there was no way that he would resort to doing schoolwork after 10 at night.
“Hey. You feeling better?” Chad asked.
“A little.” Chad could imagine Ryan’s coy little half smile.
“Good. So what was that all about?”
“I panicked.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“So you called Troy?” Chad asked incredulously.
“A momentary lapse of judgment, I assure you. Not likely to be repeated.”
Chad chuckled lightly. “You sure you’re okay now?”
“Are you ready to leave tomorrow night?”
“Kinda. I’m in the middle of packing. How much stuff should I bring?”
“A couple of days worth at least. We’re driving across the county: that’s three days both ways.”
“We’re driving?”
“Yeah. Shar’s gonna drive us to the bus station. From there we’ll take a bus to Denver, and we’ll rent a car there.”
“You have this really planned out.”
“Yes. I’ve even researched the names of a few pawn shops in Denver so that we can earn some cash to spend. We won’t be using credit cards. Those are traceable.”
“Okay,” Chad said dumbly. “Why aren’t we flying?”
“We’re trying not to be traced here,” Ryan said flatly.
“Okay. We’re leaving Friday night?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem with that?”
“I’m having second thoughts. This whole thing is overwhelming, you know? I feel like I should live a normal life, and then I realize I can’t. I want to spend time with my mother. I want to spend time with my friends.”
“And you want to save New York City from exploding.”
“I do. I really do. I just - Forever is a long time.”
“Yes it is,” Ryan agreed.
“I feel like I’m abandoning them.”
“We’ll be gone a maximum of two weeks.”
“You have a date for the explosion?”
“The day after the Congressional election.”
“When’s that?”
“The first Tuesday of November. Same as all national elections.”
“Really?”
“Did you not pay attention in Civics class?”
“No, not really.”
Ryan sighed.
“I also feel like I might be messing up my chances with college if I miss that much school and sports stuff.”
“How does that matter if you’re going to live forever?”
“It matters to me and my mother. Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you’ve been on stage for fifty years and everyone notices that you haven’t aged a day over thirty?”
“I have a while until I have to deal with that. I don’t have a while to deal with you backing out. Are you?”
“It’ll only take two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to miss homecoming.”
“You’ll survive.”
“I liked homecoming last year,” Chad said suggestively.
Ryan snorted.
“Okay. I’m not going to back out.”
“Good. The last bus to Denver leaves at 10:30. We’ll arrive at 6 in the morning. The rental car places should be open by then. We’ll pick you up at 9 tomorrow night.”
“Hey, Ryan?” Chad interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for doing this.”
“It was your idea.”
“Yeah, but you’re actually making it work.”
“This could be fun.”
“Yeah, but it could also be dangerous. Are you sure that you’re indestructible?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Okay. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“You too,” Ryan whispered. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Night, man.”
“Good night, Chad.”
Chad hung up and flopped backwards onto his bed. He had a few more things to stuff into his bag and college applications to finish, and then he could catch some sleep. And maybe he should have told Ryan that he told his mother. Oops.
* - * - *
“You did what?!” Ryan shrieked. Chad winced.
“I told my Mom,” he repeated.
“That was very stupid,” Ryan glowered.
“My Mom has a right to know. I mean, I was recently kidnapped.”
“That was very stupid,” Ryan repeated.
The bell rang.
“I also told her that you would probably make her forget.”
“I don’t know how to make her forget.”
“Ryan, Chad, is there something you wish to share with the class?” Mr. Harris, their physics teacher, asked.
“No, sir,” Ryan said quickly. He continued to glower at Chad, and Chad heard, “We’re going to talk about this later.”
“You sure you don’t want to tell the whole class?” Chad asked Ryan in his head.
Ryan sneered at him.
Chad started to pay attention to the lecture about something having to do with something. He didn’t know. It was something science-y that Gabriella would babble about later, and it wouldn’t matter. He and Ryan were leaving tonight. Physics didn’t matter. Actually, nothing academic mattered.
Chad felt a hand ghost up his thigh. There was no one around him. The classroom was set up with the desks in rows. Ryan was more than an arm’s length away, and Troy was on the other side of him.
He frowned as he felt a hand on his other thigh, and he squirmed as subtlety as he could. His shoulders started to twitch when both ghost hands met up over his crotch, and a bead of sweat formed between his shoulder blades.
Mr. Harris gave Chad a disapproving look when he gasped loudly enough to interrupt the lecture.
The pressure of the ghost hands increased, and Chad released a shaky breath before pursing his lips together, and his nostrils flared with each rapid breath.
One of the ghost hands was doing things to his stomach that Ryan had done in the locker room over the summer. Chad remembered that move.
He should have realized it earlier.
“Stop teasing,” Chad thought at Ryan.
“I could follow through right here,” Chad heard.
“Don’t you dare,” Chad hissed out loud.
“Chad,” Mr. Harris called out. “See me after class.”
“You have detention on Monday,” Ryan taunted in Chad’s head. “Because you’re so disruptive.”
“You are so dead, Evans,” Chad growled mentally.
“Maybe next time you’ll listen to me,” Ryan projected loftily. “Besides, we’re not going to be here on Monday.”
Sharpay raised her hand.
“Yes, Sharpay?”
“I need a break. May I go to the bathroom?” She shot Chad a poisonous look.
“Of course,” Mr. Harris granted.
As Sharpay passed Chad’s desk, she dropped a note.
Chad waited until Mr. Harris had returned to his lecture before opening it. It read “Stop broadcasting your porn. It’s rude.” It was written in pink, loopy letters and unsigned.
Sharpay left the room because Ryan wouldn’t stop teasing Chad. How was that his fault?
Wait. Was Sharpay embarrassed by what Ryan was doing and giving them privacy? That was almost… nice. Well, except the part where they were still in the middle of class. If anyone else knew what was going on -
Chad turned to Troy, who looked like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. He had a note with pink, loopy letters on it.
“Dude,” Troy whispered. He handed Chad the note.
It read: “Tell your boy to keep his perverted thoughts away from my brother. It’s tactless.”
Chad groaned as he dropped his head to his desk and didn’t lift it until the bell rang, even when prompted by Mr. Harris.
“Chad,” Mr. Harris intoned. “A moment.”
Chad reluctantly pried his head up from his desk. “I know: you’re going to give me detention.”
“No. I’m not. I’m going to give you a warning. Next time I will give you a detention.”
“Oh, thank God,” Chad breathed, and darted from the room.
Troy caught him as Chad ran through the door. Chad groaned to himself. Dealing with Troy would be worse than dealing with a detention he was never going to serve.
“What was Sharpay’s note about?”
“You really don’t want me to answer that,” Chad pleaded. “You should not be this interested in my sex life!”
A couple of heads turned their way but most people in the busy hallway ignored the outburst.
“I’m wondering if you’re okay.”
“No! I want my life to go back to the way it was two months ago!”
“Can Ryan bend space and time yet?” Troy offered.
“What do you mean?” Chad demanded. “You - there’s - you can’t!”
“No,” Troy frowned in confusion. “But that’s the only way you could go back to two months ago.”
Chad released a frustrated growl. “I’m going to lunch.”
* - * - *
Chad crashed face first into the couch in his living room. The day had sucked. Ryan was constantly groping him from across the room, which normally would not have been so bad - if it hadn’t been in school. Chad ended up in the bathroom half an hour into each class he had with Ryan. He was going to pay the conniving bastard back. After all, they had a three day trip across the country with no one but each other for company.
He was glad that his mother wasn’t home yet. Her last Friday class ended at 4, so she wouldn’t be home until 5, and that gave him four hours with his mother until Ryan picked him up. Chad had no idea how to fill that time; although, he was content to spend it face down on the couch.
The doorbell rang.
Chad ignored it.
The doorbell rang again.
Chad ignored it.
Someone started banging on the door.
Chad ignored it.
The door slammed open, and Chad jumped up off the couch.
“Chad! Why wouldn’t you answer the door?” Tory shouted.
“Go away!” Chad shouted back.
Troy entered the living room. “What’s wrong, man?”
“I don’t feel like socializing.”
“Unless it’s with Ryan, like, in your head,” Troy said bitterly.
“Dude, so don’t go there.”
“What is going on with the two of you?” Troy sat down next to Chad on the couch.
“We’re about to something incredibly stupid,” Chad admitted.
“Like practically having sex in the middle of class?” Troy teased.
“No, stupider than that.” Chad buried his head in his hands.
“I’m worried about you, man. You can tell me anything.”
“No I can’t,” Chad muttered dejectedly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s best if no one knows what we’re going to do.”
“How can you say that?”
“To protect you.”
“Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll leave.”
“Don’t go, Troy. I - Damn it!”
“Chad?”
“I’m really stupid.”
“Why are you doing this to yourself? I’ve never seen you so spastic before. Not even when you found out you were indestructible.”
“No, I’d say it’s about equal.”
“Whatever. The point is that you’re freaking out about something, and I want to help.”
“It’s not like that, Troy. It’s like - I don’t know. How would you deal with the idea that you’d live forever, no matter how many times you were mortally wounded?”
“I dunno.” Tory shrugged.
“Would you want to do some good in the world?”
“Like end world hunger or stop genocide in, like, Darfur?”
“Yeah, stuff like that.”
“I guess. Why? Do you feel that you have a higher calling than playing for the NBA?”
“I haven’t thought about playing for the NBA since, like, sixth grade,” Chad confided.
“Are you gonna give up on it?”
“Maybe. I mean, what’s gonna happen when I’ve been playing for, like, fifty years and I still look thirty?”
Troy shrugged.
“I kinda feel like I should be involved in something a bit more - I don’t know - worthwhile.”
“You’re gonna need to talk to Gabs about all this. She’s good on the bigger picture thing.”
“I figured as much.”
“C’mon, let’s do a little one-on-one to get your mind off of whatever stupid thing you think you’re gonna do.”
The idea of losing himself in a game of basketball was a welcomed one. “Let’s do it.”
* - * - *
Ms. Danforth returned home to find her son and Troy lying on their backs in the backyard. They were both staring at the sky not talking to each other.
“I’m home, boys,” she announced. “Troy, do you want to stay for dinner?”
“That would be awesome, Ms. Danforth,” Troy beamed.
“Excellent. I’m ordering a pizza. What would you boys like on it?”
“Meat!” they exclaimed together.
“How about a Hawaiian pizza? That way you boys also have a serving of fruit.”
“Sure, Ma,” he said nonchalantly. Chad had an unhealthy obsession with Hawaiian pizza… with the salty and the sweet. It was like his tongue orgasmed every time he ate it. It made no sense as to why his mother would order it when she knew that Chad was leaving her that night. He did intend to return, but he was still leaving her on her own for the first time in seventeen years.
It had always been the two of them, and he felt like he was abandoning her, yet here she was, being nice to him.
“You boys have half an hour before the pizza arrives. I suggest you let your parents know where you are, Troy.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He pulled out his cell phone and called his parents.
Chad stared at his mother imploringly. “Is this my last meal?”
His mother nodded. “You have my permission,” she responded.
Chad sprang to his feet and hugged his mother, kissing her on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom!”
“Did I miss something here?” Troy asked.
“Nothing. Other than my mother is the most fantastic woman in the world!” Chad crowed.
Troy drew his eyebrows together. “What’s going on?”
“It’s pizza, Troy. You boys enjoy watching the clouds. I’ll go order.” Ms. Danforth went back into the house.
“What is going on, man? Is this what you were sulking about earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“You gonna tell me eventually.”
“You’ll know tomorrow. Don’t worry about it.”
“You wanna go to a movie tonight or something?”
“Nah, I’m gonna hang out with Ryan tonight.”
Troy chuckled. “You guys did have enough foreplay this afternoon.”
“Ugh!” Chad groaned empathetically. “Don’t remind me. Today was the most embarrassing day ever.”
“More embarrassing than when your Mom - ”
“How do you even know about that?” Chad screeched.
“Your Mom told me,” Troy divulged smugly.
“That traitor!”
* - * - *
Chad had convinced Troy to take Gabriella out to a movie at around 8, giving him an hour with his mother before Ryan showed up.
They didn’t say anything to each other the entire hour. They just sat next to each other.
At five of 9, Chad said, “I’ll send you a postcard from New York.”
“You’d better.”
“I’m sorry I’m doing this to you, Ma.”
“The summer before college, my friends and I went on a road trip. My mother hated it. She didn’t want me to go, but my father convinced her to let me.”
“We’ll be back in two weeks. Safe and sound.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
“You’ll be happy for a chance to grade papers without me interrupting.”
The doorbell rang, and Chad leapt up to answer it. He gave Ryan a quick kiss on the lips before he turned around to hug his mother and grab his bag.
“Don’t make her forget,” Chad begged.
“I don’t know how,” Ryan sighed.
Chad’s mother looked to Ryan. “You keep my son safe.”
“I intend to, Ms. Danforth,” he said, tipping his hat.
Sharpay honked the horn. Chad had to bite his lip to keep from sniggering at the car’s very girly yet assertive horn.
“Shar’s idea,” Ryan supplied.
“I believe you,” Chad scoffed. “Bye, Mom.” He gave her a tight hug.
Sharpay honked the horn again.
“We’d better go,” Ryan said. “Take care, Ms. Danforth.”
“Be safe. I expect both of you back in two weeks for a huge home cooked dinner.”
“Ham?” Chad asked eagerly.
“Ham and mashed potatoes.”
“You are the most awesome Mom ever!”
“Bye, Ms. Danforth.”
“Bye, Mom!”
Ryan led Chad into the car and put his bag into the trunk. Ryan took shotgun, and Chad sat behind him.
“What took you guys so long?” Sharpay scoffed as she pulled out of the driveway.
Chad opened his mouth to say something foul, but Ryan cut him off. “We have plenty of time to make it to the bus station.”
“I want to be back in time to make it to a party that starts at 10.”
“Your party,” Ryan grumbled.
Sharpay shrugged. “The house is empty for an undetermined amount of time. I’m taking advantage of a prime opportunity.”
“Your parents are gone again?” Chad asked.
“Another company emergency,” Ryan said sarcastically. “In Vegas this time. Someone stole a sword belonging to someone important. Of course, that’s not what they told us.”
“Someone stole a sword?”
“Yeah. A Japanese sword that belonged to some guy named Adam Monroe or Takezo Kensei. They kept switching names, so I don’t know which person the sword belonged to.”
“Wouldn’t the Japanese sword belong to the guy with the Japanese name?”
“You would think that, wouldn’t you?” Ryan said, and although Chad couldn’t see his face, he knew Ryan was smirking, and he wanted to force that smirk off Ryan’s face… especially if it involved Chad’s own face in some way, particularly his lips.
“Ugh!” Sharpay snarled in frustration. “No projecting porn while I’m driving!”
Ryan smirked at her before he turned back to face Chad. “When we return, our thoughts need to be a thousand times more graphic around her.”
Chad smirked. “Hell, yeah!”
“Oh, no!” Sharpay waved a hand around. “I will end both of you if you do, and when you come back to life, I will end you again and again, until it sticks.”
“She’s so nice,” Chad deadpanned.
“Oh, shut it,” she snapped.
Chad did as he was told, but he kept thinking dirty things at Ryan just to rile her up.
It worked.
* - * - *
On to part 4
Pairing: Ryan/Chad, Troy/Gabriella
Rating: NC-17 total, this part PG-13
Word Count: ~ 32,000 total, this part 6,363
Warnings: Spoilers for the season finale of Heroes as well as major ideas/characters in season two. This fic contains slash, crass language, sexual content, plausible science, and hardcore crack.
Author's Note: This fic diverges from Heroes canon after Run! And takes place the fall semester after HSM2.
Chad is on the basketball, the baseball, and the track and field team according to HSM2. However, that makes no sense because both baseball and track are spring sports, unless it’s indoor track which is a winter sport - like basketball. So therefore, in this universe, Chad runs cross country, a fall sport (even if he isn’t built like a long-distance runner - I’d say his event would be the 400 or even the 800). And Ryan does have a rubber ducky key chain - check out the scene when Taylor and Gabriella pick him up to go to the baseball game. Adorable! Also, I really like Taylor… I have no idea why she’s not in this fic except for a few passing mentions. Huh.
Beta-ed by the ever amazing saekokato, so the remaining errors are my own because I couldn’t stop tinkering with this fic.
Disclaimer: HSM belongs to Ortega and Disney, and Heroes belongs to Kring and NBC. There are references to several other sources including Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Miss Congeniality, Finding Nemo, and fics written by other people. I take no credit for those ideas.
Disclaimer 2: I do not condone the use of any conjugation of the verb “to get” in place of any conjugation of the verb “to be.”
Summary: He couldn’t remember if he was indestructible because he was gay or gay because he was indestructible.
Part 1, Part 2
“Okay, when I said “we,” I meant you and me, not you, me, and her,” Chad bemoaned. He dramatically flopped face first onto Ryan’s disturbingly comfortable bed. It made him think of dirty things. Including the promise Ryan had made to him the other day.
“May I remind you that she is one of the people you called for when you were being kidnapped,” Sharpay sneered.
“Temporary insanity,” Chad grumbled to himself and the duvet.
“Or were you expecting some sort of romantic rendezvous?” Sharpay wheedled.
Chad sneered at her even if she couldn’t see it. He knew she would know it in her head at least, and that gave him some satisfaction. Of course, she would also know that he was blushing.
“Children,” Ryan said sternly.
Chad raised himself onto his forearms. “You guys ready to let me in on what’s going on?”
“Only if you behave like a normal human being,” Sharpay cut in.
Ryan stood up and stomped out of his room.
“Great going,” Chad sighed.
“I believe you played as much a part as I did,” she said snippily.
“Yeah, whatever, let’s go find him and apologize.”
Sharpay studied him carefully. “Oh god, please tell me you’re not in love with him!”
“Your brother is hot,” Chad responded as he left the room. There was no way in hell that he was going to explain everything that was going on in his jumbled mind to Sharpay. Especially when she probably knew his mind better than him. He didn’t want to know. He still hadn’t come to terms with the immortality thing, and he felt that the possibility of falling in love was ten times as terrifying. Besides, he wasn’t. He was just horny, and Ryan was doing nothing but teasing him.
Sharpay smirked at him knowingly but thankfully said nothing.
He and Sharpay found Ryan in the kitchen with a pint of Chunky Monkey.
The twins regarded each other pensively. Chad had a niggling suspicion they were communicating telepathically. It made him itch underneath his skin and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Feeling left out, Chad took the pint and helped himself to a couple of spoonfuls of ice cream. Hey, if they were going to ignore him, he might as well ignore them.
“Danforth, come with me,” Sharpay ordered.
Chad raised his eyebrows and looked to Ryan who nodded.
With a shrug, he followed Sharpay into the next room.
“We are playing a ridiculous game,” she told him. “Making Ryan choose between the two of us is hurting him.”
“Um… That’s really mature of you,” Chad said inanely.
“I do not wish to harm my brother,” she said resolutely.
“Neither do I.”
“Then we shall call a truce.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Also, I should point out that if you and he live forever, you will always be there for each other, so do not mess that up now. He’s feeling bad enough because be won’t be able to be there for me. He’ll see me grow old and, God forbid, wrinkly. He’ll see everyone he will ever love die. Except for you.” Sharpay looked Chad directly in the eyes. “And you made him that way.”
“Not on purpose,” Chad mumbled self-depreciatingly.
“Your intent doesn’t matter,” she breezed on, holding a hand to Chad’s face. “But do not make him choose when there is still a choice to make.”
Chad stared at her slack jawed. His mind was still stuck on the “except for you” part.
“Don’t think about it too intensely.” Sharpay waved her hand vaguely. “You need to think about you right now. You have to deal with Ryan for all eternity. Whatever decision you make is gonna last forever, you know? So take your time trying to figure out what you’re doing. Even if it’s a hundred years from now.”
“Um…” Chad said. His mind had ground to a halt. “Couldn’t you just tell me?”
“Where would the fun be in that?”
“Um… does this mean we’re cool?”
“No.”
“What?”
“You need to earn it.”
“Oh…kay…”
“Good. Now we have a truce and a very fragile boy in the kitchen to take care of.”
“Fragile?”
“He’s never had a friend before last summer.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“She means that I’m her shadow.”
Chad turned to see Ryan standing in the doorway stony-faced. Chad had no idea how to respond, but he assumed the twins were doing their freaky thing, so he didn’t interrupt.
“Come, Chad.” Sharpay grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him back into the kitchen.
Ryan followed silently. Maybe he was right; he did act like Sharpay’s shadow.
“I am my own person,” Ryan growled.
“Whoa.” Chad frowned at Ryan. “Chill out, man. And you’re breaking rule number three.”
“Ryan?” Sharpay asked.
“I didn’t say anything,” he defended himself with wide eyes.
“I heard you, though.”
“I didn’t say - Did you read my thoughts?”
“No!” Chad paused. “Did I?”
“I didn’t hear him,” Sharpay volunteered. “Which is very strange these days.”
“Did you put your thoughts in my head?” Chad was so confused. Of course, he was always in a state of perpetual confusion when he was around Ryan recently.
“You can project?” Sharpay asked. “Does that mean I can too?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryan said modestly.
“Oh, of course you do,” Sharpay snapped.
“Uh, guys, can we talk about what we came here to talk about? You know, before your parents come back?”
“They won’t be back for a while. There was some company emergency in Texas,” Ryan said helpfully. “Which is actually part of what we need to talk about.”
“Okay,” Chad said slowly.
Sharpay ushered both of the boys into the living room and coerced them onto a couch together.
“So,” she chirped. “Apparently Mommy and Daddy’s business doesn’t exist.”
“What?” Chad idly wondered if there was some cap to how many times he could be caught off guard in one day. “I thought they were CEOs of some weird paper company.”
“They’re not.”
“They run the company that kidnapped you and people like us.”
“What?!”
“Well, they don’t exactly run it. They helped to found it.”
“Are you guys fucking with me?”
Ryan looked Chad up and down, making his intentions very clear before Chad heard, “With, no. What I intend to do is - ”
Chad’s eyes were so wide that they threatened to dry out. “I thought you said you weren’t that flexible?”
“Ryan!” Sharpay scoffed and wrinkled her nose. “You can project! Couldn’t you have projected something else? I don’t wish to witness the gay porn wireless show.”
Ryan blushed spectacularly. Chad did likewise.
With a nervous cough, Ryan continued. “That’s the sketchy thing that’s been going on. Our parents know about everything. They know that Shar and I will eventually show signs of our abilities, and they’ll have to turn us in to be catalogued with everyone else.”
“That’s cruel, man. I’m sorry. Couldn’t you just persuade them not to?”
“It’s not that simple,” Ryan shook his head sadly. “If the company knew that our parents were keeping us from them, there would be a lot of trouble - and probably death.”
“Death?!”
“This company flies below all radar: they’re lawless,” Sharpay explained.
“Our parents love us but not that much.” Ryan’s voice was still sad, and Chad found himself reacting to it. He wanted to make that tone disappear forever. Ryan should always be happy, never sad. And where the fuck had that idea come from?!
The smile Sharpay, the little bitch, directed at Chad was sugary sweet.
“There is also something strange happening in New York,” Ryan went on.
“Define strange?”
“Some artist who can paint the future predicted that the city was going to explode.”
“What?!”
“The bomb is Peter Petrelli,” Sharpay added tonelessly. “Or that’s what everyone believes.”
“That’s the guy like Ryan,” Chad stated.
“Yes.”
“And everyone thinks Peter’s gonna blow up New York?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“That’s what’s causing most of the crisis.”
“We have to stop him!” Chad declared.
“How do you suppose we do that?” Sharpay asked wryly.
“Not you. Me and Ryan. Think about it. If we’re indestructible, then we can contain him when he explodes!” Chad enthused.
“Wow… that’s really selfless,” Ryan breathed. “But becoming involved in something like that would - ”
“It would give us something meaningful to do with these powers. We could be, like, heroes, man. You know, instead of, like, screwing with each other.”
“Aw, but, baby, that’s where the fun is,” Sharpay cooed sarcastically.
Ryan shot his sister a dangerous look. “How do you suppose we go to New York? We would need to remain under this company’s radar. I wouldn’t be able to take my car or jet. We would - ”
“You have a jet?!”
“That’s unimportant,” Ryan dismissed. “But we would have to miss school, and we couldn’t let anyone outside this room know where we were going.”
“You want me to lie to my mother?”
“These people have people who can read minds just like me and Shar,” Ryan nodded.
“Couldn’t you persuade my Mom to let us go?”
Ryan deliberated. “Possibly. If it would make it easier for us to leave.”
“You’re really considering this, Ryan?” Sharpay asked. “Think of the winter musical!”
“You’ll be fine, Shar. And there will be no Broadway if New York explodes.”
After a beat, Chad commented, “When should we leave?”
“It’s rude to interrupt!” Sharpay snapped.
“Sorry. I didn’t know I was interrupting anything.”
Ryan sighed. “How do you feel about skipping school?”
“What’s the point of going to school if we’re going to be around forever? Seems kinda small in comparison.”
“We’ll leave on Saturday,” Ryan announced resolutely.
“In two days?”
“Unless you can be packed by Friday night.”
“Depends on how much I need to pack.”
“Light. We can pay for things as we go. I have bottomless pockets. Are you gonna be okay, Shar?”
She looked at her brother with dead eyes.
Ryan nodded tightly.
“Uh,” Chad said awkwardly. “I’m gonna head home now.”
Ryan turned to Chad and stared at him intensely. “I’ll drive you.”
“Okay, um, that would be cool.”
* - * - *
The car ride was tense. Chad knew that Ryan could hear all of the turmoil milling around in his head. It wasn’t fair that Chad couldn’t pry Ryan’s head open and peer into his thoughts. He didn’t even know why he had proposed going to New York to Ryan. It seemed like a bogus idea sprung from no base. But they were going to do it. They were going to try to keep New York from exploding. Ryan apparently knew the bomb, so how difficult could it be? Chad never thought he would ever use the phrase “knew the bomb” in perfect seriousness. He giggled to himself.
That seemed to break the tension, because Ryan started to giggle as well.
“I can’t believe we’re going to do this,” Chad said. “It’s like we’re some kind of badass: skipping school, running away to New York - ”
“Saving the world.”
“Didn’t Dr. Suresh say something about a cheerleader? Do we have to save her before we save the world?”
“I think Peter will have that covered,” Ryan said with an indulgent smile.
“So he saves the cheerleader and celebrates by blowing up a huge city?”
“That’s what the clairvoyant painter painted, and that’s what my parents and their friends believe.”
“What can your parents do?”
“My mother is where the persuasion came from, and my father can control water - like he can take the moisture out of the air or freeze water, stuff like that.”
“That’s cool. Do you know where your other powers came from?”
“Yes. My parent’s friends - and coworkers.”
“And we’re really gonna go to New York on Friday night?”
“It’s not too late to back out.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to. If that city, like, blows up and there was something I could do to stop it, I’d feel really guilty. Probably for the rest of my life - which is a very long time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I feel like we’re Batman and Robin or something.”
“Neither of them could read minds or heal,” Ryan pointed out.
“Fine. We’re like Jean Grey and Wolverine. Ha! You’re the girl!”
“Clever, Danforth,” Ryan said blandly. “And who would my boyfriend be? As I recall, Jean Grey dated Cyclops not Wolverine.”
“She could totally date Wolverine. Besides, I’m not as gruff as Wolverine, and your boobs aren’t as big as Jean’s.”
Ryan looked down at his chest. “Good thing for that.”
“I can’t believe you even know who those people are.”
“I’m in your head, Chad.”
“Ugh, that’s creepy.”
They pulled into Chad’s driveway.
“Do you want to come inside?” Chad asked nervously.
“No, thanks. I need to make some arrangements with Sharpay so that she’s not blamed for my disappearance. I suggest you do similarly with your mother. You will not be taking your cell phone, because they can use it to track us.”
“Wouldn’t it be obvious that we’re going to New York?”
“No. My parents don’t know that Sharpay and I know anything about the company they work for.”
“Can we bring Gabby in on this? She’s really practical in situations like these.”
Ryan gave a longsuffering sigh. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“She wouldn’t tell anyone if we asked her not to - not even Troy.”
Ryan leaned over the gearshift and kissed Chad on the neck. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Okay,” Chad agreed happily, not remembering why he thought it would be a good idea in the first place. He entertained ideas of Ryan climbing over the gearshift and into his lap.
“Not in your driveway.”
“Man,” Chad whined.
“I’ll call you later tonight to let you know what plans Shar and I have made.”
“Alright,” Chad said sullenly. He awkwardly crawled out of the car.
Ryan waved goodbye as he left, and Chad had to bite his lip to keep the goofy smile off of his face. He didn’t want his mother to accidentally catch him beaming and come to the wrong conclusions.
“Mom! I’m home!” he called as he slammed the front door behind him.
“Hi, honey! How was cross country practice?”
Chad followed her voice and found her in the living room sorting through papers that were probably important.
“I - I skipped practice today,” he confessed. “I went to hang out with the Evans.”
“Really?” she intoned.
“Yeah. We had, like, stuff to talk about.”
“‘Like stuff’?” She repeated dryly.
“Yeah.”
“I hope it was more important than your future with a three-season athlete scholarship.”
Chad nodded vigorously, his curls obstructing his view. “Way more important. Plus, you’re gonna get me into UNM anyway.”
“My employment at the College of Pharmacy is not going to get you accepted. It will give you a free ride, but you need to get into a program on your own. And if you want to attend a college with a better basketball team, you’ll need those scholarships.”
“Relax, Ma. I’m applying to other schools. Like UCLA, Arizona, and North Carolina.”
“I don’t want you to throw away your future just because you think that you are going to live forever.”
“I won’t,” Chad lied.
“Good boy, now how about you help me sort through these essays.”
“I think I’ll pass on that, but thanks for the offer.”
“Chad, that wasn’t a request.”
“Fine,” he grumbled and sat down next to his mother on the couch.
“They need to be sorted by topic,” she explained. “Which should be listed in the title. If it’s not, put it in a separate pile.”
“Yeah,” Chad breathed.
“Is something wrong?” His mother leaned back to examine her son carefully.
“Mom, I’m going to do something really stupid, and I know that you are gong to hate me for a long time, but I feel like it’s the right thing to do. You said I should come to you with my problems, so don’t freak out on me, okay?”
“I’m not going to rescind my offer, honey. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“New York City is gonna explode.”
His mother pursed her lips. “How do you know this?”
“It’s a long story, but it is. I want to be there to make sure that it doesn’t. Ryan and I are indestructible, so I figured that we could help…”
“When are you going to do this?”
“As soon as possible.”
“That is very selfless of you, honey.”
“But?”
“But I can’t have you putting yourself and someone else in danger as well as skipping school for something that may not even happen.”
“It won’t happen if Ryan and I stop it.”
“No, Chad.”
“Ryan and I are going to do it.”
“Chad - ”
“Mom, I know you’re worried about me getting into college, but missing weeks of school isn’t going to do much in the scheme of things.”
“Tell me how you are so sure that New York is going to explode.”
“Ryan’s parents are involved in the company that kidnapped us,” Chad said softly. “They know that the city’s gonna go boom, and they’re just going to let it! The whole city would go. No more Phantom! Or Michal Crawford. Nothing.”
“Chad this is not about New York: this is about you.”
“Mom, I was not supposed to tell you all this. I was supposed to just go. I don’t want you to worry or go to the wrong people.”
“Do you feel the need to be a hero because you heal?” she asked seriously.
“No,” he stated, matching her tone. “I feel that I could actually help because I can heal.”
His mother exhaled abruptly and placed a hand over her mouth in helplessness. “This situation wasn’t exactly in the parenting handbook.”
“Ryan is gonna be really mad at me for telling you. He’s gonna want to mess with your mind so that you would forget or something. Hopefully he’ll leave the part where you know I’m safe… just not where I am.”
His mother gave him a distressed look.
“I’ll send out all of my applications tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about colleges, okay, Mom?”
“I’m not worried about colleges. I’m worried about you dying!” she shouted desperately.
“I can’t die, Ma,” Chad said, a little sadly.
Chad’s cell phone rang, and the display told him that it was Troy calling.
He stepped out of the room and opened his phone. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“Hey… Uh, Ryan just called me. And he said some weird things.”
Chad frowned. “Why would Ryan call you?”
“He kept babbling about his parents and his sister.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know, man, but you should call him. He seemed really out of it.”
“Okay. I’ll do it now.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Chad hung up on Troy and immediately called Ryan.
“This is Ryan,” he announced in a clipped tone.
“Ryan, it’s Chad. Are you okay, dude?”
“Yes.”
“Really? ‘Cause Troy just called me and said that you called him, and you babbled about your parents and sister.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ryan, c’mon. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“Then why did you call Troy?”
“I - I don’t know.”
“Um… maybe you’d better come over. You don’t sound like you should be by yourself.”
“Shar is here. I’m fine.” He sounded like he was trying to fight a panic attack.
“Ryan, you’re worrying me.”
“My parents just pulled into the driveway. I need to go.”
“Ryan!”
Chad was answered by a dial tone. He growled at it and went back to his mother.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“No. Ryan went all schizo on Troy and then on me.”
“Is he regretting your decision to go to New York?”
“I don’t think so. Lately it’s been like he has a spilt personality. One moment he’s one person - all poised and adult, and the next it’s like he’s a five-year-old hiding under his bed from the monsters - all insecure and stuff.”
“He’s a teenager, Chad. Just like you. That’s what teenagers do. I recall you doing that several times last year.”
“I mean lately like the past two weeks. That’s it. He’s never acted like this before.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine, honey. Now help me sort through these papers.”
* - * - *
Ryan called Chad back around 10:30. Chad had been throwing some clothes into an old duffle bag but was otherwise bored out of his mind, and there was no way that he would resort to doing schoolwork after 10 at night.
“Hey. You feeling better?” Chad asked.
“A little.” Chad could imagine Ryan’s coy little half smile.
“Good. So what was that all about?”
“I panicked.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“So you called Troy?” Chad asked incredulously.
“A momentary lapse of judgment, I assure you. Not likely to be repeated.”
Chad chuckled lightly. “You sure you’re okay now?”
“Are you ready to leave tomorrow night?”
“Kinda. I’m in the middle of packing. How much stuff should I bring?”
“A couple of days worth at least. We’re driving across the county: that’s three days both ways.”
“We’re driving?”
“Yeah. Shar’s gonna drive us to the bus station. From there we’ll take a bus to Denver, and we’ll rent a car there.”
“You have this really planned out.”
“Yes. I’ve even researched the names of a few pawn shops in Denver so that we can earn some cash to spend. We won’t be using credit cards. Those are traceable.”
“Okay,” Chad said dumbly. “Why aren’t we flying?”
“We’re trying not to be traced here,” Ryan said flatly.
“Okay. We’re leaving Friday night?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem with that?”
“I’m having second thoughts. This whole thing is overwhelming, you know? I feel like I should live a normal life, and then I realize I can’t. I want to spend time with my mother. I want to spend time with my friends.”
“And you want to save New York City from exploding.”
“I do. I really do. I just - Forever is a long time.”
“Yes it is,” Ryan agreed.
“I feel like I’m abandoning them.”
“We’ll be gone a maximum of two weeks.”
“You have a date for the explosion?”
“The day after the Congressional election.”
“When’s that?”
“The first Tuesday of November. Same as all national elections.”
“Really?”
“Did you not pay attention in Civics class?”
“No, not really.”
Ryan sighed.
“I also feel like I might be messing up my chances with college if I miss that much school and sports stuff.”
“How does that matter if you’re going to live forever?”
“It matters to me and my mother. Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you’ve been on stage for fifty years and everyone notices that you haven’t aged a day over thirty?”
“I have a while until I have to deal with that. I don’t have a while to deal with you backing out. Are you?”
“It’ll only take two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to miss homecoming.”
“You’ll survive.”
“I liked homecoming last year,” Chad said suggestively.
Ryan snorted.
“Okay. I’m not going to back out.”
“Good. The last bus to Denver leaves at 10:30. We’ll arrive at 6 in the morning. The rental car places should be open by then. We’ll pick you up at 9 tomorrow night.”
“Hey, Ryan?” Chad interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for doing this.”
“It was your idea.”
“Yeah, but you’re actually making it work.”
“This could be fun.”
“Yeah, but it could also be dangerous. Are you sure that you’re indestructible?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Okay. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“You too,” Ryan whispered. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Night, man.”
“Good night, Chad.”
Chad hung up and flopped backwards onto his bed. He had a few more things to stuff into his bag and college applications to finish, and then he could catch some sleep. And maybe he should have told Ryan that he told his mother. Oops.
* - * - *
“You did what?!” Ryan shrieked. Chad winced.
“I told my Mom,” he repeated.
“That was very stupid,” Ryan glowered.
“My Mom has a right to know. I mean, I was recently kidnapped.”
“That was very stupid,” Ryan repeated.
The bell rang.
“I also told her that you would probably make her forget.”
“I don’t know how to make her forget.”
“Ryan, Chad, is there something you wish to share with the class?” Mr. Harris, their physics teacher, asked.
“No, sir,” Ryan said quickly. He continued to glower at Chad, and Chad heard, “We’re going to talk about this later.”
“You sure you don’t want to tell the whole class?” Chad asked Ryan in his head.
Ryan sneered at him.
Chad started to pay attention to the lecture about something having to do with something. He didn’t know. It was something science-y that Gabriella would babble about later, and it wouldn’t matter. He and Ryan were leaving tonight. Physics didn’t matter. Actually, nothing academic mattered.
Chad felt a hand ghost up his thigh. There was no one around him. The classroom was set up with the desks in rows. Ryan was more than an arm’s length away, and Troy was on the other side of him.
He frowned as he felt a hand on his other thigh, and he squirmed as subtlety as he could. His shoulders started to twitch when both ghost hands met up over his crotch, and a bead of sweat formed between his shoulder blades.
Mr. Harris gave Chad a disapproving look when he gasped loudly enough to interrupt the lecture.
The pressure of the ghost hands increased, and Chad released a shaky breath before pursing his lips together, and his nostrils flared with each rapid breath.
One of the ghost hands was doing things to his stomach that Ryan had done in the locker room over the summer. Chad remembered that move.
He should have realized it earlier.
“Stop teasing,” Chad thought at Ryan.
“I could follow through right here,” Chad heard.
“Don’t you dare,” Chad hissed out loud.
“Chad,” Mr. Harris called out. “See me after class.”
“You have detention on Monday,” Ryan taunted in Chad’s head. “Because you’re so disruptive.”
“You are so dead, Evans,” Chad growled mentally.
“Maybe next time you’ll listen to me,” Ryan projected loftily. “Besides, we’re not going to be here on Monday.”
Sharpay raised her hand.
“Yes, Sharpay?”
“I need a break. May I go to the bathroom?” She shot Chad a poisonous look.
“Of course,” Mr. Harris granted.
As Sharpay passed Chad’s desk, she dropped a note.
Chad waited until Mr. Harris had returned to his lecture before opening it. It read “Stop broadcasting your porn. It’s rude.” It was written in pink, loopy letters and unsigned.
Sharpay left the room because Ryan wouldn’t stop teasing Chad. How was that his fault?
Wait. Was Sharpay embarrassed by what Ryan was doing and giving them privacy? That was almost… nice. Well, except the part where they were still in the middle of class. If anyone else knew what was going on -
Chad turned to Troy, who looked like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. He had a note with pink, loopy letters on it.
“Dude,” Troy whispered. He handed Chad the note.
It read: “Tell your boy to keep his perverted thoughts away from my brother. It’s tactless.”
Chad groaned as he dropped his head to his desk and didn’t lift it until the bell rang, even when prompted by Mr. Harris.
“Chad,” Mr. Harris intoned. “A moment.”
Chad reluctantly pried his head up from his desk. “I know: you’re going to give me detention.”
“No. I’m not. I’m going to give you a warning. Next time I will give you a detention.”
“Oh, thank God,” Chad breathed, and darted from the room.
Troy caught him as Chad ran through the door. Chad groaned to himself. Dealing with Troy would be worse than dealing with a detention he was never going to serve.
“What was Sharpay’s note about?”
“You really don’t want me to answer that,” Chad pleaded. “You should not be this interested in my sex life!”
A couple of heads turned their way but most people in the busy hallway ignored the outburst.
“I’m wondering if you’re okay.”
“No! I want my life to go back to the way it was two months ago!”
“Can Ryan bend space and time yet?” Troy offered.
“What do you mean?” Chad demanded. “You - there’s - you can’t!”
“No,” Troy frowned in confusion. “But that’s the only way you could go back to two months ago.”
Chad released a frustrated growl. “I’m going to lunch.”
* - * - *
Chad crashed face first into the couch in his living room. The day had sucked. Ryan was constantly groping him from across the room, which normally would not have been so bad - if it hadn’t been in school. Chad ended up in the bathroom half an hour into each class he had with Ryan. He was going to pay the conniving bastard back. After all, they had a three day trip across the country with no one but each other for company.
He was glad that his mother wasn’t home yet. Her last Friday class ended at 4, so she wouldn’t be home until 5, and that gave him four hours with his mother until Ryan picked him up. Chad had no idea how to fill that time; although, he was content to spend it face down on the couch.
The doorbell rang.
Chad ignored it.
The doorbell rang again.
Chad ignored it.
Someone started banging on the door.
Chad ignored it.
The door slammed open, and Chad jumped up off the couch.
“Chad! Why wouldn’t you answer the door?” Tory shouted.
“Go away!” Chad shouted back.
Troy entered the living room. “What’s wrong, man?”
“I don’t feel like socializing.”
“Unless it’s with Ryan, like, in your head,” Troy said bitterly.
“Dude, so don’t go there.”
“What is going on with the two of you?” Troy sat down next to Chad on the couch.
“We’re about to something incredibly stupid,” Chad admitted.
“Like practically having sex in the middle of class?” Troy teased.
“No, stupider than that.” Chad buried his head in his hands.
“I’m worried about you, man. You can tell me anything.”
“No I can’t,” Chad muttered dejectedly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s best if no one knows what we’re going to do.”
“How can you say that?”
“To protect you.”
“Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll leave.”
“Don’t go, Troy. I - Damn it!”
“Chad?”
“I’m really stupid.”
“Why are you doing this to yourself? I’ve never seen you so spastic before. Not even when you found out you were indestructible.”
“No, I’d say it’s about equal.”
“Whatever. The point is that you’re freaking out about something, and I want to help.”
“It’s not like that, Troy. It’s like - I don’t know. How would you deal with the idea that you’d live forever, no matter how many times you were mortally wounded?”
“I dunno.” Tory shrugged.
“Would you want to do some good in the world?”
“Like end world hunger or stop genocide in, like, Darfur?”
“Yeah, stuff like that.”
“I guess. Why? Do you feel that you have a higher calling than playing for the NBA?”
“I haven’t thought about playing for the NBA since, like, sixth grade,” Chad confided.
“Are you gonna give up on it?”
“Maybe. I mean, what’s gonna happen when I’ve been playing for, like, fifty years and I still look thirty?”
Troy shrugged.
“I kinda feel like I should be involved in something a bit more - I don’t know - worthwhile.”
“You’re gonna need to talk to Gabs about all this. She’s good on the bigger picture thing.”
“I figured as much.”
“C’mon, let’s do a little one-on-one to get your mind off of whatever stupid thing you think you’re gonna do.”
The idea of losing himself in a game of basketball was a welcomed one. “Let’s do it.”
* - * - *
Ms. Danforth returned home to find her son and Troy lying on their backs in the backyard. They were both staring at the sky not talking to each other.
“I’m home, boys,” she announced. “Troy, do you want to stay for dinner?”
“That would be awesome, Ms. Danforth,” Troy beamed.
“Excellent. I’m ordering a pizza. What would you boys like on it?”
“Meat!” they exclaimed together.
“How about a Hawaiian pizza? That way you boys also have a serving of fruit.”
“Sure, Ma,” he said nonchalantly. Chad had an unhealthy obsession with Hawaiian pizza… with the salty and the sweet. It was like his tongue orgasmed every time he ate it. It made no sense as to why his mother would order it when she knew that Chad was leaving her that night. He did intend to return, but he was still leaving her on her own for the first time in seventeen years.
It had always been the two of them, and he felt like he was abandoning her, yet here she was, being nice to him.
“You boys have half an hour before the pizza arrives. I suggest you let your parents know where you are, Troy.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He pulled out his cell phone and called his parents.
Chad stared at his mother imploringly. “Is this my last meal?”
His mother nodded. “You have my permission,” she responded.
Chad sprang to his feet and hugged his mother, kissing her on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom!”
“Did I miss something here?” Troy asked.
“Nothing. Other than my mother is the most fantastic woman in the world!” Chad crowed.
Troy drew his eyebrows together. “What’s going on?”
“It’s pizza, Troy. You boys enjoy watching the clouds. I’ll go order.” Ms. Danforth went back into the house.
“What is going on, man? Is this what you were sulking about earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“You gonna tell me eventually.”
“You’ll know tomorrow. Don’t worry about it.”
“You wanna go to a movie tonight or something?”
“Nah, I’m gonna hang out with Ryan tonight.”
Troy chuckled. “You guys did have enough foreplay this afternoon.”
“Ugh!” Chad groaned empathetically. “Don’t remind me. Today was the most embarrassing day ever.”
“More embarrassing than when your Mom - ”
“How do you even know about that?” Chad screeched.
“Your Mom told me,” Troy divulged smugly.
“That traitor!”
* - * - *
Chad had convinced Troy to take Gabriella out to a movie at around 8, giving him an hour with his mother before Ryan showed up.
They didn’t say anything to each other the entire hour. They just sat next to each other.
At five of 9, Chad said, “I’ll send you a postcard from New York.”
“You’d better.”
“I’m sorry I’m doing this to you, Ma.”
“The summer before college, my friends and I went on a road trip. My mother hated it. She didn’t want me to go, but my father convinced her to let me.”
“We’ll be back in two weeks. Safe and sound.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
“You’ll be happy for a chance to grade papers without me interrupting.”
The doorbell rang, and Chad leapt up to answer it. He gave Ryan a quick kiss on the lips before he turned around to hug his mother and grab his bag.
“Don’t make her forget,” Chad begged.
“I don’t know how,” Ryan sighed.
Chad’s mother looked to Ryan. “You keep my son safe.”
“I intend to, Ms. Danforth,” he said, tipping his hat.
Sharpay honked the horn. Chad had to bite his lip to keep from sniggering at the car’s very girly yet assertive horn.
“Shar’s idea,” Ryan supplied.
“I believe you,” Chad scoffed. “Bye, Mom.” He gave her a tight hug.
Sharpay honked the horn again.
“We’d better go,” Ryan said. “Take care, Ms. Danforth.”
“Be safe. I expect both of you back in two weeks for a huge home cooked dinner.”
“Ham?” Chad asked eagerly.
“Ham and mashed potatoes.”
“You are the most awesome Mom ever!”
“Bye, Ms. Danforth.”
“Bye, Mom!”
Ryan led Chad into the car and put his bag into the trunk. Ryan took shotgun, and Chad sat behind him.
“What took you guys so long?” Sharpay scoffed as she pulled out of the driveway.
Chad opened his mouth to say something foul, but Ryan cut him off. “We have plenty of time to make it to the bus station.”
“I want to be back in time to make it to a party that starts at 10.”
“Your party,” Ryan grumbled.
Sharpay shrugged. “The house is empty for an undetermined amount of time. I’m taking advantage of a prime opportunity.”
“Your parents are gone again?” Chad asked.
“Another company emergency,” Ryan said sarcastically. “In Vegas this time. Someone stole a sword belonging to someone important. Of course, that’s not what they told us.”
“Someone stole a sword?”
“Yeah. A Japanese sword that belonged to some guy named Adam Monroe or Takezo Kensei. They kept switching names, so I don’t know which person the sword belonged to.”
“Wouldn’t the Japanese sword belong to the guy with the Japanese name?”
“You would think that, wouldn’t you?” Ryan said, and although Chad couldn’t see his face, he knew Ryan was smirking, and he wanted to force that smirk off Ryan’s face… especially if it involved Chad’s own face in some way, particularly his lips.
“Ugh!” Sharpay snarled in frustration. “No projecting porn while I’m driving!”
Ryan smirked at her before he turned back to face Chad. “When we return, our thoughts need to be a thousand times more graphic around her.”
Chad smirked. “Hell, yeah!”
“Oh, no!” Sharpay waved a hand around. “I will end both of you if you do, and when you come back to life, I will end you again and again, until it sticks.”
“She’s so nice,” Chad deadpanned.
“Oh, shut it,” she snapped.
Chad did as he was told, but he kept thinking dirty things at Ryan just to rile her up.
It worked.
* - * - *
On to part 4