about your fic: do you think chase and chad carpool to the hospital after work sometimes? i feel like spending 1-on-1 time together in an environment that encourages flambae to be less egotistical lends to them becoming at least kind-of friends. maybe flambae even does research on track star after kiren mentions him and realises how familiar the guy looks [probably assumes chase is track stars uncle/dad because of the age disparity though]
im also fond of the idea that chase would fill the silence by telling kiren and flambae stories from when robert was young [very carefully leaving out the superhero/mecha man parts]. just flambae first meeting robert through the perspectives of people who adore him down to their bones; how can you not fall in love with that?
meanwhile chase is growing to genuinely respect flambae when chad shares his own stories of his sister/parents/niece, seeing the effort the ex-villain puts in to be there for his family.
hell maybe the new mutual respect has flambae climbing even further up the leaderboard when chase is dispatching. hard to want to make a guys life difficult when you're driving him to the hospital in a few hours
Prev.
Most certainly.
After Chad learns that Chase is Robert's and Kirin's next of kin, he offers to carpool with him to Kiren's daycare and the hospital. (Just to save gas - Not because he's worried about the old man and kid, shaddup.)
Putting the adults in a space where Flambae doesn't have to perform for the leaderboard, does open him up to reveal his softer, family-oriented side to Chase. The elder dispatcher sees how concerned the hot-head gets for Kiren, and hears him share stories of his own tumultuous upbringing.
Flambae in his own time looks up "Trackstar" online and in the SDN records room. A member of the same team as Mecha Man Astral, speedster hero, dropped off the face of the earth some time ago. Nothing exceptional when compared to other heroes from the same era. Chad compares a close-up photo of the speed hero to the older dispatcher, and figures there's a familial connection. He's not entirely sure why Chase and Robert appear so close, but Chase himself explains it as "friend of the family" situation. Unofficial adoption through babysitting.
It takes Chase about a week or two before he starts opening up about what kind of person Robert was before the "accident".
I adore the idea of Chad slowly getting to know Robert through the eyes of others. Growing affection for someone he has yet to meet in person.
Chase, showing photos: "Here's when Kiren was born. Took most of a day for him come out. As you can see, both were exhausted!" (*Photograph shows a very tired Robert sitting up in a hospital bed. A much smaller Kiren bundled in his arms, his wrinkly, red face matching his dad's tired expression*) Flambae, laughing softly: "Reminds me of when my niece was born. My sister was tearing into the doctors over every little thing, and when my niece finally arrived she screamed at them too." Chase: "How old is your niece?" Flambae: "About say... she'll be six in June." Chase, does the mental math: "Damn. So you had to miss out on some of it?" Flambae, nodding: "Yeah, I got put away just before she was born. My sister shared me the photos when she visited... It took my family a while to forgive me for what happened." Chase, frowning: "For the Brainfreeze thing?" Flambae: "Yeah... that and the arson. My Papi was forced to retire cus of health shit, and we needed the money. Met up with some guys planning an insurance scheme. They promised me cash in hand if I did the dirty work. Didn't expect it to attract heroes." (*an uncomfortable silence fills the space*) Chase: "Not sure if it'll make you feel better - but Brainfreeze was a piece of shit." Flambae: (*look of surprise!*) Chase: "Not on the job, mind you, but at home. Robert showed up at my house one night after years of no contact, crying and hurt with a baby on the way. Tells me his husband did something terrible, and he needs somewhere to hide. I tell him he's got just as bad a taste in men as his daddy... and I held onto him to this day." Flambae, still processing the information: "What about Brainfreeze? I mean, what happened when he died?" Chase: "Robert got the call from SDN the night it happened. Made a statement for the press. Got in contact with a lawyer, all that jazz. Then, once the funeral was over and done with, he cried like a baby." Flambae, guiltily: "Shit..." Chase: "Not out of sadness, mind you! He was glad the fucker was dead! Like I said, Brainfreeze was a piece of shit through and through. I wouldn't be surprised if he shakes you goddamn hand when he wakes up!" Flambae, still stunned: "I... so it was a good thing that I killed him?" Chase: "Eh, maybe don't say it out loud. But yeah, I'd say you did good." Flambae: (*gaze falls on Robert's bed, where Kiren lies sleeping against his Daddy's side, a half-finished drawing in his hand. Flambae feels a five-year weight being lifted from his shoulders, only to be replaced with one anew. He needs to make sure Kiren gets to see his Daddy wake up.*)
Flambae shares some of the details with Prism when they meet up again. Prism isn't surprised that Brainfreeze wasn't a good person, from her social media deep-dive; he seemed to be a real tool. The pair agree to give Chase less of a hard time, knowing that he's got a heart of gold hiding under all those wrinkles. Plus Chad doesn't want to lose carpool privileges.