Chad Undercover

When the Walls Break Down

Chad let out a grunt as he heaved a large bag out of the trunk of the car. He stumbled a bit, dropping the bag to the ground with a heavy thud and falling back onto the packed dirt. Oh, how he missed his powers. He knew the disguise was necessary, but couldn't they have chosen a stronger body for him?

"You ok, Jim?" Chad looked up to see Morgan coming around the side with a bit of concern in those green eyes.

"I'm fine." Chad said, reaching up and taking the hand that Morgan offered to get up. "I just... misjudged how heavy this thing was."

Morgan chuckled softly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I should have warned you." The villain said, moving to pick the bag up seemingly with ease. Chad couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at the sight, knowing that his brother's strength was hard earned. "Kevin has trouble with it too."

"Yeah..." Chad said, thinking for a moment. It was just the two of them, and while this was great for his mission, he couldn't help but worry this might be some sort of trap. Alex was supposedly off on some space thing, but why had Morgan called him instead of one of their more seasoned goons for this job. "By the way, why isn't he here? Kevin is usually the one helping you on these kind of jobs, right?"

Morgan chuckled and looked back at him. "What? Are you not up to the task?" They asked, stopping at the top of the slate cliffs that bordered the river. The water was low thanks to the dam upstream, and the air smelled of fish, moss and rotting wood.

Chad shook his head quickly. "Of course not! I mean- I'm up to the task..." He said, watching Morgan starting to drive pitons into the earth and hook up some ropes. "I just didn't know why you would ask your newest recruit."

"You've more than proved yourself, Jim." Morgan said, zipping up the bag and using a rope to lower it down onto a ledge about 10 – 15 feet down. "Besides, this is just a simple preparation job. I knew you could handle it."

Chad glanced over the edge, a bit unsure. He saw the galvanized steel of a very large drainage pipe sticking out over the ledge Morgan was using. "And what exactly are we preparing?"

Morgan just laughed. "The escape route for the heist on the capitol building." They said. "The whole gang is in on this, so we need a reliable escape. This tunnel runs right under the target so we can get out cleanly. We just have to remove the grate first, and weld in a chain ladder."

As the villain moved to descend to the ledge themselves, a realization hit Chad. The whole gang in one spot. Alex wouldn't be there. This was it. This was his opportunity to complete this mission and return to his life as a hero.

"Alright, come on down!" Morgan called.

Chad swallowed and moved to the edge, taking the rope and giving a tug to test the anchors. It wasn't that far, but it felt precarious, and the drop to the river bed would be a painful one if he failed. Without his powers, he felt vulnerable, and his childhood fears had started to return. "Hey." Morgan's voice cut through the fear and he turned to look at the villain. "It's ok. I'm right here. I promise you won't fall."

The hero slowly nodded, a familiar comfort coming over him as he moved to slowly climb down. He felt his brother's hand on his back as he made it down, and let out a sigh of relief when he was flat on his feet once more. "heh... Thanks..." he said, clearly embarrassed.

The reassuring pat Morgan gave him did little to quell the sickening feeling growing in his gut. He told himself it was just nerves from the height, but he knew the truth. The thought of betraying his brother was the cause.

"don't worry about it." Morgan assured, moving to start getting out their tools. "You know, my brother was scared of heights as a kid."

Chad had to hide his fluster at the words, having told Morgan many times to keep that a secret when they were little. "Really?" he asked, playing it off. "That seems silly, isn't he a really strong superhero?"