Katrina sat on top of the wall. It was one of the last nice days of the year, she wouldn't get many other opportunities to do so for a couple months. She had homework, nearly completed; a few pages in a work book about Serbian sentence structure, physics which was a lot of math but actually made a lot of sense to her because the math was being used for a purpose other than to make her brain to backflips, and actual math which she had attempted to do but needed Slate's help on a few of the more convoluted questions.

It was a rare quiet moment. She wasn't scrambling to follow a certain unicorn all over the city, or hopping a bus to get to the Oracle shop to help out, filling out college applications, or being yelled at by her drill sergeant Sam to run faster, climb farther, do more pushups, or try harder. She rubbed her sore muscles. He really was enthusiastic about that conditioning class, way more so than he had been about self-defense, which she had thought impossible.

She was staring kind of blankly at the passersby when one of them actually turned to look up and wave at her. She blinked, sat up a bit straighter, and then realized who it was.

His blonde hair, sunglasses, and cocky smile were out of place, but she'd recognize them anywhere.

“What are you doing here?” This was her home! If people from the Oracle shop started following her here, mixing up those parts of her life, it was going to make it a lot harder to keep those side missions and midnight adventures secret from the mansion staff, and ultimately from her mother. She could get grounded for all eternity.

“I knew you'd be happy to see me,” Alister's grinned sarcastically, “but you'll let me in anyway. I'm not here for you anyway.”

Now she was somewhat intrigued, though still annoyed at his cocky attitude. What was he up to? She swung down from her favorite tree, jogged over to the gate (without even getting winded!), and typed in the pin that would open it.

“So, you finally decided you wanted to officially pass second grade? I can help get you all signed up for classes,” Katrina teased.

“Very funny, why don't you start by giving me the tour before I decide if I'll go to school here.”

The weather was nice outside, but Chase was not taking advantage of it. He was in the living room, and had laid claim to the coffee table that was typically situated in front of the couch. The table had been relocated to the far side of the living room, and was most of the way covered with Legos.

The only section of the table unoccupied by Legos was where Chase sat, cross-legged, with the beginnings of a Lego-pyramid before him. This was a lone endeavor, for none of his friends that were his age were available to play. They were working on the homework packet that he had already finished.

Chase didn't mind, though. The solitude gave him the time to think. Mostly, he was thinking about a funny dream he'd had the night prior. It had been a dream about him being all grown-up and really cool. Almost like a superhero, or a spy. It was all rather vague. But, very cool--he'd been some sort of soldier.

Chase hummed, finishing one layer of the pyramid and moving on to the next layer. Today, he wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt over a waffle-knit henley, his favorite beanie, and a pair of sneakers. He seemed rather content with his work. Maybe he'd build three pyramids, like those pictures of Egypt.

Seriously? He wanted a tour?

Katrina rolled her eyes and headed for the house. This was the most ridiculous premise ever. Honestly.

“Well, this is the front door. It is, as you see, at the front of the mansion. There is a corresponding door at the back, known as the back door,” Katrina started off.

“Very interesting,” Alister intoned as he regarded it very seriously from behind his mirrored sunglasses.

Katrina rolled her eyes then continued, “Inside we have the entry way. It is where you enter.”

“This must be the living room,” Alister moved ahead of her, peeking through a doorway at a room with plush couches and chairs, and a coffee table covered in legos, “Let me guess. It is where you live?”

Sigh.

“Lovely tour, thanks,” Alister walked through the room to where a small boy, even younger than he was, sat playing with the mountain of legos. “Hey, cool! Legos! What-cha building?”

Katrina glared at him, then plopped down in the arm chair with her pile of books she had been studying. Alister was so transparent sometimes.

Chase was quite absorbed in what he was doing, when an older boy's voice snagged his attention.

>> "Hey, cool! Legos! What-cha building?"

Chase looked up at the kid in the sunglasses. His eyes flickered uncertainly.

"A pyramid," Chase replied, pronouncing each syllable clearly. Sounding mildly skeptical, Chase inquired, "You like Legos?"

He was an older boy. Usually playing with Legos was something younger boys enjoyed, not older boys like him.

Chase glanced at the older boy, then at the girl who had walked in with him, and back to his Legos. He built slowly, making sure to pay enough attention to be respectful, but still building.

Katrina realized that the seer didn't really want a tour. He'd gotten as much tour as he needed now and the illusionist was now no better than chopped liver. Not that she'd really been thrilled to see him, either, but that didn't mean she had to ignore him.

“You didn't come all this way to play with legos,” she accused.

“Hey.” Alister pointed at her, his face more serious than she'd ever seen it. “A guy never gets too old to play with legos.”

“Hmph.”

Commence: mutual ignoring.

“Yeah, I used to have this star wars set. Just a little one, an X-wing, you know? It could take it apart and put it back together with my eyes closed. Well, almost. I always dreamed of getting the imperial star destroyer. Of course, I had generic sets, too. Ones that you could build anything with, from a pyramid to a robot.”

Katrina coughed into her text book. What she meant was: stop stringing the poor kid along.

“Have you ever tried to make a dinosaur before,” he asked, by way of answering. He wasn't stringing, he was genuinely enjoying this conversation, thank you very much snoopy illusionist.

Chase watched the exchange with mild interest, minimal expressions, and no input whatsoever. When the girl waspishly pointed-out that they weren't there to play Legos, Chase's face fell. He hadn't expected them to be there to play Legos, but the fact that a boy who was even a tiny bit older than him had come over and expressed tenative interest in playing Legos with Chase had delighted the eight-year-old, even if he seemed outwardly confused. But, when the boy in the sunglasses made the retort that you were never too old for Legos, and the girl simply hmph'ed in reply, the tiniest of grins touched Chase's face. That's right, don't let girls boss you around. It was immature, but hey-- Chase was eight.

>> “Yeah, I used to have this star wars set. Just a little one, an X-wing, you know? It could take it apart and put it back together with my eyes closed. Well, almost. I always dreamed of getting the imperial star destroyer. Of course, I had generic sets, too. Ones that you could build anything with, from a pyramid to a robot.”

Chase smiled and bobbed his head excitedly. He could only dream of having one of those special Legos sets that were from the Star Wars series, or Indiana Jones, or even Harry Potter. The box of "generic" Legos had been moreorless a welcome-to-the-family gift, so Chase was rather delighted to have the "generic" set alone. The girl coughed loudly. She was obviously not impressed. Most girls weren't impressed by Legos.

>> “Have you ever tried to make a dinosaur before?”

Chase shook his head. He had never tried to make a dinosaur. But it sounded really cool.

"Have you?" he returned the question. And, before the other boy could answer, "Would you show me?"

Alister nodded. Of course he'd made dinosaurs before.

“Sure, you can build it a bit like a dinosaur shaped wall.” He started stacking red 2x4 legos like interlocking bricks. Slowly the outline of his wall grew legs, then a tail, then yellow spikes down its back.

Katrina glanced over the top of her book at the two boys playing so contentedly. Maybe Alister really did have good intentions. It was was to forget he was a kid sometimes, especially since he could be such a bossy know-it-all, but here was proof. He was 12 and he liked making lego dinosaurs.

It actually did look like fun.

Katrina hadn't played with legos in a long time. She'd been more interested in riding horses, playing oboe, learning to play poker for peanuts, and sorts of other things. That, and she'd never really had a decent collection of legos.

After a little while she realized that she was watching more than reading. A little while later, she was sliding to the floor next to the boys and reaching for a handful of yellows.

Someone had to show the poor kid how to make a real dinosaur, a 3D one. One with a long neck and a tail like so...

>> "Sure, you can build it a bit like a dinosaur shaped wall.”

Chase watched intently as the simple dinosaur sculpture took shape, his teal eyes widening and a smile touching his lips. It was so simple, but it looked just like a dinosaur. Chase was amazed and it showed.

"I see it," Chase avowed, "I see the dinosaur! That's amazing!"

And, of course, since the boy in the sunglasses had showed him how, Chase began to mimic the simple little dinosaur. Forget pyramids, he was going to build a dinosaur army! He began to scrap the pyramids for parts, making a few more dinosaurs to join the other boy's. He scarcely noticed the girl staring at them.

That is, until the blond girl came over and quietly helped herself to Chases' Legoes. Chase didn't mind-- after all, the more the merrier-- but he was more shy around girls. Chase paused in what he was doing to watch her. He glanced at the other boy, then at what the girl was doing. A girl who played with Legos? Who would have thought it? Huh. Cool.

"Are you making a dinosaur, too?" Chase inquired quietly. He liked the boy's dinosaur better, because Chase was able to make it. He wasn't too sure he could manage the girl's dinosaur.

Making a 3D dinosaur was harder than she thought it would be. She could get kind of a barrel shaped body, but then the legs ended up sticking out to the sides too much like her dinosaur had spent too much time riding horseback. That neck was another challenge. She just couldn't get it to bend the way she wanted and still have the legos stick together. Someone needed to make angled legos, seriously.

“Yeah, it's a brontosaurus,” Katrina admitted, frowning at the lego creation and willing it to look more dinosaur like. The boy had had no trouble identifying Alister's t-rex, but he couldn't even tell what hers was. That meant she needed to work on it a bit more. Maybe if she started over, or at least redid the legs, it might look a little better.

Alister put the finishing touches on his flat dino, “There. What do you think?” His voice was triumphant. He knew a job well done when he saw it.

“Ooh, I like yours, too,” he told the boy, “Hey, what's your name by the way? I'm Alister, and this is Katrina.”

>> “Yeah, it's a brontosaurus.”

Not only was she a girl who played with Legoes, she was a girl who knew dinosaurs. Awesome. Even though dinosaurs were such a kindergarten thing, Chase still thought that it was the coolest thing ever that a girl new about dinosaurs. He smiled, and went back to tinkering with the Legoes absently.

>>> “There. What do you think?”

Chase looked up as the other boy finished, and that same, subdued smile widened just a fraction as he surveyed the two dinosaurs before him.

"Your dinosaurs are amazing," he told the older kids, "You should be professional-dinosaur-makers."

Because, in his eyes, both of the dinosaurs were pretty cool, and Chase couldn't fathom building dinosaurs as good as theirs.

>>> “Ooh, I like yours, too. Hey, what's your name by the way? I'm Alister, and this is Katrina.”

Alister and Katrina, huh?

"Chase," Chase answered simply, "Nice to meet you."

Her dinosaur was complete, but Katrina wasn't completely satisfied with it. The legoes were simply to blocky to make the shape she wanted at this scale. She sighed and leaned back against the couch, letting the boys continue if they wanted.

“Are you new at the mansion?” Katrina wondered out loud. It was one of those questions you knew the answer to already, but it was also one that was safe, because people could elaborate if they wanted. If they didn't elaborate, you knew it was probably best not to ask them to elaborate. A lot of people who were new at the mansion came from very recent traumatic experiences like getting kicked out of their homes, or running away, or living on the streets, or accidentally blowing up their school, or something like that. Then there were some who just signed up because the school sounded cool.

Alister reached for a different color of lego, ready to make a smaller dinosaur so his t-rex would have something to munch on if he got hungry.

“You're a mutant, right?” Alister chimed in. “What kind of ability do you have?”

>> “Are you new at the mansion?”

As the questions began, Chase began to lose focus on dinosaurs and began randomly putting blocks together, just to see what it was that his hands would make without really thinking about his creations consciously.

"Pretty new," Chase answered, bobbing his head quietly. He didn't elaborate unless he was specificaly asked to. He only gave answers that were as elaborate as necessary. He looked at the shape in his hand. He was making a cube, or so it seemed. So, he continued on with making a cube without paying much attention.

>> “You're a mutant, right? What kind of ability do you have?”

"I change how I look," Chase murmured, still nodding, "I look like other people... watch."

Chase shifted the wad of Legoes into one hand, while he used his other to rumple his own hair into untidiness. As if shaking the blonde out, the hair transitioned to a rich reddish-brown. Chase tugged on a lock of hair to survey the color, looked up at the older kids and made sure they saw, before reverting to blond once more. People didn't freak out about changes in hair color. It was a safe way to show-off.

"What do you guys do?" Chase inquired with polite curiosity.

He was one of those that didn't elaborate. Katrina wouldn't have when she first came to the mansion either. Given enough time, though, she wasn't quite so shy about her past. Someday Chase might feel a little more open about things.

Alister grinned at the demonstration of powers, “Very cool.”

Katrina nodded in agreement, then added her own mutation before Alister could fill it in for her. They were at the mansion, where officially her ability wasn't quite as complicated as Alister and the rest of the Oracle crew knew it to be. “I can turn things invisible.”

To demonstrate, the blonde teen picked up her lego dinosaur and momentarily erased it from view, along with the hand that was holding it.

Alister gave her a funny look, but didn't comment on her obfuscation of the whole truth, “As for me, I can let people see their future. Would you like a demonstration?”

He reached for his sunglasses, ready to either remove them, if the child said yes, or straighten them a little more solidly on his nose if he said no.

Alister beamed at Chase's demonstration, and even went so far as to call it cool. Chase grinned back. He liked it when people liked his power. Katrina nodded, concurring with him, and explained her ability.

>> “I can turn things invisible.”

Chase watched, fascinated, as Katrina picked up a dinosaur. Not only did the dinosaur vanish, but her hand did as well. Chase gaped openly, his eyes lighting up with an unconfined fascination, as he announced, "Wow, that's amazing!"

>> “As for me, I can let people see their future. Would you like a demonstration?”

Chase's curiosity was instantly peaked. A rational person might make the argument that there was security in unknowing. That the future was better left unseen, or else an unfavored fortune would become an inevitable. But, Chase was young, and he didn't know apprehension in regards to this subject. He knew only his thirst for knowing, and that was all that the eight-year-old needed to know.

"Sure," Chase said with a grin, readying himself to see the future. He sat up slightly and set his Legos down, lightly draping an arm over each knee. Alister dropped his sunglasses, and Chase's flickering gaze went instinctively to his. The moment that their eyes locked, the room around them flickered out of vision. Chase felt a touch on his hand, but he didn't wince away. Perhaps it was part of the vision?

Chase could never forget this place-- the overgrown and mostly-dead grass, the playground that swarmed with children, the basketball courts, tetherball poles, the laughter. This was his old school. He was running, laughing, glancing over his shoulder at the form of a friend, whose face was burrowed into the trunk of a tree, arms over their face. It was a game of hide-and-seek. Chase turned around, but a moment too late.

He collided with the massive form of a fifth-grader, and barely had enough time to stumble back before a fistful of Chase's collar was snagged.

"I'm sick of you and your freaky eyes, and voice-copying you little mutant scum. Why don't you go to the Hell like the rest of your kind?"

The boy drew a box-cutter, and quickly rose it to Chase's face despite the pleas of the younger boy.

As if sensing Chase's mortification and residual fear of that memory, the scene changed before the blade could meet the flesh.

He was stronger, now, and braver-- Chase still wore a human guise, but it had darker hair, so deep a brown that it was almost black, and his skin was lightly tanned, now, too-- which could be seen even in the darkness. Chase was so brave, that he was breaking curfew and sneaking about a shipping yard without much fear of the repercussions.

He trailed behind a redheaded a girl, who was a few years his senior, and a man whose most striking accessory was a fedora. It was nighttime, and the motley trio was navigating an alley of storage containers towards a more permanent warehouse, which was where what they sought was contained. Chase brought up the end of the procession, and paused, turquoise gaze reguarding the alley behind them. He could have sworn that he had heard something...

"Chase, pick up the pace," the redhead hissed, leading Chase to snap out of it, "We haven't got all night."

"I could've sworn I heard something, Kaitlyn," Chase whispered back, quickly trotting after her.

"Don't be such a worrywart."

That was all that Chase saw. He came back around, slowly, and looked away from Alister. He gradually became aware of a hand on his knee, a hand which gave off the residue of the blonde girl. Chase winced, his face flushing a deep red as he jerked free of the touch.

"Th-that first part wasn't my future," Chase mumbled quickly, "That already happened. I don't think it will happen again."

Because Chase was never going back. He didn't even know what to make of the second part, but at least it had been part of his future, and not something horrid from his past. Chase dropped his gaze towards the coffee table shyly, his jaw clenching so that the scar leapt faintly at the tension in his young face. That had been a rather personal memory, and at least one person that he barely knew had just seen it.

Katrina reached over as stealthily as she could under the table and touched Chase's knee. When he and Alister started spinning through Chase's future, she saw what they saw.

First a playground from the past, then something from the future. He was working with a red haired girl, one Katrina recognized. Kaitlyn! If Kaitlyn was in this boy's future, and Kaitlyn was going to be on their side in the future, then things stood to reason that this boy Chase would, too. Except Alister didn't know about that yet. Katrina had only just met the red head and hadn't yet told the rest of the team that they had a new member.

Except, if she told Alister about it now, he'd know that she hitched a ride.

She pulled her hand away from Chase's knee just as it twitched away from her hand. Katrina gave him a guilty glance, then glanced back to Alister.

He was already raising his eyebrow at her from behind his glasses. He already knew, but he was waiting for her to say it.

“Um, Chase.” This was hard. Why didn't Alister just do it? The seer just smiled at her when she glanced up at him.

She lowered her voice, just in case there were any unintended listeners nearby, “We're working on something that you might be able to help us with.” How did one phrase things like this without sounding like a crazy old spy movie? “We're trying to save the world. The girl you saw, she's going to help us too, and... and we could use all the help we can get.”

Alister straightened his sunglasses and leaned back against the plush couch, interlacing his fingers behind his head like a pillow to listen.