An Overdue Reunion

### August 23rd, 2020

Mel fidgets in his seat at the coffee shop table, nervously fiddling with his phone. He'd shown up early to his meeting with Cassi. Really early. It was that or chicken out entirely, and that wasn't an option. Not again. He owed his sister an explanation.

But now it was just about time for her to show up, and he was once again fighting down the urge to flee.

It’s too late to back down, though, as Cassi soon walks into sight. Her pace quickens as she spots Mel, and she finds herself running towards him and wrapping him in a hug. “Mel! I missed you so much. Are you okay?”

Mel catches sight of Cassi and for a moment all his fears vanish. He jumps out of his chair and rushes forward to meet her, hugging her back as tightly as he can. "I missed you too, Cass," he mumbles into her hair, swallowing around a lump forming in his throat. "Like, a lot." He reluctantly pulls back and gives her a wan smile. "I, uh, I have a lot to tell you about."

“You sure do, you dork!” Cassi responds, as tears stream from her eyes. “I was so worried about you.” She breaks off the hug and sits down in the chair opposite to Mel. “You look okay, at least.”

Mel laughs, frantically wiping the tears off his face as he sits back down. "Yeah, I… I'm really sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Cassi. There was just… there was so much, and I thought it might be dangerous for you, and I figured I just had to do a little more digging before I said anything, just to make sure it was safe, and then there was just… always more." He laughs again, high and self-conscious. "But you definitely need to know, and I should've told you earlier."

He takes a deep breath, then shakes his head, scrubbing his hands over his face. "God, I… I don't even know where to start. It's just all so fucking absurd. You're not even gonna believe me."

Cassi laughs “Mel. With all the shit you’ve gotten into these past few months, I’d believe anything.” Her expression turns solemn for a moment. “I would’ve believed you whenever you told me, but I’m glad you’re doing it now.”

Mel gives her a tight smile. "Just… remember that you promised to believe me when I actually get to the crazy part."

He takes a deep breath, blows it out, and squares himself. "So… it all started… I guess about a month ago? I went on a mission to investigate this weird apartment building. It was pretty low-key, no real, like, danger or anything. But the owner of the building had this picture from a college trip she took, and Mom and Dad were in it. And so were a bunch of other people, and *every single one* of them went on to become a superhero or a supervillain, or sometimes both."

“And you think… ours are too?” Cassi interjects.

Mel rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, uh, maybe got a little paranoid? And I was afraid that they might be, so… a couple friends and I went around and asked everyone we could find who was in the picture about the trip to see what we could find out." He laughs. "We found out… a bunch of stuff. Including, um… something about… me."

He trails off, pulling his hands off the table into his lap and curling in on himself slightly. "Um. It's… it'd probably be better if I just… showed you? But this place is a little… public." He bites his lip.

“What are you… you’re not about to show me, like, some weird birthmark or something, are you?” she replies tentatively.

Mel bursts out laughing. It continues on just a hair too long before he subsides, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh my god, Cassi," he says, still giggling a little. "You have no idea how much I wish it was just that."

He sobers quickly and gets up from his chair. "C'mon, can we walk to the park? We can find someplace quiet and I can… show you what's up."

Cassi eyes Mel with confusion for an uncomfortably long time. “Ooookayyyy. Yeah, uh, lead the way I guess?”

Mel shoots her a quick smile then starts towards the nearby park. On the way, he asks hesitantly, "So, how have things been at home? Did you… did you see Mom and Dad last night?"

“Things have been… tense… it feels like there’s a lot they aren’t talking about. It’s… tiring, feeling like I’m the only one in our family who doesn’t know something.” Cassi rubs her arm uncomfortably. “They didn’t come home last night. They said they had something to take care of at the office, and then stayed there all night. Not out of character for them, though.”

Mel blows out a long breath. "Yeah, that's… pretty usual, I guess." He looks like he wants to say something more, but shakes his head instead and falls silent.

It doesn't take long to find a secluded section of the park, and Mel draws to a stop and turns to face Cassi, looking apprehensive. "So, um, the thing that I… couldn't figure out how to tell you, well…" He trails off, then squeezes his eyes shut and bursts out, "I'm not really your brother." His eyes fly open and he reaches out towards her, continuing at a rapid-fire pace. "I'm not even really human. I'm some kind of bio-android. A robot. Mom and Dad… *built* me. And I can prove it."

Without giving her time to respond, he presses his hand to his shoulder and activates his powers. With a pained grimace, the bladed wings unfold from his back. Mel staggers a step backwards but quickly regains his balance and looks up at Cassi anxiously, wrapping his arms around his middle.

Cassi stares at her brother eyes wide for a moment. "Hey dude… what the fuck? Are those wings!?"

Mel laughs despite himself. "Uh-huh," he says. He tries to flex one of them and it twitches and jerks wildly. He yelps and grabs Cassi to keep his balance, then smiles awkwardly. "I, uh… I tried to use my powers on myself because Box started saying I was a robot and I wanted to prove him wrong, and, uh… one of these things just fuckin' burst out of me and started going crazy. They… kind of have a mind of their own."

It's abundantly clear from Cassi's expression that she has no idea what to say. Instead she goes over to Mel and gives him a hug, an awkward one due to the wings. "Mel, I've spent weeks thinking something horrible had happened. I'm actually glad you're just a robot."

Mel hugs her back with all he's got. "I'm sorry, Cass," he mumbles. "I was just… really scared. And freaking out. I didn't know how to tell you."

Cassi continues, "I can't imagine how it must have felt to find that out, Mel. Still, robot or not, we're siblings… I wish you'd trusted me to tell me sooner." She pulls back from the hug and punches him lightly on the arm. "Guess I can't fault you for making bad decisions, though. You are the younger brother, after all."

Mel flushes and rubs his arm. "Well then really, when you think about it, it's all your fault," he says. "You're the big sister, you should've taught me to make better decisions." He flashes her a grin, but sobers quickly. "Um… there's… also some more. I talked to Mom and Dad last night."

Cassi blinks a few times "... Oh… did it go, um, okay?"

"Well, it, um…" Mel shrugs helplessly. "It went better than it could've, I guess? It was… pretty overwhelming. They told me why they… made me. They told me they loved me a lot, which was weird and kind of uncomfortable. And they…" He takes a deep breath. "They asked me to quit Big Team and come back home. Turns out they know all about, well, Bolt."

"They do? How!? I thought we were keeping that pretty under wraps! Maybe they're better at hiding things than I thought they were, but if they knew about Bolt they definitely didn't show it. Did they say how they found out?"

"I don't know!" Mel gestures helplessly. "They didn't say how they knew, and they… I dunno, they acted like it was obvious that they knew? But maybe I'm reading too far into it." He runs his hand through his hair, agitated. His wings twitch, throwing him off balance again, and with a grimace he folds them back into his shoulders. "Apparently they didn't say anything because they thought I was… brainwashed? Or something?" He shakes his head and makes a face. "They definitely don't like Big Team."

"I mean… Big Team doesn't exactly have the best PR." Cassi frowns. "And uhh, well, they probably know about the casino incident huh." Cassi adopts an inquisitive look. "Something's not adding up, though… like, if they thought you were being coerced into doing stuff with Big Team, they could've just made sure you stayed home or whatever. Parents who don't approve of what their kid is up to don't… well… act like Mom and Dad."

Mel waves his arms emphatically. "*Right*? Mom and Dad have *never* been shy about telling me not to do something! Why would Big Team be any different?"

She begins pacing back and forth and then suddenly comes to a halt. "You've got other friends with secret identities right? Information on that kind of stuff, names, activities, whereabouts of supers, it's got to be valuable right? Maybe they *didn't* know until recently, maybe they purchased that information."

Mel frowns. "That… that… but… *why*? Why would they go looking for information on Big Team heroes if they didn't know I was one?"

Cassi’s eyes widen “Maybe they didn’t. Maybe someone approached them all, ‘Your robot son is in serious danger. Give us an assload of money and we’ll tell you how to help him.’”

Mel starts pacing back and forth, agitated. "I mean, okay, it's *possible*, but that would mean there's somebody who: a) knows who I am enough to find my *parents*, and b) doesn't want me on Big Team." He stops short, shaking his head. "Look, there's… we could stand here coming up with wild guesses for how Mom and Dad found out all day. But we can't *prove* any of them."

“Okay, well, what do we do? I mean, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you’re not going to quit Big Team. Are you… coming home?” Concern grows on Cassi’s face.

Mel blows out a hard breath. "I mean, *no*, of course I'm not quitting Big Team." He scrubs his hands over his face. "I don't know, Cass. I… it was a lot. Talking to them. I need some time to process, without them pressuring me. So I think I'm gonna stay with Boon and Ernest for now." He quickly reaches out towards Cassi. "But I'm not shutting you out this time, I promise! I don't think I can see Mom and Dad right now, but I've *really* missed you, Cassi. I'll call you, like, every day."

Cassi pulls Mel in for a hug. “Mel, above all else I just want you to be safe. I love you.” She’s quiet for a moment “And good. You better call me every day, I swear to god. Don’t make me worry about you like that again, you gremlin. Just because you’re a robot doesn’t mean you aren’t my baby brother.”

Mel squeezes his eyes shut and swallows around a lump in his throat. He didn't realize until she'd said it just how much he needed to hear that. "I promise, Cass." He squeezes her tighter. "I'm sorry I keep doing this to you."

Cassi pats Mel on the back “It’s okay Mel, you’re okay. You’ve been through a lot lately, more than you should have to. Thank you for sharing it with me.” Tears begin to well in Cassi’s eyes again “I’ll always be here for you.”

"Yeah, I know." Mel pulls back from the hug to smile at her, then sniffs and rubs his eyes. He elbows Cassi. "C'mon, let's go find an ice cream stand or something."

Cassi smiles at Mel, but then frowns suddenly, “Wait. If you’re a robot, why do you need to eat?”

"*RIGHT*?"