A/N: HUGE thanks to daphrose for beta-reading this for me!
Chapter 1: Bittersweet Memories
The sun was barely breaking over the horizon as Donald walked up the staircase. There was an uncharacteristic lack of energy in his step as he ascended to the floor above. The reticence on his part was due mostly to a sad knowledge of what day this was.
He stopped outside of a particular room and opened the door as quietly as he could. Looking in at the figure who was sleeping so peacefully, he couldn't help but smile sadly at the sight of her. She looked so beautiful and calm while she rested; her expression free of all care. Donald was about to slip back out of the room so as to avoid waking her, but he was reluctant to leave.
Leaning against the doorway, he sighed in tiredness and frustration. If he could keep her here always, where he knew he could protect and keep her safe, then he definitely would. Why did time always seem to fly by without you noticing it? The sad truth was that today was the day his little girl was leaving him. Today he had to say goodbye to his little princess.
He sighed again, this time feeling a mixture of sadness and pride. Sadness because he would no longer see her bright, smiling face at the breakfast table each morning; pride because of the beautiful, strong, intelligent young woman she had become. He wondered briefly if she was as nervous about this as he was. Probably not. His daughter was a warrior at heart.
It hadn't always been this way, he reflected. He remembered when he had first brought her and the others home; it seemed like so long ago now. He wasn't supposed to have gotten attatched to them - any of them. They were there to learn how to control their bionics and to keep safe; he was there to teach them and to learn as much as he could from studying them. So why did it end up so differently? Because he'd let them touch his heart. And she, especially, had touched him in a way he'd never thought was possible. She had literally changed his entire world. And now she was leaving it all behind.
He knew this day would come eventually. Every father knows it. But he hadn't expected it to come so soon. It seemed like only yesterday that he'd been reading her bedtime stories. He smiled as he remembered the way she used to enjoy super-speeding away with his toolset whenever she wanted him to drop his work and play with her. Where had the time gone? He closed his eyes as the memories flooded in...
The elevator doors slid open. Bree peeked out and looked around the room nervously. She couldn't believe she'd actually made it up here. In all of her four years (technically, four and a half) she had never once been out of the lab before. But she'd seen Mr. Davenport use the elevator enough times that she knew basically how to make it go up. Besides, she had a good reason for being up here.
When she'd woken up a few minutes ago, Bree could still vividly remember the nightmare. It had been so real; so terrifyingly real. Naturally, she'd wanted some comfort. But her brothers were both asleep and they wouldn't understand anyway. She needed Mr. Davenport. He always fixed things when they went wrong in the lab. He could fix this too, right?
The four year old took another step into the huge room. It was so much bigger than the lab - and it was so dark. She saw a lot of bizarre-looking furniture and an entire wall made of glass. This last feature held her gaze the longest. As she stared at the view before her, she could see the vast world outside. The lights, twinkling like millions of stars, spread outwards towards the horizon. And beyond that was a never-ending sea of blackness. That was the outside world. The world that was forbidden to them.
One of the machines in the room clicked on with a loud hum and Bree snapped back to attention. Okay, back to her mission. She needed to find Mr. Davenport. Where could he be? The house was enormous and she really didn't want to go looking through all the dark, empty rooms until she found him. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should just go back to her capsule. She began backing her way towards the elevator again, not taking her eyes off the creepy shadows in the room in front of her.
Something behind her made a loud crashing sound when she neared the counter. Bree froze in place, not daring to move. Nothing happened for a moment. With a slight whimper, she peeked cautiously over her shoulder and saw a vase lying in a pile of shattered glass on the floor. Bree let out the breath she had been holding in; maybe she was just too jumpy. But her relief was premature, as a loud squeak sounded from the staircase a moment later.
The silhouette of a man came into view. He was walking as quietly as possible down the stairs, holding something large and heavy in his hands. Bree scooted behind the kitchen counter to hide herself. She curled into a ball with her back against the counter and ducked her head, as if that would somehow protect her from whoever was out there. The footsteps approached as the man paused in front of the broken vase. By this time, Bree was shaking with the fear of what this man might do; she should never have come up here. An involuntary sniffle escaped before she could stop herself.
Having heard the noise, the man leaned around the edge of the counter and paused. "Bree?" a familiar voice asked in surprise. "What are you doing up here?"
The relief that flooded into her system at recognizing Mr. Davenport's voice was overwhelming. Bree looked up at him and felt a tear starting to form in her eye.
Mr. Davenport leaned down to get a better look at the girl. "Bree, what are doing out of the lab? I told you three to never -"
He was cut off by the little girl suddenly jumping up, throwing her arms around his neck, and burying her head in his shoulder. Donald sat in stunned silence as he felt his initial frustration melt into confusion and then concern.
"Bree, are you okay?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
"I- I had a bad dream," the four year old said shakily. She burried her head deeper into his shoulder as the tears started to fall freely now. "I'm scared."
Donald wasn't exactly sure what to do. He'd never had to comfort a frightened child before. Part of him was annoyed at being stuck in this predicament while another part, somewhere deep inside, was touched at having her seek him out for reassurance. He gently put his hand on her back and spoke softly, "It's okay, Bree. It was just a dream."
"It felt real," she told him, clinging tighter.
"Okay," he said. "Why don't you tell me what it was about?"
The girl stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "I's in the lab. Adam and Chasey weren't there. No one was there. I- I saw a person; a person who wasn't you. I's scared. Couldn't run..." She trailed off as her voice shook a little from the tears that still wanted to come out.
Donald pulled her into a hug and she once again wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood up, holding her against him, and walked over to the glass wall on the other side of the room. He knelt down on one knee in front of the glass and settled her onto his other knee so she could look outside. "It's okay, Bree," he said gently. "I want to explain something to you and I want you to listen very carefully."
Nodding her head, Bree focused her attention fully on the inventor. "What?"
Donald pointed to all the sparkling lights in the valley below. "You see all those lights? Each one is a building - like this house - and they're all filled with people. Some have only a few people while others have dozens of people inside."
Bree, gaze transfixed on the sight before them, widened her eyes in astonishment. "That's a lot of people."
"Yes, it is," Donald continued. "But you know what? Not a single one of those people down there are as fast as you. They could run everyday of their lives without becoming as fast as you are. You don't have to be afraid of them; they could never harm you even if they wanted to. And, someday, you'll be able to use that speed to help other people who are frightened or in trouble."
"I'm special?" she asked uncertainly.
He smiled down at her and ran a hand gently through her tangled brown hair. "More than you realize," he said. "Even if you weren't so fast and so good at climbing the walls, you'd still be special. Do you know why?"
The little girl shook her head.
"Because, out of all the millions of people in the world, there is only one you. There's not a single other person out there who looks just like you, talks just like you, and thinks just like you. That makes you really special."
She placed a hand on his arm and looked up at him questioningly. "Chase says we're different. Other people - normal people - aren't like us. Is that bad?"
Donald had to think about it for a minute. "Well, your case is a little unusual. But it is never a bad thing to be different. Which would you rather be: one of a million or one in a million?"
"Huh?"
"If you were just like everyone else, there would be no way of telling you apart from all the others like you. It would be boring because there would already be so many other people with the same personality and interests as you. If you're different, that means you are one of a kind. It's like being a stone. You could make yourself like all the other stones out there just to fit in, or you could let your unique qualities shine through, like a beautiful diamond." Donald wished he could have claimed credit for that speech, but it was actually the same thing his mother used to tell him when he got picked on at school for being a "nerd". He just never thought he'd actually wind up having to give the same sort of advice and encouragement.
Bree sat silently for several minutes while thinking about what he'd said. She turned and looked at the world outside once again. It was so big and scary out there; no wonder they weren't allowed to go out in it. But Mr. Davenport had said that they would have to someday. She really wanted to be ready for that day when it came. Her eyes tilted upward towards the shimmering lights in the sky. They were so beautiful.
She closed her eyes. "I want to be big and strong and brave someday," Bree whispered. "I don't ever want to be afraid again." She yawned and cuddled in closer. "And Mr. Davenport? Thank you."
Donald smiled down at the little, brown haired, brown-eyed child and couldn't ignore that feeling that was growing inside. The kids may have originally been little more to him than scientific breakthroughs to be studied and explored; but he had to admit that something else was starting to form between him and them. Was it possible that he was actually letting himself get emotionally attatched to them? He was realizing a little more each day that these three youngsters had just as much to teach him as he had to teach them.
"Okay, Bree, it's time to go back to your capsule," he said reluctantly. A soft snore told him that she'd already fallen asleep, her head resting gently against his chest.
Donald wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a minute. She had never asked for the life she was now living. Donald felt almost guilty about what his and Douglas' technology had done to these three children who could never have normal lives now.
With a new determination, Donald decided that he would help her to never have to feel afraid again. He was going to help train her - train them all - so they could take on anyone or anything that might try to hurt them. And, in the meantime, he would be there to make sure nothing bad happened to them. He would protect them, no matter what the cost.
He remembered the little thank you she had said. But he hadn't helped her as much that night as she had helped him. "Thank you, too, Bree," he whispered.
A/N: This is part one in a three-shot. Part two should be up within the next few days.
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed. If you have any thoughts/suggestions, please let me know! Thanks again!