Prologue

"Bree," the girl stopped, turning to face the source of the voice. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," she replied, her own voice filled with more confidence than she felt. "Just go to sleep."

The boy crossed his arms, planting his feet further into the ground, "I am not stupid, Bree. I am not Adam."

Bree sighed as the boy continued talking, "You are going somewhere in the middle of the night with a backpack slung over your shoulder. You looked terrified and shocked when I called your name, and you are not telling me where you are going."

He got quiet, "Are you running away?"

"Just go to sleep Chase," Bree responded gruffly. She did not need her little brother of all people to annoy her now.

Chase took her avoidance to his question as an affirmation, "Why? What did we- what did I do?"

"Chase-"

"I promise I will be different. I will actually pay attention to your stories about boys and your friends. I will even do your homework. Just tell me, and I-"

"Chase!"

Her voice echoed across the living room as the youngest bionic finally shut up. She could only hope that nobody woke up.

"It is not you. It is not anybody. I just need some time alone," she revealed, "to think."

"You can get alone time here," he whined softly.

"Chase..," Bree did not know what to say. "Why are you awake anyway? It is midnight."

The girl saw the slightest smile cross her brother's face as he cockily said, "I heard you. I am superior in some ways."

Curse Chase's bionic super hearing!

"I hope you do not grow a huger head when I am gone," Bree chuckled.

Chase's grin faded almost as quickly as it came, "You do not need to leave."

"You know I do," she retaliated. "I will grow insane if I am in this household any longer!"

At Chase's silence, Bree continued, "Do not tell anybody about this. Just act like you know nothing about me leaving."

"Bree-"

"Adam will blab. You know he does. He calls one question an interrogation. Leo does not understand. Mr. Davenport and Tasha would both just be furious."

"I do not understand Bree," Chase said in defeat. He hated that phrase.

"You do not need to," the girl replied.

"I will tell!" tears were gathering in his eyes. "Then, we will find you and bring you home."

The elder bionic look at her younger brother, scanning him, "No, you will not. You know you will not."

"How do you know?" the challenge was evident in his voice.

"Sure, you may be a tattletale, but you know that I want this. You know that I need this break. If you find me, I will just run again, and you know it."

Chase looked down, and Bree bit her lip in remorse. She was starting to regret her decision to leave. She never wanted her family to grieve for her. She hated seeing any of her family, especially her little brother, sad. To think that she was the cause of the sadness was too much for Bree. She did not want to be the cause of anything- one of her reasons for running.

She was planning on escaping the sadness and the tears. If it was not for Chase- stupid Chase- Bree could have been all the way to Paris by now, seeing the Eiffel Tower in all of its glory for the first time. She had planned everything so well: packed her backpack full of essentials (including $100,000 in hard cash) beforehand with nobody suspecting her, prepared for a waitressing or cashier job if she was ever short on cash, took off the GPS on her chip with her limited computer knowledge so that nobody could track her, and even turned off Eddy, so she could escape without any fuss. She could not give up now.

Bree was doing this for herself- not for anybody else.

Taking a deep breath, she whispered, "I love you Chasey. Never forget that. You are a great little brother, even if you are annoying at times."

The younger boy shuffled his feet, "I love you too Bee Bee."

His voice was so quiet that Bree almost did not hear him, but she knew that he had accepted that she would go. She could still feel the unvoiced beg to not leave him and the rest of the family, but she ignored it. Bree was older now, and she deserved her own freedom. She deserved a temporary break from everything.

Opening the door of her house, Bree paused and took a look back at what she was leaving behind. So many memories flowed through her head just focusing on the living room itself. She remembered when Mr. Davenport gave Bree her first phone on the couch and all the texting conversations that commenced shortly afterwards. Bree ate her first hot wing on the counter, pretending to be a robot so Mr. Davenport did not realise that she and her brothers were not actually freezing to death in the Arctic. When Bree and her brothers were finally accepted into the household, Tasha would often give Bree boy advice whilst cooking in the kitchen. Adam always intruded though, always ready to eat his post afternoon snack and whatnot.

Sighing, Bree closed her eyes as she remembered worse memories like when she was cyberbullied by Stephanie and overlooked by everybody but Tasha. That was her old life though. It was time for Bree to move on. It was time for Bree to discover herself without the tension of school, missions, friends, and/or brothers. She has had enough drama in her lifetime.

Walking out of the house onto the welcome mat, Bree felt the irony rush through her bones. Bree had never truly felt welcome in her own home. She was always the only girl in the family or the only one with an actual social life- the odd one out. Now, she would be lost in a crowd of people who did not know her. She would be able to be herself without being different. She would be able to live her dream.

"Bye Chase."

The door shut and with a slight breeze, Bree was gone.

Note: I am getting more regular with updates this year, and the plan is that this story will get updated weekly. I also have a Forum called "Role Call (Please)" which will contain weekly interviews of Lab Rats authors. An interview of daphrose (the Queen) is already up.

Lastly, my new Beta (for all of my stories) is RandomYoutubeGirl. She is super nice and an amazing writer, so check her stories out.

All there is left to say is HAPPY 2016!