Chapter 1

For a year, Bree had been travelling all over the world, window shopping in Paris, relaxing in the Bahamas, and even outbacking in Australia for a while. Super speed made everything easier, and Bree could finally feel the freedom she had been yearning for ever since she realized there was more to the world than the lab. However, Bree would be lying if she said she did not miss her family on her 'break' from life. Whilst riding on a camel in the desert, all she could think about was Chase's desire to go to Egypt. On the London Eye, she could almost see Adam entranced with the huge Ferris wheel, saying that it was way cooler and way slower than the Ferris wheel in the Mission Creek annual carnival (which her family had only been to once). All the exotic cuisine and cute boys reminded Bree of Tasha, whilst various technology and inventions, even broken ones, reminded Bree of Leo and Mr. Davenport.

Soon, the memories overwhelmed Bree, and she decided that she needed to come back home for her own sanity. Her acquired freedom was starting to feel like a responsibility and a burden rather than a choice. Bree no longer had fun exploring the world and fending for herself. She just wanted to go home, relax and not have to worry about meals. She wanted to reunite with the people she loved.

Bidding "Goodbye" to the Amazon, Bree ran to the small, familiar town. In under a second, butterflies filled her stomach as she stopped a block away from the Davenport household to walk the rest of the way. If Bree learned anything, it was to appreciate the little moments in life like this one. Taking things slow, though not the bionic's forte, made moments more memorable, and Bree definitely wanted to remember this moment.

One by one, her steps echoed in the empty street. Locked cars illuminated in the dark by street lamps created what seemed like a nonstop border between the road and the sidewalk. The sky was dark with no visible moon nor stars in the sky (though the lack of stars was probably the result of light pollution). It was not long before Bree saw a figure sitting on the sidewalk underneath a street lamp. The figure seemed to have a stack of multicoloured books next to him. As Bree inched closer, she realized that the figure was reading a book on his lap under the faint light. The figure had a paper positioned onto another book that he was writing on. The figure did not notice Bree, but she definitely noticed and recognised the figure, especially when she was basically beside him.

"Chase-"

The boy did not look up from his book nor paper as he nonchalantly responded as if practiced, "Adam's party is inside the house."

Bree sat down next to her brother who still insisted at not looking at her, "Adam is having a party? Did Mr. Davenport allow him to?"

"Of course not," Chase's brows furrowed into the book he wrote something down on the paper with the pencil. The dim light made Chase's writing unreadable to Bree. "He does not know."

"Adam is going to be in so much trouble," Bree smiled, remembering the old days when they used to get in trouble every day. It seemed stupid, but Bree missed Mr. Davenport and Tasha reprimanding her. That was another cost of the freedom Bree acquired. Nobody really cared about her but herself. Whenever she made a mistake, nobody told her anything. Everything was an experiment that she had to figure the answers to herself. Whilst that was refreshing in the beginning of her 'excursion', at the end, it was just exhausting.

Bree saw Chase bit his lip in confusion, running his hand through his hair, a habit she recognised and gained joy in witnessing. Everything was just like a year ago. Chase looked the same, he had the same habits, and he was still a nerd that constantly studied.

"Why would you-"

He cut himself off when he finally turned his head to where Bree was sitting. His jaw dropped towards the floor in shock as he analysed the person in front of him to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

"Bree," Chase toppled the elder girl with a hug, forgetting the paper, pencil, and book on his lap that fell onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around her back, burrowing his head into her shoulder.

"You have not grown a bit Chasey," she goodheartedly teased as she hugged Chase back.

To her surprise, Chase did not try to retaliate at all. Instead, he just hugged her tighter, latching onto Bree as long as he could. It was not until Bree let go of Chase did he finally let go of her and pull away from her. Tears streamed down his face, and his cries echoed in the tranquil night.

"Chase," Bree grew concerned. Her brother never cried. "What happened?"

The younger of the two wiped the tears off of his face, struggling to stop the oncoming sniffles, "I missed you a lot."

That answer made Bree more nervous. Chase only avoided questions she asked that upset him immensely. Usually, he preferred to be concise and straightforward.

"I missed you too."

As Chase regained his composure, Bree closed the open textbook on the ground filled with 'Multivariable Calculus' problems using the paper (with most of the problems solved) and pencil as a bookmark. She stacked the book on top of Chase's other books and picked up all of the books together, standing up.

Chase stood up in a rush beside her, "What are you doing?"

Bree sighed in her brother's direction as if the answer was obvious, "I am going inside the house. Why are you doing homework outside anyway?"

The younger bionic looked shocked, "Adam is having a party inside. Do not worry though. I usually do my homework here anyway."

"We are going inside," Bree mentally made a note to talk to Chase about doing homework outside with little light and no warmth later.

"Besides, you cannot just steal me for yourself," the grin on Bree's face was not reciprocated by Chase.

"Where is Bree?" Mr. Davenport asked the rest of his family at the breakfast table.

"She is not here?" Adam stopped eating for once in his life.

"Maybe she is out shopping," Leo suggested. "When she is in a bad mood, she often shops to make herself feel better."

That thought seemed to relax Mr. Davenport and Adam who was back to eating his 7th pancake, but Tasha was not content, "Did you try calling her?"

"She left her phone at home," Mr. Davenport replied. "I am sure that she is fine though."

Tasha's eyes widened, "Do you hear yourself? She left her phone at home."

Chase could feel the tension in the room increasing. He knew that Bree had run away, and it was killing him to not tell the rest of his family. He had to support Bree though. Even if his support did not reflect in his heart, Chase knew that she needed some alone time. He could see how miserable she was on her face before she left. He ached for his sister, but she was not happy in the household, and Chase would never do anything to purposefully prevent Bree's happiness.

Bree was his big sister. She had always comforted him when he was upset and supported him when it was necessary. Chase was just returning the favour. He was letting Bree have her freedom. She was 16 now. Plus, Bree was strong, with or without her bionics. He could tell from her backpack that she had prepared for almost every scenario, and she was even carrying the portable capsule (prototype) Mr. Davenport had just invented. She would be fine. Chase did not have to worry about her.

However, Chase knew that the rest of the family would not respect her decision like he did. He always confronted logic whilst the other members of his family, especially Adam, were very emotional. Logically, Bree running away made perfect sense and was alright. Emotionally, the same scenario was an outrage (one of the reasons Chase did not rely on emotions). His entire family was a volcano that would inevitably explode. All Chase could do was delay the eruption.

"Why not wait until the evening before we start worrying about Bree?" he reasoned. "She probably just accidentally forgot her phone. She has done it before when she is in an argument with Caitlin."

The rest of the family nodded at Chase's proposal though Chase could tell that Tasha was still on the edge. He had until evening to calm the entire family down before having to tell them that Bree run away. The calmer they were, the less intense the inevitable eruption would be.

Breakfast continued silently for once, other than Adam's loud and obnoxious chewing, until Leo excused himself from the meal, having finished at least 5 pancakes drenched in syrup. Tasha took that as her cue to say the usual weekly speech before Leo physically left the kitchen.

"Kids, I know that it is a Saturday, and you want to have fun, but you have to complete your homework. Leo, you have the potential to get A's, and I know that you do not have anything planned for today as of now. Maybe if you finish your homework early, we can talk about getting the Pig Zombie game on your phone."

That gained Leo's full attention. He had been asking for that game for over a month now though the game required money to install.

"Adam and Chase, I know you both have training today, but that is still no excuse. I want both your homework finished by today too."

Chase opened his mouth to interrupt before Tasha continued.

"I know you have probably finished your homework Chase, but that does not mean that you cannot help Adam with his…"

Tasha droned on, but Chase stopped listening. He basically knew the speech by heart now. Every Saturday, Tasha wanted Chase to help Adam with his homework, and whilst Chase liked teaching, Adam was impossible. He did not learn. Everything went through one ear and out the other.

Usually, Leo distracted Adam doing something 'fun', but Leo seemed determined to do his homework today. If not to learn the material, then to finally get the Pig Zombies game. However, that meant that Chase had to deal with the brother-throwing Adam all day.

"I am going to the lab," Chase informed his family before riding the elevator down alone. The day felt quiet already with no Bree constantly talking about the school gossip and Eddy insulting her meanwhile.

Eddy.

Eddy was deactivated. Bree deactivated Eddy.

Chase automatically starting typing into the main lab computer, reactivating the despised emoticon before anybody noticed. On the lab screen, the usual black lines came together, and Chase sighed when he heard the annoying laugh he learned to hate growing up.

His heart was racing as he made sure Mr. Davenport would not notice that he was on the main computer before maintaining some sort of position that resembled normality when Adam and Mr. Davenport came down. Chase felt extremely nervous as if he had just committed a crime when he did not. Or did he?

He was helping his sister escape, covering her tracks even further. The rest of the family did not even know that she was gone! Bree left Chase in a horrible position as a witness. The extra knowledge, for once, haunted him. Chase never thought he would admit this, but he did not want to know more. He wanted to be oblivious to the situation for once, so he could 'enjoy' training and teaching Adam without the thought looming in his mind.

Bree had run away, and his family was going to kill him for knowing.