Many thanks to Lady Cougar-Trombone, LabGirl2001, Jillie chan, xxWasabiWarriorAlertxx, AlienGhostWizard14, and AllAmericanSlurp for your reviews! Sorry I haven't replied to your comments; I'll go do that sometime soon.

Just to answer someone's question quickly (since I cannot respond via PM): at the end of Search and Destroy, Douglas revealed that Project Deflection involved his new creations (Darwin, Echo, Fielder) and Leo; the four of them form the D-E-F-L of the project and are the necessary components for it. There are definitely going to be a throwback chapter that refers again to that project in the future, so don't worry. We'll find more about it there, too. :)

This is one of my favorite chapters. Head's up, though: it involves bullying of a major character.


Four.

Torrance keenly watched the stream of high school students coming out of school as she waited with Bree and Linux near the entrance to Mission Creek High. It was evident to her how impatient Leo's older sister was getting, especially with her sighs and constant consultation of the time on her phone. Earlier on in the day, it had been placed into the plan that both of them would come there to meet with Kerry to let the younger girl identify the dog. Bree had contacted her, and they had set a time. As far as Torrance was aware, the girl was still five minutes away from being late, but it seemed as if that span of time was still too long for Bree.

She understood why she was apprehensive, but she wisely chose not to say anything about it.

Instead, she observed the other students calmly.

As she listened to the laughter and saw a few of them run after each other, Torrance realized that it had been a long time since she was surrounded by people her age. Honestly, she had forgotten that she was just sixteen and like other teenagers she was entitled to act like one. She couldn't remember the last time she had sat in a circle with other girls, taking pictures of herself and her friends. She recalled neither the last time she bought a skirt and was complimented much for it nor the last time she blushed due to a boy she felt an admiration for talking to her. All she had in her memory was her growing list of acquaintances, all of whom she had a very professional relationship with, her black leather jacket that her last foster father bought for her as a parting gift, and the respect she felt for Chase ever since she learned some things about him.

It was clear that she was not a normal girl. She was straightforward and had a penchant for matters that others might consider as too tedious.

Despite this, however, she was at peace with herself and who she was, especially with the unexpected but now very welcomed change in her life, namely, a one true friend that liked her for who she was.

With a smile, Torrance looked down at Linux before petting him.

The dog stared at her gratefully, seemingly content with the small increase in affection that she had been showing him.

"She's taking forever," Bree complained before crossing her arms and then walking back to where Torrance sat under the shade of a tree. She observed the two for a few seconds, both of whom were oblivious to her. There were many things she wanted to ask, many things she wanted to know, but she declined from making any unnecessary conversations with the other girl. Like Chase, she still found it hard to trust her—and she doubted she ever would—but she could not disregard the reality she had brought forth just the night before: that their youngest brother was alive and was out there, needing their help.

"Aw, look. She actually came to school today!"

Bree spun around when she recognized the voice and found Stephanie standing behind her with four other cheerleaders looming close.

Stephanie crossed her arms and chuckled unkindly. "Reggie told me about bringing in a real live gorilla for the senior prank, and here you are!" she said.

Bree crossed her arms, her head bowing slightly in shame as the cheerleaders laughed. She glanced around, hoping that none of the other students heard. Her heart sank when she saw a few of them watching, one or two of them giggling in secret.

Stephanie wrinkled her nose exaggeratedly. She sniffed close to Bree. "Oh, and you smell like it, too," she noted, eliciting another bout of laughter from others.

"What do you want, Stephanie?" Bree asked defensively.

Stephanie shrugged. "Nothing," she said. "Just…checking out if it was true. Looks like it is. You should check it out online. Don't know if you've heard but twenty-six people signed the petition agreeing that you're the, you know…" Then, she looked at her diminutively, from head to toe and back. She smirked.

Bree resolved not to let the looks and the giggling from others affect her. As her family and friends had told her, getting upset over it would be a waste of time. She needed not feel powerless, especially when she knew she was not.

Although she understood that Bree was strong enough to deal with the situation on her own, Torrance could not let the petty display of power unravel before her wordlessly. She continued petting Linux. "Twenty-six signatures, more than half of which were yours?" she asked Stephanie.

Stephanie, along with Bree and the others, looked back at her. "Excuse me?" the cheerleader asked.

"There are fourteen signatures in that petition that you signed yourself," Torrance clarified. She looked at her. "In reality, there are only twelve other people who agree with you. Nine, actually, because Deirdra Collins, Blake Hardison and Jamiya Neely, signature numbers four, seventeen and nineteen are people you have blackmailed into signing the petition. They do not agree that Bree Davenport is ugly; you just forced them to agree. So, it's just you, these four equally insecure young women behind you, and four other students, who clearly do not have the mental capacity to know what beauty is, who signed the petition."

Stephanie stared at Torrance, surprised at the knowledge the girl had about what she had done. Still, not wanting to give that truth away, she scoffed, her brows lightly knitted. "Oh, ew. Why would I do that?" she asked.

"Because you are jealous," Torrance stated. She stood up and then walked to Bree's side.

"Uh, no? Why would I be jealous of her?" Stephanie asked, laughing.

"Because Owen Kelley found her to be beautiful, but he doesn't feel the same way about you," Torrance said.

Stephanie rolled her eyes despite her cheeks turning red. "Okay, clearly, you're a weirdo like The Ugliest," she said, referring to Bree.

"I may be strange, but I am correct about your reasons, aren't I, Stephanie George?" Torrance asked factually. "In fact, I have reason to believe that you yourself do not find Bree Davenport hideous. You feel the exact opposite." She glanced at Stephanie's uneasy posture. "The moment Bree Davenport looked at you, you crossed your arms. Crossing one's arms is a sign of insecurity. Am I right in assuming that she does this most of the time when she speaks to or about you, Bree Davenport?" she asked, turning to look at Bree.

Bree, despite her shock at the things she was finding out, thought about it. "Well, yeah," she answered honestly as she recalled those instances of Stephanie confronting her.

Torrance turned her attention next to the girls behind Stephanie, waiting for their confirmation.

None of them had the courage to look at her to reaffirm her assumption.

"You feel small compared to her because she has the things you want but cannot have," Torrance said, "like Owen Kelley."

"Okay, I do not like Owen," Stephanie cried out, futilely trying to keep her composure in front of the growing number of people.

"What is wrong with liking him? Of all people, you should know that your childhood best friend has many very affable qualities," Torrance continued. "You also know well and admire his talent. You have always made it a point to attend every art show, even when your friendship has waned. You always show your support at a distance, even when you know he doesn't notice it."

As the tables turned and the gazes were now on her, Stephanie grew very uneasy due to the embarrassment she felt. "Look, Loser Number Two, I don't know what you're talking about, alright?" she said, markedly unhappy. "I didn't sign the petition fourteen times, and I certainly didn't do that because I'm jealous of her."

Torrance lightly frowned as the wheels of her mind turned. "I suppose you're right. You didn't sign your name there that many times," she said. "However, you did sign it with fake names. Signature numbers two and three are names you had gotten from the end credits of an animated movie you watched with your younger sister. They were production assistants. Signature numbers eleven to fourteen are names you just came up with. What really gives you away is signature number twenty-three, which I'm guessing has just been recently added. I assume you subconsciously picked up the name without realizing your past encounter with its owner?"

Stephanie thought back on the name and remembered in horror the head of security at Mission Creek Mall. "You don't have any proof," she challenged.

"The question isn't whether I have the proof or not," Torrance said. "What you may want to make clear to me is, do you really want everyone in this school to know everything that only you and I are supposed to know?"

Stephanie fumed in silence, not taking her eyes off the girl less it conveyed the apprehension she felt somewhere inside of her due to the threat.

Torrance stared back, her expression devoid of any emotions. She almost found it laughable, the teenage girl's attempt to intimidate her. Clearly, the cheerleader had a lot of things to learn in the real world, specifically the fact that there were much bigger and much more horrible forces out there than her brittle and petty high school supremacy, all of which Torrance had encountered and adapted from.

After a drawn out period of silence, Stephanie surrendered. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Bree's still ugly, and you're still a loser," she told Torrance before marching away, the other cheerleaders speechlessly following her.

Torrance watched them vanish into the entrance with interest, as if she was only watching a scene from a documentary.

"Um. Thank you," Bree said sincerely though still resolutely refusing to reconsider her suspicion of her.

"Not necessary," Torrance said as she walked back to where she was sitting. "Her presence is derailing the task at hand, so she had to be taken care of."

"Right," Bree awkwardly acceded. Her brows wrinkled soon after as the confrontation between both girls replayed in her mind, particularly the piece of information that the hacker had just revealed to everyone. "What you said. Is that true? That Stephanie's doing all of this because she's jealous of me and Owen?"

"She's jealous of you, period," Torrance said, petting Linux consolingly, who she supposed was whining due to hunger and the oddly temperate weather. "As I have said, you have many things she desires but cannot have."

"And how do you know all of this?" she asked.

"I'm a hacker, Bree Davenport. In this digital age, almost everyone is an open book to me." Torrance looked up after Linux settled down on the concrete glumly. "Plus, as I've told Leo, I have been keeping watch of your family. I am aware of the significant things that had happened, have been happening and will happen. One of those that I am knowledgeable of is Stephanie George's poor treatment of you and Caitlin Woods. I was sure that if Leo had known of it, he would want something done about it. So, I dug for information. I looked through her e-mail, her phone records and social media pages to know more about her."

"Isn't that wrong?"

"I'm not in a kind of business that concerns itself with ethics," Torrance answered. "I do, however, come from a profession where first moves are crucial. In this instance, Stephanie George made the first move. She made a wrong one. It will not hurt her to learn that making other people feel miserable because she is unhappy is immature and bears its own consequences."

Although she agreed, Bree said nothing in reply. She decided that what the other girl did should keep Stephanie from bothering her for a good week, but, like those instances when Adam, Ayanna or Kerry would stand up for her, it still wouldn't stop her permanently. She was sure that the cheerleader, much more humiliated now, would come back later on angrier and more intent to belittle her in front of everybody.

Torrance only had to take one affirmative glance at her to know what she was thinking. "Do not keep begging for love and respect from people who do not want to give it to you, Bree Davenport," she said. Bree looked up at her. "Don't you agree that you should ask for those things from people who deserve yours?"

Bree's brows slightly knitted. "I…guess," she responded reluctantly.

"And won't you also agree that your parents, your brothers, your best friend and your boyfriend fall into that category?"

"Yeah."

"Then stop cowering in fear of someone who does not even warrant the slightest of your concerns," Torrance said firmly. "There are bigger problems you are facing now, all of which requires you being sure of yourself. Are you willing to put Leo's life on the line because nine people don't think you're pretty?"

"Of course not," Bree replied a little fiercely, taking offense in her question.

"Then it's settled," Torrance said. "Stephanie George and her boorish antics are distractions. My warnings had taken care of it. Now let's move on."

Bree stared at Torrance unhappily. She knew that there were inklings of good intentions in what the girl said, but the callous delivery of them overturned the gratefulness that usually accompanied encouragements—if she could even call it that. For a stranger, she was way too domineering, which, as Bree thought about it, had been the case since they met her the night prior. She also remained detached from the family. She had shown enough respect to the parents of the household, but she didn't seem to particularly care for the three of them. Bree was not sure if it was just her own prejudices against the girl without a name (for she still refused to give them that basic but very necessary information), but she was confident enough to venture that the hacker had a problem with her and her brothers.

There were not very many things to like about her.

Yet, if the way she spoke about and know him had any truth into it, the girl and Leo seemed pretty close.

Bree watched as Torrance carefully readjusted Linux's collar in an attempt to allay the discomfort the dog was experiencing because of their long wait. Bree didn't require herself to do it then and there, but maybe she could reconsider the instant detachment she felt for the younger girl. After all, she had always known Leo to have an affinity towards good people. If he had befriended her, perhaps she had some redeeming qualities to her.

"So you had been lying to me."

Bree and Torrance looked up and found Kerry making her way towards them, her expression reflecting the indignation and hurt she felt after she recognized Linux. As she neared, Torrance stood while Bree faced the girl.

Kerry stopped in front of them, not taking her eyes off the dog. "He is alive," she said. Then, she looked up at Bree.

"This dog," Bree said. "This is the one you saw in New York with Leo?"

Kerry nodded weakly, remembering clearly the moment she saw them walking through the busy streets of Manhattan then getting consumed by its crowd too soon.

Bree realized at that moment how unequipped she was with any approaches should the situation turn out that way. She, Chase and her father never expected the hacker's claims to be true. It was pretty to think so, that the loved one they had lost was somewhere out there, in danger but still very much alive. Now that a solid evidence to the truthfulness of it had been provided for them, she was rendered confused on how and what to feel. The presence of someone asking her for an explanation, when she herself barely had a clear grasp of it, further complicated matters.

Really, how could she answer truthfully without giving too much away?

So, Bree began the best way she could.


to be continued.