Spike tracked the rugby ball as it spun and twisted through the air, hopping from player to player. As it drew nearer to him, he readied himself, keeping his eyes locked on the target and his fingers splayed wide.
"Spike!" Carter called, and in moments the ball was racing towards the app. He reached out, wrapping his fingers around the gyrating object, but it bounced around in his hands before he could clasp it to his chest for good measure. Upon gaining control of it, he tucked it under his arm and took off, sprinting through the line of cones.
"Woooo! Touch down!" Trent whooped, earning himself a look of displeasure from Matic.
"Yeah, we got it!" Carter celebrated to Spike as he caught up, holding his hand up for a high five. It took Spike a moment to figure out what to do, and after a slight hesitation, he smacked the proffered hand.
"Good job, guys," Matic said, jogging up to the victorious defensive line. "Is that drill good?"
"Yeah, we got this, man," Jem said with a self-satisfied grin.
"Except that fumble-fingers almost lost the ball again," Trent added, shooting Spike a look that the app missed. The commando app didn't realize the nickname was his, or else Trent might have come to regret that jibe. As it was, he went unpunished and Matic continued.
"If offense is doing well, then we can be done," the Slovene said, and the group walked over to where the rest of the team was drilling blocking techniques.
"Yo, guys," Jem called as Matic was opening his mouth to get their attention, and the European shot his host a look.
The offensive players stopped their shoving, turning to face their captain after making quick comments to each other and pushing each other around just a little more. "How are you guys doing?" Matic asked.
"Muy bien, amigos," Pedro responded on behalf of his group.
"It's going good," Henry translated indirectly.
"Want to be done for today?" Matic asked. Approval was shown by nods and heard by comments from the team. Taking this in, the Slovene gave a curt nod before saying "Alright, go home guys. See you tomorrow after school."
The group broke up, and Spike stepped up to Carter and Nick's pace so that he walked side-by-side with them.
As they were nearing the bleachers, Nick called out "We're done, Paige! Call mom!"
Spike looked up and almost tripped in surprise – it was the girl.
The girl with the beautiful voice. The singer whom he had found himself secretly listening to in the mornings since he discovered her lessons two days before.
"Is that your sister?" Carter asked, shielding his eyes against the sun.
"Yeah, my twin sister," Nick replied. "She had an audition today, and our mom didn't want to drive up twice to pick us up."
"You don't drive?" Carter asked in surprise. "You're old enough."
"I've got my license, but my family only has one car."
"Ah. I wish I could drive; I just have my permit."
"Do you drive, Spike?" Nick asked the app, shaking him out of his distraction.
"What?" a startled Spike asked.
"No, Spike's in my grade, he doesn't drive," Carter answered for him.
"Yeah, uh, no, I don't drive," Spike spluttered, glancing back at the bleachers once more before they arrived at their pile of gear.
Spike didn't realize he was lingering until he noticed that Nick and Carter were standing around waiting for him. After a "Hurry up, Spike," and a "Slow poke," grumbled by his friends, they ended up just walking back to the school without him.
Spike stared at the bleachers for another long moment, watching the girl – Paige – descend. She looked his way, and he quickly averted his gaze. Had she seen him staring? No, he couldn't let that happen, he had to play it cool. This was silly. He needed to just be normal.
He scooped up his stuff and took off at an even pace towards the school, aware that she was not far behind him. He resisted the urge to look backwards.
Still frazzled from earlier that afternoon, Spike almost bulldozed the middle bionic as he walked through the doorway into the mansion.
"Watch it, bozo," Bree snapped as she caught her footing, giving him a dirty look.
Spike steadied himself, glowering at her before shoving past. He had a lot on his mind, and upon recently discovering that he found solace in music, he was in a hurry to immerse himself in it at that moment.
Bree paused where she was, watching the app dump his backpack on the floor next to the couch and plop down on the white cushions. Adam and Leo were sitting on it as well, playing their video games, but she was disappointed to watch them scoot to the far edge of the couch and glare at the app. She didn't miss the look of discouragement that flashed across Spike's face, however brief.
Sympathy for her brother overwhelmed the middle bionic, strong enough for her to pull out her phone. Her fingers flying, she typed and sent a message to Caitlin cancelling their shopping plans for the afternoon. The youngest bionic had become more important.
Walking over to the app, Bree greeted him with a "Hey Spike."
Spike looked up irritably, pausing in putting his earbuds in. "What do you want?"
"I thought maybe we could hang out."
"Um, no," Spike said with a blunt edge.
Bree frowned. "Why not? Do you have anything better to do?"
"Anything's better," he snapped, turning away from her.
Anger settled in the pit of the middle bionic's stomach. She had not just cancelled her plans with Caitlin to receive this treatment. "You and I are hanging out, period," Bree growled, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his stumbling feet.
"Hands off, cupcake," he snapped, ripping his arm away and resetting his stance.
"Don't you 'cupcake' me – you really need to cut it out with the names."
"Does it bother you?"
"Yes!"
"Cupcake." He smirked at her reaction of distaste. "Princess. Kitty cat."
"Seriously, knock it off! I'm trying to be nice to you."
"Don't bother," Adam said without taking his eyes off of the TV screen. "He killed our real brother, remember?"
Sadness streaked Bree's face for a moment, but she calmed herself and resumed her annoyed expression. She was unable to hide its haunted hue, however. "C'mon Spike. Let's go for a walk."
She took hold of his wrist and led him out the door; this time he let her, being too perturbed by what had just taken place to care much. Adam's animosity seemed to ebb and grow, flaring whenever he was doing something that reminded him of Chase. When Spike happened upon him at these times, he was the victim of a lash of anger and loss.
Leo wasn't much better. While he did not actively take his anger out on Spike, he wasn't terribly nice either. The youngest boy often found himself at Adam's side, the two allied in their pain. Whatever Adam said was what Leo was thinking, and whatever Adam did was what went.
But Bree was a mystery. Of all his family members, she seemed to be the most likely to hate him. After all, she had been the most hostile to him in the first place. It always surprised him whenever she showed him kindness rather than let loose her wrath. He was bewildered by her.
"Why are you doing this?" Spike asked as they were exiting the driveway and tracing the right side of the road.
"You're my brother," she replied simply.
"No I'm not," Spike argued, looking right into her eyes. "I'm just an evil application that took over and killed your real brother."
"Is that what you think about yourself?"
"That's what it is. Haven't you listened to Adam and Leo?"
"But what do you think?"
He frowned before looking away. "That doesn't matter. It's what it is."
"Do you think of yourself like that?" Bree pressed.
"No, I don't," Spike answered in a clipped tone. "Why would you care?"
"Because you're my brother." She cocked her head, chewing her lip.
Spike kicked at a pebble. "No, I killed him."
"I know," Bree said in a shuddering breath. "But you're my brother too."
He looked at her in astonishment.
"Maybe I don't know you as well and you don't know me either, but you've been around all along. You have as much right to… well, your body, as Chase does."
"I'm just a dumb machine!"
"I don't think so."
Spike blinked. "Something must be wrong with you. Has your silly little phone finally melted your brain?"
"Ha, nooo," Bree objected. "You're more human than we give you credit for. You think, you feel, and we've forgotten that. But I'm remembering now."
"Are you sure that it's not just because you're holding out for Chase?"
She paused. "That's part of it, I guess."
"You're stupid then," Spike snarled, his mood foul once more. He had a mind of turning to go back to the mansion when Bree's words stopped him.
"I love you just like I loved Chase. You're my little brother, no matter what anyone else says. Don't forget that, Spike."
